Dead Rising: Endgame (2016)

The United States is still gripped by fear of the zombie contagion, and certain shadowy forces are putting that fear to use for their own ends.  It's up to journalist Chase Carter, and the small handful of people he can trust, to try and expose the truth, and potentially save the lives of over a million infected people.

A couple of weeks back, when I reviewed the first Dead Rising film, I made a comment to the effect that the movie would profit from jettisoning much of its plot and just focusing on the zany undead action.  This film seems eager to prove the point.  There are a couple of great zombie-fighting action scenes in this film, but unfortunately they're buried in a movie that's 80% focused on tedious political conspiracy malarkey.  Malarkey that, at the end of the day, basically has no real pay-off or conclusion, and wastes some solid actors in the process.  The lack of a real ending here is, I suspect, quite deliberate.  For all that this is called Endgame, it seems likely that they originally hoped to do at least one more film after it.  I mean, Resident Evil has managed six films, after all, so why not Dead Rising?

If you're a hard core zombie genre fan, then this is probably worth checking out, at least for the 15-20 minutes where it remembers to actually be a zombie film.  Otherwise, you can skip it.

P2 (2007)

Angela is something of a workaholic.  This causes friction with her family, especially tonight, on Christmas Eve, when she's once again staying late at the office and not on her way to her sister's place for dinner.

And then when Angela finally does go to leave, wouldn't you know it?  Her car won't start.  The attendant in her underground car park tries to be helpful - in fact, if anything, he's a little too eager to please.  Still, it's surely not like he's a lunatic who's about to abduct her and subject her to a night of terror, right?

Right?

So it turns out that I've watched two Xmas-themed horror films this month.  That wasn't planned, but it almost makes me wish that I was intending to round out this October with Black Xmas.  But I'm not :)

P2 is a decent little cat and mouse, stalker and prey type film.  It doesn't really break any especially new ground or offer any surprises if you've ever seen this kind of thing before, but it has a couple of neat set pieces.  I particularly liked the elevator sequences.

The film is also helped a lot by the fact that Rachel Nichols is very good as Angela: she presents just the right combination of vulnerability and toughness.

Worth checking out if stalker movies are something you like.

Frozen (2010)

Dan, Joe and Parker con their way onto the ski slopes for a discounted rate, then further con their way into getting one extra run down the mountain when the resort starts to close for bad weather.

Unfortunately, there's a miscommunication among the staff on the ski lifts, and they shut the chair lift down while the trio are halfway up the mountain, suspended some forty feet or more in the air, while a blizzard rolls in.

Obviously, this is not the Disney Frozen.

What I liked about this film was that it's the kind of horror film that even people who aren't into horror films can enjoy.  At it's heart, it's a character study about three people caught in a situation where if they stay where they are, they will die ... but to try and get down from the chair lift carries a wealth of dangers of its own.  That's actually quite a horrifying situation to imagine yourself in, and most of us can probably relate to the scenario more easily than we can being stalked by an acid-blooded alien or an undead psycho in a hockey mask.

The writing and performances are also tight, with the script being sensibly constrained within a 90 minute window and the main trio all delivering believably fraught performances.

If you're in the market for a tense, character-driven film, check it out.

An American Werewolf in London (1981)

Jack and David are a pair of American students on vacation in the north of England.  One cold night they seek shelter in a village pub, only to find the locals distinctly unwelcome.  They are forced on with only "stay off the moors" to guide them.

This being a film, they fail to heed the warnings they're given and end up snack chow for a fierce beast.  Jack is killed, but David survives thanks to the villagers having a change of heart and killing the beast.

Three weeks later, he wakes up in London, being tended to by a pretty young nurse.  If only he could shake these terrible nightmares ...

An American Werewolf in London is a film with a number of memorable scenes, especially some of David's dreams.  On the other hand, it's definitely not one where you should think about the specific plot points too closely.  The villagers, in particular, act in ways that the plot requires rather than in ways that make much sense.  Also, the ending is a bit flat.  The Howling, which came out at a similar time, nails a similar climax much more strongly, to my mind.

Still, if you're up for a slightly comedic but still sometimes scary werewolf movie, and you don't mind that there's an indulgent moment or two along the way (John Landis, who wrote and directed this, also did The Blues Brothers, and this film will remind you of that), then this is worth your time.

To Let (2006)

Clara and Mario need to find a new apartment, and Mario drags the work-weary Clara well out of the city to check out a hot lead he's got on a place at a really good rate.  Clara's misgivings grow when she sees the building and its dilapidated state, but Mario is determined that they should give the place a real chance.

Mario may or may not live to regret ignoring Clara's misgivings, because being in this building is even more dangerous than its half-derelict state would suggest ...

To Let is a solid, taut bit of bloody horror violence, with a very lean run time and a pretty full tilt pace.  Basically the only weak points are those few moments where it does ease its grip on the throttle.

If you don't mind subtitles (or you can speak Spanish), gory violence, and a bleak overall tone, then this is one rental you might want to check out ...

Dark Reel (2008)

When Adam Waltz wins a walk-on role in the latest low budget schlockfest starring scream queen Cassie Blue, he doesn't expect to end up in a romance with the starlet, and he certainly doesn't expect to be a murder suspect or to be seeing ghosts.  But well, this bit part on "Pirate Wench" is going to lead to all those things in pretty short order.

Dark Reel is not a good film, but it's kind of engagingly stupid one in many ways.  Like, in a film where multiple "scream queen" characters get killed by a masked killer, why on Earth is it that none of them scream?  Heck, in one case the film actually sets up that she won't be heard if she does, as the only other person around has music blaring out of the headphones he is wearing, yet she still doesn't make any effort to call for help.

Or there's the way that it tries to stitch together both a ghost film and a spree killer film, ultimately reveals a strong connection between the two elements, and yet never really seems to make them - or really care about making them - gel together in a logical fashion. Or its many attempts to be 'funny' or to have 'witty' dialogue that are mostly just perplexingly weird and silly moments.

With some extensive re-writes and a much stronger leading man (Edward Furlong peaked in his very first role and has only headed downhill after that, poor chap), this could actually have been a snappy little slasher.  The killer's got a good "look", and the ultimate motivations behind the slashings is sound enough (though let down by the execution of its reveal).  Plus (Furlong aside) the cast are a dependable crew of B-listers who could actually have made a better script work.

The Blame (2006)

Nurse and single mom Gloria moves in with her hospital colleague, Dr Ana Torres.  Though it soon becomes obvious that Ana wants more than to just be flatmates, Gloria remains at the house because the only rent she has to pay is to help the Doctor run her small gynaecological practice: a practice that also functions as a secret abortion clinic.  This is a fact that may well become important when Gloria finds herself pregnant with her new boyfriend's baby.

Of course, this is a horror film, so whether Gloria chooses to keep the child or not, you can bet the decision will end badly.

The Blame is well shot, well acted (at least as far as I can tell, given it is in Spanish) and has some nice creepy parts scattered throughout it, but I found it hard to warm to given the 'predatory lesbian' vibe they establish with Ana.  I suspect a lot of people will find it glacially slow, as well.  I was actually okay with the pace, at least until the final few minutes when they really seemed to rush through things to finally wedge in the pay-off for all the set-up.

Said pay-off .... ehhh.  It follows on logically from what we've seen, but it didn't really work for me, probably because the film's various misdirections all actually seemed more interesting than the "true" story.