Directed by Edward
Douglas
Midnight Syndicate / Precinct 13 Entertainment
89 minutes, 2010 / 2012
Thedeadmatter.com
Midnightsyndicate.com
MVDvisual.com
Frank: They prefer to be called Post-Mortem-Americans.
So, yes, I was a bit hard on the film,
but now having sat through it three times (original and two extras modes), I
still found it enjoyable enough to say it’s worth the Saturday night viewing
with the buds.
Midnight Syndicate / Precinct 13 Entertainment
89 minutes, 2010 / 2012
Thedeadmatter.com
Midnightsyndicate.com
MVDvisual.com
A modern vampire story with no
werewolves? Wow, I am unsarcastically impressed. At least there are zombies.
But I get ahead of myself, sorta. The whole film has a really good look, for
the $2 mill budget, reminding me of quality fantasy television shows like Supernatural or Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Despite whatever problems I found with
the film, it’s an enjoyable viewing exercise, and worth the rent.
The film opens in a small town in
Germany with a bunch of zombies stumbling along in the thrall of a vampire, rather
than wanting to eat some wet bits. Well, at least they have the mandatory gray
shade and blood/gore attached to their faces.
We momentarily meet the main vampire of
the story, Vellich, played by Andrew Divoff, who was also in the film Wishmaster (1997) and on television’s Lost. He tends of overact, but it’s good.
The odd thing is he wears this long, flowing white wig that is so obvious, and
makes no sense whatsoever, and it nothing less than distracting. The director says
during the commentary that it is very much along the lines of Hammer Films, so
I’ll give him that.
What Vellich and the zombies are in
search of is a scarab-shaped amulet, being protected by the bearded Ian (Jason
Carter, of Babylon 5) and the
muscular Mark (Brian van Camp). They escape and take the necklace to a
“mystical nexus,” or as we know it… wait for it… Ohio.
Andrew Divoff on the right |
It’s there that the amulet gets hidden
before a big fight, and is found by two couples. More about them later.
Meanwhile. Vellich runs into a new order of vampires in the Buckeye State, who
are under the wing of Sebed (make-up and effects wizard /actor / legend Tom
Savini). He envisions an almost mafia-like vampire society with himself as Don,
while Vellich is old world / old school. And we all can guess who is going to
come on top by the end.
Now, does any of this sound familiar?
There are a whole lot of themes from other films here, and I’m not saying this
in a negative way, exactly, I’m just noticing the trend. For example, taking
the trinket to somewhere else to destroy is right out of Lord of the Rings (2001), modern vs. old zombie clan(s) could be Blade (1998), Underworld (2003), perhaps Twilight
(2008). During a séance featuring the aforementioned couples, amorphous
shapes come out of the amulet and swirl around and through the participants,
straight out of Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981).
But, let’s get back to the
aforementioned foursome. Y’got your nerdy scientist dude, Frank, played (sorta)
by Christopher Robichaud. This is his only credit. He plays the role like
someone in a cheap ‘50s horror film. Actually, he reminded me of the main
character of the classic Equinox (1970).
His clothes look like that as well (checked yellow-tan shirts, and the such; at
least they didn’t give him glasses). The director and producers are solidly behind
Christopher, so maybe it’s me? Frank works for a corporation making a diet
product.
Next up is his newish girlfriend, Jill,
portrayed well by CB Spencer. Where Frank is logical and scientific, she’s more
Wiccan closer to the supernatural. She’s pretty solid in the role.
The hero (does anyone still say
heroine) is Gretchen, played by the amazingly cute Sean Serino. Killer smile,
dude. Gretchen is in pursuit in finding a way to contact her brother, who died
in a car accident while she was the driver. Nearly a Candide figure (look it
up), she tends to look at the positive side and be cheerful, even when there’s
a zombie at the door and vampire in pursuit.
Sean Serino |
Her boyfriend is Mike, acted by Tom
Nagel. Mike may be the logical one who help keep it real for Gretchen, but he
comes across as just a bit of a dick (sort of like the husband on that show The Medium). Truth is, the part is
seriously underdeveloped, and you can tell that Nagel is a better actor than as
the role is written.
That may be the biggest problem with
the film to me – which is actually quite enjoyable, despite all the flaws I’ve
mentioned – in that with the exception of Gretchen, there really is little
context or character development.
I found it amusing that one of the
better characters is a nearly voiceless zombie under Gretchen’s control. Brian
van Camp does a spendid job keeping us interested in Mark, even though all he
does basically is stare into space while eating, drinking, and other things
asked by Gretch, or whoever else touches the purple-glowing amulet.
While not a comedy, there are
definitely some fine comic moments. One is Gretchen putting one of those car
pine-shaped odor eaters around the zombie’s neck before an amusing montage as
she takes Mark for ice cream (relevant to a memory of her brother) and to a
merry-go-round. Another is the following dialog (which is included on the IMBD
page, so I don’t feel like I’m giving anything away):
Jill:
A zombie?Frank: They prefer to be called Post-Mortem-Americans.
While the story is occasionally
incoherent (why does the vampire want the amulet exactly? Okay, it controls the
dead, including vampires (who are dead), fingernails and hair, apparently, but
why he wants that control is never really explained. And why do the new
vampires want to get their cohorts addicted to a drug? Yes, there is a positive
side effect explained in the film, but not enough to make them drooling junkies
shooting up.
There is a decent if not abundant
amount of gore, such as a ripped off head and a yank-removed jaw. There are
also some fun surprise moments, especially towards the end that alone make this
worth the view.
There are a few extras that are noteworthy
including a gag reel and theatrical trailer. There are also a bunch of music
videos that are okay in the spooky or death metal way. The longest is a
feature-length documentary called “Maximum Dead Matter” in which the screen is
broken up into four simultaneous sections. The top left is the film running,
and the other three are full of interviews, original art, behind the scene
shootings, and make-up. It is the most interesting when they involve the actual
scene that’s running at the moment. It gets tiresome at times, but I watched
the whole thing and wasn’t sorry.
The best extra is the commentary track
with the director, producer and co-writer. Even though it was hard at times to
tell who was talking (i.e., three dudes), they explained some of the questions
I had, and didn’t veer much from the shoot, which is a lot more interesting to
me than joking around (even though they obviously are having fun doing it).
No comments:
Post a Comment