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Picking the rare gems out of a sea of crap.... so you don't have to!

Great Horror - Evil Pleasures

Movie Review: Demon Knight

July 12th 2010 11:14


Plot: A man (William Sadler) is protecting a mystical key, while being hunted by a demon (Billy Zane).

Demon Knight holds a special place in my heart. I remember when I first saw it, sometime in the mid-late 90's, and it scared the crap out of me. As such, I was pretty hesitant to come back to it, seeing as how poorly my other childhood memories had held up to modern scrutiny (case in point: Lost in Space... god that was a shocker). However, I am happy to report that Demon Knight is still a bitchin' movie.


Hi there. Give me your soul, please.
It centres on the story of Frank Brayker (Sadler), a mysterious loner on the run from the cops, and more importantly on the run from a powerful demon called The Collector (Billy Zane). After his car is destroyed, Brayker takes refuge at a hotel, but is soon discovered by the town sheriff, accompanied by the Collector. Realizing that his subterfuge will not secure the key, the Collector kills the sheriff, and then lays siege to the hotel in an attempt to kill (or seduce) it's occupants and obtain the key.


Acting: The cast contains some big-name actors, including Jada Pinkett-Smith (although it was just Pinkett at the time), Dick Miller
Maybe damnation isn't so bad after all
and Thomas Haden Church, as well as the two leads. However, it is Zane who steals the show with his suave portrayal. The Collector not only tries to kill everyone, but also tries to tempt them into surrendering their souls, using their deepest desires against them, and Zane's... well, haminess, is just cast perfectly in this role. Sadler and the rest of the supporting characters offer solid performances, but you will have eyes only for Zane.

Effects: Being made in the 90's, the CGI looks very dated
All right Mr. De Mille, I'm ready for my close-up
. Thankfully it's use is kept to a bare minimum, and the vast majority is done with some awesome make-up effects. The Collector's demon henchmen look suitably hiddeous, but it is the posessed humans that look truely horrendous. While the prosthetics aren't groundbreaking, they are more than enough to disgust and entertain.

Script: Probably the weakest part of the movie... but then again, it is a Tales From The Crypt movie, complete with intro and epilogue from the Crypt Keeper himself. There are a few plot holes, and some of the dialogue is a little cheesy, but it shouldn't be anywhere near enough to put you off seeing the movie.

Overall, crap CGI aside, this movie has aged well. A dramatic classic it surely ain't, but if you're in the mood for a bit of fun, then this should be right up your alley.


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Posted By: Someone - Category: Demons, Great Horror
   


Movie Review: Daybreakers

March 5th 2010 02:46


Premise: An infection originally from bats spreads through humanity, turning the majority of humanity into vampires. These vampires then enslave most of the remaining human populace, using them as living blood farms. However, there is not nearly enough blood to go around, and without fresh blood the vampires devolve into mindless mutant bat-people, the wicked looking Subsiders.

Enter Edward Dalton (Ethan Hawke), a human-sympathising vamire blood doctor working for the corporation that runs the blood farms, headed by Charles Bromley (Sam Neill). Dalton sympathises with the humans, and wants to create a blood substitute to eliminate vampire dependance on them as a food source, allowing them to be freed. I won't give away much more than that, but the plot revolves around Dalton's compassion for humanity and his fight for their survival.

Now, this is the Spierig brothers' follow-up to 2003's brilliant horror-comedy Undead (quite possibly the best Aussie movie I've seen), and needless to say my hopes were pretty damn high going in to this one. Unfortunately, this movie is not as funny or as original as Undead. That being said, however, this is most definitely not a bad movie.

Acting: Solid. Ethan Hawke does a good job as the conflicted vampire haemotologist,
and Sam Neill is a great Evil Boss character. The main rogue human (Claudia Karvan) and Edward's polar-opposite brother Frankie (Michael Dorman) both put in convicinging performances. However, my hat goes off (and it usually does) to Willem Defoe as Elvis, the comic-relief gung-ho cowboy human renegade with a crossbow and an attitude. He comes out with some truly quality lines (eg. When Edward asks him "is this place safe?" he replies "Living in a world where vampires are the dominant species is about as safe as bare backing a 5 dollar whore"). You can tell that the Spierigs had alot of fun with Elvis, and the audience does too. He's a pretty central character, and Defoe plays him perfectly (as he usually does).

Effects: Mind-numbingly excellent.
. The highlight in the effects department are the Subsiders, who look truly horrific (like a deformed mutant vampire should). As you can see from the picture, these vamps are pretty nasty, and I love the irony of a vampire plague affecting a plague of vampires. It's a (very, very) welcome break from the la-di-da fairy princess (Twighlight) vampires that seem to have been dominating the scene lately. Creature effects aside, the rest of the effects were top-knotch as well. The gore was plentiful (especially towards the climax), and very well done.

Direction & Script: Normally I would judge these separately, but considering the Spierigs both wrote and directed it, it seems only fair. This movie, while not being genre-defining, is just good. Yes, I do have a few qualms with it; some of the dialogue was a bit thin, and I felt the whole sub-plot involving Sam Neill's daughter, while important, felt a bit rushed. But these are minor criticisms with what is overall a very impressive offering. Not since Eskalofrio can I remember a movie which so effectively used the interplay between light and darkness to effectively shape the mood, and the movie is all the better for it. From what I have read, alot of people think they have spotted a whole mess of plot holes; actually, if you look a little closer these people are, in fact, idiots. This movie has very few problems in terms of the script. For example; in one scene, we see Hawke's clothes in a mirror, as the vampire is invisible, and in another he is adjusting his clothes in another mirror. However, if you pay attention, you will notice that the second mirror is actually a small camera with a TV. It's little details like that that help make this movie great to watch.

So, overall, a great vampire romp. Definitely more enjoyable than watching all the teen vampire crap that has been shoved down our throats in recent times, and easily my favourite vampire flick since 30 Days of Night.
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Posted By: Someone - Category: Vampire, Great Horror
   


Movie Review: Alien Raiders

July 14th 2009 08:27


Premise: A group of militants take the staff of a grocery store hostage, killing several customers and employees in the process. However, they aren't really bandits, and some of the 'hostages' aren't what they appear to be.

Having watched The Signal again last night, I have had a craving some some great low-budget horror action. Digging through my collection, I stumbled across an old favourite: Alien Raiders.

This is a movie that does an awesome amount with very little. The entire film is set in a single supermarket, but manages to hold your attention despite the limited scenery.

The acting is solid all round, especially from Carlos Bernard as our protagonist. You may recognize him as Tony Almeida from 24, I did. Some of the characters annoyed me, but I think they were written that way... it wasn't because they were poorly acted.

The creature effects are also surprisingly good considering the low budget. Although they wouldn't hold water against the likes of Rob Bottin, they are of a higher caliber than you would expect from a movie with such a terrible title.
Speaking of Bottin, this movie does bear a lot in common with The Thing. The idea of an alien parasite almost indistinguishable from actual humans is just great material, and both movies use it effectively. They even have similar 'test' scenes, where the leads try and distinguish the humans from the aliens... I prefer to think of it as a homage rather than copy-cattery, but that decision I will leave up to you.

The direction is probably what holds this movie together, and helps to compliment both the acting and effects to create a tense little sci-fi thriller. In exchange for big-budget actors and effects, we are given more clever direction and... well, just better film-making.


Overall, a very slick and convincing little thriller... Definitely worth picking up. Probably the worst thing about this movie is it's title, which I'm sure causes alot of people just to pass it over as another Z-grade piece of low-budget sci-fi horror trash... don't be fooled!
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Posted By: Someone - Category: Creature, Great Horror
   


Movie Review: Severance

July 10th 2009 15:02


Premise: A group of employees working for a weapons manufacturer go on a team-building weekend, led by their boss Richard (Tim McInnerny). After being kicked off the bus by their Hungarian driver for reasons unknown, the group continue on foot until they supposedly find their lodge. It isn't long before they find that they are being hunted by an unknown enemy. apparently because of the company they work for


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Posted By: Someone - Category: Slasher, Great Horror
   


Movie Review: The Signal

July 10th 2009 06:45


Premise: A weird signal begins to broadcast over every TV, radio & phone. Those that are exposed to it have their perceptions warped, suffer hallucinations, and are convinced to kill those around them. The story is told in 3 parts (or transmissions): The first follows the story of a girl name Mya (Anessa Ramsey), who is married to controlling husband (AJ Bowen), but is sleeping with another man (Justin Welborn). The second transmission follows the husabdn, Lewis, and the third follows the lover, Ben


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Posted By: Someone - Category: Psychological, Great Horror
   


Movie Review: Outpost

July 6th 2009 23:49


Premise: A group of mercenaries is hired by an American stranger to escort him to a site in a war-torn country. When they get there, they discover an abandoned Nazi bunker, and are soon after set upon by a mysterious, otherworldly foe


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Posted By: Someone - Category: Zombie, Great Horror
   


Movie Review: Sympathy

June 19th 2009 05:41


Premise: A bank robber abducts a girl and hides out in a motel, with the intent of driving to an airport in Canada the following day. During the night, the bank robber and the girl are both themselves taken hostage by an escaped convict. As events unfold in the motel room, we begin to learn about each of the characters, and discover that no-one is what they seem


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Posted By: Someone - Category: Psychological, Great Horror
   


Movie Review: Bug

June 11th 2009 04:42


Premise: A woman named Agnes (Ashley Judd), is being stalked by her newly released from jail, abusive ex-husband, Jerry (Harry Connick Jr.). Meanwhile, a friend brings over a guy named Peter for her to meet (Michael Shannon), and the two hit it off. Turns out things aren't as simple as they seem, when it turns out that Peter is on the run from the army, who were performing experiments on him in a military hospital


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Posted By: Someone - Category: Psychological, Great Horror
   




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