(The) Final Destination 4 (2009) Movie Review

FINAL DESTINATION 4 (2009) MOVIE, HORROR MOVIE NEWS, HORROR MOVIE REVIEWS, REVIEWS — BYNIX ON AUGUST 28, 2009

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Marketed as the “Final Destination” movie, there’s a good chance Death will be back. At least, if the film’s spectacular $156 million dollar worldwide gross has anything to say about it. Not bad for a movie made with no stars and on a budget of $40 million. And let’s face it, this is a splatter franchise we’re talking about; its fanbase isn’t going to care about notions of studio integrity, just as long as Death returns to wreak more havoc on the young pretty people who thinks they can “solve” him. Silly, silly young pretty people destined to get splattered.

“The Final Destination”, the fourth in the franchise, finds a race track as its source of opening death and mayhem. It’s here that young buck Nick (Bobby Campo) and his girlfriend Lori (Shantel VanSanten) and their buddies, Hunk (Nick Zano) and Janet (Haley Webb) decide to spend the day. The friends look to be in their ‘20s, but aside from Lori making an aside mention of “taking a study break”, I haven’t a clue what they do for a living, or if they’re students. And to be honest, I don’t think writer Eric Bress or director David R. Ellis (who also helmed the second installment) care. Frankly, it doesn’t matter, so let’s move on, shall we?

The premonition of impending disaster strikes Nick, whose actions start a fight that takes the friends and a chosen few out of the stands before the accident occurs moments later. Dozens are dead, but our friends and some strangers are spared. As with the previous three movies, that just means Death has to do some house-cleaning, which means stalking the survivors one by one in the order that they were meant to die if not for Nick’s actions. It’s up to Nick and Lori, and race track security guy George (Mykelti Williamson) to uncover Death’s not-so-secret designs (the Internet, it appears, has since exposed Death’s immaculate grand scheme) and break the chain of “accidental” murders before it’s too late. Of course, if you’ve seen any of the “Final Destinations” movies, you know that that’s pretty much a lost cause.

Without belaboring the point, if you’ve seen any of the previous entries in the series, you pretty much know what to expect. The kids will try to figure Death out, which will result in them trying to break the chain of death, failing miserably along the way before believing they’ve actually succeeded, only to realize oh how wrong they were. End of story. You don’t get to a fourth installment without knowing the formula by heart and what your audience expects, and Ellis and company certainly know better than to try to re-invent the wheel. When the fourth entry in your franchise turns in a $156 million dollar payday, it’s all the proof you need that the formula still works.

For viewers who know what they’re in for, “The Final Destination” somewhat lives up to the franchise tag. It doesn’t even pretend to have any ambitions whatsoever aside from showing off all the blood and gore (and chunks of body parts) in their full 3D glory. Great for theater viewing, no doubt, but a lot of the film will look cheap on DVD. Nevertheless, when all is said and done, David R. Ellis can still say that he delivered the goods up to audience expectations. Though curiously, the franchise seems to have given up completely on scripting even a slightly logical plot narrative. Our hero Nick shows up whenever someone is about to die the most gruesome death, and the cops never suspect him. In fact, what cops? I don’t think a single man in uniform ever shows up in the movie. Oh well, all that explanation would just get in the way of gory death scenes anyway.

As no-name casts go, the pretty boys and girls of “The Final Destination” play their parts well. Bobby Campo and Shantel VanSanten make for an attractive pair, and the latter’s ability to fill out a pair of cutesy panties is particularly impressive. Nick Zano probably has the movie’s best part, playing the jerkish but hunky Hunt Wynorski. Of course, in the real world a guy like Hunt would never hang around with a guy like Nick and vice versa. The film fills out its young cast with the slightly older Mykelti Williamson, who doesn’t have all that much to do in the movie, but nevertheless has more pathos than even our main hero. Former “Baywatch” beauty Krista Allen plays the world’s most attractive mother of two boys, but is alas dispatched way too early in the film. And imagine, not even a gratuitous bikini scene with Krista Allen. For shame, for shame.

Even as a fan of the franchise, and someone who knew what to expect (and what not to miss) going in, I must admit that “The Final Destination” nevertheless feels unimpressively barebones. Ellis showed some brilliant acumen when it comes to orchestrating death scenes in the second film, but he seems to be on cruise control here. Certainly, having little demanded out of him except to make a competent, by-the-numbers splatter film with all the criteria of the job description, Ellis probably didn’t feel particularly inspired to make a great movie. And it shows, I’m afraid. Even by the quickly dwindling standards of horror franchise sequels, “The Final Destination”, if it is indeed the final entry in the franchise, makes for an underwhelming goodbye. It delivers the goods, don’t get me wrong, but that’s about all it does.

Oh, who are we kidding. Part five, like Death, is just around the corner…

David R. Ellis (director) / Eric Bress (screenplay)

CAST: Bobby Campo … Nick O’Bannon

Shantel VanSanten … Lori Milligan

Nick Zano … Hunt Wynorski

Haley Webb … Janet Cunningham

Mykelti Williamson … George Lanter

Krista Allen … Samantha Lane

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The Wolfman (2010) Movie Review

FEATURED, HORROR MOVIE NEWS, HORROR MOVIE REVIEWS, REVIEWS, THE WOLF MAN (2010) MOVIE — BY JOSEPH SAVITSKI ON FEBRUARY 13, 2010

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The road to the silver screen hasn’t been an easy one for the latest remake of a classic Universal monster. Numerous script revisions, reshoots, issues with the musical score, editing woes, the abrupt departure of the original director-all combined to delay the film’s release for over two years. But “The Wolfman” never shows any sign of its’ troubled birth, as the filmmakers manage to deliver a slightly flawed but entertaining horror movie.

We’re introduced to Lawrence Talbot, a Shakespearean stage actor who returns to his family’s home in England; his brother’s fiancee has written him telling Talbot that he hasn’t been seen in weeks and implores him to return to the family homestead. But things have grown worse upon his arrival; his brother has been found brutally mauled by an unknown beast that prowls the area when the moon is full. His investigations into his brother’s death earn him a vicious bite by the beast, one that mysteriously heals so quickly for such a deep wound. Now Lawrence Talbot has a new role to play every full moon, one of a werewolf with an insatiable blood lust.

But things are far more complicated than just a mild case of lycanthrope. An investigator from Scotland Yard has arrived to probe the reports of the deadly monster, and his inquiries begin to point towards Talbot. Then there is also the question of the identity of the other werewolf, and its’ connection to the Talbot family history. For he soon learns that werewolves didn’t enter his life the night he was attacked, but have played a role in his life for quite a while, and it’s up to him to end the bloody cycle.

Benico Del Toro handles the role of Lawrence Talbot in an understated manner that suits the part fairly well. His is a character with private pain and traumas, and Del Toro gives him a wounded dignity along with his determination and courage. As Talbot’s father, Anthony Hopkins oozes sinister creepiness with just a touch of gong off the deep end without going over the top. Hugo Weaving is good in the supporting role of the Scotland Yard inspector; he doesn’t give his role much charisma or spark, but he infuses it with an admirable streak of dogged determination. The only weak performance is by Emily Blunt, as the fiancee of the deceased Talbot. Her performance is so subdued it hardly even seem there, and there’s little chemistry between her and Lawrence. It seems really far fetched that they fall in love, since there is nary a romantic spark between them.

We’re never shown the werewolves until over an hour into the film, and this would normally be a problem in a film entitled “The Wolfman”. But director Joe Johnston ratchet up the suspense and dramatic tension, using it to complement the darkly Gothic cinematography by Shelley Johnson. Johnston expertly stages the brutal werewolf attacks, allowing for plenty of dismemberments, disembowelment, and copious bloodletting. The transformation effects by f/x veteran Rick Baker, along with some CGI, are grotesquely wonderful and make it hard to take your eyes off the screen. Musical score by Danny Elfman nicely highlights whatever is happening onscreen.

Probably the biggest problem is the script by Andrew Kevin Walker and David Self, which ends up being kind of a mixed bag. There are some terrific scenarios of werewolf attacks, such as in London town, a gypsy camp, and even in a lecture hall of a lunatic asylum. There’s even a scene where two werewolves battle it out inside a burning house, but there’s also some problems that bog the film down. The identity of the beast that attacks Lawrence becomes fairly obvious halfway through the movie, likewise for the revelation of how his mother truly died. The romance between Lawrence and his brother’s fiancee feels forced and contrived; they barely are together long enough to get acquainted, much less fall in love. The love story feels like it was forced in later in production, and doesn’t really mesh with the film.

“The Wolfman” is an excellent film that suffers from some story problems. It’s the perfect antidote to anyone sick of sappy films on Valentine’s Day weekend. Flaws and all, it’s still a suspenseful and gory good time.

Joe Johnston (director) / Andrew Kevin Walker, David Self (screenplay)

CAST: Simon Merrells … Ben Talbot

Emily Blunt … Gwen Conliffe

Benicio Del Toro … Lawrence Talbot

Cristina Contes … Solana Talbot

Anthony Hopkins … Sir John Talbot

Hugo Weaving … Abberline

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Event Horizon (1997) Movie Review

HORROR MOVIE NEWS, HORROR MOVIE REVIEWS, REVIEWS, SCI-FI MOVIE REVIEWS — BY NIX ON MARCH 12, 2003

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“Event Horizon” stars Sam Neill (“Jurassic Park 3″) as Dr. Weir, a troubled scientist who, along with the salvage crew of Captain Miller (Laurence Fishburne), are sent to salvage an experimental ship called the Event Horizon that had gone missing years earlier. As the ship’s designer, Weir’s presence is crucial to the recovery of the vessel, which has suddenly reappeared near Neptune. But what starts out as a salvage operation becomes a race for survival, as it’s discovered that the Event Horizon’s last crew was slaughtered by the ship, which now has new victims to play with.

You would be hardpressed to call “Horizon” a horror film. Even though the movie makes some attempts to scare with cheap Boo Scares, as well as a lot of blood and guts, it’s just not a very scary film. Maybe I’ve just seen too many horror films, but much of the horror elements of “Horizon” come across as half-hearted. The movie actually works better as a straight sci-fi film about a ship that has gain sentience as well as the ability to read the inner thoughts of its crew, and is using those secrets to kill them. If that sounds familiar, it may be that the general thrust of “Horizon” was also used in Michael Crichton’s “Sphere” and, to an extent, the George Clooney film “Solaris”.

Before you can scratch your head at the oddball construction of the ship, “Horizon” quickly shifts into gore territory, with the ship picking off Miller’s crew one by one. First to go is young Justin (Jack Noseworthy), who is the first to encounter the Event Horizon’s piece de r’sistance — its “gravity drive”, Weir’s invention that can bend space-time and create a black hole that allows the ship to travel long distances. It is this ability that sent the ship to another dimension and where it has returned from, complete with sinister personality and bloodlust.

Although Laurence Fishburne (“The Matrix”) is good as the stern Captain Miller, characterization is not what “Horizon” is about. We know just enough about the different characters for the ship to effectively play games with them, stalk them like a cheap psycho in a mask, and then kill them. The real star of “Horizon” is the set design of the ship itself. The look and feel of the ship defies practicality, but then again what about sci-fi movies nowadays don’t? Actually, the chamber that holds the gravity drive looks more like a medieval torture chamber than a high-tech engine room. The rest of the ship also looks good, especially the colorful vent-like rooms inside the gravity drive chamber.

Don’t expect to be scared with “Event Horizon”, unless you’re the type to get scared easily. The film has a somber and dark mood, but some of its dialogue defies its attempts at horror. Most guilty is Richard T. Jones (“Phone Booth”) as a braggart member of Miller’s crew. In more than one sequence where the mood should have been filled with dread and gloom, Jones’ Cooper utters some “attitude-inspired” lines that just kills the atmosphere. Here, Philip Eisner’s screenplay fails itself. Of the rest of the cast, I would have liked to know, and see, more of Starck (Joely Richardson), Miller’s second in command, but alas that was not to be.

For a big-budget Hollywood movie, “Event Horizon” is supposed to look good, and that it achieves with some flair. Director Paul Anderson, in my opinion, has never achieved greatness in his movies. With films like “Soldier”, “Resident Evil”, and “Mortal Kombat”, there’s always a prevailing sense that he knows what he’s doing, but never a feeling that he’s gone beyond just good, competent work. But as the visually pleasing nature of “Event Horizon” can attest to, Anderson seems to have the ability to defy his current “just good enough” state, although he has yet to show this ability in practice.

Paul W.S. Anderson (director) / Philip Eisner (screenplay)

CAST: Laurence Fishburne …. Captain Miller

Sam Neill …. Weir

Kathleen Quinlan …. Peters

Joely Richardson …. Starck

Richard T. Jones …. Cooper

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Salvage (2009) Movie Review

HORROR MOVIE NEWS, HORROR MOVIE REVIEWS, REVIEWS, SALVAGE (2009) MOVIE — BY JAMES MUDGEON MARCH 4, 2010

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British horror thriller “Salvage” marks the directorial debut of helmer Lawrence Gough, and now arrives on DVD via Revolver following a successful run at international genre festivals. The film has a decent pedigree, boasting the talents of Director of Photography Simon Tindall, who recently worked on the likes of “Bright Star”, “The Queen” and “28 Days Later”. Of interest to UK viewers is the film’s soap opera connections, with it having been written by “Hollyoaks” scribe Colin O’Donnell, and having been shot on one of the old sets from the long running “Brookside” series.

The film takes place on Christmas Eve, and is set in a quiet suburban cul-de-sac, where a teenage girl called Jodie (Linzey Cocker) returns to spend the holiday season with her estranged mother Beth (Neve Mcintosh), only to find her in bed with a stranger. Angry and confused, the poor lass runs off and takes shelter with the neighbours. Unfortunately, before Beth can make amends, the area is sealed off by heavily armed military personnel who are searching for the missing cargo of a container ship which has run ashore on a beach nearby. With no information forthcoming from the authorities, and with the bodies starting to pile up, Beth teams up with Kieran (Shaun Dooley (“Eden Lake”), her one night stand, to try and rescue her daughter and escape.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, given writer O’Donnell’s soap opera background, “Salvage” starts off slowly, spending a fair amount of time on domestic drama. This actually works quite well, and although the character relationshipsare entirely conventional, the film benefits from having some basic grounding before everything goes to hell in the expected fashion. Gough handles the sudden shift into horror quite well, with the viewers being kept entirely in the dark along with the characters as to the nature of the container and its contents, and as to whether the gruesome events unfolding are the result of a terrorist attack, or something more sinister.

Although the film does initially have a vaguely similar feel to recent paranoia thriller “At Your Door”, it moves quickly from building unease into inexplicable chaos and murder as violence erupts. The film rattles along at a good pace, and the frequent scare scenes help to keep the viewer entertained and engaged, and perhaps more importantly, from noticing the many plot holes or the essential daftness of the premise. Once all of the cards are on the table, the film is a very simplistic, high concept affair, and whilst this in itself is not a bad thing, its revelations do come off as rather pedestrian, and as somewhat of a disappointment. As a result, once the credits roll, there is a sense of having been bundled along on a short, at times sharp ride, though one without much substance or originality, and which is let down by an entirely expected downbeat ending.

This may be a little harsh, as the film has a lot in its favour, with a pleasingly naturalistic script, good performances from the cast, and with Gough showing himself a competent director. There are a few genuine frights along the way, and although there is not much in the way of actual gore, the film does have a visceral, at times intense feel. Wisely, at just over an hour and fifteen minutes, it never outstays its welcome, and though nothing particularly new, it performs efficiently enough and should be enjoyed by undemanding genre fans.

Lawrence Gough (director) / Lawrence Gough, Colin O’Donnell, Alan Pattison (screenplay)

CAST: Shahid Ahmed … Mr Sharma

Dean Andrews … Clive

Sufian Ashraf … Mrs. Sharma

Ben Batt … Trooper Jones

Linzey Cocker … Jodie

Shaun Dooley … Kieran

Trevor Hancock … The Savage

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