While poking around on Amazon this movie popped up. It was promoted as a new Italian zombie movie, which caught my attention right away. I love Italian zombie movies… I mean my email is gutmunchers! I figured I’d give it a chance and I’m glad that I did.
Things kick off with an impatient businessman Claudio who is running late to an important meeting. He gets on the elevator and we see him being pretty awful to his ex-girlfriend whom he still wants to fool around with. This is further complicated when we find out he is married! In five minutes we already know what kind of guy that Claudio is. That is some damn fine screenwriting.
While this is all getting established, we also hear reports in the background of rioting and random attacks. The traffic is also horrible and while he doesn’t know it, we the viewer know that something bad is coming. He arrives at his building and hops on the elevator in time for it to break down. This is where Claudio spends most of the rest of the movie. Trapped with just a sliver of the door open so he can see one hallway. Between that and the phone calls he makes and receives are how we experience the zombie outbreak.
I had my doubts about whether this was going to work or not. One small location and just a couple of actors isn’t something that I’d think would work. But this is such a well written movie that it does. The story is compelling and our lead actor, Alessandro Roja, does a wonderful job selling it to the audience. We get to hear most of the mayhem outside over the phone. While the audio is decent it is his reaction that gives the movie it’s heart. His fear and anxiety are translated to the audience.
Great Setting
This also creates an interesting character arc as he starts off as the cheating bastard of a husband but quickly becomes a man concerned with his wife’s safety. His first instinct when she is in danger is to send someone to help her. There is also a bit with a police officer where he expresses his regret and admits that he is a bad husband. You just know the moment he gets out of the elevator he is going to go looking for her. I think that is kind of cool and not what I initially expected. I like my characters in zombie movies to have some heart so I can root for them.
Since this is a zombie flick, we do have to talk about special effects and gore. I’ll start with the latter. From the small space he forces open in the elevator doors we do get to see several people running and fighting the zombies in the hallway. This allows for a bit of gore, though most of the good stuff happens off-screen. There is one gag where he pounds the hell out of zombie with an improvised weapon and another when he gets his hands on a gun. The best bit though is when he stomps on a legless zombie. But again, there isn’t a ton of blood in the movie.
The creature design on the zombies is topnotch. Each of the zombies looks unique and you can see why many of them died and reanimated. They are very gooey and generally creepy looking. These are fast zombies as they run around, which isn’t my favorite thing. But overall, I was pleased with what I saw on the screen. If you are going to make a zombie flick they had better look good and that is the case here.
I really liked this movie and can recommend it without qualification. It’s a great story that focuses on a main character who just happens to be dealing with a screwed-up situation. The ending is satisfying and leaves the fate of Claudio and the world up in the air. Maybe we get a sequel… maybe we don’t. Either way The End? is worth a watch.
I saw this one pop up on Shudder and the generally positive reviews for it and I was intrigued. Independent zombie movies are somewhat of an addiction for me so I’m always looking to check another one out. Most of the time I regret it, but occasionally I find a good one. Blood Quantum also had the added bonus of a plot twist I had never seen before in a zombie flick, which doesn’t happen very often.
Let me set the scene by introducing you to the town of Red Crow. The inhabitants are made up of whites on one side and the indigenous people on the other. Things kick off in a very creepy way as we watch a fisherman gutting his catch only for them to start hopping around and reanimating on him. Then we meet the sheriff as he answers a call about his ex-wife’s dog, which has died… but not really. He is the son of the fisherman from earlier and both of them are members of the local tribe. This is important later. We also meet the sons of the sheriff, one from a previous relationship and the other the product of his marriage to the ex-wife. They are both in jail, which is where we meet our first human zombie. But it doesn’t take long for the outbreak to happen. Then the action jumps to six months later.
There are a couple important things to note at this point. One the world has gone to hell with the indigenous people barricaded up on their side of Red Crow, which conveniently is an island with a single bridge as entry. Second thru a quirk in genetics they are immune to the outbreak. If you aren’t a member of the tribe the traditional one bite and you turn rule which we are all familiar with apply. But for the indigenous people they can get bit and survive. This leads them to housing and protecting those vulnerable behind the walls of their community. A fact that the older son doesn’t agree with. I won’t spoil what happens with any details but clearly this doesn’t end well.
I have things that I love about Blood Quantum and others that annoyed me. Since the bad stuff is regarding the story, I suppose I’ll begin there. I really don’t like the jump forward in time. My favorite bit of most zombie movies is the initial outbreak and seeing how people react and the world falls apart. That is just a personal preference I know, but it felt like the movie was building up to something awesome when we get the “six months later” popping up on the screen. I was also bummed because there were some things hinted at that were never followed up on.
Additionally, there is a conflict between the older son and his father, who he thinks abandoned him, that are mentioned but never fleshed out. This is huge as it might explain his actions later on. Without that it sort of comes off as random. We also have conflict between some of the indigenous people the whites that treated them badly before the outbreak. I would have loved to seen more of that story and how it affected the characters. I think that there was an interesting story there. This would have also made the subplot of the youngest son’s white girlfriend being pregnant far more tied into the plot instead of feeling tacked on so they could have one scene at the end of the movie. You could have focused more on either story and still had a kick ass zombie movie.
Don’t get me wrong, Blood Quantum is a kick ass zombie movie in spite of my disappointments with the script. The zombies look amazing and show some thought into individual design. Generic zombies are a pet peeve of mine and we certainly don’t get them in this flick. We also get some gore like I haven’t seen in a long time. We get the normal bites and munching, but there are a couple highlights that had me sitting up in my seat. A zombie mom eats her baby on screen and later on we get a lady wang munching on an unfortunate guy! Those two gags alone would make me recommend Blood Quantum, especially with how well they manage the makeup. This is some stellar practical effects work.
Two other things that I need to mention. First, we get a great soundtrack that has a real John Carpenter vibe to it that I noticed right away. That was a solid choice. Second is that in spite of me wanting more I will admit the filmmakers did a wonderful job including a message and making a political point without ruining what is an otherwise solid zombie flick. George Romero is my favorite filmmaker and I don’t think I’ve seen anyone use the zombie genre to deliver a message this astutely since Dawn of the Dead.
This is a pretty good movie that I can recommend. I worry that the hype might make an otherwise fun movie disappointing to a viewer that has been exposed to it. This isn’t a perfect flick, nor is it the classic that some people are trying to claim it is, but it is damn good. Manage your expectations and let Blood Quantum stand on its own. I think you will be pleased.
I’m back
with another independent zombie movie. I remember watching and not liking this
one at all when I first caught it back when it was first released on DVD. But
I’ve been cleaning out my storage locker so I thought I should check it out to
see whether or not I should rehome it or keep it in my collection. Spoiler… I
can’t wait to be rid of it!
I’m going
to give you the plot, at least what there is of it, quickly. We are introduced
to some teenagers. One group goes to a concert in the city, the other attends a
house party. Some zombies show up earlier in the day, but that doesn’t seem to
put a damper on their plans. Then a bunch of zombies show up and start eating
people, which does get their attention. The run around a lot, both the kids and
the zombies (damn I hate that!) until almost everyone is dead. Along the way we
get characters that drop in out of nowhere and a silly plot about government
experiments and undercover agents. That about sums it up.
This movie
ties into a couple of the things that I keep harping on here at Crappy Movie
Reviews. If you have read my reviews, you might remember where I keep
mentioning that I end up watching a lot of terrible independent zombie movies
on the hope of seeing a good one. Automaton Transfusion is one of those
punishments that I must take while looking for something worthwhile.
If you
have read my reviews of independent movies you will also remember my motto that
a low budget doesn’t prevent you from writing a cohesive script that takes into
account your resources and locations. The story with Automaton Transfusion is
quite the mess. First how is it that the characters don’t seem all that
concerned that one of their classmates “zombies out” and tries to eat a
teacher? Seriously they don’t even discuss it and head off to their planned
evening activities. I get kids are stupid, but not that stupid! Other than this
huge plot hole it was also apparent that they had no idea how to transition
from one location to the next. The group of guys that went to the concert
suddenly show up at the door to the party to save the one girl left without
explanation or even an establishing shot of them arriving.
We also
have three separate instances of random characters either showing up to die or
worse give the speech to explain why things are happening.There is the random guy in the shed and the
bartender who exist to die horribly, possibly to pad out the effect shots. And
then the janitor/army secret agent who explains the movie’s plot and then
provides them with the McGuffin that drives the rest of the story. You can do
this sort of thing, but don’t be so obvious about it and work a little bit
harder to explain why they are there. Finally, we get the biggest screw you
ending that I’ve seen in quite a while. It is pretty clear that they didn’t
have an ending, so they just slapped a … to be continued… card when they
arrived at the needed runtime. I can assume after all these years it isn’t
going to happen. Thank God.
The plot
isn’t the only thing that annoyed me about Automaton Transfusion. The absolute
worst thing about the movie is the terrible camera work. Not only does it
appear that this movie was shot on consumer grade equipment, but they don’t
know how to shoot a movie. Every action scene is ruined by some terrible shaky
cam that you will ever see. It is impossible to follow the action or know who
is doing what due to it. But it isn’t just the action that is mangled. Instead
of shooting inserts as character are talking to one another the damn camera
keeps swinging back and forth to catch their lines. You are shooting on digital
would it have killed you to shoot a few more takes? I felt like I was going to
need some Dramamine before it was all over. Thankfully the movie is only seventy-five
minutes long, though that felt like forever.
I will give
Automaton Transfusion some credit when it comes to the special effects. The
zombies are all generic and this is one of the few movies in the genre that
lacks a featured flesh eater. But we do get some gore that given the lack of
quality overall is strangely done with some passable practical effects. Throats
are ripped, limbs torn off, and heads smashed. The best kill is a jaw getting
ripped off a girl’s face. The funniest thing you will see is a fetus getting
ripped out of a pregnant woman and getting chowed down on by a zombie. I
suppose that shouldn’t be funny. Then again, I watch a ton of independent
zombie movies, so I’m probably irreparably damaged by now. Again, I would have
expected this to be some shitty digital work considering what the rest of the
movie was, but I’ll be damned if we don’t get a healthy dose of latex mayhem.
Sadly, the lousy camerawork ruins a lot of the best gags by making them almost
impossible to see and follow. Still I wanted to give the filmmakers some
credit.
Okay I’ve
said something nice now I can let you know that I don’t recommend this movie at
all. There is nothing of value here and it is a total waste of seventy-five
minutes. I’m sure that you can find a way better use of an evening than
watching this mess. I would suggest watching paint dry or perhaps YouTube videos
of nut shots. Trust me it’s way more entertaining.
Like many
other fans I have a complicated history with this movie. On one hand it feels
like it is kind of making fun of the subgenre of horror (zombies) that I love
so much. But on the other hand, I also understand that this was a natural
reaction to the glut of zombie movies, books, and television shows that were
everywhere. I mean suddenly zombies went from niche to mainstream, so this was
bound to happen. Plus, the movie itself is sort of harmless fun, but I’m
getting ahead of myself.
Things
kick off with us meeting our main character named Columbus... well that really
isn’t his name. All of our characters answer to the names of their hometowns.
Something about not getting attached to people during the zombie apocalypse.
Getting back to it Columbus has been surviving by using his rules, which will
be reinforced again and again as they appear superimposed on the screen. He
eventually meets up with Tallahassee, played by Woody Harrelson, and the two of
them start to travel together. After a few mishaps while looking for Twinkies
they run into a couple of con artists in Wichita and her sister Little Rock.
This leads to more zombie related shenanigans and eventually the big finale at
an amusement park.
Let me
begin by addressing some of the issues that I know fans have with the movie.
First, we have the rules and more importantly the breaking of the fourth wall
when Columbus speaks directly to the audience to explain them. I think that
annoys genre fans because it can feel like the rules kind of make fun of the
tropes of the genre and they aren’t wrong. But as I mentioned earlier there
were so many of these movies and shows coming out that it became very predictable
how they were going to play out. If you look at pop culture when something is
this popular it is going to get parodied. In many ways that is what Zombieland
is, a parody of the genre.
Though
unlike many inferior parodies it also works as a decent entry into the zombie
genre. If you can get past the tongue in cheek humor you will see that there
are some decent kills and the gore, while mostly digital, is plentiful enough
to satisfy those looking for a bloody good time. Well at least this gore hound
was happy with it. The zombie designs are also decent, and some thought is put
into making the feature zombies memorable with obvious evidence of how they
became undead. This is even true of some of the inserts that are shown as
flashbacks having nothing to do with the characters or story. The zombie kill
of the week gag is a neat plot device to include over the top zombie action
without it connecting to the plot allowing them to dream up elaborate kills
without having to work them into the story. Who doesn’t love that?
The
second issue that I hear a lot of complaints ties about is the cast and
characters, which I just don’t get. I understand that Jesse Eisenberg isn’t
everyone’s cup of tea and the script doesn't do him any favors by overplaying
the nerdy elements of his character. But he is a decent actor and has some
chemistry with Woody Harrelson, which gives the movie it’s heart. Plus,
Harrelson steals every scene that he is in and gets most of the best jokes.
Though as I think about it the movie does play it close to the vest with one
character being the typical nerdy guy playing video games and drinking mountain
dew while the other is a gun toting redneck that paints an Earnhardt three on
every car he steals. Screw it I still like the characters.
Bottom
line for me is that you get some zombies, a little bit of gore, some funny
jokes, and can turn your brain off for a couple of hours. Not every horror
movie needs to be serious or groundbreaking. Some can just be harmless and
silly fun. This is exactly what Zombieland is trying to be and I think it
succeeds. I recommend it.
Well damn
it Australia did it again! There must be something in the water down under
because they keep cranking out interesting horror flicks. I remember watching
the trailer for Little Monsters and immediately adding it to my must-see list.
It took a couple months, but it was worth the wait.
Uncle Dave
has a lot of issues, the first of which is that he is a man child that hasn’t
grown up. We find this out early on as the movie shows scene after scene of him
arguing with his girlfriend. She wants to talk about kids and him getting a
job, where he won’t let go of his band, which we later find out is long broken
up. This leads to him getting kicked out and moving in with his big sister and
her adorable young son Felix. Thru them he meets Felix’s teacher, Miss
Caroline, and volunteers to chaperone their field trip to a petting zoo. Why?
Because Uncle Dave is smitten with her.
This
petting zoo is right next door to a military base where of course they are
studying zombies. The undead get loose and soon it is just Dave and Caroline
protecting a class of scared kids as they are surrounded by the hungry corpses.
Oh, and I almost forgot the best part. Josh Gad makes an appearance as a bitter
children’s show host named Teddy McGiggle. Honestly, he has the best lines and
steals almost every scene he is in. The character is an unrepentant asshole who
is looking out for number one. People die, zombies eat, and the military calls
in an airstrike to cover things up before we get to a very satisfying and oddly
sweet ending.
Josh Gad is awesome
That is the
strangest thing about this movie. At its core the movie is less about zombies,
death, and flesh-eating then it is about Dave growing up and realizing what is
important in life. Like I said the movie is sweet in how it shows the
relationship between Felix and his uncle developing and how the kid makes him
grow up. Don’t get me wrong there are lots of funny lines, again Josh Gad is
awesome, and plenty of gore on the screen. Little Monsters delivers those goods
while at the same time giving you characters with a story arc that you can root
for and identify with. In a market that is flooded with zombies this makes
Little Monsters stand out. I consider that to be a good thing.
The zombies look good
Enough
with the love I’m giving the characters and story. We need to talk zombies and
gore now. Like I said I was satisfied with that I got. There are several
feasting scenes, flesh is torn, people die horribly, and blood is sprayed all
over the cast and scenery. If you have read my other zombie movie reviews, you
also know that I’m very picky about the design of the monsters. Here they all
have their own look and don’t feel like an assembly line put them together. The
featured zombies have obvious signs of how they died and look gruesome. Most of
them are fresh so the makeup doesn’t get too elaborate but what we do get is
well executed.
Clearly,
I’m going to recommend Little Monsters to you. It gave me what I expected from
a zombie movie while giving me a story I didn’t see coming. This is a perfect
example of a filmmaker who didn’t forget that they needed an actual story and
just not a bunch of gore. Check this one out, you won’t be disappointed.
I like
zombie movies and I like Japanese horror movies so when this popped up on
Shudder it was a no brainer. I watch a lot of low budget horror, specifically a
lot of low budget zombie movies. They are a mixed bag, but sometimes you get
something really special. This was one of those times.
I’m
debating how to do the plot synopsis. To do it properly I’m going to spoil
somethings and honestly that would be a real shame. So, before you continue, I
would recommend that you go and watch the movie. Yes, I’m recommending the
movie before actually talking about it. This is one of the most creative and
entertaining zombie movies that I’ve watched in a very long time. Now should
you continue reading then that means you have agreed to the spoilers and can’t
get mad at me.
This is
the best zombie movie that doesn’t actually have zombies in it that I’ve ever
seen. How exactly does that work? Allow me to explain. The first part of the
movie is about what you would expect from a no budget zombie flick. Shaky
camera work, awkward dialogue, mediocre special effects work, and an abandoned
building as a location. We watch as a low budget zombie movie is being shot,
only to have an actual zombie outbreak happen. This is a story that we have
seen before, so the movie wasn’t terrible original. I think it had something to
do with a curse and haunting of the location where they were shooting. I was
rolling my eyes but stuck with it because that is what I do. Then something
amazing happened, the end credits rolled.
I’m not
being sarcastic with that last sentence. We were about halfway thru when the
movie ended. Then the action rolled back to a month earlier. The meat of the
story is following the director and the cast as they prepare for shooting what
we just watched. It is to be a live broadcast without any cuts, which explains
the title. All of the flaws and issues that I was having with the movie are
explained in a very amusing and entertaining fashion. This second half is the
actual story and what we watched before was just setting it up. We get to see them overcome the obstacles that
occur, which ties into some of the awkward dialogue and weird twists the movie
takes. Let me be clear, this is a zombie movie about a crew making a zombie
movie where a real zombie outbreak happens but doesn’t. Damn that wasn’t clear
at all.
What I
thought was a bad zombie flick turned out to be a very creative and funny
comedy about the people making it. I love it when a filmmaker plays with an
audience’s expectations and gives them something different but still
entertaining. It is also amazing how the cast is so terrible when in the movie
within the movie but are great when playing the characters behind the scenes. The
actors are portraying bad actors but are so good at it that you think they are
bad when they are actually great. Confused yet? Not sure if this is due to
their talent or the direction, but it worked. They had me convinced I was
watching a bad movie before it all shifted around.
There
isn’t much more I can say about One Cut of the Dead other than to recommend everyone
go out and watch it. Though if you took my advice you already have done that
before reading this review. Even if you allowed it to be spoiled for you, I
think it is still worth watching. It is currently streaming on Shudder so get
yourself a subscription and check it out.
Every so
often I decide to make a blind buy at my local big box store, normally on an
independent movie that was lucky enough to get distribution and some shelf
space. Deadsight looked like one of those and it was a low budget zombie movie.
I’m always on the lookout for a new zombie movie, which means I’ve sat thru
many bad ones. Where does Deadsight fall? Let’s find out.
The movie
kicks off with a guy, Ben, waking up in the back of an ambulance. He doesn’t
know where everyone else is and his eyes are bandaged. He is also handcuffed to
the gurney. We watch as he struggles to get himself free and navigate without
his sight. It isn’t long before he has his first encounter with a zombie, which
obviously freaks him out. Our other character is a very pregnant sheriff’s
deputy named Mara. She gets up for work and has no idea that anything is wrong
except for her radio not working. That is until she has her run in with an
infected, but not yet full on zombie, who carjacks her! Didn’t see that coming…
The two main characters eventually meet up and spend the rest of the day trying
to survive.
I liked
this movie for a couple of reasons. First it does an excellent job of knowing
what the budget was and telling a story that they could afford to put on
screen. The locations are tiny and easy to control. There is the ambulance, a
farmhouse, a trailer, and a power station all of which they use really well.
They keep the cast small and the characters isolated so that they never have to
explain and more importantly show what is happening in the rest of the world.
Way too many of these low budget zombie flicks get ambitious and end up looking
terrible as they overuse CGI to fill in the blanks. This movie lets the viewer’s
imagination do that heavy lifting for them.
The other
reason I enjoyed Deadsight was them making Ben blind, though he slowly gets his
sight back as the day goes on. This allows them to do some creepy things with
zombies sneaking up on him. There is one particular gag with an open door at
the farmhouse that was a lot of fun. Him fighting blindly is also well staged
and interesting to see. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a zombie movie with a
character like this. If you are going to make a zombie flick you need to have
your own twist to make it stand out and I think that those responsible for
Deadsight nailed it.
Zombie or pre-zombie carjacker!
The
zombies look decent, though again they were clearly on a budget. Mostly they
are fresh as are the infected we get to meet before they go full zombie. The
work is effective but subdued. There aren’t any kills onscreen, but some
zombies do get dispatched. Sadly, this is done with CGI, including a really
dumb disintegrating head gag that they keep using and that looks terrible
onscreen.
Normally
the lack of practical effects work would be a deal breaker for me but Deadsight
feels more like a flick that is focused on the characters and the story. Why
was Ben cuffed to the gurney? That is something that is always beneath the
surface but never completely explained. There are hints why and that might even
play into the ending, but they never give you the wholes story. Sometimes that
can be annoying, but there it works pretty well. This isn’t a perfect movie,
but it is an interesting one that I’m going to recommend.
