Day 336: The Horde (La Horde)

The Horde

Hordehouse

When you've seen a lot of zombie movies, they all start to blend together. When you need your zombie fix, you have to find movies with something special to separate them from the pack. Sometimes it's a gimmick like zombie soldiers or zombies in outer space. Sometimes it's absurd amounts of gore and violence. And other times it's as simple as being in a different language. Now that horror movies are cheaper to make and widely distributed across the globe, there has been an influx in scary international movies. For today's review, we go to France where I have already reviewed one movie, Frontier(s). I really enjoyed that one so I was looking forward to seeing some French zombies chow down.

The Horde (also known as La Horda) is a 2009 French zombie movie starring Eriq Ebouraney (Lamumba, Transporter 3) as notorious drug dealer Adewale Markudi and Jean-Pierre Martins (Empire Of The Wolves, Felina And The Master Of Darkness) as policeman Ouesse. Following the murder of one of their fellow police officers, Ouesse, Aurore (Claude Perron, Amelie, Bernie), Jimenez, and Tony plan to avenge his death by killing his murders. The gang is lead by Adewale Markudi, a well-armed Nigerian who lives in a nearly abandoned high rise. As the group of policemen are about to raid Markudi's apartment, the buildings superintendent accidentally interrupts and Markudi gets the drop on them. The tie up one cop and Markudi's brother Bola (hip-hop artist Doudou Masta) shoots him multiple times. As they are preparing to execute Ouesse, Aurore and Tony, the dead cop awakens as a flesh-eating zombie, biting members from the gang. The gang shoot him multiple times, but he does not fall until he is finally shot in the head. Chaos reigns as an unexplained zombie plague spreads across France. The police and gang are forced to work together in order to escape the high rise and make it to safety. Along the way Aurore and Tony are separated from the group. Tony is bitten and Aurore eventually shoots him. An uneasy truce is formed between Ouesse and Markudi. The meet an old soldier named Rene (Yves Pignot) who has been fighting off zombies with an ax. Together, they raid the superintendent's apartment for weapons and begin the long descent to the ground. Will they be able to survive the zombies and each other?

"Who wants a piece of me? Oh, right. All of you. Crap."

The movie's main selling point is that it's filled with loads and loads of blood and gore. Blood is on the actors, on the floors, on the walls and everything else. If you like your zombie movies violent, then you'll be pleased. The Horde tends to rely more on computerized effects than traditional makeup and blood. Certain scenes look very good while others look blatantly fake. There is one very good scene where the audience can see the destruction of the city from the reflection in glass doors. It is subtle yet powerful. Later, they show direct shots of the city in flames and it looks too much like a green screen. Of course, you may not be too happy with how certain things in the movie play out. The characters learn fairly quickly that shooting a zombie in the head kills it. Despite this knowledge, they spend the rest of the movie shooting zombies everywhere but the head. They also learn that bites change people fairly quickly, but when one of Greco, one of the gang members, is bitten in the leg, they don't just shoot him. There are also multiple hand-to-hand fight scenes with zombies that, while looking good, doesn't seem like a smart idea. They are intent on surviving, but choose to ignore some very important facts.

For better or worse, the movie is very bleak. It's not the bleakness that bothers me so much as the predictability and pointlessness. You pretty much know how things are going to end and it's fairly disappointing. While it makes sense in the full context of the story, it also makes a lot of the story rather moot. There is some social commentary and the movie questions who really are the good guys and bad guys. The movie has great action and a few scenes worthy of a “best of” zombie clip show. The acting is good with Eriq Ebouraney putting in the best performance. I was happy that the movie was in French with subtitles rather than being dubbed. Dubbing rarely works and takes away from the quality of acting. There aren't a lot of cultural barriers so those not familiar with France and the French language shouldn't feel intimidated before watching. 

Avon calling!

The Horde could be considered a gorefest, though it's mostly just blood instead of guts. There is a lot of violence and good action scenes. The story is just OK, favoring action over substance. The basic premise of a police raid on an apartment reminds me of one of the opening scenes in the original Dawn Of The Dead. It's fairly obvious where things are going and the ending is disappointing, if expected. The acting and directing are good with some really enjoyable scenes spread throughout the film. The social commentary is passable, but it doesn't break any new ground or force the audience to change their way of thinking. The Horde is good if you're just looking for a zombie shoot-em-up filled with lots of blood and guns. If you need something deeper or unexpected, try elsewhere.

6.5/10

Day 301: Dead Men Walking

Dead Men Walking

Walk this way

I hate The Asylum film studio/distributor. You may think that hate is a strong word and I agree, but it's appropriate for my feelings towards this company. My animosity is two-fold: First, The Asylum resorts to making cheap horror films using the same names and plots as other, more popular horror films. A quick scan of their horror section (yes, they do other genres for some reason) brings up movies with such thinly-veiled titles as Snakes On A Train, Abraham Lincoln vs. Zombies, Transmorphers, AVH: Alien vs. Hunter, H.G. Wells' War Of The Worlds, and Paranormal Entity. Part of their business plan is to piggy-back off the work and success of other movies in hopes that people accidentally buy their product thinking it's the movie they're actually looking for. My second point of contention is the severe lack of quality to their films. I don't expect anything from movies like Mega Python vs. Gatoroid or The 9/11 Commission Report. It's when the movie sound potentially good, thereby duping unsuspecting consumers just looking to for a decent horror movie. I've fallen into their trap (though at no cost, thankfully) and have sat through some very terrible movies. Feel free to go in the way-back machine and read my reviews on Zombie Apocalypse, Freakshow, The Beast Of Bray Road, and I Am Omega. If you don't feel like reading those reviews, I'll give you the short version: They all suck. Of course, it's not fair to just say every movie on their list is an abomination.

Dead Men Walking is an independent 2005 zombie movie starring Bay Bruner (Bachelor Party Massacre) as Samantha Beckett, an official with the Center For Disease Control. A man named Travis Dee is arrested after going on a murdering spree, shooting people infected with an unknown virus. Infected blood gets in his eyes and mouth and as he arrives at Haywood Maximum Security Prison, Travis has become very ill. He begins to vomit blood directly into the face of the prison doctor before being hauled off to solitary confinement. On the way, he vomits blood on several inmates. When he continues to vomit, a guard lets him out of his cell only to be bitten by a now-zombified Travis. He is shot in the head by the head guard, Lt. Sweeny (Chriss Anglin, Hillside Cannibals, Dracula's Curse), splattering blood on the guards. Beckett is sent to the prison and speaks with Johnny (Griff Furst, American Heiress, Alien Abduction) another prisoner who came in to Haywood with Travis. He explains that Travis was talking about a highly contagious toxin that had infected his friends, forcing him to kill them. The virus spreads throughout the prison, causing a full-scale zombie riot. The guards try to kill the zombies, but are soon overrun. The prison is put in lockdown Will Beckett and Johnny be able to escape the prison before it is too late?

Too...much...chocolate...pudding...

It's pretty clear that the entire basis for Dead Men Walking came from the simple idea of “zombies in a prison”. It's actually a fun and different idea in terms of zombie movies. You already have plenty of weapons on hand, places to hide, and lots of disposable people to become zombies. Beyond that premise, there really isn't much going on in the movie. The plot is pretty thin and barely a whisper of social commentary. It's almost as if they started filming the movie without having a specific story that they wanted to tell. At least they gave a brief description of how the virus came about, something that a lot of other zombie movies don't even bother with. Granted, it's not a good explanation, but I appreciate the tiny effort. The acting is mediocre with Chriss Anglin putting in the best performance as Lt. Sweeny. He gets off a few funny lines and plays his role well. Bay Bruner is not too good, but this appears to be her first movie, so I'll cut her some slack. The Asylum has a habit of using the same actors for multiple movies. I have to assume that's because most other actors want nothing to do with them.

The movie has a lot of action and a large amount of blood and a decent amount of gore. Seriously, the movie should have just been called “Blood Vomit”. There are multiple scenes of entrails being ripped apart, and while it is gory, it's nothing you haven't seen before. The makeup for the zombies looks decent and there is good usage of prosthetics. For being a maximum security prison, there aren't a lot of guards in the movie. Hell, there's not that many prisoners. The movie has a habit of introducing unimportant characters in the middle of the movie without much explanation or forethought. Writer Mike Watt crams in different types of people who would be in a prison, like a woman visiting her man for a conjugal visit or a mother with two children visiting their father, just to kill them. That's all fine and good, but why do they just randomly pop up in the middle of the movie? It would have been better if they were introduced earlier and then we check in on them later on. By having them show up halfway through the movie, it kills the momentum and forces the audience to say “Wait. Who the hell is that?” The direction is fine, though certain scenes are a little too dark and make it difficult to see. 

"Not on the first date!"

Dead Men Walking is a fun idea for a zombie movie. Unfortunately, that idea the best part of the film as the story goes nowhere and the acting leaves something to be desired. The movie does have a lot action and the zombies look decent. There is a lot of vomiting, so if you're sensitive to that, you may not want to eat before watching. Dead Men Walking is better than other movies by The Asylum, but that's not saying much. It has it's moments and if you're looking for a basic zombie movie, you could do worse. If you're looking for things like story, character development, or good acting, you should pass on Dead Men Walking.

4.5/10

Day 289: Maniac Cop

Maniac Cop

At least Maniac Cop has a sense of humor

The 1980's were a special time. A B-level actor was president for 8 years, Madonna and Michael Jackson had not yet become complete freaks, and the slasher craze ballooned and then popped. Every writer, director, and studio wanted to have the next Friday The 13^th or Halloween. Every holiday got their own slasher film. Almost every profession had a slasher movie whether it was a janitor or a teacher or a doctor. By the time the late 80's rolled around, the genre had already run it's course, and had settled back to a more even level in terms of volume and quality. One also included a young Bruce Campbell.

Maniac Cop is a 1988 slasher starring Bruce Campbell (Evil Dead, My Name Is Bruce) as NYPD Officer Jack Forrest and Tom Atkins (The Fog, Creepshow) as Detective Frank McCrae. A man in a police officers uniform begins killing civilians in brutal fashion, sending the city into a panic. Detective McCrae begins investigating the case, discovering that the killer is incredibly strong. Jack Forrest is a young officer that constantly works the night shift. Jack has a strained relationship with his wife Ellen, who suspects that he might actually be the cop behind all the murders. One night, she follows him to a seedy hotel only to find him in bed with Theresa Mallory (Laurene Landon, Airplane II, The Ambulance) a fellow police officer. Ellen pulls a gun on Jack, but leaves the hotel in a hurry. She is murdered by the maniac cop and Jack is taken into custody. Things don't add up and McCrae continues the investigation, leading him to a former police officer Matt Cordell (Robert Z'Dar, Tango & Cash, The Summoned). Cordell was a hero police officer, known for shooting first and asking questions later. When he started going after the mob, Mayor Killium (Ken Lerner, Buffy The Vampire Slayer: The Series, The Running Man) set Cordell up and had him sent to prison. In prison, he was viciously stabbed all over his body and was pronounced dead. Jack discovers that Cordell did in fact survive and escaped prisoner, thanks to the help of a female police officer in love with him. Will McCrae and Jack be able to stop this maniac cop form continuing his reign of terror?

"I am the law!"

My initial reason for watching Maniac Cop was because I believed that Bruce Campbell was going to be the villain. Most movies I have seen starring Campbell have portrayed him as the hero and I was a little disappointed that he wasn't the maniac cop. Having a police officer as your killer is certainly different, but unfortunately, the movie does not continue with a trend of originality. They portray Cordell as a nigh-invulnerable killing machine, similar to Jason from Friday The 13^th. We see him shot in the chest several times and Theresa even claims to have shot him in the head twice. There is no reason to explain why this is. Is he magical? Is she just an incredibly terrible shot with horrible eyesight? If they wanted to go the supernatural route, they should have made it clear how this happened and perhaps give him more abilities. If they wanted the story based in reality, just say he had a bullet-proof vest on or something to that effect. The character is stuck somewhere in the middle and just left me confused. I will say that the movie did a great job of hiding the killer's face for almost the entire movie. It allowed the audience to portray whatever image they wanted onto the killer, similar to what John Carpenter did with Michael Myers in Halloween. When they finally showed Cordell's face, it was nothing scary or shocking. They clearly didn't have Tom Savini doing makeup.

There is a decent amount of violence in Maniac Cop with some fun and creative kills. There is some blood, but not much in the way of gore or extreme violence. The problem is that they kind of forget about the slashing in the middle of the film. The movie focuses way too much on the actual investigation instead of the horror. In the beginning we have a few kills and at the end we have a lot. What about the middle? Instead, we get a rather bland and typical cop drama. Tom Atkins is the quintessential police officer, playing one in multiple movies. Bruce Campbell is good in his role, but doesn't get to flash any of his trademark charm and wit. The rest of the cast is fine, but the problem lies with the story, not the production. Nothing unexpected happens and the story runs it's course exactly as how you would expect. 

"Boomstick says what?"

Maniac Cop is a decent slasher in the beginning and end, but is lost in a mediocre mystery for most of the time. The villain had a lot of potential, but the movie doesn't deliver. It's never clear how he is so strong or why bullets don't hurt him. I really would have liked Bruce Campbell in the role because the added personality would have made the movie far more interesting. There are some good scenes of violence, but they're mostly lumped together, leaving long stretches free of killing. Maniac Cop had a lot of potential, but missed too many opportunities. It's still watchable and has a few good moments, but it's nothing special.

6/10

Day 181: Inkubus

Inkubus

Spelling was always his worst subject

I don’t go to horror conventions. I have nothing against them, they just don’t appeal all that much to me. Buy some movies, get your picture with Kane Hodder, see some people dressed up as movie characters. There’s nothing wrong with that, I just have little desire to see trailers for upcoming movies or listen to a panel discussion from the crew working on Saw 19: This Time It’s Personal. Also, I don’t feel like driving long distances to be around sweaty nerds (love you guys, keep visiting the site!). Such wasn’t the case though, when the people involved with the Independent horror movie Inkubus came literally within walking distance of me to talk about the movie. Oh, and Robert Englund was going to be there. ROBERT ENGLUND! They played a trailer for the movie and answered questions from the group. To my disappointment, Mr. Englund could not make it, but his co-star William Forsythe was there and was kind enough to take a picture with me. It was time to finally see Inkubus.

Your favorite blogger with Mr. William Forsythe

Inkubus is a 2011 independent horror movie starring Joey Fatone (My Big Fat Greek Wedding, being in freaking N’SYNC) as Detective Tom Caretti, William Forsythe (Raising Arizona, The Rock) as retired Detective Gil Diamante, and Robert Englund (A Nightmare on Elm Street, 2001 Maniacs) as Inkubus. The movie is told mostly in flashback told by a committed Det. Caretti. A small crew is working the final shift in their closing police station in Wood Haven, Rhode Island when a young man arrives named Mikes, covered in the blood of his decapitated girlfriend. He claims to have seen a man covered in shadow in his room before blacking out. As Miles is being questioned, a man named Inkubus walks into the police station holding a woman’s severed head. He surrenders freely, making his phone call via magic to retired Detective Diamante, beckoning to come to the station so he could confess. Diamante was the closest to capturing Inkubus and was eventually committed after the murder of his wife and disappearance of his son. Inkubus reveals that he has committed numerous murders over the centuries and is closing in on being 100 years old. To continue his survival, he must be reborn in a new body. Using his powers, Inkubus begins to play mind games with the officers and killing them in brutal fashion. Will Diamante finally confront his demon and why is Officer Jen Cole, Caretti’s girlfriend, suddenly in such much pain?

Even evil demons need nap time

Independent horror movies are a real mixed bag. Usually low in budget and star power, indie horror has to rely on creative ideas, good storytelling, and innovative tricks to set themselves apart from bigger Hollywood productions. Inkubus is the exception to the rule because it has established actors involved. Robert Englund, one of the kings of horror, is great as Inkubus, relishing in the character’s evil malevolence. On paper, lines like “Abra-fucking-cadabra” and “Killing is magic” may seem clichéd, but uttered by Englund, it takes on a serious and sinister feel. William Forsythe is enjoyable as the broken and emotionally fragile Diamante. His soft demeanor creates an air of sympathy from the audience and really makes us want to see him defeat Inkubus. Joey Fatone is OK, it’s just hard to talk him seriously as an authority figure. The performances by the supporting cast range from passable to questionable.

The story itself has a few good moments, but overall, doesn’t feel particularly thrilling or interesting. It pretty much boils down to “evil supernatural being fucks with some cops.” There are a few good moments and a decent idea or two, but it just misses the mark in terms of being a complete movie. Making the story told in flashback by Joey Fatone while he’s in an insane asylum is clichéd and unnecessary. Adding this little bit is pointless and adds nothing to the movie other than seeing the guy from N’SYNC in a straight jacket in the world’s brightest white room. The movie tries to compensate with some questionable special effects and a surprising amount of blood and gore. I mean, one person’s spine gets ripped out. Spine. Gets. Ripped. Out. It’s unexpected to say the least and is unintentionally funny when you see Robert Englund just holding a spine in his hand. Another poor effect occurs when Officer Cole gives birth to a demon baby. It look so silly and the movie would have been better served implying the baby is a demon than showing a Cabbage Patch doll with horns covered in red food coloring. Sometimes less is more.

Inkubus has some good moments and lots of gorey violence, but it’s just not enough to get over a mediocre story that doesn’t really go anywhere. Robert Englund and William Forsythe put on strong performances and actually make the movie far more tolerable than it would have been if unknown actors had the lead roles. I liked that the film took place in Rhode Island, a state full of scary places and colonial history. As far as independent horror goes, Inkubus isn’t that bad. I have seen much, much worse. It’s heart was in the right place, it just needed a head to follow.

5.5/10 

Day 87: Quarantine

Quarantine

This lime Jell-o has gone bad

There's a fine line between good and terrible when it comes to movies shot in the “found footage” horror style. Sometimes you get people wandering around for an hour an a half, boring the audience to the point where they cheer for the villain to kill them (The Blair Witch Project) and other times you get a roller-coaster of fairly believable action (Cloverfield). I remember seeing commercials for Quarantine a few years ago and thinking, “Oh jeez, another one of these shaky-cam first person horror movies where nothing happens.” Well, I was right about the shaky-cam, but wrong about nothing happening.

Quarantine stars Jennifer Carpenter (The Exorcism of Emily Rose, Faster) as reporter Angela Vidal. Along with her cameraman, Scott (Steve Harris, The Practice, The Rock), Angela is tailing a Los Angeles firefighting crew. We see the entire movie through Scott's lense and tag along with them as the crew responds to a call to an apartment building. Details are unclear as to why they are called other than a woman was heard screaming in her room. The woman, Mrs. Espinoza, is disheveled and covered in blood. Out of nowhere, she attacks a police officer and bites him in the neck. They carry the police officer downstairs to get him help, but find the doors locked from the outside. While they are trying to figure a way out, Mrs. Espinoza throws a firefighter over the railing, sending him crashing to the floor below. Various apartment dwellers begin to turn into zombies and attack the other inhabitants. Angela gets to a TV and sees that the situation is being covered up by the police. Scientists in HAZ-MAT suits arrive to conduct tests and one informs the residents that this virus infecting people started in a dog and was unlike anything they have ever seen before. Will they be able to survive and get the video to the public?

Trucks go "Vroom!" Film at 11.

The movie's story reminds me of the opening scene in Dawn Of The Dead where police raid an apartment full of zombies. It feels like someone took that idea and made it into a full-length film. That being said, it's actually a remake of a 2007 Spanish horror film, REC. Quarantine combines a mixture of fear of present danger and fear of the unknown. The advantage of having the movie in the first-person perspective of the camera is that the audience is literally in the middle of the action. We share the same actions and emotions as the characters which creates a more real sense of fear. We only learn what they learn, we do not have the bonus of seeing what is going on outside of the apartment to know what is really happening. Jennifer Carpenter gives a very good performance as we witness her descent from a confident reporter into a jangled mess of terrified nerves. The zombies are geared more towards the faster side, but they're not sprinting like in 28 Days Later. I've come to accept fast zombies and the ones in this movie were believable. Speaking of action, there is a lot of it in this movie with plenty of blood. There is one scene where Scott kills a zombie with his camera. It's very creative and entertaining to watch as the audience is practically being smashed into a zombie's face.

Of course, with every found footage movie, the camera work is very jumpy at times. While it does create a sense of realism to the movie, it also leaves the audience very disoriented at times. That might be the point, but getting your audience dizzy and nauseous does run the risk of having them stop watching. As Spinal Tap once said, it's such a fine line between stupid and clever, it's a fine line between great story telling and vomit-inducing. There are a few minor plot holes I found myself pointing out during the film, but the movie does try to answer them as best as possible, like “Why don't they just break a window?” Answer: SNIPER! Director John Erick Dowdle does a good job of balancing the action and the emotion throughout the entire film. There is no music in the movie which does take some getting used to, but it doesn't hinder the action.

Golden Girls gets a gritty remake

Quarantine was a pleasant, entertaining surprise with lots of good action and suspense. The acting and directing is good all around. The first-person filming gets the audience right in the middle of the action, but is a bit unsteady at times and can be disorienting. This movie is definitely worth your time.

8/10