FUTURE-KILL Movie Review

FUTURE-KILL (1985)

In the near future, a new class division has been created in the cities, the uptowners and the downtown mutants, who look more like people that listen to way too much Adam Ant rather than biological abnormalities. These mutants stage elaborate protests against nuclear weapons, and have been the focus of several newscasts. Oblivious to the suffering that happens downtown are a bunch of fratboys who, after a botched college prank, are asked to go downtown and kidnap the leader of the mutants, Eddie Pain. Lurking downtown however, is a mutant named Splatter (Edwin Neal), who is all too familiar with suffering, and loves nothing more than to dish it out. When the boys locate Pain and Splatter, Splatter's twisted logic leads him to murder Pain in a power move, and then blames it on the innocent fratboys.

As word gets out of Eddie Pain's death, the mutants begin a citywide hunt for the now on-the-run fratboys, who are hopelessly lost. During their sprints from alley to alley, the fratboys come across Julie, a local mutant who is being attacked. The fratboys save Julie, and in exchange, she begrudgingly agrees to help them find a way out of the downtown city. When their paths cross with Dorothy Grim (Marilyn Burns), another mutant who has decided that Splatter must be killed if the mutant cause is to succeed, the group arms themselves and head into Splatter's lair for one final confrontation.

FUTURE-KILL uses the basic storyline premise of THE WARRIORS, and infuses ideas generously borrowed from THE TERMINATOR, REVENGE OF THE NERDS, THE ROAD WARRIOR and Penelope Spheeris' SUBURBIA, with a none-too-subtle stance against pending nuclear war between the United States and the Soviet Union. First time director and co-writer Ronald W Moore (who incidentally never made another movie after this) pieces together a hodge-podge of physical gross-out comedy, weak suspense set-ups, a few good gore moments. The cracks are filled with prerequisite 1980s cliches including blue-washed lighting, a synthesizer score and an utterly pointless yet still fun sequence in a nightclub where a live band plays not one, but two full songs as the fratboys dance and mingle with the mutants.

For most, the main selling point of the film will be a chance to see the original TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE stars Edwin Neal and Marilyn Burns on screen together again. The two don't actually spend that much time together on screen, and Burns' role is more of an extended cameo rather than the co-star billing she gets. Neal, who was extensively involved in the film's creation, is obviously having a great time on screen in his full armor outfit, and Burns' looks damn sexy in her low-cut leather n' metal combat gear.

FUTURE-KILL is a prime example of low-budget 80's indie exploitation, which is big on heart, poor on execution, and whose poster, an art piece created by H.R. Giger specifically for the movie, promises a character twice as cool as any that make it on screen. 1980s b-movie horror and sci-fi junkies should enjoy this one as long as you know what you're getting into, but make sure to watch it with a few friends and a twelve pack; it makes for is easy cannon-fodder and talking back to the screen.

SIX-STRING SAMURAI (1998) Movie Review

SIX-STRING SAMURAI (1998)

It has been forty years since the Russians dropped the bomb on America and Lost Vegas, lorded over by Elvis himself, became the last beacon of freedom in a desolate wasteland. Now, the King is dead, and the call has gone out over the airwaves that Lost Vegas needs a new leader. Guitarists across the land are making their journey, including Buddy - a sword-wielding, hollow-body electric guitar player, with a penchant for black suits, skinny ties and two-tone shoes. This "lone wolf" picks up a "cub" on his journey, when he saves a young boy from being attacked by mutants. This kid, who Buddy tries to get rid of at every possible turn, becomes both a helping sidekick and infuriating nuisance.

As Buddy and the kid continue their journey across hundreds of miles of desert and abandoned roadways, they come across rival would-be kings, bowling-themed assassins, an all-American family of cannibals, a communist surf band, and even the Red Army! Buddy's mastery of his sword, and quick kung-fu keeps him safe from harm, unaware that Death himself, is also making his way toward Lost Vegas, killing any guitarist that he finds and keeping their picks as trophies around his neck. Buddy may be quick on his feet and quicker on a fret board, but is he fast enough to outrun death?

In this comical and highly-stylish post-apocalyptic adventure, co-writers Jeffrey Falcon and Lance Mungia, who respectively star and direct, blend a hyperkinetic cocktail of samurai motifs, road movies, ROAD WARRIOR inspired landscapes, colorful comic book-esque characters, and a surf soundtrack (courtesy of The Red Elvises) that hasn't been this good since THE ENDLESS SUMMER. Mungia, in his directorial debut, takes his cues from the dubbed kung-fu VHS releases of his youth. His action scenes are quick cut to the tempo of the music and the film speed is played with to enunciate Buddy's finishing moves or when he needs to pose. Jeffrey Falcon, who performs his own stunts, obviously has some martial arts training, and Mungia keeps his camera back enough to show that Falcon knows what he is doing. And even though the film's original language is in English, most of dialogue appears to be dubbed in post-production. This should be the western/samurai/action/exploitation homage that everyone name drops, rather than KILL BILL VOL. 1, so where did it go wrong?

The film's fatal flaw is the choice of half-pint Justin McQuire, who makes his first only film appearance playing The Kid. A even better question is the choice of why The Kid exists at all. If Mungia and Falcon were aiming to give a nod to the LONE WOLF AND CUB series, they sorely missed their mark. The Kid, who basically communicates in high-pitched shrieks is enough to drop the enjoyment of any scene he is in to zero. Even in the coolest of sword fights, a quick cut to this brat wailing is enough to make one just want to stop the movie. It really is that annoying. During Buddy's many failed attempts to ditch The Kid, we feel his frustrating pain when he has to save him or when the tyke wanders back to the roadside bar Buddy has holed up in for the night. While the storyline would turn out much different without this ragged tot in tow, the alternate result would have been a flashier, hipper, and cooler version of what we get.

There is plenty to be excited about here, and The Kid fortunately doesn't do enough damage to completely make the film a no-go. There is Death for instance, who looks like Slash right off the cover of Appetite For Destruction, who is more of a nuisance to Buddy than an actual adversary. His mission is to take over Lost Vegas with heavy metal, and thus becomes a contrasting force against Buddy's rockabilly stylings. Their final battle, which is equal parts "Devil Went Down To Georgia" and SANJURO, is a duel that the film takes eighty minutes to build up and final product does not disappoint. Buddy also takes on an entire division of the Red Army, who still carry guns despite not having any bullets for them. The bloodless slaughter is certainly a highpoint of the film. And of course there is the radio DJ Werewolf, who is a blissful tribute to Wolfman Jack, and acts as narrator and sage-like voice-over who pipes in in-between scenes, a requirement for any action-fantasy worth its weight in steel.

Released at the tail-end of the indie film explosion of the nineties, SIX-STRING SAMURAI got its fifteen minutes, but never got the cult status is does deserve. You won't find people dressed as Buddy at comic conventions, you're not going to find a ten-year anniversary re-release or a re-make of it this any time soon, and oddly, you won't find much of the cast or crew connected to any other films after this. The true potential for the film may never have been realized, but still it is a wacky example of the fringe cinema that was popping up in the care-free last decade of the twentieth century. And for better or worse, you'll never see another film quite like this ever made again.

DOOMSDAY Movie and DVD Review

DOOMSDAY (2008)

In 2008, an unstoppable virus rips through Scotland causing panic and chaos. In a desperate move to contain what has become known as the Reaper Virus, England quarantines the entire country. Those caught inside the quarantine zone are left to die, hopefully along with the virus. Now almost thirty years later, a cramped and poverty-stricken London becomes the perfect breeding ground for the Reaper Virus to return, and so it does in a major way. With the secret knowledge that there are still survivors in Scotland, a plan is concocted to send a team of soldiers in and find what must be the cure.

Tapped to lead this suicide mission is Major Eden Sinclair, a tough-as-nails member of the Department of Domestic Security who is one of the few survivors lucky enough to get out of Scotland. Sinclair, along with a motley crew of soldiers and scientists, make their way into the quarantine zone and soon discover that the survivors have gone absolutely mad. Their first obstacle is to overcome a rogue army of rampaging and cannibalistic punks lorded over by the berserk Sol, before dealing with their main target, Dr Kane. Kane, who was working on a cure to virus before being trapped in the country, has holed his followers up in a castle and anointed himself King! Sinclair has only forty-eight hours to find the cure and make it to the rendezvous point, and the clock is ticking!

Read my full review at Geeks Of Doom!

THE OMEGA MAN Movie Review

THE OMEGA MAN (1971)

Two years after germ warfare exterminates the human population, Robert Neville believes he is the last human on Earth. But the germs have created an entire new race of mutants out of those that were infected but did not die. These creatures, who have taken on the properties of albinos and are extremely light sensitive, are forced to live in total darkness. By night, Robert fortifies himself in his home as he attempts to survive the mutants' daily assaults. But by day, Robert becomes the hunter, and speeds through the barren streets of Los Angeles looking for their den.

When Robert is captured by the mutants, he fears that this is the end for him. At the last minute, however, he is rescued by a group he never knew of before — an even smaller band of those who have been infected, but have not completely submitted to the alterations of the germ. These infected are still able to walk in daylight and have not been driven to madness. With this new revelation, Robert once again begins to work on a way to use his own immune blood to create a serum that will cure his new friends. But the clock is ticking and the mutants are growing ever stronger!

Read my full review at Geeks Of Doom!

THE LAST MAN ON EARTH Movie Review

THE LAST MAN ON EARTH (1964)

After a mysterious plague decimates the entire planet and wipes out the entire human race, Dr. Robert Morgan (Vincent Price) literally believes he is the last man on Earth. But he is certainly not alone, for the plague has turned all those who are infected into mindless zombie-like vampires who sleep during the day and at night call for Robert's blood. During the day, Robert kills as many of the vampires as he can with homemade stakes and collects the goods he needs to survive. By night, he barricades himself into his home in order to see the next sunrise. But while out on his daily errands one day, he comes across vampires that have been killed by someone other than himself, and more importantly, comes across a rather mysterious woman that is able to walk in the sun! Cautiously, Robert brings the woman back to his house, not sure of just where this newfound revelation of information will lead.

Based on the 1954 novel I Am Legend, author Richard Matheson's story of isolation and survival horror is given a 1960's b-movie horror makeover and throws the reigning champion of such films, Vincent Price, into the leading role. If you have not yet read Matheson's story, I urge you to read it post-haste. It is one of finest horror stories to come out in the past century, and with its chronicled inspiration on the likes of Stephen King and Dean Koontz, it is a must-read piece of literature.

Read my full review at Geeks Of Doom!

MAD MAX Review

MAD MAX (1979)

In the not-too-distant future, all Hell has broken out across Australia. Society is breaking down, the criminals and outlaws are getting more vicious, and the police in turn, must become even tougher. Of these officers, "Mad" Max (Mel Gibson in his leading actor debut) is the toughest. Dressed from head to toe in leather and padded armor, and driving a tricked out police car, no one can outrun him. Least of all is Nightrider, an outlaw who is part of The Toecutter's gang. When Max kills Nightrider on the road, Max and his friends becomes the target of the Toecutter's vengeance. After one of Max's friends is murdered, Max heads into the outback for some much needed vacation time, with his wife and baby. But close behind is the Toecutter, and if they push too far, they'll find out just how Max got his moniker.

In the late 70's, exploitation films that pushed the boundaries of what was acceptable in film were being churned out one after another. Although many of them became fodder for filling double-feature bills, a precious few were marked as something more, something powerful and raw. MAD MAX is amongst those films, and it is mostly in thanks to debut director and writer George Miller, for his anarchic vision of the future, and his DIY spirit that brought the film to life. Through death-defying camerawork (more on this in a moment), movie magic, pure adrenaline attitude, a few well used clichés, and the bleak wasteland backdrop of rural Australia, a terrible post-apocalyptic future is beautifully woven that is still just cool enough and habitable enough that you almost want to live there. And this is half of the makes this style of film memorable and successful.

The other half is having a character that you can route for and whose reinforced boots you want to be in. Stepping up to this challenge is a very young and still baby-faced Mel Gibson, who takes up the title role. The film follows Max as his last bits of humanity are slowly stripped away as he deals with balancing being in the most dangerous legal profession where ever second can mean life and death and raising a baby with his young wife, where every time they kiss goodbye could be the last time they see one another. Gibson handles what is notably some heavy emotions in an otherwise nitro-fueled action film. Gibson, with his limited acting experience at the time, does well enough, and perhaps a stronger actor could have handled the romantic scenes better. But when the film turns to the dark revenge sequences in the last reel, which are the most justified killings this side of the Punisher, Gibson's young features act as a stark contrast to the character's actions as Max's humanity is completely lost.

Mel Gibson aside, what this film delivers in spades is speed, speed, speed! George Miller sets up some incredible action sequences that will have any jaded chase sequence fan on the edge of their seats. You can almost feel the wind ripping across your face as the cars and motorcycle rip across the screen at 100+ kilometers per hour. Equal credit for this must go to cinematographer David Eggby, who put his life on the line multiple times during production to get as close to the vehicles and the asphalt as he could, and uses an almost documentary-style approach to bring the chases to life. What makes his work here the most appealing is that you do not see this kind of dangerous camerawork anymore, at least not without the aid of computers and digitized effects.

MAD MAX has gone on to collect a well-deserved following around the world, has helped to launch the career of Mel Gibson, and its low-cost production contains hints for upcoming directors short on cash, like if you don't have the money to buy a car to smash just use your own, pay your extras in beer, use nigh-abandoned factories for settings, use vinyl instead of leather for costumes, and if you want to give a lasting impression of gruesomeness don't show anything at all. Gibson, Miller and the rest of his crew would reteam for two sequel, THE ROAD WARRIOR and MAD MAX BEYOND THUNDERDOME. The three films create a long character arch for Max, as he loses, rediscovers and redeems his soul, and creates a much grander impression of the character than he was probably ever supposed to get. Here though, you'll just see him mad and burning to get even, so grab an oil can of Fosters, rev that engine into the red, and get ready to burn some rubber!