Film Review: SHARK ATTACK 3: MEGALODON (2002)

Screenwriters Scott Devine and William Hooke finish off their Shark Attack trilogy with this last film Shark Attack 3: Megalodon (2002).  A large shark tooth is found off the Mexican coast after several underwater workers are killed.  John Barrowman plays Ben Carpenter who crosses paths with a prehistoric Megalodon whom threatens his community ala the original Jaws (1975).  Big shark kills lots of people and money hungry industrialist decide not to close the beaches down because it will destroy the finances of the community.  Oh, wait, this film does close the beaches but no one listens as people still venture out into the water providing plenty of victims for the giant shark.

Jenny McShane returns from the first Shark Attack (1999) as a different character Cataline Stone, who puts together a documentary team to film the existence of the prehistoric shark in order to prove that it does exist.    This is all minor as it just adds a romantic angle to the film and very little else.

The film suffers, more so this film than the previous film, from the really bad CGI effects especially when the Megalodon interacts with any real characters in the film as the effects never meld together seamlessly.  The result is a very comedic which the typical reaction of these subpar CGI films is.  Now there is something to be said for these types of films as many times despite the basic plot and mediocre acting they can be quite entertaining.  This is not one of those films.  Both of the series’ previous films had their entertaining moments but when this film decided to resurrect the Megalodon it bit off more than it could chew and it shows.  Barrowman and McShane do the best that they can with the material but they are not given very good supporting actors and the film falls flat pretty fast.

If you want a killer shark film skip this film and just go back to the king – Jaws, but if you want something different…still skip this film and go to Deep Blue Sea (1999).

Film Review: SHARK ATTACK II (2000)

If there was ever a rip-off of Jaws 3-D (1983) than Shark Attack II (2000) is that film.  It didn’t decide to go with copying the original film but instead borrows from the inferior sequel as in Shark Attack II an aggressive shark is captured off the coast of Cape Town, South Africa and then placed in a Sea World knock-off called Water World in which a few people get killed before the shark escapes and there is discovered six sharks instead of the one.  A shark hunter is brought in to assist with the situation and more people are killed.

There is nothing new in this killer shark film but director David Worrth gets a lot of mileage out of the real shark footage which is mixed with the less affective fake shark fins in the water.  Some of this same real shark footage is used in the even worse sequel Shark Attack 3: Megalodon (2002).  Despite the pedestrian script, writers Scott Devine and William Hooke do inject the script with quite a few comedic moments mostly between lead Thorsten Kaye and Dan Metcalfe (the shark hunter) but the revenge storyline involving Nikita Ager’s character Samantha, whose sister is killed by the shark, drags the story down and the romance between her character and Kaye’s seems forced (due to the requirements of such a film).  This is a minor issue since most films of this genre need the required romantic angle or revenge angle (or both) to move the plot along.

The film relies more on the footage of real sharks which is a benefit as to many other films rely too much on CGI.  This does not make the film good, it just makes the film more tolerable as any killer shark film should probably stay clear of the inferior Jaws 3-D and just borrow from the original.

Film Review: 2-HEADED SHARK ATTACK (2012)

Who really comes up with these ideas I ask?  2-Headed Shark Attack (2012)!?!   Well, anyone going into this film with anything more than the lowest common denominator should be ashamed of themselves.  If all you are expecting to see is a little nudity and some gore than that is exactly what you will get with this film.

A ship of students studying on the open see is crippled by a mutated 2-Headed shark and the survivors find themselves stranded near a deserted atoll.  Now they not only need to fix their ship, but also survive the continuing attack by the 2-headed shark and find a way off the atoll before it sinks into the sea (as earthquakes slowly sink parts of the atoll throughout the film).  The movie is headlined by former Baywatch star Carmen Electra but she does very little other than look pretty as does most of the rest of the cast.  The huge cast is made up of numerous “beautiful” and over-sexed up characters who die is less than interesting ways.  This being the umpteenth film about killer sharks there is very little contained within that you haven’t already seen before.  The draw of this film is the fact that the shark has 2-heads but even this is a small novelty as the repetition of the many deaths makes the notion of having a 2-headed shark kill two people at once repetitive and boring really fast.

There is no such thing as a 2-headed shark so the death scenes are filled with too much bad CGI.  This is because the film cannot rely on the mixture of real shark footage with that of CGI.  The other thing is that the film showcases a handful of smart characters but they continue to do “stupid” things in order to push the story forward and this also gets dull really fast.  Killer shark films have always been a hard thing to pull off since the bar was set so high with Jaws (1975) and if you’re looking for something closer to that film, 2-Headed Shark Attack is far from it.

Film Review: MIDNIGHT MOVIE (2008)

The supernatural serial killer is nothing new.  All you have to do is look at the films Shocker (1989), A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984), Fallen (1998), The First Power (1990) and even the later Friday the 13^th films.  In the film Midnight Movie (2008) the story borrows from the Shocker mold by allowing a serial killer (who is also a film director) the ability to jump into his own films in order to kill people.

When a Killer escapes a psyche ward by becoming part of his film, he continues his murder spree when his film is given a Midnight Screening as a small town theater.  When the film plays everyone in the theater becomes fodder for the Killer’s madness.  The Killer has the ability to appear and disappear from the film into the real world to capture his next victim.  A serial killer has to have a unique motif but this killer doesn’t but he borrows from some of the very best.  The film-within-a-film (in which the Killer comes from) is very much homage to Tobe Hooper’s The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974) while the Killer himself has a limp (like both Leatherface and Horace Pinker from Shocker) and a unique killing utensil ala in tradition of Leatherface’s chainsaw.   For horror fans this will be the great draw (especially since the Killer also has a unique mask that covers his face) as will be the gore and all the death scenes on hand.

Despite the fact that there is very little of originality in the film it excels in the entertainment department and the production values are extremely high with actors that actually do a better than expected job considering the type of movie that this is.    Writers Jack Messitt (who also directs) and Mark Garbett do an excellent job on delivering the goods in terms of what is expected of this type of film.  They understand the genre and exactly who their audience is and they do not disappoint.

If only more low budget films understood what this film does.  You don’t have to have a huge budget or the biggest named actors or even the most original idea (since there are no more new ideas just the way in which you present them).  All you need is a group of dedicated individuals who come together to create something that’s honest and entertaining and uncompromising.

Film Review: ZOMBIES! ZOMBIES! ZOMBIES! (2008)

When a particular genre of horror film becomes too popular film makers take the concept too far into the absurd which is exactly what you get with Zombies! Zombies! Zombies! (2008), which is a film about strippers verses zombies in what better a place than in a strip club.  With a screenplay by Anthony Steven Giordano (with additional story elements by Zack Kennedy) and directed by Jason Murphy the movie concerns a small group of strippers who hole up in a strip club after an experimental drug causes the hookers surrounding the club to become blood thirty zombies.  There is very little else to the story other than a short diversion by a couple of people who go to the lab in which the drug was created in order to find a cure but this feels like more of a time filler than anything else.

The film suffers from poor story and characters that repeatedly do the most asinine things.  Now this would be fine if the strippers are meant to be portrayed as brainless bimbos but the film starts off comparing and contrasting the strippers with the hookers (who are the ones that are portrayed as truly brainless) but by the time all the hookers are killed (which is early) it is the strippers who then become the brainless characters who repeatedly do and act like the hookers did at the first half of the film.

Despite all these setbacks, let’s be honest – the real reason why anyone would want to watch a film called Zombies! Zombies! Zombies! Is not because of the story and characters but the strippers and the possibilities of nudity and gore.  There is plenty of gore in the film but if you’re looking for any real nudity it won’t be found here.  Many of the gore gags are quite good especially in the last act of the film but this far from makes the film a watchable film (especially since there are far better films with both nudity and gore).

Fans of the zombie genre may enjoy the film as brain-dead entertainment but once the film is over it’ll be the audience who will be left brainless.

Book Review: Inside Teradome: An Illustrated History of Freak Film by Jack Hunter

The “freak” film is a sub genre of horror film that has mostly been over looked by modern audiences but it was once something far more common place in the 50’s to 70’s.  Nowadays most audiences only know of the auteur works of John Waters (Pink Flamingoes & Female Troubles) or David Lynch (Eraserhead & The Elephant Man) and the early films of David Cronenberg (Dead Ringers & Shivers) but there is a history of freak film that stretches across continents and genres and cultures and that is what Jack Hunter’s book Inside Teradome: An Illustrated History of Freak Film delves into.

In order to under the freak film you must define what it is and what types of films are included and that is exactly what Hunter does with the first half of the book (while the second part focuses on the films themselves and the film makers behind them).  For those who don’t know (and generally speaking I was one of those people at first) the so-called freak film includes not only films about people or cultures with abnormal ways of life but also those who live such a life and have taken up the film industry as there profession.  As described by Hunter, “The ultimate strain of bizarre cinema, a psycho-sexual fusion of the grotesque and perverse, haunted by primal specters of deformity and mutilation.”  The book focuses mostly on Tod Browning’s Freaks (1932) because this is not only a film that featured so-called real life “freaks” and circus performers but it also portrayed them in a sympathetic light as opposed to the “normal” people in the film.  It is through the initial failure of this film (it did more or less kill Brownings career in films) and it’s now infamous undying cult status that Hunter explores the culture and importance of this genre of film.

The first part of the book describes all real manner of freaks such as those that suffered from all types of genetic maladies (as could be seen in the circuses up until the 70s) as well as those through mutation (due to the bomb) or war (mostly WWI vets who were disfigured).  The book does go into the fall of the freak film as SFX in cinema began to rival anything that could have been seen in the real world.  Hunter not only describes all of the maladies but has also put together an amazing collection of photos from all over the word (and illustrations and drawings as well) to show just how real some of these people suffered in their real lives only to replay them in front of a camera.

The second part of the book focuses on the film makers and films that embraced this type of taboo material from the before mentioned films of John Waters to the more obscure films of Alejandro Jodorowsky (El Topo and Santa Sangre) Werner Herzog (Even Dwarfs Start Small) and actors such as Michael Berryman (The Hills Have Eyes, Deadly Blessing) and Rondo Hatton (Jungle Captive, House of Horrors).

Hunter does an excellent job of presenting these films in way that will give readers an understanding of why they were so popular at one time in history and why there popularity has dwindled over the years to the point of having almost all but been forgotten.   For those interested in this genre of film this is a great book to get you started.

Book Review: Asian Horror by Andy Richards

There are a thousand books out there about the horror film genre so what makes author Andy Richards book Asian Horror (from Kamera Books) so different?  Well, its focus is on Asian horror films and their impact with other countries especially in the way they have influenced the still growing trend of American remakes of popular Asian films.  This is but one of many books focusing on specific film genres as published through Kamera Books.

In this book Richards focuses on the horror film and its influences on everywhere from Thailand to Japan to Korea to Hong Kong and more starting off with a chapter on how culture has influenced the different types of creatures and supernatural horrors prevalent in their films (which would be different from our own).  The book takes its time touching upon the classics of each culture - such as Tales of Ugetsu (1953) or Kwaidan (1964) and Hell (1960).  Every film of significance is given a thorough breakdown those that those interested in going out and finding them will know everything they need to about the film from the synopsis of the film and the cast and crew involved to background about the film and his “verdict” on the film which is how it has influenced culture and the horror genre as a whole.

There is plenty of space spent on the now classic modern films from these countries including Suicide Circle (2002), Ringu (1998), Tetsuo: The Iron Man (1988), A Tale of Two Sisters (2003), Mr. Vampire (1985), Dumplings (2004), Nang Nak (1999), Shutter (2004), Death Note (2006),  Kairo (2001), and Battle Royale (2000), to name a few.  There are tons of films discussed in the book along with the directors that made the films.  There is also a section with pictures from many of the films as well.

Like other Kamera Books this book is put together very well and gives readers a good understanding of Asian horror films and their influence on the genre.  Richards even goes briefly into how their modern day films have been influenced by the American horror film culture and he briefly touches upon the American remakes that have flooded the market (and continue to do so).   This is a good book for beginners and one for those who want a grand overview of some of the most important horror films from these cultures.

TOP 66 ZOMBIE FILMS OF ALL TIME (Part 5)

PART 5: No.# 40-31

One of the biggest reasons I wanted to conduct my own list of Top 66 Zombie films is the fact that the article in SFX Magazine Special Zombies kept putting films that they didn’t even like at the bottom of the list.  This is a huge travesty as there have been hundreds of zombie films produced and not one zombie film on that UK magazine’s list they should have been ashamed of.  On my list I am not ashamed of any of them.  I’ve seen a whole lot of bad zombie films (ZOMBIE LAKE and FLESH EATER come immediately to mind) but despite the questionable quality of some of the films on my list (and I’m sure you dear zombie lovers won’t agree with all my choices nor their placement on my list) they are all entertaining and films that I would gladly include in my video collection.

Hitting the half way mark of my list is an exciting moment as all the films from here on out are films I’ve seen several times and recommend to others both lovers of the genre and those who are coming to the genre…well, late.  As we get higher on the list we come across films with stronger stories and more personal risks so I hope you enjoy reading what I have to say about these films and go out and see them for yourself.

40. DEAD HEAT (1988)

I remember seeing this as a child and being totally blown away by the sheer lunacy of the plot yet still managed to be about the characters and the bond between two cops in an almost hopeless situation.  This was the film that put actor Treat Williams in my stratosphere (well this and the fact that he also starred in the immensely entertaining Deep Rising) plus it had Joe Piscopo (whom I had known from Wise Guys and Johnny Dangerously).  This film was a happy accident as it had two actors with great chemistry in an unorthodox zombie film.

39. CREEPSHOW (1982)

I was a huge fan of the original Tales from the Crypt (1972) and Vault of Horror (1973) anthology films so when this film came out I was all over it.  It was also a film plastered with author Stephen King all over it and at the time King was the only author whose books I had a steady diet on.  It was funny and horrifying and a downright tour de force of sheer lunacy with a rather particularly horrifying final segment in “They’re Creeping Up on You” which had cockroaches in it – and I HATE cockroaches.

38. AMERICAN ZOMBIE (2007)

I don’t know why it took until 2007 for someone to come up with this inventive idea about a “realistic” film documenting the undead as they go about their business in the real world.  This film works because its about real characters going through real problems that mirror that of how minorities and the disenfranchised have always been treated in this country.  This is a concept that could have fallen flat on its face but the actors make the plight of the characters so real that you can’t help but sympathize with them.  Despite its low budget this film excels on many levels because the film makers and actors never forget that character comes first.

37. ZOMBI 2 (1979)

This was my very first Lucio Fulci film so it holds a special place amongst all other zombie films.  Fulci may have been an uneven director but this is his masterpiece (and one that I watch at least once every year).  When I first saw this film in my teens I thought I was going to be arrested for watching a film so vile and disgusting and taboo shattering.  I mean you see an eye ball gouged out by a splinter of wood in all its gory delight.  This film introduced me to truly gory films (an alternative to the Friday the 13^th and A Nightmare on Elm Street films that at the time I thought were gory).  I just love this film!  Faults and everything there is no other Italian made zombie film that even compares with the entertainment value of this film.

36. RESIDENT EVIL (2002)

I know that some people may disagree with this film being on this list much less #36 but let me first say that I never played a Resident Evil game until #6 just last year before the 4^th film was released so I didn’t come to the franchise with all that history or back story.  Instead, I came to this film with the knowledge that at the time the zombie genre had all but been dead for years.  This was a shot in the arm for the traditional slow moving zombie film and it starred 2 of my favorite female actors in Millia Jovovich and Michelle Rodriguez and was directed by Paul W.S. Anderson, whom I thought had done a fantastic job with the video game based film Mortal Kombat (a game I was a fan of).  The film exceeded my expectations by being both an action film and a horror film with cool deaths and zombies and it didn’t end on a happy note.  What more could you have asked for in a zombie film?  I was hooked and with the exception on the second film I think this is one of the best zombie franchises out there that continue to get better with each subsequent film.

35. DEAD SNOW (2009)

Hands down the best zombie film that features Nazi zombies!  Some people look at Shock Waves (1977) as one of the best if not the best but I was never a big fan of that film.  Don’t get me wrong it’s a good film and it gets added mileage from Peter Cushing and Brooke Adams but other than that there isn’t much else there.  With Dead Snow you get so much more…of everything that a Nazi zombie film should have.  I have the same feeling about this film as I do with Fulci’s Zombi 2 except this film is more fun and extremely gorier.  If you don’t like this film then you don’t like zombie films.

34. DEAD & BURIED (1981)

This slow burning zombie film gets a lot of mileage out of the fact that it is one of the best written of many from the ‘80s.  Written by Ronald Shusett and Dan O’Bannon (who both wrote the original Alien) this film is both strong in story and character and in mood and atmosphere (as directed by Gary Sherman).  This is a different kind of zombie film for a different kind of fan.

33. PLANET TERROR (2007)

The craziest zombie film since…well, ever.  Director Robert Rodriguez throws everything into this film (and the kitchen sink) and comes up with one of the most entertaining zombie films ever crafted.  Never mind the fact that the story is just crazy, you have one of the best casts put together for a zombie film that has no bounds and no limits – Rose McGowan, Josh Brolin, Jeff Fahey, Marley Shelton, Michael Biehn, Freddy Rodriguez, Bruce Willis,  and Naveen Andrews, to name a few.  Non-zombie fans probably won’t want to take this ride but those who truly love the genre will just need to jump on the bus and go for the ride.

32. LA HORDE (2009)

If there is one fault to be had for this film it is the fact that the characters never become smart enough to just shoot them in the head.  Instead the character litter the film with bullets which makes this one hell of an action and siege zombie film.  The one thing that truly sets this above other films is the fact that the film makers have such a love for the genre that they craft this film on such a low budget and still manage to come up with one of the best endings for a zombie movie.  It’s like John Carpenter’s Assault on Precinct 13 (1976) with zombies.

31. MULBERRY STREET (2006)

Very few indie zombie films are as good as this little film which created the “rat zombie” and took it to horrifying new levels of terror.  The limited location creates suspense and terror that few films of the modern era have been able to capture.  The other thing is that this film never forgets that in addition to great creature FX that you also need characters that audiences will care for and this film exceeds in that department.  This is a film for fans and people who think that there is no new way to tell a good zombie story and I’m here to say then look no further than this film here.

I’m over half way done with this list and had I done the article all in one big article it would be at over 15 pages already (so I’m glad I broke it up).  The biggest reason that I am doing this series of articles like this is to give you – the Reader, a better understanding of why these films are on my list and why I think they should be required viewing on your list (if you are interested in these types of films).  I hope you enjoy this segment and I’ll have more for you soon.