About Elwood Jones

A life long obsessive of Cult, Foreign and Obscure cinema having grown up on a diet of Godzilla and Kung Fu movies, Elwood continues to build on this obsession with all things film related, aswell as collecting Hack / Slash comics and trying to teach his son the names of all the Toho monsters amongst other nerdy pursuits.

Movie Review: Restless

Posted on December 10, 2011 by Elwood Jones

I should start by apologising if it seems from these weekly reviews that I only go to the movies to see either horror films or movies about diseases, which I understand I may have given the impression over these last few reviews….well all of them really, but honestly this week was supposed to continue my “Alternative Christmas” theme, by checking out the new Harold and Kumar movie, but thanks to a number of issues which it’s not worth going into, I missed the first showing and was facing over an hour in the freezing cold waiting for the next showing, unless I choose to instead go see something else instead and hence I found myself sitting in a pretty much empty movie theatre watching this latest offering from Indie art house favourite Gus Van Sant, who despite having flirted with mainstream movie making with the likes of “Milk” and “Good Will Hunting” as well as a misguided attempt to remake “Psycho” has largely remained on the indie side of film making, clearly preferring the artistic freedom which it allows him, somthing especially seen in his dissection of the Columbine High School shooting, as well as daily school life on the whole via numerous view points as seen in “Elephant”.

Now Van Sant brings us the story of Abbie (Mis Wasikowska) a girl who has terminal brain cancer and falls for Enoch (Henry Hopper), a boy who likes to attend funerals and who is also friends with Hiroshi (Ryo Kase) the ghost of a Japanese kamikaze pilot. As the two start to build their relationship through a shared outlook on the world around them, while knowing that the clock is counting down for Abbie.

Okay the key thing to note here is that although Abbie has terminal cancer, it is terminal brain cancer, which essentially leaves her free to continue a relatively normal life, obsessing over birds and the work of Charles Darwin while knowing that the clock is continually ticking down on her life. This might be something which might nark more than a few people off, especially as it’s far from a realistic portrayal of terminal disease and certainly doesn’t aim for the same harsh realities that “50 / 50”. Still despite the bad timing on her and Enoch meeting, she is open about her condition and both are well aware of the end result for their relationship, but it’s not sure how attractive this particular fact it to Enoch especially with his morbid fascination of death which he satisfies largely through his funeral gate crashing habit, which also helps to provide their first meeting.

Still both Abbie and Enoch are wanderers between life and death, to the point were the rest of the world might aswell not exist and it’s upon this path that Enoch’s imaginary friend Hiroshi also wanders, as seemingly Enoch’s only connection to any kind of humanity outside of his aunt, as the two regularly spend their evenings ironically playing Battleships while trying to figure out what Enoch’s relationship with Abbie means.

Sadly the script shows a lot of first timer mistakes meaning that it never really connects with the audience, despite Van Sant clearly going for the same kind of surreal free flow which made “Lost In Translation” so memorable, but thanks to glaring character flaws it often proves hard to connect to these characters, especially when characters are introduced with little or not introduction to only disappear as quickly. The other main flaw here is with the casting of Hopper, who frequently struggles to play Enoch with the right kind of aloofness we’d expect from his character, while any scenes requiring him to express any real emotion, usually providing mixed results, especially as he certainly is clearly not processing the same level of frenzied talent his father (Dennis) processed and as a result is often left to be supported by the superior Wasikowska who has slowly crafting a name for herself over the last couple of years most memorably in the titular role in “Alice In Wonderland”, yet she still have that unknown edge which works to advantage her as it allows her performance to viewed without any preconceived ideas as what to expect, with her performance here reminiscent to the much missed indie cool years of Scarlett Johansson.

Danny Elfman provides a surprisingly non fantastical score which helps to frame the action happening on screen, while maintaining the indie feel that Van Sant is keen to bring to the film, though the unrelenting soundtrack did prove a little grating especially as at times it felt like I was just watching the film with the radio on, especially as there is barely a shot in this movie which is not accompanied by Elfman’s soundtrack which in the hands of a lesser director could have been used to turn the film into yet another commercial tearjerker, which thankfully it restrains from, even poking fun at such films with a horribly cheesy fake death scene.

What will no doubt tick off most folks though will be the similarities between this film and “Harold and Maude” the similarities of which also immediately sprung to mind when I read the plot outline, but what will no doubt tick the struggling scriptwriters off is how even with such similarities the film still got pushed through, thanks to Jason Lew’s friendship with Bryce Dallas Howard who also produces this film, as does her father Ron Howard and a quick google search will no doubt produce numerous results which accuse this of being another Hollywood Kid’s movie. Still at best it’s a fun distraction at best, especially when Van Sant is clearly just sleepwalking through the direction as this is far from his best work, but more a gentle introduction to his indie films, letting the pretty cinematography by Harris Savides do most of the work, whom Van Sant here once again teams up with and which honestly shows Portland in an interesting new light, than the warped imagery that Chuck Palahniuk has spent the best part of his writing career attaching to it.

Cancer seems to the disease of choice for indie film makers as of late, especially with the release of “50 / 50” which it would seem has overshadowed this film, despite being released first, but then you really only have to look at the plot to know why most folks have chosen to give it a miss, which is a shame as it’s a beautifully surreal movie which oozes Indie cool as Van Sant returns to familiar territory as he teams up with first time screenwriter Jason Lew to bring us the indie film worlds take on terminal illness.

Cinema Obscura: The Star Wars Holiday Special

Posted on December 6, 2011 by Elwood Jones

Cinema Obscura – a weekly trek through the darker and frequently more random and forgotten regions of Cult, Foreign and Obsure cinema and pretty much everything in between. Each week highlighting a film worth hunting down, for those who like to wander away from the more traveled roads of Mainstream cinema

On May 25, 1977 George Lucas created with “Star Wars” the summer blockbuster, launching a saga which go onto be one the most popular franchises of all time, while giving nerdy males like myself something to fill all that time we had on our hands from you know not being able to talk to girls etc, while raking in $4.41 Billion in box office revenue from the films alone and this doesn’t include the money generated from the countless spin off’s and merchandise…because after all no home is complete without it’s glow in the dark lightsaber!

Needless to say George Lucas has frequently tried to torpedo his cash cow with some shall we say interesting directions in which he chose to take the franchise with the first of these being in “Return of Jedi” which introduced the Ewoks, a creation which grew out of his desire to have a village of Wookies which somehow turned into these monstrosities which as we all know, were greeted by much disgust by the fan base, while also being one of the few cute and cuddly characters that people didn’t mind seeing being blown up. Still these would seem quite passable by the time that “The Phantom Menace” finally came out sixteen years later and unleashed the now legendary (and not in a good way) “Jar Jar Binks” which once again caused further venom to be unleashed by the fan verse as well as the occasional burning effigy, as Lucas had finally managed to create something even crappier than those bloody teddy bears!!

Alas there would be something would top both these thing in terms of overwhelming badness, so much so that it would only ever be shown once in 1978 only to ever reappear on bootleg VHS copies as all those involved tried to forget it had ever been created. I am of course talking about “The Star Wars Holiday Special” and seeing how this December I am celebrating an “Alternative Christmas” looking at the films which might be set at Christmas but are anything but traditional in the vision of the festive season they provide, in a series of reviews both here in this column as well as over my blog “From The Depths of DVD Hell“, so what better time to revisit this rightfully forgotten cash in.

Riding high on success of “A New Hope” the story follows Han Solo and Chewbacca as they travel to Chewbacca’s home planet Kashyyk to celebrate Life Day with Chewie’s family who comprise of his father Itchy, his wife Malla and son Lumpy all of which would be later retconned to Attichitcuk, Mallatobuck and Lumpawarrump, rather than taking the more sensible choice of just killing them off. Still these bargain basement Wookie costumes you best get used to watching, as they are you main company for pretty much the whole run time of this thing, while their various grunts and growls are even more nonsensical when they are the only characters on screen, often meaning that Art Carney seen here as the trader and family friend Saun Dann is left to try and string things together for those of us who don’t speak Wookie, while the audience wonders why they aren’t getting to see their favourite heroes instead of these second rate characters

Meanwhile the Empire are busy searching for rebel agents on the planet after losing Han and Chewie, whose attempts to elude the Empire once again forms the mainback bone of the plot, which is intercut with random cameo appearances by Luke Skywalker, C3PO, R2-D2 and Princess Leia, aswell as several variety show style segments, musical performances and a cartoon, all of which add up to a two hour car wreck of a holiday cash in.

Still what is most interesting about this special is that all the cast return to play their characters, something unheard of for a special of this type and something which they would all later regret upon the release of the final product, with Lucas rarely commenting on it and seemingly refusing to acknowledge it’s existence, while Carrie Fisher would provide her commentary for the Star Wars DVD’s on the condition that Lucas gave her a copy, somthing which she openly admits to showing at parties, usually when she wants everyone to leave. Still these appearances outside of Chewie and Han Solo are pretty much glorified guest appearances with the majority of the special being left to Chewie’s family to irritate the audience with their painfully unfunny attempts at humour while preparing for Life Day or eluding the Empire.

Still if the antics of Chewie’s family were not annoying enough we also get even more unlikable characters introduced via various celebrities of the time who will no doubt be unrecognizable to most people not born back then, as they try to earn some cool points and no doubt an easy pay check off the back of the Star Wars craze, so hence we get Harvey Korman (yep i’ve no idea who he is either) showing up in three separate skits, with the most memorable of these being the mildly amusing “Cooking with Chef Gormanda” a four armed cook who Malla struggles to keep up with. Meanwhile his appearance as a malfunctioning droid in an instructional video is just painful to watch. Still slightly better is “Golden Girls” star Bea Arthur as a bar tender at Mos Eisley cantina, which also see’s a welcome return of the various residents and cantina band, though her bursting into “Good Night, But Not Goodbye” will have you quickly looking for the fast forward button.

This random musical interlude is not the only questionable musical moment, as Princess Leia even bursts into a song set to the tune of the Star Wars theme, which unsurprisingly didn’t catch on and hence why you always get folks trying to warble the instrumental version. I did wonder though why “What do you buy a Wookie for Christmas, when he already has a comb” didn’t make the special.

Outside of the amateur hour operatic’s we also get musical performances by both “Jefferson Starship” and “Diahann Carroll” both of which quickly descend into 2001 style acid trip light shows , while Carroll’s performance is creepily watched by Chewie’s father as Carroll informs him that she is his “fantasy” while inviting him to “experience her”, while certainly not made any less creepy by the fact that Itchy is sitting in a machine pressing buttons which supposedly control the experience, which also brings into question if sex with a wookie is classed as bestiality?

So while the majority of the special is plain garbage there is still one good thing to come out of this and like the penny in the pile of shit, it is the first ever appearance of Boba Fett!! That’s right the coolest character in the whole of the Star Wars Universe made his debut here in the cartoon segment of the special, which take the term “Artistic License” to whole new level meaning that we get a rubbery looking R2-D2 and a version of Han Solo which bares a striking resemblance to Mick Jagger. Still it’s a fun first appearance for Boba Fett and is the only real reason to sit through the rest of the special which no doubt explains why it’s in the third quarter and not at the start.

To say that the special is flawed, is to put things lightly as honestly it deserves to have any copy in existence gathered up and burned and should in no reason what so ever be attempted to view while sober, with laces in your shoes or without atleast a couple of friends to heckle to hell out of it, neither of which I had for this last viewing which created an experience which is nothing short of cinematic root canal surgery…..you have been warned!!

Movie Review: The Thing

Posted on December 3, 2011 by Elwood Jones

John Carpenter’s “The Thing” in my own humble opinion, is without a doubt one of the scariest movies ever made, while released when Carpenter was working at the peak of his directing talent and a loving remake of the equally classic “The Thing From Another World” with Carpenter taking full advantage of the skills of Special effects wizardry of Rob Bottin to bring to life some truly hellish visions, which obviously wasn’t possibly for the original to pull off with it’s B-movie budget, even if it’s gasoline throwing sequence still looks equally amazing today.

So perhaps it was with some hesitation that I approached this latest big budget remake of a horror classic, which thankfully doesn’t try to remake Carpenter’s vision but refreshingly instead serves as a prequel to those events, as a Norwegian research team based in Antarctica accidently stumble across a buried alien space craft aswell as the frozen body of it’s alien pilot, which they decide to bring back to their base to study further. Unsure as to what they have found head scientist Dr Sander Halvorson (Ulrich Thomsen) and his assistant Adam Finch (Eric Christian Olsen), bring in paleontologist Kate Lloyd (Mary Elizabeth Winstead) only to find out to late that the body in the ice is still alive, as it escapes and being taking on the appearance of the research team, as mistrust begins to run rampant as they struggle to identify which of them is human and which of them is the thing.

It’s unsurprisingly that this release has been greeted with the usual hostility from some members of the Horror community, who view any remake of an established classic as nothing short of being sacrilegious, which is a shame really as this latest remake plays more like a big budget fan fiction than anything resembling a remake and in that sense makes it more comparable to Zack Snyder’s equally fun remake of “Dawn of the Dawn” the producers of which Marc Abraham and Eric Newman are also behind this film aswell, which plays well for the film especially as they were ultimately responsible for this film being a prequel rather than yet another remake, rightly defining Carpenter’s original as “Perfect” and any attempt to remake it would be similar to “Paint(ing) eyebrows on the Mona Lisa”. So here we are introduced to another group of potential alien chowder, who despite this time being largely comprised of educated scientists are still in many ways are the same kind of blue collar workers that we saw in the original, while their mix of Norwegian’s and American’s makes for another interesting angle with Director Matthijs van Heijningen Jr. insisting quite rightfully that the Norwegian scientists frequently speak in their native tongue, which adds a delightfully inventive new level to the continually rising sense of paranoia.

Still what is clear throughout is how much of a fan of the original that Heijningen is, as he not only treats the source material with great respect, but also manages to capture the same claustrophobic atmosphere while making it equally hard to spot the real scientists from their alien clone, while he also ensures that the links to the original or plentiful many of which will raise a smile from the fans of the original, while also finding time to cleverly reference classic moments by given them a slight twist as the blood test is now replaced with Kate suspensefully checking each of the team members teeth for spaces were fillings are supposed to be, after discovering that the thing is unable to replicate metal, while the first time we meet Kate she is shown examing a cadaver which bares a striking resemblance to the thing dog hybrid from the original.

Sadly we are not given any form of new insights into what the thing exactly is, while it’s personal motives proves frustratingly less clear, as it is first setup as trying to escape the frozen landscape by imitating members of the team, so that it might potentially infect a larger population, a theory which is soon dashed when it attacks the crew of the escape chopper hence removing it’s easiest route of escape. Next it’s that the thing just wants to kill everyone at the research station, before then seemingly decided it would rather just escape in it’s spaceship, though seeing how the craft has been buried for the last 10,000 years makes even less sense outside of providing a unique location for the final showdown, yet still leaves the nagging question as to if it still is as fully functional as it seems, why not escape this way long before now?

Still if you find the motives of the thing baffling you may find the distinct lack of character development even more frustrating with most of the scientists interchangeable to each other, seeing how the team is largely comprised of burley bearded Norwegians, with Heijningen doing little to help them standout from each other, to the point were it seems only the Americans and a handful of key characters are easy to identify.

The cast who get parts bigger than Norwegian scientist #2 are all likable enough with Thomsen good fun as the Dr. Halvorson whose own personal research clearly takes presidence over the lives of his team, while Winstead embodies the tough Dr. Lloyd who shares more than a few traits with Ripley from the “Alien” saga as she brings another female alien ass-kicker to life, with Winstead looking equally comfortable in her lab coat as she does welding a flame thrower.

Thanks to CGI being sadly the preference over practical effects these days, it is unsurprising that the thing is largely a CGI creation this time around, which also allows for a whole new set of hellish forms for it to take, which feature heavy use of whip cracking tentacles and teethed appendages, while also demonstrating a whole new set of tricks rather than just recycling the fan favorites. Still it would seem that Heijningen is not a director to hold back, especially as he equally rivals the gore quota of the original with bodies being melded into each other and torn appendages taking on a life of their own, there is plenty to enjoy while the scientists are not slow to break out the flamethrowers once the thing makes it’s first appearance, which did have me asking as to why for a non military lab that they processed so many? I’m not sure if this column has any arctic based scientists who read it, but if anyone wants to shed any light on these, then please feel free to do so.

While it may not be on the same level as the original, it still provides a fun companion piece which helps further the mythology of the thing, perhaps as this film further proves one of Sci-horrors greatest unsung heroes and while it would be nice to see a whole heap of monster movies follow in it’s wake or further additions to the series, this film provides enough gooey fun to tie you over in the meantime…. just make sure you eat before you watch it.

Movie Review: 50 / 50

Posted on November 26, 2011 by Elwood Jones

It’s probably safe to say that Cancer isn’t exactly the most prime of choices for comedy and judging by how noticeably empty the theatre was when I saw this film, it seems that a lot of people seem to have come to the same conclusion. Still with a script by Will Reiser who himself battled and won his own fight against “The Big C” he has here crafted a fantastic script based on these experiences which certainly doesn’t tread on eggshells around such delicate subject matter.

Drawing from his own experiences he bring us the tale of Adam (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) a Seattle based radio researcher, whose sole problems seem to be a lack of sex with his Artist girlfriend Rachael (Bryce Dallas Howard), getting to work on time and what seems like some minor back problems. It is soon the latter which throws his world into turmoil as he discovers that it is being caused by a malignant neurofibroma-sarcoma schwannoma (try saying that after a couple of drinks) a rare form of cancer with a survival rate of which the film draws its title.

Still Adam doesn’t have to fight this battle on his own, as he finds support from his long term friend and full term slacker Kyle (Seth Rogan), who also frequently uses Adam’s conditions, to their…..well mainly his own sexual advantage to pick up girls, while also receiving support from trainee councillor Kate (Anna Kendrick) and for whom he is only her third patient and from whose sessions an unlikely friendship begins.

Following Adam throughout his battle, he maintains a largely positive front despite soon discovering that his girlfriend is dealing with things slightly less well, clearly having signed on to be his girlfriend and not his nurse, while still feeling the pressure to stand by her man yet she refuses to attend his treatments allowing her own personal dislike of hospitals to take precedence and generally struggling to deal with the situation, leading to best friend Kyle proving to be the unlikely pillar of support even as Adam’s situation grows increasingly grim, with Rogan clearly drawing from his own experiences as the best friend of Will Resier you have a real sense that the role was written specifically for him to play, especially when so many of their shared experiences make reappearances here and while Rogan might be pulling out the same stoner chic, which he has carved a living from over the last few years made his calling card, here it more of a throwback to “Knocked Up” (2006) as he tones down his usual frantic energy to allow the natural humour to shine through.

The humour throughout never feels forced outside of the occasional outrageous one liners which are unsurprisingly given to Rogan, yet at the same time it feels wrong to mark this as a comedy, for humour is shown frequently here as shown more as a coping method of handling the situation, than anything resembling cheap laughs from which is essentially an extremely grim subject and it’s a black veined humour which runs throughout this film, which such memorable quips including “The more syllables it has, the worse it is” as joked by prostate cancer patient Mitch (Matt Frewer) during a post chemo chat over hash macaroons a man who is almost like the living representation of acceptance, the fifth and final step on the “five stages of grief”, the stages of which Kate struggles to guide Adam through as she battles her own confidence issues, having still not earned her doctorate and not having the experience to provide all the answers with Kendrick herself describing this character as “the worst therapist in the world”.

With Kate and Kyle providing Adam with his main support Adam also finds himself receiving slightly less wanted support from his mother Diane played here by the always fantastic Anjelica Huston, who again makes such a small role still memorable, as she is already caring for her Alzheimer’s stricken husband yet still is insistent on dropping everything to move in and care for her son as well, while Adam’s attempts to subtly break it to her about his diagnosis by opening with the questionable “Have you ever seen Terms of Endearment?” easily being one of my favourite moments of the film.

Levine has assembled a great cast with Gordon-Levitt once again pulling off another memorable lead performance, while maintaining his indie charms despite recently making more mainstream movies as his profile has risen in the last few years and receives great support from the rest of the cast, who are all equally believable in their roles so that you actually care for these characters, especially during some of the darker moments and Levine effortlessly manages to shift the tone between these moments

“50/50” is yet another great film to come out of what has been a fantastic year for cinema and while it’s subject matter will no doubt leave it to be truly only discovered once it’s released on DVD, much like director Jonathan Levine’s previous indie gem “The Wackness” (2008) and again like my review for “Drive” I feel I that I’m truly not doing it justice with this review, even more so when I came home from having watched the film and tried to explain to my wife about the film, only to be greeted with confusion over how a film about cancer could be both funny and not drowned in the usual over emotional tones and as such I can really only urge you to go and watch it yourself to truly understand just how good this film really is.

Cinema Obscura: The Wizard of Gore

Posted on November 22, 2011 by Elwood Jones

Since exploding on the scene towards the end of 2001, the “Suicide Girls” have become somthing of a culture phenomenom, having burst out of thier web based roots to the point were they are now considered the alt-scene rival to both “Hustler” and “Playboy” with founder Missy Suicide frequently going on record with her claims that they recive more submissions than both those magazines combined. As the years have gone by and the profile of the site has grown, thanks largely to various celebrity endorsements from the likes of Foo Fighters frontman Dave Grohl, it was really only really a matter of time before the Suicide Girls turned thier attentions to the moviesand this 2007 remake of the Herschell Gordon Lewis original marked a pre-emptive strike by the girls to break into the market before releasing “Suicide Girls Must Die!” in 2010.

I should state at this point before I go any further that I am looking at this film, purely on it’s own merits, rather than drawing comparisons to the 1970 Herschell Gordon Lewis original, which some of you no doubt hold dear like it’s director the legendry grandmaster of splatter and will no doubt be up in arms about someone daring to remake one of his films, but seeing how I last watched the original, a couple of years back and not being able to find a copy in time for this review, I have for this reason decided to just look at this film on it’s own, without drawing comparisions between the original and this remake.

Edmund Bigelow (Kip Pardue) is a reporter for his own underground newspaper, obsessed with the obscure and bizarre nightlife of the Post Punk LA he lives in. After watching one of the elaborate magic shows put on by Montag The Magnificent (Crispin Glover), a magician with very dark twist as in his shows he seemingly kills members of the audience in various gory ways, only for them to appear unharmed at the end of the trick. However when these volunteers, start turning up dead in ways similar to how they appeared to die on stage, Edmund decides to conduct his own investigation.

Opening with a blood drenched Edmund, as he staggers towards a strip club, clutching the latest issue of his newspaper, his Noir Esq. voice over gives us a quick background on his character, as it’s safe to say this film hits the ground running, throwing us head first into this decaying Post Punk version of LA, which Director Jeremy Kasten has chosen as the setting for his retelling of the Splatter classic which he has chosen to use as the base for his love letter to the LA Underground scene.

What first becomes apparent with this remake, is the overwelming feeling it that the Director Kasten wasn’t sure how he could tell a Noir style psychothriller, within this world he has created, somthing which might go along way to explaining why both Edmund and his girlfriend Maggie, are dressed like they are from the 1940’s with thier retro tastes also stretching to their home life aswell, with Edmund’s apartment being decorated with various old fashioned items from the period, while meanwhile the majority of the inhabitants of this world he has chosen for his setting are dressed more Punk or just with the sole intention of causing offence, such as characters like Hans (Bob Rusch) who appears during the first of Montag’s performances wearing a Nazi uniform, while during the opening party scenes we also get a quick shot of “Blood Wrestling”, which was ironically only added after several of the Suicide girls who had turned up to be party extra’s bugged Kasten to have them killed in the film and as a compromise created this scene, which actually works well in developing Edmund’s character, as he just smiles upon seeing this scene of naked women wrestling in blood, clearly having become immune at this point, from being shocked by this underground world, he has become fascinated with, while at the same time preferring it seems to remain an observer, rather than joining in and it’s Montag’s performance’s which to his suprise actually manages to shock him, despite him initially dismissing the act.

Montag’s performances are all equally bloody and gooey, as the (unwitting) volunteers appear to get killed in a number of horrible ways which include being burned alive and death by bear traps. The volunteers played here by Suicide girls Flux Suicide, Cricket Suicide, Nixon Suicide and Amina Munster (who makes the most of having no leg in real life, by having it torn off in the film) are all suprisingly convincing as actors for the small amount of screen time which they have, especially Flux who actually has one of the more important scenes of the film, but even more suprising is that you never once do you get the feeling that, they have been used just because of their “Suicide Girl” links or as that the film is some kind of shameless “Suicide Girls” plus, especially after all it is one of the selling points of the DVD to lure weak minded men / women folk like myself, drawn in by the “Featuring the suicide girls” tagline on the DVD cover.

Director Kasten has assembled a great group of horror heavyweights including Crispin Glover, Jeffrey Combs, Brad Dourif all of which are great in their respective rolls, with Glover acting truely off the hook with a performance which is almost hypnotic with his showmanship as the Magician Montag, as he prances around the stage while constantly addressing his audience with his random rants about the embodiment of self. Meanwhile Jeffery Combs is almost unrecognisable, until the end of the film as “The Geek”, spending the film dressed like a crazy homeless person, as he provides the warm up act for the show, biting the heads of rats and performing other equally disgusting acts, much to the intended repulsion of the gathered crowd. Brad Dourif is basically back in his usual crazy role as Doctor Chong, which is the kind of role we have to come to expect from him, when he is not providing the voice of the Psycho doll Chucky in the “Childs Play” films. Meanwhile the rest of the cast do a great job with Kip Pardue more than capable of playing the lead, keeping the audience intrigued, while never giving the final twist away, as he forces the audience to see only what Edmund see’s, uncovering the puzzle one piece at a time as he slowly puts it all together. I also should mention that this is probely one of the few films, were I havn’t been truly irritated by Bijou Phillips, who usually I find either too sleazy or just plain annoying, but here I felt none of that and was suprisingly sold on the apparent innocence of her character Maggie, who is clearly not as comfortable in this alternative world as Edmund seems to be, constantly sticking close to him when confronted with anything that invades her little bubble of innocence that she has created for herself, while often appearing shocked at just how deep into this world Edmund has immersed himself.

The main problem I have with this film though, is mainly with how it is many ways attempting to fight well above it’s weight, with the story often getting confusing with the numerous layers, which Director Kasten has chosen to add to his vision, meaning that we are often bogged down in confusing visuals and making it hard to distinguish between the dream world and reality, somthing which it seems is clearly his intention, seemingly being representive of the mental state of Edmund though perhaps in the hands of another director, more familiar with this dream like style of film making, as sadly it detracts from what is generally a very watchable film. Still despite these issues I would certainly be interested in seeing more of his films, as the experience of watching “Wizard of Gore” certainly didn’t leave a bad taste in my mouth, unlike so many remakes that are churned out these days, it’s just more of a confused feeling that I now have to contend with.“Wizard of Gore” might get the backs up of the Herschell Gordon Lewis fanbase and will no doubt be stumbled upon by fans drawn in more by the names featured on the cover, but it is certainly a film that deserves a watch (or two) as it is a film that has managed to atleast escape the taboo of being a remake, to the point were it is a note worthy film on its on merits, even if it’s minus points will no doubt lose it more fans than it gains, while perhaps proving to be one of the more intresting things that the “Suicide Girls” have attached thier marketing machine to.

Cinema Obscura: Panic Button

Posted on November 15, 2011 by Elwood Jones

It’s safe to say that this era will be defined as the “the social networking” era, especially as it seems the majority of us can’t get through the day without our Facebook / Twitter fix and I know that i’m certainly no exception to this. So what better time could there be for “Panic Button” to come along, the second feature by English writer / director Chris Crow who has made this movie which supposedly attempts to highlight the dangers of social networking sites, especially with it’s Dan Brown esq title card “Inspired by true stories shared via social networks”.

The plot is honestly nothing too special as four strangers a brought together after winning a competition for an all expenses paid trip to New York on fictional social networking site “All2gether.com”. Having given up their mobile phones, the group board their private jet, were they are greeted by a mysterious voice represented by a cartoon Alligator, who appears on the numerous monitors in the plane, who proceeds to invite them all to play a series of games, in a bid to win even more prizes. It’s only once the games begin that the group realise that things might not be what they seem and even more so that they should really have read the terms and conditions.

The group though small in number are interesting enough from the first impressions we get from them as we have single mum Jo (Scarlett Alice Johnson), the geeky computer nerd Max (Jack Gordon), the laddish Dave (Michael Jibson) and the bubbly blonde Gwen (Elen Rhys), but it’s once the games start that we truly learn who these characters really are, as their darkest secrets are dredged from their internet histories and social network pages and put on show for the others to see, as director Crow reminds us just how much information we send across the internet on a daily basis and what it can possibly revel about us. Though small in numbers especially when compared to the group numbers in similar films, they still manage to have enough dark secrets to compensate and the claustrophobic setting of the aircraft cabin certainly working to the advantage of such a small number of potential victims.

The cast are all unknowns yet still pull off believable performances, with the anonymity certainly working to their advantage here as no one is viewed with any preconceived notions of what sort of characters any of the group really are. Joshua Richards however seems to be channeling Brian Cox for his portrayal of the mysterious voice known funnily enough only as “Alligator” seeing how he’s represented by surprise! Surprise! of all things a talking alligator. Still this Brian Cox inspired voice acting is a great choice, especially seeing how Cox was so memorable with his own commentary in brutal PS2 game “Manhunt” and it’s a similar switching between playful and taunting that Richards brings to the role, which proves to be one of the stronger parts of the film, especially as he continually gives the impression of being in complete control, even as the group try to fight against the game they are being forced to play.

Premiering at this years “Horrorfest” it’s premise made it instantly one of the most talked about films of the festival, with its premier being greeted with much excitement and honestly the first thirty minutes of this movie are really great with the tension slowly being cranked up, as the games start of innocent enough with truths about the groups members being exposed to revel such fun facts as who secretly has a pierced scrotum, only to then suddenly take on a much darker edge, as the once playful voice suddenly becomes a lot more taunting and with the plane in flight it leaves the group with no were to run and zero means of escape, leaving them fully in the hands of this anonymous voice. Sadly it’s around this point that the film soon starts to loose it’s way as the group members are each assigned their own individual tasks causing a serious break in the tension, as the film now starts to feel as if it has no place to really go and is essentially padding out its run time, with this drawn out final game.

The main problem for myself with the film, is that it tries to keep the focus purely on the group, no doubt due to budget restrictions which makes sense to keep the action purely in one setting, though without a second plot thread to keep the film flowing it results in the audience soon growing bored of these characters, especially when we know who they are which results in grinding everything to almost a standstill. A quick glance at similar films to this one only further highlight this issue, for example “Saw” (2004) is set largely around the two guys locked in a disused bathroom, but we still have the second plot-line involving Detective Tapp tracking Jigsaw to help keep the action flowing, even “Cube” (1997) had it’s series of identical interlinking rooms to throw in a few surprises, were as here it feels that they have written themselves into a corner with the setting and outside of how certain contestants meet their demise, there is very little on offer to surprise the audience once their secrets have been revealed and we know who they really are, with the final big twist almost seemingly anticlimactic once the big revel is given, while when the face behind the mysterious voice is revealed it only results in more questions as to how they managed to orchestrate the whole thing, while the epilogue is certainly undeniably chilling.

Director Crow has taken the refreshingly original direction here to keep the film largely gore free, which might be slightly disappointing for those expecting to see “Saw on a plane!” but it certainly doesn’t take anything away from the film by not painting the walls with buckets of gore and amputated limbs, which after seven “Saw” movies is a much needed breath of fresh air for the genre and proving once again that you don’t always need to gross out your audience.

Despite having it’s numerous flaws “Panic Button” is still worth a rental, even if it doesn’t exactly manage to keep up the tension the whole way through, it still plays out well enough to keep your attention, even when it feels like such minimal plotting is being stretched way too thin, while Director Crow show potential for good things, it is still way too early to start categorizing him as the new voice of British horror, he has still managed to pull off an effective film on a minimalist budget which reminds you again that a good films doesn’t always need to have big named stars and a huge budget to achieve it’s effect and perhaps with a little more tweaking this film could have been a better example of this.

Cinema Obscura: The Woman

Posted on November 8, 2011 by Elwood Jones

There are times as a critic were you will encounter a film, which makes you stop and say “I really have no idea, how the hell I’m going to review this” and much as was the case with “Martyrs” once again I’m presented with exactly the same situation, so this is going to be real interesting to see how this works out….so here goes nothing.

Lucky Mckee is probably the most indie of the new generation of horror directors, having first burst onto the horror scene with “May” (2002), he has continued to maintain his indie roots while continually proving to be one of the most exciting new horror directors currently on the modern horror scene, a reputation which he further cements with this film, which could also be his most controversial to date as he once again teams up with horror writer Jack Ketchum for his second adaptation of Ketchum’s work after previously directing “Red” (2008).

While “The Woman” is the sequel to Ketchum’s “The Offspring” it is not essential to have read that book or even seen the film version, to get into this film as it is still very much a standalone movie, country lawyer and supposed family man Chris (Sean Bridgers) capture a primal woman (Pollyanna McIntosh) he finds in the woods during a hunting expedition, whom he proceeds to chain in his cellar while making plans to “civilise” her, not realising the effect she will have on his family, who are already a fractured unit to say the least with his wife Belle (Angela Bettis) suffering from his casual abuse, while he seems to be moulding a monster in his own image with his son Brian (Zach Rand), meanwhile his eldest daughter Peggy (Lauren Ashley Carter) lives in constant fear of her father, with the only one untouched by Chris’s influence seemingly being his youngest daughter Darlin’(Shyla Molhusen), while this family clearly is a powder keg waiting to explode and the woman could be the spark to do just that.

Since its premier at Sundance “The Woman”, were a man in the audience walked out complaining about the violence and misogyny featured (as shown in a much discussed YouTube clip), it has essentially has been a hot bed of controversy since then, with Director Mckee throwing into this potent mixture torture, nudity, rape and visceral gore, but surprisingly the most shocking thing on here is the casual abuse which Chris is happy to hand out to his family, to maintain his position as the head of the household. When all these factors are combined this is far from an easy movie to watch, yet Mckee still manages to keep a vice like grip on your attention, slowly twisting the tension as he builds up to the inevitable meltdown.

The cast are all pretty much faultless with Mckee’s once again casting his long term partner in crime Angela Bettis once more and whom has appeared in all his film since, playing the titular “May” in his debut feature she has proven more than capable of adapting herself to the various roles Mckee has written for her in the past and here she perfectly embodies the character of Belle, who has now been reduced to a timid shell of a person, to the point were she unquestionably follows her husbands plans to civilise the woman, without Chris bothering to properly explain his intentions, while being certainly even less willing to stop him tearing the family apart. Bridgers is equally fantastic as Chris, easily switching between his dominating side he reserves for his family and the southern gentleman face he projects to the public on his day to day life, while only truly revealing the true depth of his evil at the climax which like his third side comes seemingly out of nowhere. Still he is very much in the mind of the end justifying his means, as he regularly beats the woman when she disobeys his commands, while not even thinking twice to use a power hose to clean the dirt of her body.

With such controversial material on display, I had to question how much the younger cast members were aware of the content of the film? Still both Carter and Rand handle their roles wells with Carter certainly being one to watch, with her portrayal of Peggy proving to be especially memorable, as she takes the audience with her on an emotional journey, as she struggles to handle the chaos around her, let alone the fact her parents are keeping a feral woman in the cellar. Yet at the same time you feel that she longs to feel the same acceptance that her father shows to her brother, frequently emasculating her appearance by cutting her hair short and wearing baggy clothes, seemingly to disguise her femininity ideas sadly not explored further, much like a last minute pregnancy accusation which comes out of nowhere, yet to which Mckee seems especially keen to nail down, even when the audience is doubting it’s plausibility, let alone that it is used as the breaking point for the family.

Rand on the other hand is more of the curious teenager and monster in the making, as his father bullies him constantly to mold him in his image, while when left to his own devices even starts imitating his father’s actions with the woman, quickly changing from the naive teenager into something a lot more dark and sinister whenever he is near the woman.

McIntosh is truly believable as the titular woman, whose statuesque figure embodies this Amazonian like character, whose very nature is deeply rooted in our most primal instincts as she lives only to further her own survival, happily chewing off Chris’s probing finger without seemingly the slightest bit faze by the violence of her acts, while communicating only in the most basic of grunts and howls. Even though she seems to understand what is happening around her, the woman remains true to her primal instincts throughout, as especially shown during the bloody climax were she truly shows what she is capable of, as she sets about extracting her own brand of revenge on her captives.

Despite several moments of extreme gore, outside of Chris loosing a finger, Mckee has make the bold decision to keep the gore for his shocking finale were he delivers in spades and truly ensures that the film gets a bloody send off, while seemingly being more happy to torture the audiences psyche until then, through scenes of Chris’s torments let alone a rape sequence which is handled in a thankfully non gratuitous manor and serves solely as a representation of the decline in morals that the woman brings out in the men in the family, as Mckee once again demonstrates a keen intellect behind his desire to shock.

While it might be easy to get caught up in the sexual politics which Mckee continually plays around with throughout to varying degrees of success, it is essentially best to leave these points open to personal interpretation, while for myself I found it to be a film which worked best when looked on as a grim portrait of picket fence hell, while proving once more that hell truly hath no fury like a woman scorned.

Cinema Obscura: Big Wednesday

Posted on November 1, 2011 by Elwood Jones

When it comes to “Big Wednesday” I feel Quentin Tarantino put it best when he said

“I don’t like surfers. I grew up in a surfing community and I thought surfers were jerks. I love Big Wednesday so much. Surfers don’t deserve this movie.”

Like Tarantino I too grew up in a surfing community, to be more precise the coastal town of Newquay in Cornwall, which you only have to ask any surfer and they will tell you it is one of the best places in England for surfing. Needless to say such information meant as a keen windsurfer, having to deal with all the egotistical surfers, who seemed to think that the sea belonged solely to them, an opinion which also seemed to stretched to the rest of the town. Now I’m not saying that all surfers are jerks, somthing especially shown when you had long boarders and short borders fighting for the same waves, which generally started a whole new set of arguments….alas, I digress as like Tarantino I am firmly in the mind that surfers do not deserve a movie this good, as this is a stone cold classic!

Over the years there have been plenty of surfing movies, from the classic Bruce Brown surf documentary “The Endless Summer” (1966) and it’s equally fun follow up the imaginatively titled “Endless Summer 2” (1994) to more bizarre Drive-in fare like “Beach Blanket Bingo” (1965), but “Big Wednesday” is by far one of the best and certainly most accessible to non surfer types like myself.

Following three friends Matt (Jan-Michael Vincent), Jack (William Katt) and Leroy (Gary Busey) over twelve years, starting with the South swell in the summer of 1962 and ending on the mythical Big Wednesday in the spring of 1974, a day prophesised by their adopted father figure and board maker Bear (Sam Melville), were the biggest and cleanest waves of all time will come. Meanwhile the boys have to deal with real life pressures as they find themselves slowly growing apart.

The three friends are all wildly different from each other from the group joker and self confessed masochist Leroy, to the eternally laid back Jack, whose establishment-prone ways also prove to be frequently responsible for the group being divided, especially when he honourably signs up for military service rather than trying to get out. Finally we have Matt who despite being the most talented surfer in the group, to the point he has become a local surfing hero, suffers from a self destructive nature with surfing seemingly being the thing which provides his only salvation from his personal demons, while the love of surfing also seems to be the one thing which keeps the group together, especially with their wildly different personalities and individual moralistic values, which would seemingly put them in different social circles to each other if they were to not share this bond, something which also seems to apply to the roller derby community, which frequently see’s friendships being formed between skaters from radically different social circles to each other, all through a shared love of the sport.

While essentially this is a movie about a group of surfers, this film is also so much more than that, as it’s also a story about growing up and having to face the frequently harsh realities of real life, in this case The Vietnam war which serves as the backdrop for the film, aswell as providing an amusing scene were the boys and their friends plot to get out of being drafted, with one members attempt at portraying himself as a homosexual, only lands him directly on a recruitment bus for the marines. What is most interesting to see is how they change as the years pass by, especially as the boys change in terms of their lifestyles as they get married and gain real life responsibilities, while society continues to change with aging surfer and surf board maker Bear being reduced from a boardwalk legends to a drunk garbage man by the films finale, making this a highly unpredictable ride at best, especially as Director John Milius resists the urge to give everyone a happy ending, for all though the boys reunite for the finale, there is still a sense that this reunion will only be temporary at best, until the next time the waves call them back together.

“Big Wednesday” was a real change in direction from the usual gung-ho action movies, such as “Conan the Barbarian” (1982) and “Red Dawn” (1984) that Milius is usually associated with and to which he would return to following the weak reception the film received on it’s release. Still with Milius being a keen surfer, this almost feels like his love letter to his sport, while also recruiting surf legends from the era such as Gerry Lopez, Peter Townend, Ian Cairns and Billy Hamilton, who might not mean much to the surf brats of today, but still provide a nice nostalgic touch to the film here, while also providing some amazing surf footage, which still holds up today especially during the finale were we are taken into a tube and can actually see the sand being churned up by the water, shots which are yet to be beaten by any film which followed. Meanwhile the cast are all fantastic with the majority of them still unknown actors at the time like horror icon Robert Englund, whose appearance here is more of a cameo while he also fills a dual role as the films narrator. Gary Busey here was was coming in hot after his Oscar nominated performance in “The Buddy Holly Story” (1978) and truly embodies his character, much like Vincent and Katt who are equally believable in their roles.

There are some critics who would grumble that the film is uneven throughout, while comparing it’s use of the Vietnam war and it’s effect on society to that seen in “The Deer Hunter” (1978), which seems like abit of a stretch when Milius seems to only want to use it as an a noteworthy event which affects the group rather than society on a whole and seems to have more of a focus on the boy’s own world changing, such as a local burger joint taking on a distinctly more hippyish theme, rather than anything resembling dramatic changes in society.

Personally I would love to see the main idea of “Big Wednesday” applied to Roller Derby, especially as the only real movie we have to represent the sport, outside of the handful of films which attempted to potray the sport such as “The Fireball” (1950) and “Kansas City Bomber” (1972), meaning that currently all we have is “Whip It” (2009) to represent us as a community and while it’s hard to argue that it hasn’t in turn vastly increased the number of girls strapping on a pair of quads and hunting down their local league, after seeing the film, I still believe that we deserve our own version of this film, but for now atleast the wait continues.

Movie Review: Contagion

Posted on October 29, 2011 by Elwood Jones

On Halloween myself and Mrs. Jones will be celebrating our second wedding anniversary, so because of this momentous occastion I decided to let her choose this weeks film for me to review, so anyone questioning the romance in going to see a film about a killer virus, should really send those questions her way

So far this year is shaping up to be a really exciting year for cinema releases and not only with independent films but also with mainstream cinema aswell, the strength of which we haven’t really seen since the last great year for cinema way back in 1999, which only makes it all the harder to write this column and not give the impression that I love every film I review, which really isn’t the case especially while Noel Clarke is still being given work as an actor of questionable talent, still sadly this film is not going to change the string of positive reviews this column has so far been, for “Contagion” is yet another great release as Steven Soderbergh puts off his retirement for a little longer, to explore the idea of a killer virus outbreak and how different groups handle the situation, while making some bold directing choices, to make it one of the least predictable films of the year.

Opening on day 2 of the epidemic, as business woman Beth Emhoff (Gwyneth Paltrow) returns from her latest trip to Hong Kong, suffering flu like symptoms which only get worse as she suddenly dies, followed soon after by her son a few days later, meanwhile her husband Mitch (Matt Damon) seems strangely immune to the disease. Meanwhile doctors at the U.S Center for Disease Control battle to indentify the virus and find a cure, as the contagion spreads to millions world wide and societal order begins to breakdown, as panic and confusion begin to take over, thanks in no part to web blogger and conspiracy theorist Alan Krumwiede (Jude Law).

“Contagion” might not be dealing with the most original plots, as there have been plenty of Virus outbreak movies in the past, the most memorable of these being “Outbreak” (1995) with its cute disease spreading monkey and while any writing class will tell you that there is no original ideas left, what Soderbergh does here is prove that there is certainly stil unique ways of handling the same story, as here he skips all the usual thriller clichés (car chases, power crazed generals imposing martial law etc) which have plagued nearly all the viral thrillers which came before it and instead focusing in an almost documentary style as he examines how a virus outbreak of such a huge scale would be dealt with, while also exploring the outbreak from as many angles as possible, from the doctors trying to combat a virus which continues to mutate, while also switching the focus throughout the film to the Matt Damon’s family man having to deal with having lost his wife and son to the virus and now struggling to protect his daughter, as social order crumbles around them. Both of these plot threads are certainly strong enough to run on their own and by making them intertwined only adds to their power. The third plot thread is more of a supporting story and comes via Jude Law’s sleazy blogger, who is blog sparks panic and hysteria amongst the public, as he continually fuels the rumour machine, taking on a prophet like status amongst his followers for being the first to break the news of the virus, while soon blurring the lines between fact and fiction to further his own causes, criticising pharmaceutical companies from getting rich off the sick, yet seemingly more than happy to pocket cash to promote a placebo cure, as he wanders the deserted streets in his biohazard suit, almost like the ruler of a kingdom of ghosts.

Soderbergh has assembled a fantastic cast of big named actors who all pull out some great performances, while Bryan Cranston puts in another great performance as the military representative, while holding his own with the more establish members of the cast with his scenes with Lawrence Fishburne, being amongst my favourites especially as the lines between personal and professional duties get blurred in the chaos. Still star power frequently proves not to be a guarantee that an actors will be making it to the end credits, as Soderbergh on several occasions catches the audience off guard by removing one of his big named stars without warning, almost as if to show that virus don’t care who their victims are, all the while as the tension is slowly cranked up as the situation continues to get worse, which sees Soderbergh not only bombarding the viewer with imagery of deserted streets and mass graves, but also the scenes of soldiers wrapping the bodies of the dead infected in plastic and grumbling on having long since run out of body bags, while Mitch watching his neighbours house being violently looted is equally chilling to watch.

What is most scary here though is how the virus is passed, which in this case is via the slightest contact with either someone infected with the virus or anything which they have touched, as the early days of the outbreak closely examine the chain of who infected who and how they each became infected, scenes which will no doubt leave you examining your own hygiene routine a lot more closely than you probably did before.

Avoiding sensationalism and concentrating on the facts, Soderbergh has crafted not only a thoughtful but also engaging film, which not only informs but draws scary comparisons to recent outbreaks such as Swine Flu and just how bad an epidemic can get if left unchecked and while Soderbergh leaves the source of his virus largely open bar giving the viewer a brief snapshot of events which lead up to the first day of the outbreak as the film closes, which might leave some viewers with a few grumbles about not having a clearly defined source, but outside of that it provides a fascinating look at virus control and immunisation with out any of the usual clichés, just don’t be surprised if you find yourself looking at your daily interactions that bit more closely.

Cinema Obscura: Plague Of The Zombies

Posted on October 25, 2011 by Elwood Jones

So since my last post i’ve been getting over a plague of my own, thanks to this darn flu which is currently going around these rain soaked British shores. So looking for some camp zombie fun and an excuse to make the first of what will no doubt be numerous delves into the back catalogue of the legendary British Horror studio “Hammer Horror” who were not only the studio of choice for Horror legends Christopher Lee and Peter Crushing, but also dominated British Horror from the mid 50’s through to the late 70’s before going into hibernation until their recent revival with the releases of “Wake Wood” (2011) and “The Resident” (2011) aswell as the forthcoming “Woman In Black” (2012).

Released back in 1966 when the studio was looking for new horrors to unleash on their audience, especially with the likes of Dracula and Frankenstein having grown stale as the result of numerous sequels. Shot back to back with “The Reptile” (1966) which would use the same sets aswell as pretty much the same cast and crew. “Plague of the Zombies” also marked another noticeable departure from the norm for Hammer,seeing how both Peter Crushing and Christopher Lee are noticeably absent having decided to take a break from the horror genre, though it is widely believed that it was more to do with looking for a larger pay check from Hammer while these films also marked the end of the more traditional horror films they had previously been making as they instead focused on making cave girl movies and selling the world on the idea that cave girls actually strutted around in fur bikini’s as so memorable seen in “One Million Years B.C.” (1966)

Set in an unnamed Cornish village during the 1800’s were the local residents seem to be dying from a mysterious plague, which has the local doctor Peter Thompson (Brook Williams) stumped and leads him to calling in assistance from his friend Sir James Forbes (André Morell) who soon arrives at the village with his daughter Sylvia (Diane Clare) in tow. As part of their investigation the doctors dig up the corpses of the recent victims of the plague, only to find their coffins empty! It is also after encountering zombies at a deserted tin mine, that their investigation soon leads them to Squire Clive Hamilton (John Carson) who has raised his own army of Zombies to work in his mine and carry out his bidding.

Opening with a truly wacky voodoo scene complete with howling tribal drummers dressed in stereotypical animal furs and bones, while the masked master carries out his zombie ritual, it is certainly a world away from more recent zombie movies and might prove alittle alienating for zombie lovers more familiar with the gut chomping zombie classics of Fulci and George Romero, this film might come as a bit of a disappointment, as these zombies are far from the flesh eating hordes which they favored in their films, with these zombies instead baring more similarity to the first zombie movies such as “White Zombie” (1932) were zombies were used as slave labor to carry out their masters bidding and frequently used as a metaphor for slavery and outside of the end massacre which come as almost an after thought, these zombies are very much the same as their earlier counter parts, as they shuffle around the mine wearing monks robes, while actually proving pretty capable when it comes to works the mine, while also seemingly having maintained some of their human characteristics as seen by one of the zombie’s manically laughing when first seen by Sylvia. Still a feverish dream sequence which seemingly hints at a zombie uprising, with the dead clawing their way out of their graves and shuffling slowly towards a panicked Peter now almost seems like premonition of the films which would follow in particular Night of The Living Dead’s zombie approach and proving once again just how influential Hammer Films were, especially with this being their sole entry into the zombie genre.

Despite not having any of the big name Hammer actors, the cast are still mainly still Hammer mainstays and manage to pull out some great performances with Morell proving the highlight here as Sir James, who always maintains a cool demeanor in seemingly all situations, even as the events around him become more nightmarish.

The plot is fun enough as the two Doctors hunt down clues to uncover the mystery behind the plague and the missing bodies, though for a Zombie film the titular creatures seem like an afterthought here, to the point were you have to wonder if the film could have chosen something else, while meanwhile we have to contend with the bullying ways for the Squire and his young bloods, who seemingly hold the local community in the grip of fear, as to what repercussions await them should they revel what the squire is up to. Still having lived in Cornwall for 21 years before finally escaping to the bright city lights of Birmingham, I can safely say that the Cornwall shown in this film hasn’t changed much from the Cornwall today, while also in another completely random piece of trivia while on the subject of Cornwall is the fact that my parents live near were they shot the bridge scene in “The Omen 3: The Final Conflict” (1981). Still I have to wonder why there isn’t as much rural horror these days, especially with Cornwall and it’s aversion to change still making it a prime horror location. Still the minimalist location were needed seeing how scaled back the budget was for this film, compared to the earlier Hammer films and certainly works to the advantage of the film here.

Honestly I really struggled to get into this film, even entering into with the expectation of some cheesy zombie fun, but thanks to it’s plodding pacing and under used zombies, it felt like it went on forever and really tested my patience at time, while it’s lackluster finale which despite featuring zombies on fire, feels like it comes way to late and adds nothing to the film, apart from catching the viewer by surprise that the film has suddenly ended. The is no doubt that “Hammer” has in the past been responsible for some classic moments of horror and despite it’s influence on the zombie genre, this is far from the studios best work and best certainly approached with caution.