Film Review: CATACOMBS (1988)

The Beast of the Apocalypse has been buried for over 400 years beneath a monastery where the secret has been kept until a female school teacher and an American priest uncover the truth in the film Catacombs (aka The Curse IV: The Ultimate Sacrifice) (1988).  Laura Schaefer is the school teacher Elizabeth Magrino who has been invited to the monastery to photograph everything.  Her arrival coincides with the release of the Beast who has influence over everyone that comes near him which he uses to kill and/or possess people into furthering his escape from his prison.  Elizabeth must overcome not only the slow possession of the Beast but the open sexism placed upon her as the first woman to ever be allowed access to the monastery. 

Time is running out as the more people the Beast kills the stronger he becomes until he is able to release himself from captivity.

Written by David Schmoeller and R. Barker Price and directed by Schmoeller (who also directed Netherworld, Puppetmaster, Crawlspace, and Tourist Trap) the film is well made but is not one of his better films.  This being said it is entertaining in a ‘80s horror film kind of way and will appeal to those who love the films of Full Moon Entertainment.

Film Review: 13/13/13 (2013)

Using the Mayan calendar it is now the 13^th day of the 13^th month in 2013 and all hell is about to break lose.  This is the dilemma of 13/13/13 (2013) that says that the world is on the brink of destruction as everyone not born on February 29^th will go insane and kill other people or themselves.  With only a handful of people left alive to fend for themselves against a populace of insanity Jack and Candace (Trae Ireland and Erin Coker, respectfully) must escape a hospital filled with people trying to kill them in order for Jack to get back home to his daughter. 

The alliance of these two characters is due to the fact that Jack watched his ex-wife jump out of a hospital window and Candace was forced to kill her nephew who tried to kill her.  They’ll have more insanity to get through before the day is over as the whole world is coming apart at the seams.

Written and directed by James Cullen Bressack the film has an interesting concept once you get past the absurdity of the concept (only people born on Leap Year are unaffected which begs the question of cultures all over the world who go by a different calendar how they would be affected).  The other thing that drags down the film is the fact that for the most part all the action takes place in two locations – the hospital and Jack’s house (where a separate story involving Jack’s three friends driven insane are supposed to be watching his daughter).  Too much time is spent at the hospital and everything at Jack’s house drags down the rest of the film.

Having an apocalypse happen on 13/13/13 was probably a great selling point for the film but the execution leaves a lot to be desired.  For the most part Ireland does a good job with what he’s given but Coker is under developed and becomes a useless sidekick through most of the film.  The production values are actually not that bad but that is one of the few good points in an otherwise highly forgettable film.

Graphic Novel Review: REMAINS

The name Steve Niles is no stranger to horror fans.  He’s most famous for co-creating and redefining the vampire genre with 30 Days of Night (for which there have been two films made already).  With his Remains he sets his sights on re-imagining the zombie genre (which has since been made into a movie by Chiller Films).  Niles writes with Kieron Dwyer providing the art.  The plot concerns a blackjack dealer Tom and an exotic dancer Tori who are among the only living survivors of a nuclear blast that decimates the entire world killing just about everyone and turning them into the walking dead.  Now they are holed in Reno with no escape as the walking dead’s numbers grow with each day.

As the days turn into weeks and the number of the undead grows exponentially Tori slowly begins to realize that something is changing in the undead.  They are beginning to remember how to speak and organize and work together.  Now Tori is even more determined to escape Reno before it is too late.  The situation goes from bad to worse when Tom rescues Cindy from sudden death.  It seems that Cindy is the last survivor from a settlement of survivors who were attacked by a newer breed of radioactive zombies who are stronger and smarter than any that they have ever seen and they are heading towards Reno.  Now these three must find a way to survive in a world where they are the endangered species.

As far as zombie stories go, Remains doesn’t have much new to offer but the notion that we caused the disaster itself is an interesting concept.  The story begins and a day of peace when the US and the world have agreed to get rid of nuclear weapons in a safe way but before this can happen a mistakes triggers a domino effect all over the world putting everything into a nuclear fireball.  Once the actual story starts the rest of the plot is pretty standard zombie material.  I do commend Dwyer’s artwork which greatly enhances the zombie mayhem and works perfectly for the story.  Niles has a very cinematic story telling style which fits with the material.  It is no reason that Chiller Films decided to make this one of their first feature length films.

Niles is no stranger to extreme gore in his stories and this one does not disappoint.  Dwyer’s cover for the graphic novel is pure Niles nightmare hell and horror fans will love what the two have come up with despite the sometimes cliché and predictable story.  Of note is also a lot of production stills at the end of the graphic novel from the making of the film version which shows you just how much care was taken to replicate the style and tone of the graphic novel to the big screen.