Horror Movie Reviews: Land of the Dead (2005)

Land of the Dead (2005)
Director: George A. Romero
Starring: Simon Baker, John Leguizamo, Dennis Hopper
IMDB: 6.3
RT: 74
Box Office: $46.7 Million (Worldwide)

Summary-

After the zombies have taken over the world, civilization survives within a walled city. There is a divide between the rich who live in a luxurious tower and the poor who live in the streets. A group of people attempt to threaten the wealthy just as the zombies breach the city.



Review (Spoilers)-

Romero returns to the zombie genre for the first time in 20 years with this film. It seems to have received decent reviews although significantly worse than his original trilogy. I didn't really care for this film for a number of reasons that will be explained below.

The film opens with Riley Denbo (Simon Baker) and his group of people doing a supply run for their community. He is clearly in charge but Cholo DeMora (John Leguizamo) seems to be a threat to that. Cholo goes to pick up some alcohol that he can sell and in the process one of the people with him is bitten. This continues to increase the tension between Riley and Cholo. After they gather their supplies they head back to the community led by an armored vehicle called Dead Reckoning.While they are leaving you start to see that some of the zombies are becoming more intelligent and they begin to follow the survivors after they leave. This scene was okay although I could immediately tell that I was not going to like any of these characters.

Dead Reckoning

The group of people return to their community which looks like Pittsburgh. The city is run by a group of elite rich people that live in a luxury building called Fiddler's Green. The rest of the people have pretty shitty living conditions and watch zombie fights and gamble for fun. There is a pretty overt political message about the Rich taking advantage of the poor in this film. Cholo brings some booze up to Kaufman (Denis Hopper) who is the guy in charge of this community. Cholo is owed a lot of money by Kaufman and hopes to be able to move into Fiddler's Green but Kaufman turns him down. Cholo proceeds to steal Dead Reckoning and take it out of the community and threatens to launch some missiles at the Fiddler's Green if he isn't paid a bunch of money. This just seems really stupid, what the hell are you going to do with money if you leave the only community that uses it? It's just such a stupid idea! Of course what is even worse is that Kaufman refuses to pay because he doesn't negotiate with terrorists. I would have just given the guy money since it is pretty much just useless pieces of paper but everyone in this movie is an idiot. Dennis Hopper gives a pretty shitty performance as the human villain of the movie as well.

Zombies crossing the river

So Kaufman sends Riley with his friend Charlie, a hooker named Slack and a couple of goons that work for him to go and stop Cholo. While all of this is going on the zombie horde is slowly moving towards their community. Riley and his group are able to stop Cholo but by the time they do that the zombies have broken into their community. They try to save the people but everyone is pretty fucked. This is where you get all of your good zombie scenes but the plot is just so stupid that I didn't care.

Final Thoughts-

This was a huge letdown after watching the old school Romero zombie films. Sure it has a few good moments but this is by far the worst written one that I have seen (I have not watched Diary of the Dead or Survival of the Dead). I hated all of the actors in this film and didn't even like the zombies in it much either. This is pretty much just for die hard zombie and George Romero fans only.

MY RATING-

2 out of 5

-Chris "Da Franchize" Hart

Horror Movie Reviews: Day of the Dead (1985)

Day of the Dead (1985)
Director: George A. Romero
Starring: Lori Cardille, Terry Alexander, Joseph Pilato
IMDB: 7.2
RT: 82
Box Office: $5 Million (Domestic)

Summary-

A small group of scientists and military personnel are living in an underground bunker during the zombie apocalypse. The scientists are working desperately to find a way to either cure the zombies or make them not want to eat humans. Their experiments begin to cross the line, further developing the tension between the military and the scientists.


Review-

Is it blasphemous to actually like this film better than Dawn of the Dead? While that film may have been a bit more action packed and featured more zombies I had more fun with this one!

The film opens with a group of people flying in a helicopter through Florida. They land in a town and try to see if they can find anyone but all they find are hordes of zombies. They return to their base and you can see that their are tons of the zombies beating at their fence. The group of people take an elevator down into an underground bunker. You immediately can feel the tension between the military and the scientists. I also liked the look of these zombies much more than in Dawn of the Dead.

Desolate streets of Florida

There are 3 scientists that are working in this compound, Sarah who is essentially the main character of the film, a guy they call Frankenstein who does the more absurd experiments and another guy that I could not tell you what his name is. Sarah is attempting to eradicate the disease while Frankenstein is attempting to make the zombies more docile. Rhodes, the newly promoted leader of the military unit (their previous commander had just died) wants immediate results as he is tired of losing men in attempts to capture zombies to experiment on. There are essentially two factions that are operating in this bunker, the scientists and the helicopter pilots on one side and the military people on the other.The majority of the film revolves around the tensions between these two groups and there is a clear political message about anti-intellectualism. I can understand why people where initially disappointed in this film because it is more of a slow burning character study but I still found it fascinating. I especially liked the experiments on Bub the zombie. He actually has a very interesting character arc and also serves as part of the political message of the film.   

Bub

Now while some may find the 2nd act of the film depressing and boring (I don't) they can't argue that the third act is awesome! All of this tension between the military and scientists builds to a point where they are all going to kill each other. Unfortunately for them, Miguel who was Sarah's boyfriend has been on the verge of insanity for a while. When he is bitten and they chop off his arm to stop the infection from spreading and he finally loses it. He goes above ground and lets a bunch of zombies into the complex and everything goes to hell. The finale is awesome and brutal and has some phenomenal practical effects. I had been hooked all the way through and the final act sealed the deal in my love for this movie!

Final Thoughts-

I really enjoyed this film and it probably ranks as one of my favorite zombie films. It has that bleak, post-apocalyptic feel that I was looking for while having just enough comedy in it to keep you sane. It's not just a straight up horror movie though either as it does have a political statement which seems to be the case in all of Romero's zombie films. I'm the guy who always likes the less popular films in a franchise and i guess its no different here.

MY RATING-

4 out of 5

-Chris "Da Franchize" Hart

 

Foreign Film Reviews: Oldboy (2003)

Oldboy (2003)-
Director: Chan-wook Park
Starring: Min-sik Choi, Ji-tae Yu and Hye-jeong Kang
Country: South Korea
IMDB: 8.4
RT: 80
Box Office: $14.9 Million (Worldwide)

Summary-

Dae-su Oh is an average guy who one night is randomly kidnapped and imprisoned for 15 years. He is finally released and wants to know why he was kidnapped and who was his captor. He soon discovers that the real question is not why he was imprisoned but why he was released.


Review (Spoilers)-

Over the past few years I have started to develop a love for Asian cinema. I have always heard this is one of the best and I finally got a chance to watch it last night. Wow is this an amazing movie!

The film opens with Dae-su in a police station for public intoxication. His friend comes to bail him out and they go to a pay phone to call his family and let them know he is okay. While his friend is talking to them on the phone Dae-su disappears. It then jumps to several months later and Dae-su is being kept in a prison like room. We see the routines that he is put through and what is life is like for the 15 years. Then one day they release him on a rooftop of a building. He goes to a restaurant and meets a girl working there and they both feel like they know each other. The first act of the film does a great job at establishing Dae-su as a character and really peaks your interest as to why he was imprisoned.

Dae-su's home for 15 years

The second act is all about Dae-su trying to figure out why he was imprisoned. This seemed like the weakest part of the film but I was also tired when I was watching the film so I might have missed a few things. I did like a couple of the action sequences in this part of the film although I would not say that this is an action film. There is one scene in particular where Dae-su fights a bunch of guys in a hallway that was really badass.

 
The film builds up the mystery more and more as you go along as Dae-su and Mi-do try to solve this mystery. It seems like everyone knows who he is and that he is not in control of what is going on. It all leads to a shocking and brutal third act and finale. Even if the movie moves a bit slow in the 2nd act, the payoff at the end is well worth it.

Final Thoughts-

I understand why this film has been so highly praised. Not only is this a well made, well acted and creative film but it also features a phenomenal story. I also really enjoyed the soundtrack to the film as well which always is a big deal for me. I tried not to spoil the plot too much because this is a movie that any film fan should see right away!

MY RATING-

4 out of 5

-Chris "Da Franchize" Hart   
   

Horror Movie Reviews: Dawn of the Dead (1978)

Dawn of the Dead (1978)
Director: George A. Romero
Starring: David Emge, Ken Foree, Scott Reiniger, Gaylen Ross
IMDB: 8.1
RT: 95
Box Office: $55 Million (Worldwide)

Summary-

Four people take refuge in a mall during a zombie apocalypse. They clean it out of zombies but eventually must defend it from armed people as well.





REVIEW (SPOILERS!)-

I have always heard that this is the greatest zombie film of all time. Since I have been in the mood for zombie films I decided to finally give it a watch last night. While I did enjoy the film, I do think it has been a bit over-hyped.    

The film opens in a news studio as reports are coming in about the zombies. They are trying to provide information to their viewers but people are starting to take off. We are introduced to Stephen and Francine as they plan to get out by using the traffic helicopter. Then we are introduced to Roger and Peter who are police officers and are trying to clean out people in a housing project. This is when you get your first glimpse of the zombies as the police have to battle some of them. It's hard to go from watching modern zombie films to this because the production quality is so different. The zombies have a blue skin tone and just look really fake overall. Initially I did not like it but eventually  I was won over by how campy it was. There are some pretty cheesy/over the top actors and some funny special effects right away. Roger and Pete decide they are going to get out before the zombie outbreak gets worse and they go to meet Stephen and Francine at the helicopter. They take off in the helicopter and just keep moving without any real plan until they find the mall.

Don't point a gun at me!

Once they get to the mall the film really starts to get interesting. This is also the portion of the film that has the most social commentary (all about consumerism). They find a way into the mall and hide in a storage area at first. They soon decide they want to go down into the mall and check out what is in the stores. This is probably the most fun part of the film as Roger and Peter have a blast go through the department store and get the things they want. They are able to avoid the zombies and get the supplies, they are also able to form a plan about how to survive here. The zombies seem fairly easy to manage if you keep them in small enough numbers. Things change when they attempt to put trucks in front of the entrances to the mall. Roger is bitten and you see the slow process of him turning into a zombie. Before he dies they are able to finish killing all of the zombies in the mall and secure it.

   
Up until Roger turns into a zombie, things seem like they can be okay. It seems like they can make a life in this mall but it quickly changes. Another group of survivors (led by horror legend Tom Savini) finds the mall and storms into it with guns blazing. They let all of the zombies back into the mall and pretty much everything goes to hell.

Final Thoughts-

I see why people like this as it is a poignant social commentary, a cool story, has some memorable moments and is pretty campy. That being said I did not find it to be all that scary. I think its an important film to watch for fans of the genre but it definitely isn't one of my favorites.

MY RATING-

3.5 out of 5

-Chris "Da Franchize" Hart

Horror Movie Reviews: 28 Weeks Later

28 Weeks Later (2007)
Director: Juan Carlos Fresnadillo
Starring: Robert Carlyle, Rose Byrne, Jeremy Renner, Imogen Poots
IMDB: 7.0
RT: 71
Box Office: $64.2 Million (Worldwide)

Summary-

 28 weeks after the outbreak the people infected with the virus have starved to death and a US led NATO force is attempting to resettle London. A carrier of the virus gets into the the facility and the virus starts to spread all over again.




Review (SPOILERS!)-

The opening sequence may be my favorite part of the whole film. It begins with Don (Robert Carlyle) and his wife who are living in a country cottage with some people. They let in a little boy who is on the run from some zombies and they quickly break into the house. There is a desperate scramble to get out of the house and Don leaves his wife and escapes out a window. He then runs across a field to a boat where another one of his group is trying to get out but is bit and turns into a zombie as well. He manages to get out and then it jumps to 28 weeks later. This scene is exhilarating and you really feel the emotions of this guy as he escapes. You see how people will do anything in order to survive, even if it means abandoning your loved ones. We then get information that explains what has occurred since the outbreak of the virus. This is where I start to have issues with this film because it seems like the people in charge are making very stupid decisions. They decide to start resettling people into London even though they have not even decontaminated the entire city let alone the country. I can't imagine the world leaders would be that stupid.

Shit they gone eat me!

We then are introduced to Tammy (Imogen Poots) and Andy (Mackintosh Muggleton) who are kids moving into this new London settlement. It is revealed that they are the children of Don who has been living at this place for a while. He has to tell them that their mom is dead but they are going to start getting back to normal life. We are also introduced to Scarlet (Rose Byrne) who is an Army doctor and Doyle (Jeremy Renner) who is an Army Sniper. Apparently everything is safe as all of the zombies have died off but the Military has not finished getting rid of all the bodies so the citizens are kept in a confined area. Of course once this idea is established the kids instantly leave the safe area in order to find a picture of their mom from their house. They then find their mom hiding in the house and the military comes and finds them. This all seemed a bit farfetched for me. How the hell did she get out of the house in the opening sequence without getting killed? I get why she would go to the family home in London but that also seems like it would have been a long journey on foot.

Rose Byrne and Jeremy Renner

She is then brought back to the facility and Scarlet examines her and discovers she is a carrier of the disease but is immune to it. The husband comes back to apologize to her for leaving and when they kiss he is exposed to the virus and changes into a zombie. This starts another outbreak of the virus as he escapes and starts infecting other people. It becomes pure chaos and the Military enacts Code Red which means they have to exterminate the population to prevent the virus from spreading. They start killing all of the civilians and fire bomb the whole complex but the zombies still get out into the rest of the city. The rest of the film follows Scarlet, Doyle, Tammy and Andy as they attempt to survive. Doyle helicopter pilot friend gives him a location that he can be extracted and the group heads for that spot. This whole part of the film is pretty well paced and exciting. You get a lot more zombie killing and violence in this than in the original film which should appeal to some.  

Helicopter vs Zombies

The transition from 2nd to 3rd act is pretty weak as they both kind of flow together. The problem with this is that the final act feels a bit repetitive but the pace is brisk enough that the film doesn't drag. Most of the people in the group get killed but eventually they do manage to get out alive but they leave it open for a sequel as they show zombies loose in front of the Eiffel Tower before the credits roll.

Final Thoughts-

This is a much more polished looking film than the original but the story is a significant step down. The characters are very flat and there really isn't much of a message like the first film. This is a film more about getting from point A to point B and trying to cram in as much blood and scares along the way as it can. I don't think that's necessarily a bad thing as the film is very entertaining, I just wish there was a bit more meat to it. I would have liked more plot development about the Military and what they where doing and more about this community they set up. Overall I still had some fun with this movie and would be intrigued to see a third installment in the franchise at some point.

MY RATING-

3 out of 5

-Chris "Da Franchize" Hart    

Horror Movie Reviews: Chris Reviews 28 Days Later

28 Days Later (2002)
Director: Danny Boyle
Starring: Cillian Murphy and Naomie Harris
IMDB: 7.7
RT: 87
Box Office: $82.7 Million (Worldwide)

Summary- 

After animal rights activists let out infected chimpanzees, a virus sweeps across Great Britain. Jim (Cillian Murphy) wakes up 28 days after the outbreak to an abandoned London. He meets Selena (Naomie Harris) and together with Frank (Brenadan Gleeson) and his daughter they attempt to find somewhere safe from the infected people.


Review (SPOILERS!)-

I am pretty new to the Zombie genre. I have always had an interest in post apocalyptic films because its a genre my dad likes a lot but I had never seen many zombie films. The Walking Dead was really what sparked my interest and now I really want to dig into this genre. 28 Days Later was a film I had always heard great things about and it looked interesting from the few scenes I had seen.

The films opens with some animal rights activists breaking into an animal testing facility. They plan to release some chimpanzees despite a scientist warning them that they are infected with "Rage". The chimpanzees get out and attack the people and after they are bitten the people turn into blood puking, crazed zombies. It then cuts to "28 Days Later" and Jim waking up in a hospital bed. He gets out of the hospital and starts wandering the streets of London and there is no one in sight. I really liked the cinematography in the opening few scenes but the intentionally bad video quality really bothered me. All of the colors are very muted and the whole film looks like it was shot on a SD Sony Handycam or something. I was able to get passed that later in the film but initially it really bothered me.

Jim wandering through London

After wandering around for a bit he goes into a church and sees bodies laying everywhere. He attempts to talk to the people in there and they try to attack him. He starts to run and is rescued by Selena and another person. They explain the situation to him and then come with him to his house as he wants to know what happened to his parents. He finds out there dead and then during the night they get attacked by some of the zombies and the other guy gets bit and Selena kills him instantly. You find out that it only takes about 15 seconds to start to turn. I really liked that element of the film. It makes encounters with these zombies a lot more intense in that if someone gets blood in their system you have to kill them right away, there is no time to grieve about it.  The first act wraps up with Selena and Jim being rescued by Frank (Brendan Gleeson) and them hearing about a safe zone over the radio and deciding to go for it.

Manchester on Fire

 As they make there way to this safe zone there are a couple of very interesting scenes that I liked. My favorite is when they attempt to go through a tunnel and encounter a huge pileup of cars. They plow through them and get to the other side but get a flat tire. Then hoards of rats start coming towards them as they are running from the zombies. I think that is the most intense tire changing scene I have ever seen as they manage to get the tire changed right as the zombies get to the car. There are also some more lighthearted moments such as the time they go to the grocery story or when they eat lunch and watch the horse running in the countryside. There is a nice balance of horror and happiness although I think I might have preferred to keep the tone darker throughout the whole film. When they finally reach their destination it appears to be abandoned which upsets Frank who is subsequently infected with a drop of blood that gets in his eye. Right as he is starting to change he is shot dead and they are rescued by some military personnel. This begins the third act as they are brought to a house that has become a military stronghold.   

 

The third act is where a lot of the action takes place as we not only see how this military unit fights the zombies but also fighting among the non-infected. I don't want to spoil it too much if you have not yet seen the film but suffice it to say the military guys are not good either. This leads to a violent but somewhat confusing climax. That being said there is a happy and satisfying ending to the film.

Final Thoughts-

If you really want to dig into this film you can find a lot of social commentary and symbolism. For instance when Jim wakes up in the hospital he is completely naked which is supposed to represent him being born into this world. He is innocent but is exposed to horrible violence from the infected and in the third act he becomes violent himself in order to save the people he cares about. Its an interesting social commentary and makes this film a bit more interesting than I thought it was immediately after watching it. That in combination with the solid direction and writing make this an above average horror film for me. Sure I'm not crazy about the video quality aesthetic but that does not detract enough from the film to prevent me from liking it. 

MY RATING-

3.5 out of 5

-Chris "Da Franchize" Hart  

Action Movie Reviews: Chris Reviews Escape Plan

Escape Plan (2013)-
Director: Mikael Hafstrom
Starring: Arnold Schwarzenegger and Sylvester Stallone
IMDB: 6.8
RT: 49
Box Office: $137.3 Million (Worldwide)

Summary-

Ray Breslin (Stallone) is an expert at breaking out of prisons. He has a company that is usually hired by the Federal Bureau of Prisons to test their security. He gets an offer to test a secret prison called The Tomb that contains the worlds most dangerous people captured by the CIA (Terrorists etc.). He is framed and trapped in this prison that was designed based on his ideas of how to make prisons more secure and must work with Rottmayer (Schwarzenegger) in order to escape.


Review (SPOILERS!)-

This was a film that I missed in the theaters but was initially very excited about. Unfortunately after some lackluster reviews I put it on the back burner in terms of movies I needed to watch. I wish I hadn't because I really dig this film!

The story starts with Ray Breslin as an inmate in a Prison. He gets himself put into the isolation cell after he starts a fight in the prison yard and begins to work out how to escape. It doesn't take long for him to get out and meet up with his employees Abigal (Amy Ryan) and Hush (50 Cent). After his business partner Lester Clark (Vincent D'Onofrio) explains to the police and the Warden of the Prison what happened, Breslin explains how he escaped. This whole sequence is pretty well paced and quickly establishes everything you need to know about the characters and the situation. I really liked the concept right off the bat even if the actors where a bit stiff.

After everything is established Breslin is offered a very lucrative job to test out a special prison that's privately funded to house some of the worlds most dangerous people. It immediately seems like a bad idea but Breslin goes for it anyway. When he meets the employers things go bad very quickly and he is drugged and wakes up inside the prison. This prison seems very intimidating as all the cells are glass and its in the middle of a large warehouse type room with tons of guards.

Kind of like Magneto's Prison in X-Men

The guards at this prison are brutal as you immediately see them beating the fuck out of people. I guess this is what Guantanamo Bay is like cause it seems like their are no rules for the guards. He then meets Hobbes (Jim Caviezel) who is the soft spoken, clean cut but harsh Warden. Once he gets released into the common area you see all of the typical prison movie tropes (different gangs etc). This is when we get introduced to Rottmayer who immediately takes interest in Breslin. This is where the film really starts to get interesting as Breslin has to figure out the layout of the prison and how it operates. Initially it seems like Rottmayer is to willing to be Breslin's friend which bothered me but there is a reason for it that is revealed at the end. Warden Hobbes realizes that it is Breslin who has brought into the prison and is exited because he based the designs of the prison on the book thathe wrote about prison security. This adds another challenge on top of simply breaking out of the prison.  

Action Legends conversing

The middle act of the film is mostly about Breslin trying to figure out where this prison is which becomes another complication to the story. Then the usual tropes of a prison film of planing the escape which Breslin says there are three important factors to; knowing the layout, knowing the routine and having help from the outside. Throughout the course of this middle act they figure out all three of those which sets the film up for a big finale. The main issue I had with this part of the film is that they have another plotline about Warden Hobbes wanting information about some CIA target that Rottmayer worked for. I didn't really care about that aspect of the story and simply wanted them to focus on the prison escape. That being said at the end of the film you realize that the plot point about this CIA target is pretty important.

Warden Hobbes

The final act where they escape is where all of the action is in the movie. While I think the overall escape plan is murky and not particularly creative it is still pretty exciting. There is a short but brutal fight that I liked between Breslin and the Warden's Henchman who gets thrown down a flight of metal stairs. There is also some shoot out scenes throughout out the prison as they are trying to make their escape. Once they get to the outside of the prison Rottmayer has some friends who come to rescue them in a helicopter which provides Schwarzenegger and opportunity to mow down some bad guys with a machine gun. If your into these types of movies these are the moments that you are waiting for. Then of course you have to have the moment where they kill the bad guy and say one liners. (Schwarzenegger "Have a lovely day asshole!") Once they escape the prison they quickly tie up all the lose ends although I think that is the most forced part of the whole film.

Final Thoughts-

This is clearly not the most original film or even a particularly well written one but the script is good enough to keep you interested. The characters are pretty flat but luckily when you have Stallone and Schwarzenegger you don't need dynamic characters, they just play themselves and we love them for it. The two of them carry this film and make it fun enough to be memorable. I think this is equal to if not better than either of their last solo films (Bullet to the Head, The Last Stand) and is worth watching for all action film fans!

MY RATING-

3 out of 5 

-Chris "Da Franchize" Hart