 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
Cinema By Dark Soul
5 Gravestones
This new outing for the vampire was being hailed as the most fighting vampire
movie ever. Well maybe not the most fighting although it was it damn sure one of
the best vampire films ever made.
Based on the graphic novel of the same name, 30 Days takes place in a little town
in the middle of nowhere in a far point in the state of Alaska where the sun goes
down and never returns again for one full month out of the year. As the sun sets
for the last time over this little town, the residents have no idea of the horror that is
about to set foot their turf. Now enter the vampires, a dark brood of creatures with
only one thing in mind.....feeding on the living.
Things start out like they would any other year, the long night takes the town but
soon things start getting strange as the night creatures start out by cutting the
people off from any help. Sled dogs are murdered and cars are all disabled.
Phones line are cut and all power his down. They hit just before a big snow fall and
then they do the white of the newly fallen snow turn red.
The vampires are nothing like the anything you have seen before. No Ann Rice well
dressed vamps here, only animal like feeding as they hunt every living thing down
and eat it. They are monsters in every meaning of the word as they kill one after
another till only a small hand full of humans are left. They are strong, fast and sport
shark like fangs and never clean their victims blood from their evil faces after they
feed.
Fans of the 1979 Salem’s Lot will see one scene with a bald vampire coming
through a window before a woman much like Barlow did in the classic movie that
was fun to point out. The last of the surviving humans try to hide and ride out the
long night as the cat and mouse game begins with the creatures searching for them
endlessly.
The story is well thought out and no silly ass jokes are thrown in for giggles. Only
straight forward story telling here as people fight to see the rise of the next
daylight. This movie is a must for any true vampire fan for this is the film we all have
longed for. If you did not see this movie in the theaters then go and get it on DVD.....
you will thank me.
The Mist
5 Gravestones
The Mist plays out much like a John Carpenter movie with people trapped
someplace with some kind of evil lurking just outside. Well, Carpenter didn’t direct
this film although he did do another mist creping over a town in The Fog. Do
yourself a treat and don’t think this movie is just another Fog remake like the shit we
seen a few years ago. This movie is the real deal when it comes to creepy story
telling very much like any Twilight Zone episode. In-fact you can see a lot of that
show in this film as a small band of people are trapped by a drifting mist that comes
into town bring something deadly with it.
The people soon see that this is not a normal fog bank that came in off the water
but something else as people start dying as they walk out of the grocery store from
where they made a stand. As time goes by things start coming out of the mist in the
form of killer monster bugs and dragon like flying things that bust into the stores
windows. The Mist is your classic tale of people trapped and you feel for them as
they sit and await the unknown as it bares down on them. And like the creatures
are not bad enough they are fighting among each-other in classic Twilight Zone
fashion.
This is a great grown ups monster movie and unlike some films you don’t have to be
under 25 to see that this is a good movie. In-fact I think we older viewers will
understand it better for we have seen the Twilight Zone and will get the message
that the film brings. I saw this film unlike most movies with a group of people I went
with and only the two of us over 40 got it. Sad. The Fog..the Mist this is your better
movie as it is also based on a novella by Stephen King and the film makers really
brought his story to life. Don’t miss this film when it comes on DVD and oh yeah
next time you see a mist looming over your street....think about what may be lurking
just out of see sight.
Beowulf
4 Gravestones
This is the story of the hero Beowulf and one that I have always wanted to see come
to the big screen ever since I first heard of him back in the mid 1980s. It’s the story
of a man who would fight the evil monster Grendel to the death in an old English
story that is said to be the oldest surviving story in the English language. It is the
early 6th century and a Dutch kingdom is under the threat of a horrible creature
that attacks nightly and carries off people to feed on them in his cave of darkness.
Enter the hero called Beowulf, a strong fearless warrior who tells the King that he
will kill the beast and rid the kingdom of the terror. He is way too sure of himself and
at times a bit vain but he delivers the goods. Throughout the movie our hero fights
others creatures such as sea monsters, a dragon and faces off with Grendel’s
mother who seems human and lovely but is really something far worse.
This is a cool movie and is enhanced by the CGI computer work that over laps the
actors. There are real people plying the parts but have a layer of CGI skin over
them adding to the whole fantasy of the film by giving it a wilder look. This new
trend of enhancing a film by adding computer graphics was used earlier in the year
by the movie “300" with an all CGI background as well as used in the film “Sky
Captain: And The World of Tomorrow” with their use of computer work. Here even
the actors are Painted in a CGI giving them an almost animated feel. The overall
look of the film is also taken well beyond of norm by it being shot of amazing 3-D
that stands out like nothing you ever seen before. Along with things jumping out of
the screen there is great depth that seems out the movie screen goes back for
miles and miles in wide shots and there is also good middle adding to the magic that
you are indeed there in the film with the actors. I have seen many 3-D films in my
long life and nothing is as stunning as this and used so effectively for a fantasy film.
Though done well Beowulf could have been a little better for there is only one battle
with the monster Grendel as was in the story from which it comes from but I would
have thrown in two for fun and when he fights the beast, Beowulf does so in the
nude. Now this too is from the classic tale but when your watching a 3-D movie
something’s you don’t want popping out of the screen...if you know what I mean. In-
fact there is a lot of nudity for a film rated PG-13. If watching a nude warrior fight a
monster is not your cup then wait till you see the beasts mother all in the buff and
played by....well I’ll just give you a hint and say it’s the chick from “Tomb Raider”
This is a good fantasy movie with monsters and heroes and sadly if you missed it in
theaters you’re out of luck for when it goes to DVD you will have missed out on the
3-D effects. Also a draw back to this movie is that for a hero movie there is little
chance of there being a “Beowulf 2" though I will not say why...you have to see the
film to understand what I mean.
I Am Legend
5 Gravestones
Based upon the 1954 novel by horror master Richard Matheson “I Am Legend” tells
the story of one man who is the last living man on Earth.....or is he? Brought to the
screen twice before but never under the novels title there was “The Last Man On
Earth" 1964 with genre great Vincent Price and then again in 1971 with “The
Omega Man” with Charlton Heston. Now it's Will Smith’s turn to face the world alone
as he plays Matheson’s Robert Neville, a man who’s immunity to a killer bacteria
leaves him to face the world alone in an empty New York City.
Manhattan itself plays out as a though it’s a member of the cast for we see the great
city bare of any living souls as Smith wonders the streets in search of someone...
anyone else besides himself. Smith brings a true sense of loneliness to the film as
most of the movie plays out as a man one show. With a dog as his only companion,
Robert Neville’s endless search for others may come at a deadly price. He may be
the last living man on Earth.....but he is not alone.
Others walk the night as vampire/ zombie like hybrids called The Dark Seekers. By
day Neville is safe moving about the dead city but as dark falls, things of terror
enter the still streets with a need to feed. Although the creatures are all CGI in
base they look good and move wildly and add a good amount of dread to the film.
Even when you don’t see them you know somewhere out there they are lurking in
the dark waiting for their chance to pounce. At one point, our hero does find others
who like him made it through the end of the world. A little boy and a young woman
befriend him but by this time he is so on the edge that he really can’t relate to
people anymore and don’t take advantage of having someone around to talk to....or
at least do it with since he was alone for years.
Told through flashbacks, we also see the world just before things go bad as our
hero tries to get his wife and baby girl out of the city before it’s sealed off by the
army to contain the man made plague. Although we don’t see the world as a whole
dying as in lets say in the movie “The Stand”, its flashbacks of the living world and
then jump ahead to what’s left. The film tends to make you the viewer think about
what it would be like to be the only one left alive in a world meant for millions and
how you too would walked alone.
Aliens vs Predator
5 Gravestones
Oh man this movie rocks!!!! It's just what we all wanted it to be and more. If you’re
a fan of “Alien vs Predator” or any of the other films of these two creatures exploits
your going to just love this one. The follow up film to “Alien vs Predator” picks up
right where the last film ended. As you may recall at the films end, the young
Predator freshly killed by the Alien Queen was brought aboard the Predators ship.
The last thing we saw was a baby Alien/Predator busting out of the chest of the
warrior as the ship was about to leave orbit. Before the spaceship can head out
into the dark of deep space the little creature grows and attacks the crew killing
them all and releasing Alien face-huggers that were all in test tubes like containers.
The ship nose dives and heads for Earth and right for the out skirts of a small city in
Colorado. Yes that’s right kids....at last!!!! The Aliens come to a populated place
here on mother Earth. Shit only took 29 years for us to see that since the first Alien
film way back in 1979.
The Predator ship crashes releasing hoards of monsters that soon over take the
city. But just when all looks bleak for the towns folk, a hero will come.....well sort of.
One lone Predator warrior will face the deadly creatures and tests his skills to the
max as he fights face-huggers, Aliens and the monster hybrid spawned of his own
race and theirs. With an armory of weapons at his disposal, he dispatching each
one until he faces off with the half Predator half Alien creature that is even bigger
and stronger then even he.
Stuck in the middle of this space monster war are the people who are nothing more
than Alien chow and even the “hero” don’t think twice about knocking off a few
himself. Yeah sure there are people in this film but the real star is the hunter from
another world and we even get to see a brief view of the Predator’s home world
when he learns that the last mission to Earth didn’t go well and there are creatures
on the loose. Sure we have seen movies in the past with aliens heroes stopping the
bad invaders but this truly showcases two of the best aliens in all of film history.
Like the last film that blended the two movie monster icons this one again brings the
two together in a way that works well and would make fans of both series happy.
The story itself is just a basic and nothing out of the norm but then so what...we just
want to see the two creatures go at it and boy they do. At one point the Predator
takes hold of two Aliens one in each hand by their throats and all through out the
movie he kicks ass big time and remember this guy is doing it all alone.
The Predator himself is at his best and the actor playing him had all th right moves
that would make the late Kevin Peter Hall (The Original Predator) very proud. At
times you would think that Hall himself was in the suit for the actor even had Halls
poses right down to a tee. The roles of the Alien brood were brought to life by a
combo of costume actors and CGI effects. They were fast and brutal as they over
ran the town and then there was the hybrid who was truly the best of both killer
species. Bigger and more powerful than any of the creatures this monster was
mean only wanted to kill. With the intellect of the Predators and the animal instants
of the Aliens this beast was the super creation and the hardest opponent any
Predator had ever face.
I myself can’t wait to see this film when it makes it to DVD where I will be able to
check out all the little extra features that it will have. Here’s a little tip bit for all you
“Alien” fans out there. You may take note of one of the human stars of the film. His
name is Dallas......not rigging a bell. Well think of Captain Dallas of the doomed
space ship The Nostromo in the 1979 film. Yes that’s right it’s his great...great..
great grandfather who in this movie faces the deadly creatures as he his brother
and others run for their lives.
Fans of both movie icons and fans of the last film....your going to love this
one!
Cloverfield
5 Gravestones
New York city is no stranger to being ripped apart by giant killer monsters. It all
began in 1933 when a really pissed off ape ran a muck throughout the city. Others
would follow like The Beast From 20,000 Fathoms, The Giant Claw, Q: The Winged
Serpent and yes even none other then our own version of Godzilla went to town on
the Big Apple. Now add a new terror to the mix as Blair Witch meets Godzilla in the
new monster stomp movie Coverfield from the man behind the series Lost J.J.
Abrums and his company Bad Robot
Shot in the very same way Blair Witch was done nine years before told through the
eyes of the man holding the video camera. As with the Blair Witch Project you
have a true sense of the terror for you the viewer feel like you're in the movie itself
as people run from something really big and pissed off as it rips the city apart like a
child acting out. The film opens through the eyes of a young man talking to his
girlfriend and then the two attend a party of young people all in their mid 20s or so
who are saying goodbye to Rob who will be moving to ....get this of all places
Japan. The party is the norm people drinking, talking, bitching and all along the
camera is rolling....telling the story of the night. It all seems a bit to much like any
party any of us went to in the past as your drawn into to the party until the ground
shakes and something is coming.
Where in one moment things are good and happy then all hell is unleashed and the
city is attacked by an unknown huge creature hell bent on destruction. Now you the
viewer and the films cast have to run from the thing as building fall and madness
sets in as no one know what the hell is going on. Your just there in the middle of
the shit and a creature is on the loose killing anything it comes across. Everyone
running with no clue as what to do or what's going on much in the same way 9-11
was when the Trade Center fell.
The creature itself like Godzilla is unstoppable no matter how may bombs and stuff
as shot at it....it just keeps coming. The beast very much kinda reminded me of the
pit creature from Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back as it had that look to it I
thought. There are also smaller spider like creatures that are running about making
things just as bad as they kill people the big monster can't. The movie reminds me
of dreams that I have had where you must run from something wild going on like a
big ass monster running about and YOU have to find a place to hide. This first
person point of view pioneered in the 1999 film The Blair Witch Project had never
been used before in a monster movie but I bet lots of knock offs will soon follow. It
really make you part of the movie and that maybe your next victim for the monster.
 |
 |
