RANTS & RAVINGS ABOUT HORROR – “HOW RESIDENT EVIL: THE FINAL CHAPTER BECAME ONE OF THE HIGHEST GROSSING HORROR FILMS OF THE YEAR!”

RANTS & RAVINGS ABOUT HORROR – “HOW RESIDENT EVIL: THE FINAL CHAPTER BECAME ONE OF THE HIGHEST GROSSING HORROR FILMS OF THE YEAR!”

It may come as a shock to many people (even horror fans) but Resident Evil: The Final Chapter (2017) became one of the highest grossing traditional horror films of 2017 (with the exception of the monster hit remake of Stephen King’s It).  With $312.2 million at the Worldwide Box Office the final chapter in the long running zombie-action-horror franchise comes to a satisfying conclusion.  This film is the highest grossing of all the others in the franchise proving the extreme popularity of the films with fans of the actual game and general horror fans (and franchise star Milla Jovovich).

 

With this closing chapter writer/director Paul W.S. Anderson went back to basics in terms of style with the grittier action sequences and look of the zombies and monsters; he strayed from the more colorful visual palette of the past two films to return the franchise to the roots of the look of the original film.  Despite some questionable story elements, the film does a fantastic job putting all the pieces of the franchise together into a complete puzzle which fans, who have stuck through the duration of the films, will appreciate.  This is one of those few horror franchises where the same person has hung in there with each of the films till the end.  Anderson may not have directed all the films (just the original and the last three) but he has written them all and was producer for all of them over the course of fifteen years!  Some of the only other franchises to have a similar track record is writer/producer/director Don Coscarelli with the Phantasm franchise (37 years), writer/director Victor Salva and Jeepers Creepers films (17 years), writer/director Don Mancini with the Child’s Play franchise (29 years), writer/producer/director Sam Raimi and producer Rob Tapert with the Evil Dead films & television series (34 years) and writer/actor/director Leigh Whannell with the Insidious films (7 years), to name a very few.

 RE fans and general audiences have enjoyed watching the journey of the main character Alice (Jovovich) or “Project Alice” as she is also called in the films.  She has changed and developed from film to film gaining and loosing friends and allies on her quest to stop the Umbrella Corporation from destroying all of humanity on Earth.  The franchise has become one of the most ambitious horror franchises in history with characters from all over the world interacting in this zombie infested world.  The franchise has not only showcased some amazing fight choreography and action sequences but delivered the goods when it comes to the numerous monsters on display and death throughout.  Very few long running horror franchises have been able to have a protagonist as engaging and dynamic as Jovovich’s Alice and that is a testament to the commitment of the actor to the character and the Anderson’s writing to continue to test the character with new obstacles.

In terms of Box Office, all the films have grossed over $100 million at the Worldwide Box Office with the distinct oddity of The Final Chapter being the lowest growing Domestically (whereas Afterlife (2010) has the highest Domestic gross of the franchise with $60 million).  Obviously, the franchise is more of an International Box Office phenom then a domestic one.  By the time The Final Chapter was released earlier this year, interest in the franchise here was gone; only the die-hard fans came out to see how the franchise would finally end.  Internationally, the film did extremely well with over $285 million (a franchise best)!  With these numbers, even though the current run of Anderson films has come to an end, there is already talk of rebooting the franchise and starting over.  It should also be noted that the third film in the animated franchise Vendetta (2017) was also released this year (but Anderson has nothing to do with the animated films that stay more faithful to the games).

I don’t particularly like all the films in the franchise myself.  I still love the original film which is straight forward and retains the simplicity of an action-horror film that showcased both Jovovich and Michelle Rodriguez’ talents for kicking ass and looking good while doing it.  I hated the Apocalypse (2004) as the cast was not nearly as strong as the original but it did add Oded Fehr and Jared Harris to the otherwise forgettable cast and I never liked the look of Nemesis.  They were back in form with Extinction (2007) but I think it’s because director Russell Mulcahy gives the film a great visual look and style with the desert looking apocalypse landscape (he did, after all, direct Highlander, Tale of the Mummy, and Resurrection, to name a few) and they added Ali Larter to the franchise (one of the great additions).  Anderson returns behind the camera with Afterlife (2010) which is the first to film in 3-D (with the same cameras used for James Cameron’s Avatar); all subsequent films would also get the 3-D treatment (I should know as I saw them all in 3-D on opening weekend).  Afterlife would bring new life into the franchise with its bolder color palette and more balletic fight choreography as the fights would become even more dynamic then in previous films.  Anderson’s cinematography would be the best here than in any of the previous films as the film took the strengths of the previous films and amplify them more.  Retribution (2012) would be a step down (in my opinion) as it focused more on the action sequences and less on the story as the whole film didn’t really seem to go anywhere as if it was a filler film for the next impending film (needless to say, Box Office for this film would dwindle tremendously from the previous film which became the franchise high domestically).  The tepid Box Office and audience response to this film meant that it was time to call it quits and thus The Final Chapter was released with a whimper domestically but to enthusiastic response Internationally.  This is one of the stronger films in terms of the actual story and plot as you see a lot of the stories of characters you’ve come to know finally come to a satisfying end.

 

In terms of longevity and profitability, the RE franchise is one of the most successful despite the quality of some of the films which is typical of any franchise that’s run through six films (and three animated films) over the course of 15 years.  Anderson was able to have actors come and go throughout the run of the series keeping continuity and consistency which is also rare with horror franchises (or any franchise).

I’ve always been a huge fan of the films and will continue to be one even when the franchise is finally rebooted for the next generation.  This was a franchise by and from fans to and for the fans and that is a rare thing indeed.

2015 YEAR END REVIEW: “At the Movies”

2015 was a big year for me as I viewed a whopping 274 films for the first time; this number does not reflect any films that I may have a repeat viewing nor any television series.  Over the course of my own personal evaluation I’ve realized that I watched a lot of horror films (as to be expected) but I also watched a lot of documentary films.  Another surprise for me was that I watched so few animation films.  I’ll try to keep this short by hitting upon the highlights and looking at 2015 “by the numbers.” 

First off I watched twenty-seven films theatrically with five of those films in 3D.  This may surprise many people that may only go to the theater 3-5 a year much less see five films in 3D.  I actually enjoy watching films in 3D so I try to see some of the bigger films in this format (i.e. Avengers: Age of Ultron, Jurassic World, Mad Max: Fury Road, Paranormal Activity: The Ghost Dimension, and Terminator: Genysis).  My theatrical highlights are as follows 1)Mad Max: Fury Road, 2)Spotlight, 3)Ex Machina, 4)Creed, 5)Crimson Peak, 6)The Gift, 7)The Visit, 8)A Walk in the Woods, 9)Insidious: Chapter 3, and 10)Unfriended.  My favorite film in 3D was Mad Max: Fury Road with Paranormal Activity: The Ghost Dimension being a close second (although the film itself was just “okay” viewing it in 3D was worth it).

I watched fifty-seven films on Netflix all of various genres but most importantly this is how I viewed over 85% of my documentaries.  Netflix has an amazing selection of documentary films which is one of the main reasons I use the service.  I also viewed a ton of television series here as well but since I wasn’t keeping track of those I don’t have specific numbers.  I watched one hundred eighty-four films via DVD/Blu-Ray and only five films by other means (mostly You Tube or film festival).

A lot of what I watched was via DVD/BD but Netflix is my second go-to way to view films.  There are many other outlets to view films such as Vimeo, Hulu, and Amazon, to name a few, but these are not outlets I chose to use last year.  I guess I’ll have to change that for this year.

*****

One of the reasons why I’ve been keeping track of all this is to see how much my viewing habits of films I missed from the previous years will have improved.  Part of me spent last year not only watching films released in 2015 but also catching up with films that I had missed from the previous year.  

I ended up viewing twenty-eight films released in 2015 most of which I watched theatrically.  I spent more time catching up with films released in 2014 with forty-nine.  Netflix has made it easier to catch up with films I’ve missed especially in older decades.  My favorite films to catch up with from 2014 were 1)The Babadook, 2)Cake, 3)Invaluable: The True Story of an Epic Artist, 4)Maps to the Stars, 5)Cold in July, 6)The Judge, 7)Dead Snow 2: Red Vs Dead, 8)Divergent, 9)Blood Glacier, and 10)3 Days to Kill.  I watched eighty-two films from the ‘10s and forty-five from the ‘00s but what’s more important are the films from the former decades as I tried to continuously catch up on films that I had missed or were suggested to me by friends.  

The ‘90s were a great year for me growing up but there were so few films that I needed to catch up with (only eighteen) and the same goes for the ‘80s (eleven).  In the decade of my birth the ‘70s I caught up with seventeen films that I happened to have missed.  In the decades preceding the ‘70s I viewed twenty-one films.  The major highlights of these decades are Hiroshima Mon Amour (1959), The Seventh Seal (1957), Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (1966), I Married a Witch (1942), Harvey (1950), The Long, Hot Summer (1958), Strike (1925), Breathless (1960), The Epic of Everest (1924), and Stormy Weather (1943).

With each passing year my list of films that I need to watch dwindles and with Netflix it’s become easier and easier so I’m sure that in 2016 I’ll have an even better time finding new films that I may have missed.

*****

In terms of genre, horror is the one that exceeded all others with having watched one hundred and fourteen of which fifteen were released in 2015.  I won’t go into detail about my favorite horror films of 2015 (as that will be saved for another article) but I do want to mention some of the highlights from the years previous to 2015 – The Babdook (2014), Here Comes the Devil (2012), Don’t Look Now (1973), Thale (2012), Byzantium (2013), The Last Circus (2010), Under the Skin (2013), The Sentinel (1977), Horns (2013), Dead Snow 2: Red Vs Dead (2014), The Tall Man (2012), Rosewood Lane (2011), Maniac (2012), Blood Glacier (2014) and Black Rock (2013).  

Documentaries made up thirty-four of the films viewed but surprisingly none of them were released in 2015.  Some of these highlights included – Blackfish (2013), Jiro Dreams of Sushi (2011), Invaluable: The True Story of an Epic Artist (2014), Carl Th. Dreyer: My Metier (1995), Birth of the Living Dead (2013), Stanley Kubrick: A Life in Pictures (2001), The Central Park Five (2012), Crips & Bloods: Made in America (2008), Living on One Dollar (2013), and The Epic of Everest (1924).  

 

As mentioned earlier I viewed only seven animated films none of which were released in 2015.  Of these that I viewed only two stand out which are Despicable Me (2010) and The Secret World of Arriety (2010).

*****

As you can see I viewed a large variety of films in 2015.  If you’re wondering about the other genres, I didn’t really track them but I’ll post a complete list so you can have a clearer idea.  I tend to watch all types of films from all decades and genres and many times people suggest films to me.  I also love the classics and black and white films and many days I’ll just watch a bunch of those types of films.  I think that all films and genres have merit if you stop to take a few moments to explore them all.  I’ll certainly continue to do so and I hope that having read this article you will to.

Film Review: APARTMENT 1303 (2012)

I was surprised to learn that the film Apartment 1303 (2012) was a film originally presented in 3D but I guess that it was in select theaters and markets in that format.  Unfortunately, the film isn’t worth seeing in 3D or in 2D. 

Janet Slate (Julianne Michelle) has secretly moved into an apartment without her overbearing and violent mother Maddie (Rebecca De Mornay) and her older sister Lara (Mischa Barton).  She not only wants to get away from her mother but she also wants to start living her own life away from the pressure of her singer mother.  As soon as Janet gets into her apartment something is not right as a little girl keeps warning her to leave and her landlord likes to make himself home in her place plus something keeps trying to spook Janet in her own home.  When Janet suddenly dies two days later from an apparent suicide by jumping off the balcony of her place, Lara decides to take residence in the apartment to discover the truth of what happened to her sister.  No one seems to believe Lara when she says that the apartment is haunted by a previous tenant who refuses to share the apartment but she must find a way to survive when the ghosts in the apartment is very violent and vengeful.

This might actually be an interesting film if not for the poor acting due to the poor script.  There is no logic to the actions of the vengeful ghosts especially when Janet’s ghosts decides to be vengeful towards her sister (never makes any sense).  Also, the way in which both Janet and Lara react to the ghosts in any given scene is inconsistent.  Sometimes they appear to be afraid of the ghosts while other times they just decide to ignore them.  This gets old really fast and is probably more of an editing problem since these are usually close up reaction shots on the character.  Another thing is that De Mornay is the best actor in the film and she has little to nothing to do in the film and never has a chance to interact with the ghosts (which is a shame).

The special FX actually do look as though they were made for a 3D film but look poor in 2D (kind of like the poor visual FX in JAWS 3-D when viewed in 2D).  Not a very good film in any way and is highly forgettable.