The Lure (2015) - Musical Horror Myth

The Lure (2015) - Loosely based on the Hans Christain Andersen story "The Little Mermaid" but with wonderful horror moments and songs! That story is where the mermaid falls in love with a human and wants to become a real girl. She trades her beautiful singing voice to get legs to be with her prince. When the prince then is betrothed to another for political reasons the little mermaid is lost, can not return to the sea and can not be with the man she loves. The mermaid's sister trades her hair for a knife that she must use to kill the prince before dawn on his wedding day, breaking the spell and allowing the little mermaid to return to the ocean. In that story like this the plan does not come out as expected. This film is a tale of two mermaid sisters, Golden (Michalina Olszanska) and Silver (Marta Mazurek) who join a trio of musicians and try to make a go of it in the human world. Silver falls in love with Mietek (Jakub Gierszal) a curly haired blonde bass player she hears singing on a beach. She and her sister sing in return to get Mietek and Perkusista (Andrzej Konopka), the bands drummer to call them from the ocean. This allows the women to transform into somewhat human form and join the band. The film follows the girls and band as Silver attempts to get Mietek to return her love. This includes Silver attempting to become more human for him and ultimately having to make a decision about the relationship that breaks the heart. Golden has her own path in the world of humans, she is not like her sister and sees humans not as love objects and more as food. Her navigating of the world has its own weirdness and twists that make her story the more interesting of the two.
  One great thing about this film is the world building. In this world the mermaids are just something that exists. So when the girls join the band the club manager ( Zygmunt Malanowicz) is shown the girls transformed so their long fish tails can be seen. He just accepts this and allows them to sing in his club. There is no disbelief, mermaids are there and the magic is mundane in this world. Already the world is one where clubs are for older people where they go to see bands do disco era covers and dance and drink. It is a fantasy and as such anything is possible. That magic includes siren like voices, and apparent pheromones that are toxic when humans withdraw from them. At least that is what I take from the scene where the band members get sick after the mermaids leave for a while.
  Another really winning point is the contrast between the mermaid sisters. Silver is the lighter haired sweet girl looking for love. Not that she gets what she wants, she works hard to try to seduce Meitek. He is pretty clear that he sees her as an animal and can't love her. There is a magic that the girls have that holds influence over the humans around them but it is not quite enough to give Silver the success she wants. That in turn drives her to more drastic measures to become human for Meitek. Golden sees Silver in her obsession and is not thrilled. At first it seems like jealousy, but as the story progresses it seems she sees the tragedy coming for her sister. Golden is in the film to contrast Silver in she recognizes that the mermaids are not meant for the human world. They are predators and although they can play the part for a while in the end their natural impulses must win out. She is experimenting with the human world but she is not part of it. Golden needs to feed and that in turn leads to a very strange interaction with a female cop who suspect her of eating a guy in a car, but then uses the information to have sex with golden in mermaid form. She is the dark half of the mermaid nature and all her warning can not save her sister from heading down the road to ruin. The message must be that being ad remembering what you are is the safe path while trying to become something you are not is dangerous.

  The musical aspect of this film was so strange that it ended up being completely magical. From the opening tune in the club with the groups lead singer Wokalistka Krysia (Kinga Preis) singing "I Feel Love" a Donna Summer song from 1977 to the more traditional singing their feelings and plot this element works. On a personal note I really dislike musicals, I mean I remember being exposed through film as a child to them. Mary Poppins, My Fair Lady, The Music Man, I sang in choir doing Jesus Christ Superstar in middle school, and have seen plays as a young adult A Chorus Line and Rent. I don't really enjoy them too much with the possible exception of The Rocky Horror Picture Show but I can tell if the musical elements are working or not. In this film I don't think the music is a classic representation but I think it works within the world of the film. I don't imagine I would ever seek out a soundtrack for The Lure but it was okay in watching it.

  Enchanted by this film as a fantastical piece of art, I recognize it may just be not for everyone so use caution going into this that it does not fit into categories well. There are some really nice horror elements to the film that I wish were longer. The mermaids at feeding could have been more frightening but what is shown works. The exploration of sexuality (bestiality?) was interesting also but again it was limited to a couple scenes and could have been more. Still I come away from this film liking what it did and recommend a viewing to all of you. It is a strange journey but I think one that is rewarding.

The Ritual (2017) Horror Myth

The Ritual (2017) - THIS IS QUITE SPOILERY SO DON"T BOTHER UNTIL YOU SEE THIS FINE FILM! This film had a fair amount of Twitter hype, people I follow at least, seem to rate it highly so I must be following the right people. Director David Bruckner has done some notable things in the horror genre, The Signal (2007), V/H/S/ (2012) and Southbound (2015) as well as being the writer of Siren (2016). The films easy availability on Netflix made it was a no-brainer that it would be my first film of the year, in what has been this very neglected blog.
 At its heart it is a very male story about masculinity and the struggle with fear in dangerous situations. It's about how men have to confront those fears and the costs to our ego and relationship when we do or don't. Centered in the relationships of four men we get a good dose of how men interact when there is an incident that changes their lives. On a smaller scale we journey with Luke (Rafe Spall) as he confronts the guilt of not being brave when he possibly needed to be.
  The setup is quick but a real powerhouse scene, the writer (Joe Barton) get's it right out there in the first few pages. That is how you get a script read have an early banging scene. Five friends are talking about a hiking trip to Sweden for their annual men's trip. Before that can happen one of the mates Robert (Paul Reid) dies in a tragic way leaving the other four to carry through with the hike in memorial. It is the kind of setup to give just enough character information to get us into the lives of these men. Also very clever making the scene Luke's dream which allows the viewer to join the hike in progress with enough development to get into the main story.

  None of the men are experienced hikers and so when something goes wrong the decision making goes a bit skewed towards poor. Being someone who has hiked for over thirty years and has lead dozens of groups of backpackers I can tell you I totally anticipated the bad decision making. I was resolved to the fact it was going to happen to drive the plot along. Bad Hiking Decision #1: Dom (Sam Troughton) twists a knee, okay, if he can not walk on it you give food and water to last the number of days it will takes to get help. Then two hike out on the known route, leaving one guy behind to keep the hurt companion company. If the guy can walk some he can continue forward with his companion while the other two travel the established route at a faster pace to get help.What you don't do is go off trail into a forest thinking you are going to save time and get help sooner. What do you think happens in this film? Sure enough they whip out a compass and attempt to more all four people through the forest. That is really the setup then as in all horror films, things go horribly wrong.
 The music changes we get shots of the forest dark and deep and the hikers wishing the trip was over as they make there way through the woods. A bear strung up and gutted in the forest is the first sign that these guys are not alone and that there are things more dangerous afoot. Bad Hiking Decision #2: As the light fades they trudge on making another horrible mistake traveling through the night. Not that you can't navigate in the dark with a compass and map but beginners should really tent up for the night. Finding a cabin in the woods all boarded up and they break in. In exploring the house Hutch (Robert James-Collier) find what looks like an effigy of a straw man with antler hands and hooves. That is ominous to say the least. Luke hears sounds in the forest or is this just his guilt talking to him? Now he could be psychologically damaged from the incident that lead to Roberts death, when he hid behind store shelves instead of taking some kind of action. Director Bruckner does a nice job with the repeated dream sequences where Luke ends up back in the store. They happen through out the film and the way the current forest blends in to the store more and more as the plot progresses was nicely done. They discuss the possible origins of the figure and what other strange beliefs the Swedes might have. Bad Hiking Decision 3: The hiking decision that put them in this situation is questioned, leaving the trail that is. It still possible for the group to start backtracking to the original path but this idea discarded for heading on a course that can not be predicted. The people pushing this ill fated course of action rationalize now how it was the best choice. It is so necessary for the plot but so damn frustrating for me.
  A night in a creepy cabin means that we have another dream for Luke. When he wakes to a light outside the cabin, its blinding but no one else wakes, he opens the door to be back in the liqueur store. As we see he has not worked through those feelings we know at least it is a dream. He wakes to find himself in daylight outside the cabin with cuts on his chest in a circular pattern. Did something run away as he woke. Hutch is screaming with a nightmare inside the cabin. He pissed himself it was so scary. Dom also having a nightmare and Luke wakes him.  Upstairs Phil (Arsher Ali) is by the effigy asleep and praying to it, really out of sorts. This is tight tense and really brings the dread of the story to a whole new level. All four men are really shaken, and when they step outside ready to leave, they see runes carved in the trees around the house and the smart choice at this point would be top go back the way they came and get on the original trail. Bad Hiking Decision 4: This is squashed by the frustrated Dom who sees the path that leads to the cabin and insists they follow it since it must come from somewhere where there are people. Let's just follow some random path that does not even go in the correct direction? Really? Already they should have arrived the village they saw from the original path but because of weather they can blame it for not reaching it yet.
  They begin rationalizes the experience in the cabin as they walked, but you know Hutch really doesn't want to talk about since he pissed himself. Dom says his knee hurts too bad and then sort of quits on them. They are traveling the wrong direction for hours because of his rage decision and now he has had enough. Luke heads up the ridge hoping to see something but is frustrated by the density of the forest. He hears something up there and maybe we see a real like version of the effigy and of course when he gets back to his mates they did not hear or see anything. So some are skeptical of his story. He shows them his circular pattern cuts on his chest and then Don cuts him down as not trustworthy while still railing against their situation. Some of the feelings about his past cowardliness now comes out between them. Rob would be dead if he had stood up, thrown a bottle or something. These feeling pent up and  now the group is falling apart. Hutch can't really back up Luke he prefers they don't confront it. The script here could have given us a bit more earlier on to define the Hutch and Phil characters a bit more distinctly. Maybe it is just that Phil is not particularly well drawn?
  We get some possible dubious history about hiking through these woods. They find a tent with belongings from a family, the credit card in the wallet is from from 1984 as seen on the. Rationalization for Bad Hiking Decision 4: We registered with the lodge. They are going to see that we did not turn up and a rescue party will be sent. Well all well and good but you left not only thee original path but change direction part way from your shortcut and now are wandering a path from the cabin and finding the remains of families that disappeared her decades before.This is the half way point in the film. Hutch, spooked enough decides to give Luke the compass in the morning and send him southwest (the original shortcut route) The night is dark and filled with terrors. Luke awake in his tent hears sounds of heavy breathing and snapping branches and then unzipping and looking out he see the liqueur stop seen that breaks into the creature in the woods. The shift really happens here where it goes from maybe Luke is imagining to being a full blown crisis. Luke wakes from his dream and finds Phil screaming about shadows, Hutch's tent is ripped open and the small amount of blood is all that is left of their friend. All had dreams again and not the three remaining men hear Hutch yell from the midnight dark forest. Bad Hiking Decision 5: They hear the sounds of the creature but go after him anyway. They are worried about getting lost in the dark but it is a crisis and often that leads to impulsive decision making. When morning breaks they have not found the tents or Hutch. Don't wander off into the woods at night.
 They find Hutch in a tree like the bear with his guts ripped open. Luke keeps himself in together enough to get the compass and knife from the body. But these guys are screwed no gear and no shelter. Phil is loosing his mind a bit and they are now all accepting that they are in deep shit. Footprints in the sand by a stream and now there are people to contend with. They choose to go a different way up the hill which is much harder for Don. There is this great visual of the creature moving in the background without them seeing it. Really nicely done. Phil can't get the thought of the thing from his head. It is dire straights and the worse is yet to come. When the creature takes Phil and then there were two. The story is written so much from Luke's point of view you know he will be the last man standing. Dom though got some decent development so you have hope he will also make it.
  Dom and Luke are left and as they flee the creature they come to light from a village. Pursued they rush to a cabin and are met with villagers that knock them unconscious. Dom is sacrificed to the god and since Luke is the on with the circular cut marks on his chest he is not. Luke is left the sole survivor still a captive of the village folk. When one comes to feed him, the one who speaks English explains that they worship it. It is a God born from Loki and wishes all to bow to it. It keeps them in the forest but there is no more pain and no more death, eternal life in return for sacrifices. Your Ritual begins tonight you will kneel before the god she says. So he will be the one to join the group? He is left with this and he attempts his escape, to be brave, overcome his fear. The upstairs room is a roomful of old dried corpses, that are animated enough to make the raspy screaming sounds he has been hearing. He burns the room and goes for the guns he saw then all hell breaks loose.
The villagers kneel to the god but Luke has upset the order of things. Shit gets real as he makes his way out, sees the God and gets scared and runs. He pisses it off by shooting it and flees to the woods. One last delusion of the liqueur store. It knocks him over. He is grabbed by it and then it drops him into a bowed position. When he tries to rise it pushes him back down. He tries again defying the God and slashing it with an ax. He makes another run for it. Into a field outside the woods. It stops at the boundary and he screams at it roaring like it roared at him.The sun comes up as he walks back up a field seeing a road off in the distance.
  I really enjoyed this film even with the absolutely horrible backpacking decisions these characters made. (Have to drive plot I suppose.) Some of the characterization could have been deeper but they all served a purpose. I thought Hutch and Phil sort of were a bit underdeveloped could have been interchangable, while Dom was one toned. In the end it all works since it is Luke's story. I am not sure Luke ever really got brave but I think he made some progress. Now of course there are no more friends left to look down on him for being a coward. I suppose he will think he got past it but three more finds losses to deal with. I don't know if he will make it. His back was truly against the wall in the village. Let's pretend for a second that all four friends are in the village. If Luke got a chance to cut and run do you think he would?  I lean maybe. The film was honest though about how men treat loss and feeling they may have about it towards others. On the Monster movie side I think Bruckner pull it off really well. I enjoyed the early teasing of the monster and I think the design really worked when it was finally shown in full. It is not easy to do this and I think it was done well here. Check this one out on Netflix right now.

The Hallow (2015) Horror Monsters

The Hallow (2015) - This film takes something that is an innocent fable and changes it into something complex and frightening that is not expected but totally enjoyed. The hallow is a story about the faerie people but not the little leprechauns we know and love. These mischievous and dangerous beings are territorial demons who do not appreciate trespassers.  So when a conservationist Adam Hitchens (Joseph Mawle) is sent to a small Irish village to look at the forest where the fairies creatures live he, his wife Clare (Bojana Novakovic) and baby are treading into unknown danger. Director Corin Hardy in his debut feature. The Book of Invasions is quoted to open the film "Hallow be their name, And blessed be their claim.If you who trespass put down roots, The Hallow be your name." Shot in Ireland in five different forests the film is about what is under the surface what is under the myths and fairy tales as the director says in his commentary on the Scream Factory Blu ray. The film opens with or male lead hiking through the forest, baby in a carrier on his back and dog in tow marking trees in the forest and taking samples for them. His lovely wife is back at their new abode taking the iron bars off the windows of the house. The music is gentle but with just a hint of foreboding as Adams while looking for the dog crosses a bridge into the deeper part of the forest and comes across a ruined house. In the house is the carcass of a deer with a broken neck in the corner of a room. A fungus on the creature gets the attention of Adam and he takes a sample.
  Meanwhile back at the house neighbor Colm Donelly comes to see Adam while he is away. Played with a stoic intimidation by Michael McElhatton the actor captures the idea of a local who does not want outsiders to be poking around. As the movie progresses we learn the reasoning behind his interest in the new family. He believes in the fairy creatures in the wood and is trying with a grieving passion to get them to understand the danger. He has lost a daughter in those woods and knows the danger. Unfortunately trying to scare people away through intimidation and unfriendliness never works and so his story gets a bit muted in the film. The actors intensity in the role really sells it but the script probably could have done more with him. In the early stages of the film it is a drama with the couple the forest and the community. Outsiders are not particularly welcome but there all the same and these story structures work. Note: Director Hardy makes a note about a visual reference to the movie the Thing, did you see it? After bringing the sludge back to the house we see the dripping black slime coming from the ceiling beams hmmm.... Could that and the talk of the ant fungus have anything to do with the slime? The exposition is about fungus mind control and they have both touched it. This is a nice possible reading of the film where maybe the slime allows the couple to see the creatures?
  As the story progresses we see scary occasions and more warning but it seems our couple is already on the path and so with each event they dig their heels in and try to cope with what is happening instead of cutting and running. We see the creatures a bit here and there and they are getting closer. Still the script is suggesting that the neighbor Colm is responsible for the stranger and stranger occurrences happening. It is a nice idea having the neighbor seem so forceful Clare has this real life threat while Adam has more and more supernatural experiences. Our couple from London can't believe the local myths even as the community tries to warn them but at the same time things are getting weirder and weirder. It really goes on growing in intensity as the couple is besieged by the woodland demons. The sound design in the tension filled scenes really give a mood that puts the viewer into the action.
  The turn into the monster movie is about halfway through the film. Adam thinking still that Colm is behind the power going out in his house searches the place with a loaded shotgun. He is fighting to be brave enough the fight. Then they look at the book that Colm left for them and we start shifting into the supernatural. The idea of the Changling and the reveal of the very creepy looking Hallow makes for a build into the third act that really works well. They try to flee as the creatures close in and they of course in classic horror fashion can not get the car to start. After crashing and realizing the Hallow are real we reach the a heightened fairy-tale. Adam gets infected by the black fungus of the hallow and so we move onto the final part of the film. Adam moves into the transformation reminiscent of Jeff Goldblum's transformation in The Fly.
  It is a fight for survival the couple knows that daylight will be their savior if the can make it to dawn. They know bright light hurt the creatures so how will they manage until morning. The creatures though are finding their way into the home, based on the idea that the creatures are woods based and will be able to do that. We see the rot seeping in through the wood of the house and the couple struggling to get the generator going to drive them away. A wonderfully tense and exciting scene where the creatures are finding routes in and Adam struggles with the machinery. I am really repulsed by the eye trauma possibility and it is so close it is viscerally uncomfortable. Adam is infected and although the family gets a reprieve he has to struggle personally knowing that he is changing into one of the creatures. They get some time to put the iron bars back onto the house, to try to protect themselves during the siege. We get another classic idea of the generator running out of fuel and knowing morning is still too far away.  Adam changing into the creature suddenly may not be trustworthy. The the turn into the finally when the baby is taken this setting up the climactic scenes of this fine monster movie.
  So we get to the the final twenty-five minutes where Adam fights for his humanity, and Clare runs into the forest to get her child from the creatures. I won't go too much further here sharing the finer plot points as this wonderfully entertaining movie should not be spoiled. We get lots of wonderful practical monster effects that are so worth the effort because they look great and real which is lost in so many cgi filled movies. I very much enjoyed this film and wish all of you to go out and find it. The Scream factory blu-ray version I have comes with a making of documentary and commentary by the director. another feature is the art and story boards that make the version good but I would have loved more people in the commentary because the give and take and how people remember things often makes for better stories. Still considering this was Corin Hardy's first go he does a fine job sharing during the film. He has a writing credit with Felipe Marino and the film is really well put together. He does an even better job on the film itself. I am glad to have this one in my extensive horror movie collection.
As I have done so far this year; I am doing as an experiment my Twitter account @Soresport is dedicated to following and being followed by people in and behind the scenes. Then I am also hoping some of them follow me back.  It really is an experiment and where I love the horror community it is a way to keep track of what is going on by the people involved in it.  I am now following over 130 people while the followers is only 15 so as you can see people in the biz do not follow just anyone back. :)  
 
 
 
 

It Follows (2014) Horror Monster

It Follows (2014) - Going to the movies is something I avoid as much as possible. You always have to make the decision of going in on time to get the seat you want and having to sit through 25 minutes of previews, or showing up later and sitting in the seats that are left. Considering the movies are $12 at the Solomon Pond Mall the fact that I have to make this choice pisses me off. Really, the only reason I went was to support a horror movie at a time when so few are even getting runs in theaters. Gone are the days when crowds would line up to see the latest horror flick we are now in the time of VOD and streaming and although that has made it possible for more smaller films to get exposure it seems to have put a large dent in the movie going audiences for the same type of film. So it was surprising to me to see national advertising dollars being spent on "It Follows". Being plugged as the "scariest movie of the year" it at least is getting some push and setting expectations through the commercials which always sets films up for failure. I was pleasantly surprised by the audience at the 4:30pm show I went to. It was a dozen or so adults, no chatty kids, no phone checkers just a bunch of grown ups.
The primary storyline is promising a young woman, Jay (Maike Monroe) after a few dates with a young man Hugh (Jake Weary) has sex with him in his car. The post sex behavior of the young man is less than to be desired knocking her out and tying her onto a wheelchair. Hugh tells her that he is being chased by a being that comes unrelentingly. He can get a respite from the stalking by passing the curse on to others through sexual interactions. He lets her see the being coming before releasing her. If the creature captures you it will kill you so staying ahead of it is the challenge. Hugh is creating a sex partner buffer zone by passing this curse onto Jay, one could assume he probably, or should have multiple partners that way increasing his chances at a longer life? How would that work, would Hugh give the curse to each new sex partner in order from most recent to least. Lets assume he had sex with Jay then Sharon then Michelle, would the creature go after Michelle, then Sharon and finally Jay before pursuing Hugh again? What if each of them had sex with three partners? Would the creature then go in order by time of the sex acts or would Michelle's 3 people be first then Sharon's 3 etc? What if there are multiple sex acts with multiple the same set of partners, could you confuse the monster? What constitutes a sex act in this case, seems like the movie is saying intercourse but what if you just had oral sex, does the monster still come after you? Instead of killing you it just smacks you hard in the face.
What also is as tired and old as going to the theater is the allegory of this film. Since the dawn of film casual sex has been punished in horror movies. Wrapping the message up in an allegory about STDs does little to change the fact that the message is worn. When you think about it, the lead is being punished for casual sex, something I encourage all young adults to engage in if they find it fulfilling. After this she is haunted by the act (diseased) and has to contemplate whether it is okay to continue this behavior with others knowing she will infect them too. Then in the end monogamy is the only answer the film gives us as a solution, tough message.
You could think Hugh a decent guy for telling Jay about the creature. She will have a fighting (running) chance, but really he is just increasing his chances of having a longer run without it coming after him again. Hugh could do a bit of self sacrifice and commit to two things, lots of plane flights and not passing this on to someone else, but no for him the buffer seems the route. The better Jay does at avoiding the creature the longer he can rest without pursuit. Jay has some help in that department with Sisters, Yara (Olivia Luccardi) and Kelly (Lili Sepe), unrequited love on his side Paul (Keir Gilchrist) and handsome next door neighbor Greg (Daniel Zovatto). Together these "Scoobies" will look out for Jay even through the thick and thin of the adventures to come.
  The creep factor of someone relentlessly coming after you is a great idea. An idea shown with better effect in the film The Dead (2010) where resting is no an option when the dead are coming and sense the living. Still this film does a nice job creating the atmosphere that poor Jay can get proper rest unless she herself creates a buffer. She tries not too but eventually is worn down to the point that she passes the curse on. Now the film does not show her doing this it just implies it and it does not let us know if she also passed on information about the curse to the recipients. Leaving us guessing about what kind of infected person she is, a responsible one or not. Well structured to have adults not be an option to turn too the film isolates the Scoobies and leaves them to problem solve on their own. Set in the suburbs of Detroit there are not a lot of options to earn money and make a run for it. The nature of the creature and some math could have made their lives easier. Timing the pace of the creature and determining how long it would take it to reach a place could have made for a manageable problem but the lack of financial resources doom this group. You can't run forever if you have no funds.
  Eventually the men in the group step up to be the buffer for Jay, and there is a nice piece of writing with the teen drama of choosing Greg over Paul. Poor Paul even when he finally gets his chance he with the girl of his dreams it means a lifetime of looking over his shoulder. His idea of hooking up with prostitutes is a cruel and mean solution, granted it looks like the prostitutes in the Detroit area are not real busy. Still the idea that he would pass the curse on to possibly hundreds of people is really an indication of his lack of moral backbone. (Sure in his position I would go on a prostitute binge with all my savings, and I would be asking for the hardest working busiest ladies on the corner. I am an asshole though.) I thought the nice kid would be better than me.
  Overall the film works if you do not think too much about the mechanics of it. Once you go down that road it unravels quickly. Purposely creating a out of time environment, with old TVs and lack of technology. I am sure the compact computer was in there just to make you scratch your head but overall the effect was okay. It works as presented and the characters are decently drawn and the situation presented in a way that most of their decisions can be justified. I liked that the actors in are close to the age they are playing in the movie.
 It adds a credibility to the story. So many times we see thirty somethings playing late teens and early twenties these actor seemed more of a match. The film does have some false advertising because the scares are few and far between. It may be the scariest film of the year but only because it is April and their have been so few horror films released. It seemed that Writer / Director David Robert Mitchell really pulled punches in this film. Many of the scares are the cheap kind like knowing the creature is outside and crawling up to the hole in the door to have a look. The music builds the we get close up and Boo!, that kind of scare. I did like the sense of dread the story structure created and wished that the moral choices the kids were making were either explored with a bit of exposition or shown in the horror of what they had to do. Jay, Greg and Paul all are implied to pass the curse on to others but never do we see the devastation of those decisions. In fact the one time we see the creature capture a victim it is quick cuts and then just shot of the dead face. Very disappointing to have such a good monster idea but have only the one kill. Considering how slow the film is as a whole you would hope to see more of what the monster can do towards the end of the movie. It is with reluctance that this film gets a recommendation I wanted more from it than it delivered but it does pass muster to a point. If I had it to do again I would probably have waited for VOD.

The Slime People (1963) Horror Monster

 The Slime People (1963) - After a few newer movies lets go back  to the year I was born for the completely inept and utterly not entertaining The Slime People. There are movies that are not great but have personality, and those that have an idea but fail to execute, some that look good and have decent scripts but have low budgets and really just lacked the money to do it right. Then there is this film which has a horrible script, poor production values, dreadful acting, and a total lack of logic.
The problems with this film are many including the choice to make the fog in the script so muddled that sometimes you can not see anything on the screen. Rubber suited monsters with spears that seem to have no problem beating the US army but are incapable of dealing with two men alone. A 50 mentality where the women in the film are only good for two things, screaming and kissing. A total lack of coherency in the script from beginning to end. Stupid fight scenes where monster and men struggle over spears in the California hills. Finally a conclusion which is absolutely predictable and could have been reached twenty minutes earlier. Uugh! This one was a total turkey.
  We join the film in the small plane of  Tom Gregory (Robert Hutton) as he flies into Los Angeles and seems to have a problem for a few minutes. Was it turbulence or something else? He can't seem to reach anyone on the radio in LA but the tower in Santa Barbara says to stay away from there before they too stop talking. Too far into landing Tom sets down to find the tiny airport abandoned and it seems we have a cool little film starting up here. No though this is just the best scene in what will turn out to be a whole lot of bullshit. Starring  Robert Hutton is also directing although from the performances of the actors you could argue he failed at that. Very quickly the Galbraith family pulls up in there car and tell Tom to get in. No explanations other than they will explain what is happening while they drive, so of course he is all in.
  The family consists of Father Prof. Galbraith (Robert Burton), and daughters Bonnie (Judee Morton) and Lisa (Susan Hart). They have been up in the hills outside LA listening to the news from the city and are happy to relay to Tom what has been going on. You see creatures from below the earth have come up and invaded LA and are killing people. Most people evacuated as the military failed to stop the threat. Then the slime people who only come out in a fog they generate somehow created a wall out of the fog doming the city and surrounding area. Now trapped the Galbraith's and now Tom need to figure out how to break through the wall while surviving the dangers of the wandering slime people soldiers.
  There is so much ridiculousness in this film that it is hard to remember it all. Early on there is sage advice from father to daughter.
Lisa: "Dad why did all of this have to happen to us?"
Prof: "Lisa, the important thing is to keep calm and not lose our heads. Now lets watch this film and see if we can learn anything about their mysterious wall."
When did the film full of news reports get made? Why was it film and not just a broadcast?
There are a couple uncomfortable scenes where the girls have romantic conversations with the men, first Bonnie with the marine they join up with Cal (William Boyce) who which is possibly the worst acting interaction I have seen this year. The later Tom and Lisa take a few minutes in the middle of the crisis to express feeling for each other. Prof. Galbraith is a man of action, not with his daughters but with wanting to test the fog wall. So he breaks the group up to find ingredients.
The reason for the wall is the Prof area and  he has this winning explanation for it. "You see Tom, this wall that they have thrown around the city, is evidently some sort of dome like affair, otherwise we would have military planes bombing us from above." When asked how they made it. "With some sort of machine or mechanism, They probably inject some sort of element into a controlled air mass. Now this combine chemically with and element in our atmosphere, probably nitrogen. Thereby forming a solid compound." Wow thanks Prof genius!
  Adding to the fun is rambunctious neighbor Norman Tolliver (Les Tremayne) who because he lives up in the hills thinks the whole thing is a hoax. It all culminates in the hills where the group tries to get through the wall but to no avail. There is this scene where they head out to the wall through the fog but nothing about the plan works. The film itself is filled with fog making it hard on the viewers and all the decisions of the group are pretty stupid.
 When they finally find the machine that is creating the fog it is a long drawn out plan to try to stop it. If you have not left the film by this point you really are a glutton for punishment. So much of this film is just plain bad. One thing you do have is men who fought in WWII and they at least appear to have the courage to get through this crisis, its just they are all so damn stupid. Always charging forward and then retreating because they are ill prepared. It a wonder that the film finishes with them winning. Oh did I give it away? In fact it was not 40 seconds after they broke the fog machine that all the monsters just fell down dead and the army flew planes over the area. Oh what a bad film.
Rating (1.5) 5.0 and up are recommended some just more recommended than others.

TrollHunter (2010) Horror Trolls

TrollHunter (2010) - TrollHunter takes the Scandinavian myths and brings them to life in a surprisingly entertaining film. It is a slow starter but with enough leaking of information to keep the viewer interested. Thomas (Glenn Erland Tosterud), Johanna (Johanna Morck) and Kalle (Tomas Alf Larsen) are a group of college students investigating bear poaching and hunting in Norway. In particular they are following a man named Hans (Otto Jespersen) suspected of poaching. The film spend a fair amount of time having the students attempt to get Hans into an interview. Hans at first wants nothing to do with them but after a lot of staking him out and following him he starts to interact with them. He only agrees after spilling that he hunts trolls. They had followed him out into the forest one night and find his empty car. Off in the distance are sounds and flashes of light. Hans comes running out of the darkness and yells for them to run and "TROLL!" The troll takes out the kids car and when they find it need a ride from Hans. They still have seen nothing and this guy could just be a crazy. Even after Thomas is bitten by a troll as they flee he thinks it may have been a bear. This is really the first third of the movie and it is a bit slow. The filmmaker Andre Ovredal does a nice job only slowly revealing the monsters.
Things pick up when they get to go along on a the hunt. Hans again leaves them and goes off to face a troll. He is armed with a light gun which plays into the myths, where trolls turn to stone in the sunlight. The students are left at the vehicle wondering if this is a goose chase. When Hans comes running out of the forest screaming for them to haul ass they are treated and terrified with their first up close and personal troll experience. The combination of night vision camera shots and CGI troll are very effective. We are with Kalle the camera man for the scene and boy does he just get away by the skin of his teeth. The honest reunion when the group finds each other after the episode is also refreshing. It is excited and relief at the same time. The crew has seen what they thought was only myth. They had a very close and dangerous encounter and come out unharmed. Well done scene.
It is great that this film also touches upon beliefs about the government in its plot. We learn that Hans works for the government, a hunter that is doing his job controlling the troll population. After he kills any troll that leaves it's territory and comes in contact with humans or domesticated animals. They are predatory animals and need to be controlled. After the kill Hans calls the wildlife service bureaucrat Finn to come in and make the troubled area seem like an area where there is bear activity. The idea is to keep the trolls existence secret. Finn (Hans Morten Hansen) comes in and sets up a bear caucus that will be found and made the scapegoat. Later when the group goes to a electricity provider about some downed wired, there is an amusing scene where the unquestioning employee explains how the power lines that the power travels out from the plant in a giant circle and back to the plant. Hans explains later that the wires are actually an electric fence to keep trolls in a particular territory.
The film really is pretty enjoyable and build on the troll myths by giving answers to how and why trolls are killed by sunlight. They really take the time to allow the audience to have a full story. This while there are encounters with several different kinds of troll. There is a great scene when the group while investigating a report of troll activity get caught in the cave that is inhabited by a clan of trolls. It is a wonderfully tense and frightening scene, with the hairy penis nosed trolls.
The final expedition out into the north of Norway is against a giant troll and whether or not the crew will come out of it alive is in play. Overall this was a very competently done film with an interesting story that takes a set of myths and builds on them creating an accessible modern myth. The scares are decent and the CGI very expertly done.
Rating (7.0) 5.0 and up are recommended

Them! (1954) Horror Monster

Them! (1954) - The 195os fears of atomic holocaust created a rich and prolific monster movies. What were the after affect of the atom bomb and the continued testing in the desert of New Mexico. Them! is a well drawn film, it does not try to do more than it should, it is a monster movie that moves at a good pace and is pretty standard in its approach.
The film starts with the performance of the film, a young girl (Sandy Descher) is spotted walking in the desert and the local cops are sent to retrieve her. She walks staring into space broken doll gripped tightly in her arm, she does not react to the cops calling to her. She does it so well and later gets to finally react to the horrors she saw and is great. Sandy Descher continued acting, past this film in which she was 9 years old and up until she was 19 with most of her roles coming on television.
The cops, Troopers Sgt. Ben Peterson (James Whitmore) and Ed Blackburn (Chris Drake) check out a nearby camper to see if the girl could have come from there. When they arrive they find the thing in a shambles with the side pulled wide open. Trooper Blackburn searching the area finds sugar cubes on the ground in what is the most obvious musical queue in the world. They also hear the sound queue for the monsters too off in the distance. They don't know what is going on yet but they have a mystery and the audience through the sound queues is primed for the rest of the film. They set this all up to get us to react when we hear the sounds again and it is a great if obvious device of fifties monster movies.
The cops head over to the local desert general store and unfortunately find the owner dead and the side of his store ripped out. In more sound and visual foreshadowing we get the urgent music while they show a tub of sugar that has been turned over and is now infested with ants. They are definitely setting us up in classic film fashion. Ed is left there to investigate while Fred goes off, the sounds of the monsters starts right up. Ed no fool kills the lights so her can see better into the darkness, the wind is blowing and the sounds get louder. Ed steps outside to investigate and we hear his gunshots and then screams as he dies off camera. This is another great horror movie trope where you do not get to see the monster too early in the film, making the reveal so much better.
The cops bring in an FBI agent Robert Graham (James Arness) to help since the Ellinson's father from the trailer who is missing and whose shock little girl still has not talked, was an FBI officer on vacation. They also send the print they found off to Washington DC to be identified and very quickly a couple scientist join the group. Dr Harold Medford (Edmund Gwenn) an old doddering but brilliant scientist and his capable assistant and daughter Dr. Patricia 'Pat" Medford (Joan Weldon). She is a very common role for women in these kind of films, a scientist who is good at her job usually assisting a more famous man. She is competent and strong but also the target of the feelings of someone else in the film, usually the leading man. In this case it will be FBI agent Graham who has such a horrible line right after meeting her. As they walk away he says
"I should have had this suit pressed."
and Peterson respond "She's quite a doctor huh."
"Yeah, If she's the kind that takes care of sick people I think I'll get a fever real quick."
Peterson laughs and we can groan.
With our full cast they set about solving the case. The scientists have a theory but do not want to say too much before they are certain, this creates a nice antagonistic dynamic with the cops. They go and visit the young girl and bring her out of her shock with the smell of an acid produced by our still yet to be revealed creatures. She is great at the screaming THEM! THEM!
Now this film could have just stay in the desert and played this out but we get so much more. Dr Medford get all excited and is getting very close to knowing what is going on. He assures the cops that he will fill them in when he is sure but he has to be sure. He raises the stakes saying that if he is right it will be a national crisis. With the stakes raised we get the first reveal, and although less than impressive by today's standards it is still a wonderful monster. So they kill the one they see and we find that the colony could spread all over the world. This next section of the film is too get the Ants before they spread out of the desert. They come up with a plan and execute but when they are in the colony they find that they were too late. At least two queens have flown away from this nest and the world is at risk. The film shifts from the small desert town to Los Angeles as the military searches for the queens that have flown from the original nest.
A true monster movie this is a great example it is very enjoyable to watch. The military moving against the ants, the personal stories of trapped kids and the love interest between Pat Medford and Robert Graham, it all works to great a true classic.
Side note include that Edmund Gwenn was Santa Claus in Miracle on 34th St.. James Whitmore had an outstanding acting career noted in 151 films and TV shows. James Arness was most famous for his role of Marshall Matt Dillon in the long running TV show Gunsmoke, and there is even a cameo by Fess Parker who would later play TV's Daniel Boone
Rating (7.0) 5.0 and up are recommended, in the Zombiegrrlz system I would say rent it!

Priest (2011) Action Horror Vampire

Priest (2011) - Based very loosely on a Korean comic book created by Hyung Min-woo, Priest is a straight up action film with little depth but lots of CGI and fighting. The introduction done with comic art and voice over tells the tale of a long war between humans and vampires. Unlike the classical vampire these creatures are more like the creatures in the movie Alien. They are hive creatures with a community centered around a queen with many drones, monstrous and vicious and eyeless. They are stronger and faster than humans and it is unclear how we really won the war against them. It is true humans had the advantage of the sun, and then there are the Priests. The church, a future or alternate version of the Roman Catholic Church, recruited and trained a crack group of Vampire fighters called Priests. (or Priestesses for females). They seem to have their own set of superhuman powers. We see them jumping from great heights, moving really fact and fighting exceptionally well. It is unclear to this writer why they had these powers but maybe I missed the line of voice over that explains it away. It is the case that if you are not paying very close attention during the early part of the film some things could be unclear to you. The film is talky at the beginning to get everyone in the rules of the world but after that it is event driven. The plot points explaining the world are underdeveloped and it is a bit irritating. Why did the Church put the aliens, oops Vampires on reservations instead of killing them? I really don't understand; is there some reason these monsters were spared? I know they have some sort of hierarchy are they more intelligent than shown in the film? Why would they then allow themselves to become captures of their food source? The church after the truce disbands the priests and they have outcast lives in society. Why would you do that when your protectors are the only ones successful against the monsters? They played up the idea that because of winning the war and camping all the remaining vamps that the threat was gone. Since the priests are the heroes the church leadership felt threatened by their success and thus disbanded them. Since they had contained the vamps there was no threat there anymore. This is awful thin and I questioned it while watching the film. Also if the people knew the priest were the ones who saved them then why would they shun the priests after the war. The film makes a point to say society was not a place the priest could fit in and so they took the lowest of jobs. Is this a metaphor for soldiers returning from Iraq and Afghanistan? Oops, forgot this is an action movie there is probably no metaphor at all in it. So some years go by and the church is in control of society, in a direct rip off of the film 1984 the imagery of the a society control by a central power, in this case the church. I kept feeling that the leaders of the church were a bit odd in there approach to the priests. Here they have this controlled society all doing there confessions and prayers. Sure the priest were maybe a threat as the saviors of the wars with the vampires but there is never any detail given to what actions they took to be a threat. Just a given that they somehow could upset the order of things. We as an audience though have to see the priests as a bigger threat than the vampires. Even after reports of vampire attacks come into the church they refuse to accept that the vampires are again a threat and thus refuse to gather up their priest forces. This struck this writer as ridiculous. If the greatest threat to the society was the vampire I would think that those in charge could recognized it. They after all just a couple years earlier came close to losing it all. How could they in the face of another vampire war not see that as the greater risk. I was expecting more meet to this conflict also. It was given really short thrift and never we never fully see the motivations of the different factions. This is often a problem with action movies, they are lean with just enough information to move to the next action sequence. Not that there is no complexity to the plot, it is just that everything is very bare. In the opening we see the Priest raiding a vampire hive and the culmination of the set piece is that our main character Priest (Paul Bettany) is holding the wrist of his fellow priest but can not hold on as the vamps drag him into the dark. A trope or a cliche? I lean on the side of the cliche and expect to see the pulled away priest again. Later when the farm family is attacked and the girl Lucy (Lily Collins) is taken alive by the vampires, and the father is mortally wounded, you can bet they have some connection to our main character. We learn that the man is Priest's brother and the girl his niece, so now it is a personal story as he goes to rescue Lucy. Joining Priest in tracking the vampires is the boyfriend Hicks (Cam Gigandet) a local sheriff. Since the church does not want Priest taking this action they counter his move by sending four other priest after the men to stop them. Again to me a weak point in the script, they can't reinstate Priest but can do it for the four to stop him. If reinstating priests is such a risky thing then why was it so easy when it suited them? Priestess (Maggie Q) comes out after the Priest but instead of hunting him comes to help. Again in a one line of dialog her whole story is told and we know she loves Priest. It continues to go this way in the film, a line or two to explain something and then another action sequence. I don't want to go too much into the story which seemed poor to me. The film did the thing I least like about action flicks, big explosions and then the character standing up after being in them and shaking off the effects. No one important is even harmed by the massive destruction. Sure they have wounds but nothing like they should have received. It is why I don't like many action movies.

So the film moves to the stage where we learn what is on the line and a secret about little captured Lucy. Then the turn of who the leader of the vampires is. When the final sequence finishes you will be so ready to leave the theater. Set up for a sequel one could only wish never takes place. No really, never.

Rating (4.5) 5.0 and above are recommended, in the Zombiegrrlz system I would Rent it!

Splatter Beach (2007) - Horror Satire

Splatter Beach (2007) - Okay I have a confession to make, I take perverse pleasure in films like this. Super low budget total plays on films of the past. The characters are horrible exaggerations of beings without connection to anything in real life. The monsters are silly suits with some truly low budget effects thrown in. Still I watch and laugh and enjoy, What is wrong with me? What kind of early life attention was I lacking that made me stunted enough to like films like these? This film a parody like take off of maybe Creature from the Haunted Sea, or Humanoids from the Deep is not quite a fresh take. Rupert Pine (Dave Fife) and his friends Rodney Spinner (Brice Kennedy) and Tonya Smith( The very lovely Erika Smith) rent a cabin by the ocean so that Rupert can investigate mysterious disappearances in the area. He quickly and with only hear say believes something lurks beneath the waves.
The makers of the film the brothers John Polonia and Mark Polonia leave nothing to be discovered as they show the Monsters early and increasingly during the film. Right from the beginning scene when shower woman Leslie Culton is killed we know the score. Leslie may be better known for her parts in Terror at Tate Manor, MILF and Honey 3, Seduced by a Cougar 6 and Women's Extreme Wrestling: Big Pimpin Booty Kicks Butt but does an adequate job of being bloodied here.
The Rodney character is the most ridiculous of the group with his YO-yo-yo hip hop attitude and West Virginia basketball uniform he is a marvel to behold. Rupert is the nerd wanting to score a story and Tonya is Rodney's hot girlfriend happy and playful glad for the time at the ocean.
When the group arrives the people dying really starts to pick up Johnson the Fisherman is driven from his cottage by his nagging wife and heads down to the beach to cast a rod. Running into Duke (Ken Van Sant), the iron pumping comic relief who really serves only that purpose until the end of the movie.
Bodies start to pile up or drift into the ocean, in the scariest scene a lone swimmer Amanda Kerr is dragged beneath the waves. It happens early enough in the film that you think there might be something to make this a horror movie but alas it is the high water mark and everything that comes after it leave us marooned in moronic silliness.
Erin Brown (Misty Mundae in movies where she undresses) plays Tess Gardner, a local who knows something is going on and may be having premonitions or at least dreams about the creatures. At the same time Rupert is getting no help from the locals in gathering information for his story. Everyone is down at the local beach party where The Rip Tides are performing. Tess yells and tries to warn the girls dancing in front of a green scree, er I mean on the beach, about the monster but no one listens. Except Rupert that is and now he has a lead on his story. The film turns into a bit of a music video for a while while the Rip Tides play. When we finally get back to Rupert he talks to Tess about she and her boyfriend being attacked and how she is the only one to survive. Now everyone thinks she is crazy but sea monsters are real.
Bald boat guy and Tonya are killed but not before we get repeated up skirt shots of Tonya's ass. Apparently this is the main selling point of the film because it is repeated. She didn't like how Rodney was talking up girls on the beach and storms off to her doom by going to the beach. Upset Rodney drinks himself into a state when she does not return by dark. Creature from the haunted Sea is on the tube when Rupert find the drunken Rodney passed out but nothing really happens. They set up a scene that could be scary but instead Duke comes by with his witty one liners and ruins the mood. So it was all for nothing.
The next day things pick up, with Rupert and Rodney looking for Tonya and discussing how they should not call the police because Rodney would be suspect number one. Rupert alone find the bloody bikini that belonged to Tonya and as he discovers an egg a creature almost gets him. He runs away to the beach party that apparently is still going on. Rodney of the short attention span decides to stop looking and get high, now what happens next? Come on guess. Yes! right he is killed by monsters. Rupert runs into Tess and together they start breaking eggs, this apparently only pisses the monsters off because they attack in a group. Off to the beach party where we get a second music video "Splatter Beach that happens to recap the entire movie. NOTE: You could enter at this point and skip the rest of the movie because the song and accompanying visuals are a great catch up.
Chaos ensues as the creature eventually trap Tess, Rupert and Duke in the house. Outcome certain to end with a hatching egg. So what to say... It is what it is, low budget parody fun. The sound quality is the most noticeable thing that is wrong. Just sounds low rent, like I said in the opening I really get a kick out of these type of films so I enjoyed it. Unfortunately the script is a bit of a mess and the acting is purposely campy and characters are less than compelling so when it comes to recommending this to someone else I have to NOT. If you know this kind of thing is for you give it a try otherwise no. Note also if you are a skin seeker this movie only has a couple booby shots to go with the up skirt shot mentioned early. It is not the purpose of this one.
Rating (3.3) 5.0 and above are recommended, in the Zombirgrrlz system SKIP IT!

Stake Land (2010) Horror Vampire

Stake Land (2010) - Opening on a country road in Pennsylvania the voice over from our lead character Martin (Connor Paolo) sets the tone immediately. "But lets begin at the beginning, I was like every other kid. I had a family. I went to school. I didn't believe in the bogeyman, but then the world woke up to a nightmare." Kicking off how Martin's family was killed by a vampire and just how he ended up in this car driving with this man only known as Mister (Nick Damici). The scene is well done and really relays everything we are going to need to be part of this world. Dad is frantically working on hi car, trying to get it running. On the radio reports of attacks by creatures are spreading across the country. People are being told to hunker down. Mom is holding the baby and fretting about whether running is the right decision. When Martin chases the dog out in the rain you think he will see a creature but instead the attack happens back in the barn. His Mother screams and his return inside is to see his bloody Mom on the ground. Mister shows up and with Martin kill the vampire that killed his Mom and then fed on the baby. His bloody gurgling father is finished off by the stranger. Traumatic for sure for Martin. He is just a teenager and if Mister had not shown up hunting this monstrous creature his incompetence would have been his downfall. We learn that you have to kill those who have been bitten or they change. Why else kill the father in the aftermath. That the vamps are animal in nature, the monster vampire instead of the romanticized version.
Now we know what we are in for in the world where a vampire plague has spread and people are few and far between. It is a solid start for a film that really is a road survival movie at its core. Martin journeys from the scared teen to capable vampire fighter trained by the experienced hunter as they travel looking for a place where they can settle down. This place New Eden is in Canada since the vampires, cold blooded do not like the weather. It is a goal and while Mister and Martin move towards it the film captures the need for connection among humans as well as the growing up that young Martin must do.
There are some more interesting ideas also, of course the expected militant groups of survivor running there self protected communities like military camps. Surprisingly though there are also more liberal places in the world where the people struggling to survive realize that protection can come without an iron fist if people work together. It is something rarely seen in these kind of films and was welcomed. Then there is the antagonist group, the Brethren. They are a group of fanatical religious zealots that believe the vampires are doing God's work driving new followers into the cult and when God's will is done they the vamps will be taken away by God leaving the Brethren to inherit the earth. Martin and Mister save a nun, Sister (Kelly McGillis) who has been raped by a couple of these thugs. Mister kills them running afoul of the group since one of the thugs was Brethren leader Jebedia Loven's (Michael Cerveris) son. This group is captures the writer's feelings about this group perfectly when in Martin's voice we get "In desperate times, false Gods abound. People put their faith in the loudest preacher and hope they are right." When captured by this group, Mister's punishment is to have his hands bound and left for a group of vampires. Sister and Martin are to be kept as new sheep in the flock. What is great about this film is that all along all the new decisions Martin has to make are training and he becomes more complete and likely to survive. I skip scenes in this review of Mister attacking vampires so Martin can practice killing them, at first not so well. When Mister is left to the vamps Martin runs from the group, now brave enough to make such a bold decision. He makes it back to the car to find Mister who also found a way to survive. Making it back to a safe town they pick up Belle (Danielle Harris), a young pregnant singer they see in the gathering place. She joins the group and it is something I like about this movie, people in it need connection to each other. It really is human nature and Mister is a vampire hunter but also a human looking out for those who need looking out for. Soon a fourth joins there party, Willie (Sean Nelson) an ex marine who is primarily there to fill some of the back story of how the government and military eventually broke down as the plague spread.
These four travel through Brethren country together, up the back roads to the colder mountains of New York State. Here Mister gets some sweet revenge on Jebedia when they come across him manning a checkpoint. Of course this can't be the end for the main bad guy we are only two thirds the way through the movie. Leaving him cut for the vamps though is a nice payback at the time. Finally reaching the border the group can relax. When they have to leave their weapons with the people running the town I knew that something really bad was going to happen. When Belle and Martin dance at the towns party, and Mister joined in I thought "Oh Oh this is not going to end well." Then when they see Sister and the group is complete I knew the bad was just around the corner.
The attack is awesome and I will not get into it here but it was surprising and really a cool thing to do. Our group gets out of it and heads for the hills going high to the cold country. When the car dies they are on foot, an older Sister, a pregnant Belle and the three guys. They seem safe from vampires but it is taking its toll on them. Even as they grow closer struggling together they are getting weaker and Belle is quite pregnant. Martin in the ever present V.O. says "Away from people I stopped thinking about the past and my family, I've found a new one." Since that was a bright and positive sentiment something bad has to happen. They come down from the hills because it is also too cold for them. They camp in this large traffic jam of abandoned cars that had been heading to the now really close Canadian border.
After another very good tense attack scene we have our survivors hold up in an old bus. Mister senses something amiss but can not put his finger on it. When another member of the group vanishes we get the big turn in the story. It is nicely done and although veteran horror film fans could figure it out I bet a fair number of people out there won't. Building to a climax as the last three remaining in the group get so close to safety only to have to fight yet another battle. When the final group of three are hold up at roadside diner, after the climax we see the journey's end for Martin as he is a proven survivor and vampire killer. The happy ending is well done and expected.
What I liked about this film is that it never lost track of whose story it was. At its heart it was always about Mister and Martin and it held true to the relationship. Although the voice over always in the voice of Martin showed that he was the main character from the beginning. Still the story of Mister played a very complementary role inter connecting with Martin but never drowning his story out. It was well done. I do wish though that more character development was done with interactive scenes instead of using the V.O. so much. Way too much we are told about the connections of characters instead of them showing us the connections they are developing. Some of the characters are less developed and thus obviously expendable. Overall this is a wonderful entry into the genre, instead of big loud and super action filled it is quiet scary, a study of people. A bit on the predictable in what must happen, with some characters obvious feed for vampires but also some surprises. The music was a real mood setter and I am not always sure it is the mood I wanted in the movie, some really melancholy tunes more appropriate for a dreamy summer road movie than a survival one. I think that they were going for a haunted mood but I wanted a bit more tension. The vampire presentation was just excellent and monstrous, the feel of the vampire attacks was closer to the 28 Days Later feel but less frantic, so positives there. Writer/Director Jim Mickle does a nice job with what he has and he with co-writer Damici have created a worthy film for lovers of horror that I think general audience could also enjoy.
Rating (6.7) 5.0 and up are recommended, in the Zombiegrrlz system Go and see it!