E TU VIVRAI NEL TERRORE - L'ALDILA

E TU VIVRAI NEL TERRORE - L'ALDILA (THE BEYOND, SEVEN DOORS OF DEATH) (1981)
IT
Directed by Lucio Fulci

CAST:
Catriona MacColl (as Katherine MacColl) - Liza Merril
David Warbeck - Dr. John McCabe
Cinzia Monreale (as Sarah Keller) - Emily

PLOT:
     A young woman inherits an old hotel in Louisiana where after a series of supernatural accidents, she learns that the building was built over one of the entrances to Hell.

 
REVIEW:
     I first heard of this movie when I heard about the list of Video Nasties, a list from the Director of  Public Prosecution (DPP) of England, which is a list of movies that were banned from playing in England that started in 1983. The act that made this possible was the Obscene Publications Act, which defined obscenity as that which may "tend to deprave and corrupt persons who are likely, having regard to all relevant circumstances, to read, see or hear the matter contained or embodied in it". This definition is of course open to wide interpretation. Due to this 72 films in all appeared on the list. Since then I've been trying to watch all the movies on the list and I'm slowly making headway with it. The Beyond also has the added bonus of being watched due to it's considered a Mythos movies so it was an easy choice to watch and review.

     Let me start out by saying that the acting in this will not win anyone any awards (nor did it when it came out). Some of the acting is so flat it seems as if the actors are reading cue cards half the time. The rest of the time the actors are are either overacting so badly, or actually doing a decent job. While most of the time this would make me completely despise a movie but in The Beyond it just helps the movie. David Warbeck as Dr. John McCabe is the best actor in the film as he seems the most comfortable in delivering his lines as well as acting so damn calm considering what all is happening to him. Katherine MacColl as Liza Merril isn't quite as good as Warbeck but they both stand out from the rest of the cast. The rest of the cast is actually fun to watch as they stare death in the face with a blank face and say nothing. The others in this so overact at the smallest scare that it to is fun to watch at the unbelievable emotions showing, or lack there of.

     Part of the fun with this film is the story but it is also the films weakest point. Some are going to disagree with me on this but there are questions raised during the movie that had no answers. One of them being is why was the Schweick murdered at the beginning of the film? What did he do that caused over fifteen people to come after him with so much hatred? Another problem is when did Emily die at the start of the film because they showed her at the hotel when the towns people went to get Schweick yet that was it. While still on the subject of Emily, how was she able to come back since she mentioned she escaped from her fate. The biggest flaw with the film is Dr McCabe's inability to understand that after shooting multiple zombies in random body parts and them not falling over but head shots puts them down just to go back to body shots is just dumb.  I know that these are nit picky things but these are the things that always got me with this film. That's not to say the entire story is bad though. I loved that the background of the hotel is not told except for it was built on one of the seven door ways to Hell. The supernatural happenings are never fully explained which leaves it up to the viewer to decide for themselves how these are occurring or what set the events in the film off.

     Director Lucio Fulci, even with all the major flaws in the film, still has created something that sticks with you, which is why the film has a cult following. Some of the stand out scenes include the slow death of the hotel caretaker from a nail in the back of the head due to the expectation of the death we the viewer know is coming, just not when. One of my favorites is the spider attack even though you can tell most of them are fake, it is just the freak out factor of it and the slow march of them toward their victim, who sees them coming but can't move or even scream. The shot composition of some scenes are just beautiful in places as some of them are just striking in the visual element and colors used. With all the flaws present, The Beyond is still fun to watch and even listen to with the terrible overdubs. The reason why this film has survived to be a cult classic isn't because of the flaws but because of the mood that is created throughout the film thanks in part to the direction and timing of scenes by Fulci. This is a must watch if you haven't been able to see yet.

BEST DEATH:
     The handgun that becomes a hand-cannon to one poor girls head.

BEST LINE:
     And you will face the sea of darkness, and all therein that may be explored.

FUN FACTS:
     The Book Of Eibon', featured prominently throughout the film, is the creation of American pulp fiction author, poet and fine artist Clark Ashton Smith and is a recurring text associated with the so-called "Cthulhu Mythos" cycle of literature. The book, which deals with various arcane subjects including the resurrection of the dead, demonic magic, parallel dimensions and other black magic subjects is alleged to have been imparted to the infamous necromancer Eibon by the ancient devil-god Tsathoggua in a remote prehistoric epoch.

     During the final scene in the Beyond's abyss, the sand-covered bodies lying on the ground were actually stark naked street derelicts, who were "paid" in alcohol.

     The zombie rampage was done at the insistence of the film's German distributors whose movie market was going through a zombie craze. Fulci agreed to rewrite his film, adding zombies and completely rewriting the film's final act to include a shoot-out between the main characters and a zombie horde at a local hospital. Despite these revisions, the final product is considered by many fans to be one of Fulci's best films and has even been praised for its oneiric incoherence.

     Fulci's original outline for The Beyond was of a non-linear haunted house story with the only solid plot element being that of a woman moving into a hotel built on one of the seven gates of hell (another such gate is depicted in City of the Living Dead). This original story focused on the dead leaving hell and entering the hotel with little outside of the ensuing carnage to link the scenes together.

     The Beyond is the second film in Fulci's unofficial Gates of Hell trilogy along with City Of The Living Dead and The House By The Cemetery.

COCKNEYS VS. ZOMBIES PRESENTS

COCKNEYS VS. ZOMBIES PRESENTS

Jonathan Kluger got in touch with me today about the upcoming UK film Cockneys Vs. Zombies and it's brand new trailer in honor of the Olympics which you can find below. The film looks like it could be a lot of fun with it's sense of humor shown from the trailer.

The film

A bunch of east-enders fight their way out of a zombie-infested London, led by an unlikely gang of amateur banks robbers and foul-mouthed plucky pensioners .

Starring Michelle Ryan, Honor Blackman and Harry Treadaway.  

The undead are brown bread. In cinemas August 31st 2012.

REST

REST
Directed by Cole Schreiber

CAST:
Josh Rowe
Caitlin Helms

PLOT:
     A young American soldier who died in WWI unearths himself after 90 years of being buried in the European countryside.

REVIEW:
     Some of the short films I review come from young filmmakers getting in touch with me. Yet I also actively look online for short films to review. Some of the places I check are some more of the bigger horror websites, while I also check some of the more smaller ones as well. I'm also on Facebook, which is where I heard about this short thanks to being friends with Strange Aeons Magazine. As you can tell by that name, yes it deals with the mythos and anything surrounding it. So once I saw that they had link to a short film I decided to give the short a shot.

     There really isn't much to judge acting wise in the short due to the two main characters are in fact zombies. They don't speak or even grunt. Though Chad Rowe does a decent job as the lead in this short film as the lead zombie, that's not to say that there isn't a problem in his acting. Let me explain why I say this.When we first see Rowe's zombie and for most of the short, Rowe stumble and shambles just like you would expect zombies to. Yet it's at the end of the short where all of a sudden Rowe's character starts moving like it isn't dead and start shoveling at his lost love's grave. Yep, not for brains does he salivate for, but for his lost love he lost over fifty years. The other zombie, and only other actor in the short, Caitlin Helms, only shows up for the last twenty plus seconds. Her main role is to lie on her side and embrace the hand of another zombie. For this she does as good a job as one could expect with the limited time she is giving.

     While the story is pretty straight forward with Rest a dead soldier looking to get home to his lost love, I have no problem with it. Nor do I have a problem with the look of the short or the way it was filmed. In fact, it's quite beautiful to look at. And the make-up effects for Rowe and Helm's character are quite amazing. My problem with the short is that how can a zombie just walk around and not be noticed. Rowe's zombie walks through at least two major cities, and in fact he stops by a hardware store to pick up a shovel to dig up a grave, yet no one stopped him. I should also mention that Rowe's character also booked passage on a fishing boat to carry him over the Atlantic Ocean and no one freaked out on the boat, I just have to call bull on that one. In a time where if you look at little out of place people freak out, how can someone that has no lips, dark grey skin and holes in his epidermis not call attention to itself of the unwanted variety. Not to mention how can a  zombie walking down a highway, dragging a shovel to less, while moving at a snails pace, not be target practice? Yet I understand that this is a love story, but at least one person would have smelled Rowe's zombie and gotten sick from that smell. Even though the look and feel of the short film is very professional, the suspension of common sense is to much in this one and ruins what could have been a very interesting take on the zombie genre.

BEST DEATH:
     Does a reunion of past loves count to be able to rest in piece?

BEST LINE:
     There's not one line of dialogue in the short.

FUN FACTS:
     Director Cole Schreiber worked on the special effects for Underworld: Evolution.

     Rest is viewable on Vimeo. Just click the link to view it. REST

VERSUS

VERSUS (THE ULTIMATE VERSUS) (2000)
JP
Directed by Ryuhei Kitamura

CAST:
Tak Sakaguchi - Prisoner KSC2-303
Hideo Sakaki- The Man
Kenji Matsuda - Yakuza Leader

PLOT:
     There are 666 portals that connect this world to the other side. These are concealed from all human beings. Somewhere in Japan exists the 444th portal.... The Forest of Resurrection.

REVIEW:
      This month I've reviewed  a decent amount Japanese gore films. And I'll be reviewing more next month as well. Yet with Versus, this was one of the main reasons why the whole genre of gore films really got started. Well that and Ichi The Killer. I was planning to review this last year but other things came up and it got pushed to the back. So with me reviewing so many films this month with actors that really became famous from being in Versus, and it being out for over 12 years now, I decided that I really can't wait any longer with this review. I should note that this is going to be the review for the Director's Cut, hence the other name of the film.

     I might as well start with the actors and Tak Sakaguchi as Prisoner KSC2-303 first. Sakaguchi plays a cock-sure amnesiac that knows he's a bad ass and it shows. Sakaghuchi even though was an unknown at the time made a big enough impact with this that he now is part of the Sushi Typhoon production company and has his own stuntman group called Team Zero all thanks to his role in this film, of which his role is the second most memorable in Versus. The Man, played by Hideo Sakaki is a more toned down kind of a monster. Make no mistake he is a monster. Instead of coming in and boasting of what he can do, Sakaki instead of saying all of his lines with craziness just plays it cool and collected, as if nothing surprises him. This in return makes his character truly scary. Yet the one actor that sticks out the most is Kenji Matsuda who plays the Yakuza leader. Now the reason why Masuda sticks out is because he comes on the screen and you know he's there. He chews every scene he is in and just keeps going. Another reason is his facial expressions throughout the whole film. Versus also helped make all three of these actors big manes in Asian cinema, as before Versus all were relative unknowns and the film made audiences take notice of them.

     This film was also the launching pad for director Ryuhei Kitamura as well. Before Versus, Kitamura had only made short films. In fact Versus was only supposed to be a short film as well and a sequel to Kitamura's Down To Hell. Well thankfully everyone involved agreed that Versus was strong enough and had enough meat to the story to make it a full feature length film. Even though his camera work was still lacking in some areas, you could still tell that there was something exciting and different in the look of the film. There was a movement in it that was lacking in a lot of other Asian filmmakers. Kitamura isn't afraid to get up close to the action, though sometimes the action is lost because of this The film also had a slickness to it that is missing in most horror films, and action movies as well. My problem with Versus visual wise is that the first 15 or so minutes of it, the film looks to be shot on a home camera with to much grain and a blurriness that is persistent. Thankfully the film becomes sharper looking and more in focus as it goes on. I should point out that since this was Ultimate Versus, which means it really is the director's cut of the film, over 10 minutes was put into the film that was shot four years later and added to the movie. These scenes stick out the most due to the look of them is more stylized and quicker paced. Thankfully they blend in very well into the film itself and it doesn't break the flow of the film apart to much.

     Now the reason why Versus is one of those movies that stick out above the rest is because of what it does and is. What it does is blend multiple genres seamlessly. It takes martial arts and combines it with the horror genre without losing the impact of either one. It also blends humor and action into the mix as well, which also has been done before also. Now while combining horror and martial arts is nothing new, it's the addition of all of the above that sets this one apart from all that came before it. The film knows that all that is going on is outrageous and over the top and it doesn't apologize for any of it. Now while there is plot holes in the story. Okay, make that big plot holes. But yet after awhile you don't care about the stuff that makes no sense because you're having to much fun watching all hell break looses on the screen. From Yakuza assassins that come out of nowhere to destroy all in their path to zombies that use guns against those that buried them in the forest, it all makes sense in a weird way, no matter what odd thing shows up out of nowhere, and there is plenty. This is a cult movie for a reason, plus a launching pad for multiple people involved in it. Yet one the main things this film accomplished is it was one of the movies that helped start of a brand new genre in Asian cinema, not J-horror as that was around even before this, but the Japanese gore genre and brought it to the fore front to let people know that all rules can be broken.  Now lets all hope the sequel is realized this year! 

BEST DEATH:
     Open upper jaw surgery thanks to a right fist.

BEST LINE:
     Yeah......But this place is fucked up.

FUN FACTS:
     One of the thugs was shot dead at the beginning of the movie, because the director disliked the actor portraying him.

     In the scene where Tak Sakaguchi's character holds a pistol in his mouth, the director originally called for him to rack the slide with his teeth. He tried this, and broke a tooth. One of the zombies was played by a dentist, and fixed it for him.

     First considered and even advertised as a sequel to Kitamura's movie Down To Hell with the title 'Down 2 Hell'. But because of the many fights in front and behind the camera Kitamura changed the title to 'Versus'.

THE DEAD

THE DEAD (2010)
UK
Directed by Howard J. and Jonathan Ford

CAST:
Rob Freeman - Lt. Brian Murphy
Prince David Oseia - Sgt. Daniel Dembele
David Dontoh - The Chief

PLOT:
     When the last evacuation flight out of war-torn Africa crashes off the coast, American Air Force Engineer Lieutenant Brian Murphy emerges as the sole survivor in a land where the dead are returning to life and attacking the living.

REVIEW:
     I was watching AMC at the start of the week, as they're showing horror movies till the end of the month, and AMC starts out by showing Romero's Survival Of The Dead. As I was watching it I just couldn't let go of the feeling that Romero has completely lost his touch. The movie had no suspense or terror to it, or any part that makes you want to jump. Not to mention his sly commentary on society. So needless to say after watching it, yes, I watched the whole movie, I felt somewhat cheated. It was if Romero just stopped trying on this one. Though I will admit I watched it to get ready to watch The Dead.

     Now this is a zombie movie in vein of classic Romero. The zombies shuffle, and look lost when not close to their one food source. The one time they truly move quickly is when they are mere inches from live humans, and damn it if I didn't jump at least twice in this movie because I wasn't expecting a zombie attack. Yet it's due to not expecting an attack which makes you lower your guard, and you let yourself relax is when the zombies attack. In recent years zombies have became fast and can hang from ceiling piping, yet it's the slow moving ones that don't scream or yell, the type that sneaks up on you, that I will always like the best due to it brings to mind the classic boogey man almost.

     Now the acting does have to be talked about. It seems like most of the time I start the acting part of the reviews like that, I guess I have to find some other way to start from now on. Anyway, I have to mention that another difference in this movie than with other zombie movies is that during half the run time there isn't any talking what so ever. Most of the acting is shown by facial expressions and the fatigue shown in the actor's  eyes, as well as the body language of both the principle actors. Rob Freeman, who we spend most of the time with, plays Lt. Brian Murphy who is more of a classic hero. He doesn't say much and lets his actions speak for him. And this is shown very well when Murphy is faced with a fellow soldier that left him after Murphy gets a vehicle. So much is said about his character during this brief scene. As well as toward the end of the movie when he is asked to kill a mother after she hands him her baby for safe keeping. He doesn't want kill her, and even pleads to her not to go through with it. Prince David Oseia is does well as Sgt. Daniel Dembele, a African soldier who deserts his post to find his son. The sad part about this character is that he is his own worst enemy. Even though he tries to be stoic, his emotions get in his way and cause him to take to many chances that puts him and Murphy in more danger than they already are. Oseia, even though he's only been acting professionally for over a year does an amazing job.

      The look of the movie is just a thing of beauty. Part of this I think is due to the use of 35mm film instead of digital cameras, which adds a certain amount of grain to the film that gives it a almost dirty look in places. But yet in other places the film is just amazing, specially when it shows the main protagonist in silhouette. The pacing in the film is steady for the most part, though it does slow down and almost drags in parts, though it does pick back up after a short time. For a film genre that is filled with sub-par zombie movies that are more laughable and harder to watch than the latest attempts at mass released  horror in theaters, this is a treat of a movie that harkens back to the 80's ideal of film making that is a joy to watch. And as a plus there is no CG blood and all the effects are practical. Complete old school which is something that is needed badly at the moment.

BEST DEATH:
     Murphy's revenge on a soldier that left him for dead.

BEST LINE:
     Perhaps nature has put in motion the ultimate solution to it's problem.

FUN FACTS:
     The directors used actual amputees in the movie to add believability to scenes.

   

DOD SNO

DOD SNO (DEAD SNOW) (2009)
NO
Directed by Tommy Wirkola

CAST:
Vegar Hoel - Martin
Stif Frode Henriksen - Roy
Charollete Frogner - Hanna

PLOT:
     A ski vacation turns horrific for a group of medical students, as they find themselves confronted by an unimaginable menace: Nazi zombies.

REVIEW:
      Even though I've had this movie for a while, I never really got a chance to watch it until Friday night with some friends. It was a zombique (watching a zombie movie while eating barbeque). I'm not sure if it was the company while watching it or all the random comments being thrown around that made the night fun, but hopefully everyone will get back together again soon.

     This movie is just a rollercoaster ride plain and simple. It's here to entertain and nothing more. Mind you, I don't mind movies like this. In fact, I love movies like this. It's made for horror fans by a horror fan. The plot is threadbare in most parts and inane in others. The film starts out serious enough, yet once the fourth death occurs it goes straight to a love letter to cult favorites such as Evil Dead 2 and Dawn of the Dead. The movie doesn't explain why the Nazi's become zombies or what wakes them at the beginning of the movie except that a battalion  of Nazis fled during the last days of WW II pillaging and killing everyone in their way and then they disappear. That's it for the back story of the Nazis. Yep, kinda thread bare considering that these Zombies know how to use instruments, follow orders, and can think and work together, it leaves you thinking what really happened to them throughout the whole run time of the film.

     From what I can tell the actors in the movie did a decent job as you can see they're having fun through most of the film. I saw this with subtitles and the actors didn't seem like they were going overboard with anything, well except for the outhouse sex scene, but really though, with younger actors you can only do so much with in scenes like this which would never happen in real life. I mean just think about the infections you can get doing that, that's not to say the smell won't stop you first though! The look of the film is nicely handled as the action never really gets lost and some scenes of just the scenery stick out and are amazing to look at.

     The film does feel disjointed in parts as it tries to pay homage in half the movie and the other half is full of the directors own ideas. They are shots of violence that I haven't seen before which helped make this feel like a new director has come out to watch out for. Some scenes include one of the characters waking up to see her intestines being pulled out in first person view and zombie innards being used as a life line. The movie is fun by itself but to really enjoy it find some friends, find the poison of your choice, inbind said poison, and enjoy  Dod Sno as the comments fly fast and furious. I'm sure there is a dubbed version of the movie but the subtitled one that I saw did just fine as the captions move at a decent pace and not to fast for those that don't like to read.

    
BEST DEATH:
     Vegard's feeling of being pulled in too many directions at once.

BEST LINE:
     Oh fuck.

FUN FACTS:
     Originally it was going to be called "Rød Snø" (or Red Snow in English), as an homage to the Swedish/Norwegian mini-series with the same name.

     The director concluded that the best way to enhance the horror and disgust of standard zombies was to give them the Nazi element; he also used the historical backdrop of the Nazi occupation of Norway in developing the film's plot.

     The movie was nominated for four 2009 Scream Awards:  Fight-to-the-Death Scene, Most Memorable Mutilation, Best Foreign Movie and Best Horror Movie.

     Stif Frode Henriksen who plays Roy co-wrote the script for Dod Sno.

DYLAN DOG: DEAD OF NIGHT

DYLAN DOG: DEAD OF NIGHT (2010)
US
Directed by Kevin Munroe

CAST:
Brandon Routh - Dylan Dog
Sam Huntington - Marcus
Peter Stormare - Gabriel

PLOT:
     The adventures of supernatural, penniless nightmare investigator, Dylan Dog, who seeks out the monsters of the Louisiana bayou in his signature red shirt, black jacket, and blue jeans.

REVIEW:
     I first heard about Dylan Dog when it was going into pre-production back in 2008 and it went by the title Dead of Night. It caught my interest just because it sounded like it could be a fun movie, and a throw back to movies from the late '80s and early '90s. Then it seemed like the movie got stuck in production hell. Then toward the beginning of last year a trailer popped up on line with a new title.  Bad part about that is that it just said coming soon and no date was attached to it hence more waiting unfortunately. Well my wait is over and the movie is out, now to see if it lives up to my expectations.

     I'll go ahead and say that I think that Brandon Routh is underrated as an actor. He plays things low key and always with a hint of self depredation. Even when he played Superman a couple years back, he played him more low key. And here he is again playing it more to the vest at the same time though more open. Routh is the best part of Dylan Dog hands down. If the movie could have used more of someone though it would have been more Peter Stormare's Gabriel. Anytime he shows up on screen, he steals it, overacting and all. Even Taye Diggs does wonderfully in his role as the head of the vampires, playfully smug yet at the same time menacingly. As for Sam Huntington, I have nothing against him as an actor, I just found his character in the movie as grating more than anything else and at times kills the movie all together.

     Now I want to talk about the big bad in the movie. I was let down completely by it. It didn't pose a threat as big as they said it would and to really end its reign of terror, all you really had to do was pull the damn cross out of it's back. Done and over with. Another thing that didn't help is the terrible CG effects added to the big bad, as is just made it look like a science fiction channel monster reject due to it was just a little above their standards.This isn't to say that the rest of the creature effects in the movie are bad, quite the opposite in fact. The zombies each have their own look about them, they age each time you see them, and the funny thing is that they have to keep on buying newer body parts to replace the old ones that get to ragged. The vampires though look like they came from the Buffy T.V. series as they get a reptilian look to them when they go full vamp. The really bright spot in the creature feature section is the rouge zombie. The thing looks like a tank on feet and acts like one as well they way it plows through minor characters.

     I'm not going to say that I loved the movie, cause I didn't love it. I thought it was okay. There was just way to many flaws that kept bugging me throughout the movie. I know that it is basically a low budget horror movie (once it's funding cuts got done with they had 8 million dollars only to make it), but that doesn't mean you cut the story with comedy to make up for it. Another problem is that even though the movie was shot in New Orleans, it didn't have the atmosphere that permeates other movies shot or centered around the area. I've read a little bit of the comic series this was based on, and I must say that even though I like the humor they put into the Dylan Dog character they should have kept the character more downtrodden. Also, I really miss seeing the Groucho Marx chacater pop up even though I understand why the film makers didn't put him into the movie (the Marx estate wanted 8 million to use the likeness of Groucho, which would have left the production nothing to spend). The truly bright spot in the movie is the noir aspect of the story even though the script writers ruin what ever they build up with it with by putting in a comedic side story for Sam Huntington instead of keeping the story and movie darker. The best way I can put this movie is it's a mess that has bright spots in it even though those spots are razed by feeble attempts to add humor to the story.

BEST DEATH:
     Lobby floor shootout of the vampire variety with magnesium flares.

BEST LINE:
     We don't eat them, they don't shoot our brain stems.

FUN FACTS:
     Dylan Dog exist in the same world as Francesco Dellamorte from Dellamorte Dellamore.

     Both Dylan Dog and Dellamorte Dellamore were created Tiziano Sclavi.

     Dylan Dog is the top selling comic in Italy.

DELLAMORTE DELLAMORE

DELLAMORTE DELLAMORE  (CEMETERY MAN) (1994)
IT
Directed by Michele Soavi

CAST:
Rupert Everett - Francesco Dellamorte
Francois Hadji-Lazaro - Gnaghi
Anna Falchi - She

PLOT:
     Dellamorte is the guardian of the cemetery of Buffalora, a little town in the north of Italy, in which the dead come back to life and he has the job of killing them a second time.

REVIEW:
     Dellamorte Dellamore was one of those movies I heard about but could never get my hands on a copy of. Then thanks to Anchor Bay, they released it on DVD. This was back in 2006 mind you. The really sad thing about all of this, is that I haven't watched the movie until now, and that's thanks to Dylan Dog: Dead Of Night being released. I really don't know why I waited so long to watch it, or it could be because I have over 1000 DVDs and I work, so some of the movies I get to, while others I don't get to watch until a later point in time. I must admit one of the reasons why I started this blog was to work my way through my movie collection sooner rather than later. Okay, enough back story about me, here is the review of the film.

     This film is something to behold, but it's the story that drives this movie more than anything else. Even when it gets weird in parts it only helps add to the story. The humor is suitable dark as in how much can a person really take living in cemetery while having to kill it's recently buried inhabitants when they come back to un-life a short time later but this can be viewed as a metaphor for what is happening to Dellamorte. One thing that will be overlooked throughout the whole film is the broken skull Dellamorte is attempting to put back together throughout the film as it gives a major clue to the whole story as is the snowglobe during the closing credits as Gnaghi is a major factor in both instances and the true meaning of the film. Another scene that was thought provoking was the conversation in the hospital between Dellamorte and Franco as another clue is giving to the true meaning of the story and the state of Dellamorte's mind. Yet all this is outshined by the last three minutes of the film.  I was just speechless at what it implied and loved the wondering aspect of it. Now some people will absolutely hate the movie due to the ending alone, but yet to me the ending adds so much depth to a film that already has a solid story to begin with. There are so many hints subtly giving throughout the film as what is really going on it's easy to miss them even when you're basically slapped in the face with them.

     The acting is superb from start to finish, with  Rupert Everett giving an amazing performance. If Everett didn't give the portrayal  he did, the movie would have failed in so many ways, yet it's thank to him Dellamorte is the anchor to the audience that draws us in. Even when his character starts losing his grip on reality, which is easily to point the exact moment this happens, you still feel a connection to him. Yet it's when he does lose his grip and multiple layers are added is when Everett really shines additionally as when he realizes that his idea of love will never match up with reality. Even Francois Hadji-Lazaro's Gnaghi is fun to watch, as what is seen as a simpleton to begin with, becomes more complex and interesting throughout, all the more so with his character's bittersweet side story of his love for the Mayor's daughter whose is just a head. And the end of the film just destroys all pre-conceived notions about his character and what happens to both Gnaghi and Dellamorte.

    While the movie is fun to watch, the plot does get a little wacky though it doesn't take away anything from the overall experience. Gorgeously shot with style and flair specifically  the more thought provoking scenes. Filled with great violent scenes that come out of nowhere while other times is widely telegraphed, it is always fun to see. Weird, engaging, surreal, and always interesting, Dellamorte Dellamore is a film worth viewing again just to catch the little things you miss the first time around at what was is truly going on such as when a character is shown with wings, or it can be viewed simply for what is giving on the screen. There are so many layers to this film that it's sad that this is one of those films that are overlooked compared to what is coming out that is considered horror now.

BEST DEATH:
     Motorcyclist faceplant by moving bus.

BEST LINE:
     Death, death, death comes sweeping down, filthy death the leering clown, death on wings, death by surprise, failing evil from worldly eyes, death that spawns as life succumbs, while death and love, two kindred drums, beat the time till judgement day, an actor in a passion play, without beginning, without end, evermore, amen.

FUN FACTS:
     The sets for the cemetery in the film were built upon actual abandoned cemetery grounds in Italy.

     The ossuary (a crypt for bones) that was used in the film was quite real. Supposedly one of the crew members removed some of the bones from the ossuary during filming, but quickly replaced them the next day claiming to have encountered an angry ghost following the removal of the bones.

     The English translation of Dellamorte Dellamore is 'Of Dead of Love.'

     When Francesco and "She" are kissing in the crypt with the shroud over their heads, the shot mimics the painting "The Lovers" by Rene Magritte.

     Dellamorte Dellamore takes place in the same universe as Dylan Dog.

LA HORDE

LA HORDE (THE HORDE) (2009)
FR
Directed by Benjamin Rocher and Yannick Dahan

CAST:
Claude Perron - Aurore
Jean-Pierre Martins - Ouessem
Eriq Ebouaney - Adewale Markudi

PLOT:
      Joining forces to survive, crooked cops and gangsters must reach ground level of a apartment complex together or perish  from a zombie outbreak.


REVIEW:

     I first heard about La Horde when it was announced it was being made back in 2008 and saw a production shot of the filming of it. It looked dirty, and rundown. Decrepit even. I'm going to be posting a shot close to the one I saw later on. But that shot sold me on the movie with only knowing it was about zombies and gangsters. Since then other zombie movies have came out, but all were outclassed by the AMC series The Walking Dead, which focused on the emotional toll the outbreak of zombies has on survivors instead of the blood, guts and death. La Horde though, is an old school zombie movie with French sensibilities.

      Now when I say French sensibilities, imagine if  Luc Besson and Pierre Morel made a zombie movie love child. That movie would be La Horde. The action scenes in this movie are frantic, kinetic, and rarely slows down and when they do it doesn't stay that way for very long. The old 80's action movie 100 rounds in a 12 round clip is in full effect and you just go with it as you're having to much fun watching the carnage unfold before you. Even though this is a low budget movie, it doesn't act, nor does it feel that way in the slightest as most of the movie is shot in confined spaces which make the action seem bigger and more viscous as the movie plays by it's own rules and doesn't truly follow anyone else's.

     Now as for plot and character development, this movie doesn't concern itself to much with that as this is a what you see is what you get movie. It's style over substance, and I could have cared less about the baby Claude Perron's Aurore was carrying in her tummy or the other unsolved plot threads. Just watching Perron's Aurore doing a beat down on a zombie lady in a kitchen and then ending it with her pushing over a old style refrigerator on top of said zombie, what is there not to love. Even though this is the first full length feature film from both Benjamin Rocher and Yannick Dahan, I couldn't tell as the movie was so well shot. I mentioned as the movie doesn't overly concern itself with plot that much, as a good example of this is the very first zombie that is killed had to go through being shot at least 30 times before the top part of it's head was taken off, you would think that after seeing this the characters would catch on how how to kill the zombies, yet they still decide to unload 30 rounds per zombie in their bodies and not in the brain area. Like I said character development isn't really there.

    

     While the movie isn't a horror movie per say, it is a pure action movie through and through and probably the best one I've seen since 2008's Rambo. One thing that was different with this though is that the people you feel sorry for at the start isn't the one's you feel sorry at the end, as Eriq Ebouaney's Adewale Markudi is about the only one who actually undergoes a change in the film when he understands a mob rule is starting to take effect and he despises it. To break the intensity of the action, dark humor is spread throughout as to lighten the oppressive mood. While the film has flaws, mostly dealing with CG effects, as usual, and a thin story, it's easy to overlook as most of those aren't stayed on for to long. So if you're looking for a bloody, action filled time with a horror twist this is the movie to watch as the movie doesn't try to be anything but what it is.

As for the shot that made me want to see this, it's below.

BEST DEATH:
      The first thug to get munched on. Just the viciousness of it sets it apart.

BEST LINE:

     Religion is just deaden insurance.

FUN FACTS:
     Jean-Pierre Martins is the singer of the rock band Silmarils.

     La Horde  premiered in 2009 at the London FrightFest Film Festival.

     La horde won two Garner awards for the Best Screenplay and Best Special Effects or Cinematography at Fantasporto Film Festival.

DOGHOUSE

DOGHOUSE (2009)
UK
Directed By Jake West

CAST:
Stephen Graham - Vince
Danny Dyer - Neil
Noel Clarke - Mikey

PLOT:

Vince is handling his divorce badly. He's depressed. Gone to pieces. But his mates aren't giving up on him. Struggling with their own women troubles, they drag him off for an ultimate lads drinking weekend in the country  to the village of Moodley where the women outnumber the men 3:1. To bad they're all zombies!

REVIEW:

Well I must say I wasn't expecting anything amazing out of the movie and that pretty much held true all the way through. That's not the say the movie was bad, just, above average. While the acting wasn't terrible it wasn't the best either. Danny Dyer's Neil was the best character in the movie and you could tell he had fun with his role as a womanizer who has no respect for women except for when he was about to be eaten by them. The same can be said for Noel Clarke's Mikey. The rest of the actors just didn't have the same grasp of the characters....or you can also say they weren't written as well. Which is more than likely is what happened.  I think why had a problem with this movie more than anything else were the giant plot holes and plots that were introduced that went nowhere. Like why was the Mayor helping the military and where was she hiding at? What exactly was in the woods that was so bad? And why were the "Zombirds" piling up all the dead male corpses underground and for what purpose?

Now the reason why I said the above is because this is a zombie comedy. While there are scenes in the movie that stand out more than others, most are just there. It was shot nicely which is much more than I expected, but it still just wasn't enough to pull the movie out of your average horror movie zone into something like Shaun Of The Dead funny. There were scenes where I laughed out loud, but most of the time I was just waiting for something to die. Which is pretty much few and far between.

The one bright spot except Dyer in this movie were the special effect. It was almost all practical in camera effects (which goes along way in movies to me). The "Zombirds" all looked different and unique, but were made from cookie cutter classes. The nerd, the granny, the butcher. You get the idea. But the gore effects where there were some was spot on and didn't let me down.

If you're looking for something non-involving where you can watch it and laugh a couple times (you might laugh more than I did) it's good for a quick watch and to forget about it after. It might even be better while drinking. So if you want to watch this movie, watch it with a group of friends and enjoy the company cause it will probably make the movie better.

BEST DEATH:

Machete to the Colonel's head. I must say I laughed at this part.

BEST LINES:

Now you decide to shoot something, you fucking monkey's arse ring!
I had one bullet left. I was saving it for when I really needed it.
...you're still a twat!

The whole village has gone to the Dark Side!

FUN FACTS:

Dan Schaffer created the comic book DOGWITCH.