STAR TREK
(Review)


Firstly, my Trek credentials.
Essentially, I have none.
Sure, like any sci-fi geek in the ‘80’s, I thought The Wrath of Khan kicked a$$, but I never even watched Star Trek: The Motion Picture, and, in the wake of Khan, I found The Search for Spock disappointing.*
That was the last Trek movie I watched.
Till now.
Till J.J. Abrams crewed up a new Enterprise with a terrific ensemble and delivered the best popcorn SF movie of the past summer, giving us a film light years ahead of those other 2009 Hollywood SF titles, Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen and Terminator Salvation.


It’s a head-scratching wonder, actually, that Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman are not only responsible for the script for Star Trek, but they can also be partially to blame for Revenge of the Fallen (along with Ehren Kruger).
And yes, I’m aware that the script for the Transformers sequel was simply one of the casualties of the writers’ strike, but really… that was an unholy mess…
Orci and Kurtzman’s work on Star Trek, however, not only gives us the emotional beats necessary for the audience to empathize with its characters, it also produces a narrative that is actually a satisfying adventure all its own, allowing it to rise above its prime intention: to act as prologue (and potential franchise re-starter), setting up characters and relationships and putting all the pieces into their proper places in the context of the Star Trek mythos.
In other words, getting that familiar crew gathered on board the Enterprise.


This is, after all, a reboot, and that term, used in conjunction with a property laden with stalwart devotees (as Star Trek is), can be potential dynamite.
But Orci and Kurtzman manage to weave a story that keeps faith with the original Trek canon, and still allows this new incarnation the freedom to, rather literally, enjoy the possibilities of going where Shatner and Nimoy never did before.
And their script is helped tremendously by a cast that knows how to make the most of limited screen time (limited screen time being the bane of ensembles, particularly for those who aren’t the more prominent faces of the cast).
Everyone, from Just My Luck’s Chris Pine and Heroes’ Zachary Quinto, on through to Terminator Salvation’s Anton Yelchin and Shaun of the Dead’s Simon Pegg (who’s last to the Enterprise party), are up to the task of embodying this new crew, informing these decades’ old characters with 21st century life.
These characters are fun, and certainly they’re people I wouldn’t mind crewing up with again for future adventures.


In the end, it doesn’t really matter whether you’re a devoted Trek fan, or completely ignorant of the mythos.
I don’t think either will stand in the way of the good SF time that is Abrams’ Star Trek.

* I also never got into any of Trek’s television incarnations.


Parting shot: Given my status as longtime Felicity fan, I love the fact that Amanda Foreman is here, however briefly, and that Greg Grunberg is at least heard, if not seen.
I would have loved to have seen the Scotts (Speedman and Foley) and of course, Keri Russell here. Or maybe some Amy Smart.
Alas, not to be.
But there’s always the sequel…
(It does my heart good to know though, that even in the bright Federation future, Slusho is still an on-going concern. Hurrah!)

(Star Trek OS’s courtesy of scifi.com; images courtesy of aintitcool.com, ew.com, hollywoodreporter.com, & latimes.com.)

LONG WEEKEND
(Review)


I made mention of an eco-horror double feature comprised of Larry Fessenden’s The Last Winter and Davis Guggenheim’s An Inconvenient Truth in my review of Fessenden’s film (which slumbers in the Archive).
Now, I’ve found a film I can wholeheartedly place alongside that pair for a chilling eco-horror troika.
That would be Jamie Blanks’ remake of Long Weekend.*


Though I’ve yet to have the opportunity to see Colin Eggleston’s 1978 original, Blanks’ redo sticks to the premise of a couple on a weekend getaway, who find themselves at the cruel mercies of nature. (The remake is still written by Everett De Roche, who penned the original and who had worked with Blanks previously on Storm Warning.)
This time out, it’s Jim Caviezel and Claudia Karvan (soon to be seen in the upcoming Spierig Brothers’ Daybreakers) as Peter and Carla, a married couple whose relationship is clearly in dire straits when we join them as they prepare for the eponymous getaway.
The bitterness and recrimination is so palpable, even when it’s submerged, you can’t help but wonder what they saw in each other in the first place. There must have been love at some point; they’ve got the wedding bands to prove it, after all. You just can’t really see it these days.
And by the time the reasons for their estrangement are revealed to us, not only is it too late for their marriage, it’s quite possibly also too late for their lives as well.


Even as it chronicles the final death throes of a relationship gone horribly toxic, the film also shows in no uncertain terms, the callousness and presumption with which we, as a species, treat our planet.
The fact that Peter is a “self-centred prick” (as Carla calls him at one point in the film)—or, as I prefer to think of it, just a plain old flaming a$hole—is cold comfort when his actions (and Carla’s as well, for that matter) probably happen every single day, in some part of the world.
It’s interesting to note that these actions come from two different places. In Peter’s case, they’re done out of complete disregard for anything else other than himself. In Carla’s case, it’s out of an innate dislike and distrust of the outdoors.
It’s always a telling point to observe a person once they’re taken out of the confines and comfort of civilization and made to rough it. That’s when you can tell the stuff a person’s really made of.


I should stress at this point that this is not an “animals attack” sort of film (though there is that in the mix; and one must never forget that De Roche also scripted the “giant pig in the Outback” extravaganza that was Russell Mulcahy’s Razorback); Blanks’ Long Weekend is more about mood and atmosphere and good old fashioned creepiness.
In fact, aside from that eco-horror troika, I will also place Long Weekend squarely beside such venerable titles in the Creepy-a$$ Aussie Film Library as Peter Weir’s Picnic at Hanging Rock and The Last Wave. If anything, Blanks’ remake has made me even more curious to see Eggleston’s original.


Here, Blanks and De Roche focus on the fear of the unknown, of what’s out there, beyond the campfire’s glow and the headlights stabbing off into the deep, primeval night.
It’s about how so many things in our world are plainly beyond our understanding and our control.
At one point in the film, Peter points out to Carla that not everyone is afraid of nature.
Well, if Long Weekend is anything to go by, maybe we should be.
And if “fear” is too strong a word and emotion, then perhaps a healthy sense of respect will do.
Given the current state of our planet, it’s long overdue.

* In the U.S., Long Weekend has been retitled Nature’s Grave, as evidenced by the rather horrid DVD cover art below.


Parting shot: In the interests of full disclosure, there are a couple of skeletons in Blanks’ cinematic closet.
Primarily, there’s Valentine, and to a lesser extent, Urban Legend.
Urban Legend had a couple of passably effective sequences, but as a whole, wasn’t really that distinguished a title. Valentine, on the other hand, was just plain dreadful.
Though I’ve yet to see Storm Warning (which I understand may well be worth a look), I can safely say Long Weekend clears Blanks’ slate of its past blemishes.

(Long Weekend OS courtesy of impawards.com; Nature’s Grave DVD cover art courtesy of shocktillyoudrop.com; some images courtesy of outnow.ch.)

GRACE
(Review)

“… it was clear to me that [writer/director Paul Solet] was really using genre as a way to tell a really profound story about women and childbirth and sacrifices and love.”
-- Jordan Ladd


There are some films you just really shouldn’t show pregnant women (or even women who are merely contemplating pregnancy, for that matter).
Films like Fruit Chan’s Dumplings or Julien Maury and Alexandre Bustillo’s À l'intérieur (Inside); the latter more so than the former. And then there's David Lynch's Eraserhead.
Well, I can now clearly add Paul Solet’s frighteningly impressive feature debut, Grace, to that shortlist.


In this highly disturbing film, Jordan Ladd (from Cabin Fever, Death Proof, and briefly, Hostel: Part II) plays Madeline Matheson, who is on her third attempt at pregnancy, when tragedy strikes.
What follows clearly proves the maxim, a lot of love and a little mental instability do not a good pairing mix. (It also proves that Ladd is a young actress who needs to be paid attention to.)
Solet delves deeply into the primal anxieties that inform the entire process of conception, gestation, and childbirth, those universal fears of something, anything really, going so very terribly wrong.


I suppose it’s only natural then, given the film’s subject matter, that this is a tale populated largely by the feminine; there are only three male roles of note here, and one is disposed of early on, while all three are influenced (to varying degrees) by a much more powerful female figure.
It’s also interesting to note that it’s not only the disintegration of Madeline that we witness onscreen, but the other females in the narrative also undergo mental and emotional stresses of their own (some more readily visible than others).


The psychology of the female, as well as the fierce, maternal instinct, is brought sharply into focus by Solet, and what we get is a very dark and unsettling piece. In that respect, Grace is also a sort of sister film to Neil Marshall’s The Descent, where the feminine is also something forbidding and formidable to contend with.
And above and beyond the feminine aspect, these are also characters who are yearning desperately for things they can’t have, and who are willing to go further than the usual distance to have and keep those things. Regardless of gender, that’s a very universal feeling, one that can reduce us to actions we’d never thought ourselves capable of.


So, just to reiterate: this one’s got teeth.
Not your easy-peasy Hollywood popcorn horror, this.
Among other things, Grace is a disturbing portrait of the lengths a mother will go to for love of her offspring (and that doesn’t just apply to Madeline).
Fittingly enough, Solet dedicates the film to his own mother…


Parting shot: Grace is produced by Adam Green, who brought us Hatchet.

Parting shot 2: Reviews of À l'intérieur (Inside), Hatchet, Death Proof, and Hostel: Part II can be found in the Archive.

(Grace OS courtesy of shocktillyoudrop.com.)

TRICK ‘R TREAT
(Review)


For the record, I love Superman Returns; along with The Dark Knight, it’s one of the most mature superhero films out there (for very different reasons, of course).
There are a myriad of reasons why I love Superman Returns, but the one that has relevance to this review, is the screenplay, written by Michael Dougherty and Dan Harris. It’s a screenplay whose deceptively straight-forward narrative belies its emotional and thematic complexity.
Both Dougherty and Harris had previously worked with director Bryan Singer on X2, which also goes a long way in explaining why X2 was a whole lot better than the first X-Men film.
Now, the script that got Dougherty and Harris the X2 gig? Well, that happens to be the script for the film we’re taking a look at now: Trick ‘r Treat.
Finally getting a DVD release after two years of sitting on a shelf, this is one hell of a great horror movie that tips a Halloween hat to the memorable horror anthologies of yesteryear.


It’s Halloween in the little town of Warren Valley, Ohio, the night when the barriers between the living and the dead are at their thinnest, a night when we meet a number of individuals, whose stories weave in and out of (and at certain points, wind back on) each other, individuals who are about to find out that Halloween is more than just about costumes and candy…
Now what sets Trick ‘r Treat apart from those horror anthologies that came before, is the fact that the script is structured in such a way as to combine all four tales into a single narrative.
Whereas in the past, we’d have a framing sequence, and the separate tales of terror (Creepshow, Twilight Zone: The Movie, Asylum, et al), with Trick ‘r Treat, we have a film that has the kind of narrative structure you’d find in a Go, or a Pulp Fiction.
It’s a structure that helps inform the film with an added layer, where what seem to be throw-away lines and incidental little bits, turn out to have weight and bearing on all that we will eventually come to see over the course of the running time.


Another important distinction of Trick ‘r Treat is that this is the sort of horror film that’s fun. And that’s the sort of fun that doesn’t step foot into the horror-comedy arena, but basically still stays on the horror side of the fence, but laces itself with moments of black comedy and a sense that things don’t have to be all serious and sober.
What writer/director Dougherty calls “fun horror movies,” the ones that have a lot of replay value, as opposed to, say, what the French are contributing to the genre. I mean, I love some of those too, but you don’t see me rushing to give Inside a second viewing…
As a first-time director, Dougherty not only captures the essence and spirit of Halloween (spotlighting its dark, pagan origins in the process), he also understands this type of film perfectly.


And he’s got some formidable back-up.
For starters, there’s a rather good cast in this. If I had to cherry pick the best though, that would have to be Dylan Baker (as Principal Steven Wilkins) and Brian Cox (as crotchety Mr. Kreeg), both of whom also shone on the flawed, though certainly ambitious (and sadly truncated) reimagining of the Biblical story of David, Kings.
Here, in Trick ‘r Treat, they happen to be neighbours, and though their tales are ultimately separate from each other, they do occasionally intersect in wryly amusing ways.


Dougherty’s also got Bryan Singer producing, Glen MacPherson behind the camera, and Douglas Pipes on the score (Pipes also composed the score for Gil Kenan’s Monster House, another one of those “fun horror movies”; yes, ostensibly, it’s a CGI kiddie flick, so it skews a bit younger, but it’s a rather dark kiddie flick, if you think about it).
Plus, thanks to his visual background in animation, Dougherty also manages to introduce us to potential horror icon in the making, freaky little Sam (short for Samhain, one would assume, and played by Quinn Lord, who also plays the little peeper who gets to see Anna Paquin in the dressing room, lucky little…).
If it’s one thing that can keep a horror film at the forefront of the genre’s mass consciousness, it’s a visually unique character. Think Pinhead, or Freddy, or Chucky, or the masks of Michael or Jason or Ghostface.
Well, now we’ve got Sam, and hey, we’re all the better for it.


If Christmas can have titles like Doug Liman’s Go and Satoshi Kon’s Tokyo Godfathers, then Halloween should have some go-to films too. And John Carpenter’s Halloween is long overdue some deserving company.
So, if you’re looking for some fun Halloween viewing, Trick ‘r Treat is most definitely the ticket.
Just be sure not to piss off Sam, you hear?


“I’m just trying to create a horror film that I think hearkens back to the horror films that we all know and love and grew up with. I keep pointing to the early to mid-‘80’s when we had [A] Nightmare on Elm Street and Poltergeist and Creepshow and things like that, that to me are terrifying horror films but also fun and funny. I miss those, a lot.”
-- Michael Dougherty

(Trick ‘r Treat OS courtesy of shocktillyoudrop.com; Michael Dougherty image courtesy of hollywoodreporter.com.)

PIMP MY UNDERPASS (6)

The Underpass crew (myself included) will be at the M3CON (MangaholixCon) on November 21 & 22, 2009, at the World Trade Center.
So if you want to ask us some questions, or have your copy of Underpass autographed, or want to pick up a copy with the creative team on hand, please, drop by.
Not sure if I’ll be able to make it on both days, but I should be there on the 21st.

Again, as per the press release, Underpass, the “graphic anthology featuring dark fantasy stories from some of today's greatest Pinoy comics creators” is now “… available in major magazine shops.” And bookstores, as far as I know.
Four stories!! Full colour!! P175!!
Go!!

(Underpass cover by Carl Vergara.)

THE THAW
(Review)

“The melting Arctic will reveal a frightening truth.”

In the ecological horror film The Thaw, director Mark A. Lewis presents us with a prehistoric parasitic terror that could prove to be the end of all there is. (Or, at the very least, put a very serious dent in civilization as we know it.)
The apocalypse cinema conceit is established right off the bat with the news montage-as-opening credits sequence gambit done in such entries as Zack Snyder’s Dawn of the Dead redux, Danny Boyle’s 28 Days Later, and Logan McMillan’s Last of the Living.
The gambit worked in those films, as it does here.
Of course, the reality is, as early as its opening credits sequence, The Thaw is already recalling earlier horror films, and it continues to do so, as the reels unwind…


Set on Banks Island, in the Canadian Arctic, the film brings to mind John Carpenter’s The Thing, the first season X-Files episode, “Ice” (which was, itself, a sort-of, kind-of Thing retread), Carter Smith’s adaptation of The Ruins, and the brilliant eco-horror entry, Larry Fessenden’s The Last Winter.
Which is, frankly, rather august company, if not for the fact that The Thaw suffers in comparison.
Having said that though, I must stress that The Thaw is still worth your time. I mean, when you’ve got X-Files alumnus William B. Davis in the aforementioned opening credits, talking about global warming and Armageddon and how it’s all our damned fault, well, that’s something that you need to pay attention to.


I have to say though, that aside from the semi-familiarity of the material, the cast isn’t exactly across-the-board good either.
There’s Val Kilmer in there (as ex-eco-activist David Kruipen) and Smallville’s Aaron Ashmore (whose twin Shawn happens to have been in The Ruins) and Everything’s Gone Green’s Steph Song, who’s saddled with a rather thankless role here.
There’s also Martha MacIsaac (as Kruipen’s mightily pissed-off daughter, Evelyn) and Kyle Schmid (from TV’s Blood Ties).
I shall refrain from pointing out which of the above are the weak links in the film’s cast… (Though I will say that MacIsaac did a great job in Dennis Iliadis’ remake of The Last House on the Left.)


Still, with all its flaws, The Thaw does have a bunch of cringe- and shudder-inducing moments, and, like The Last Winter, can serve as an effective cautionary tale of how we, as a race inclined to apathy, and perpetually unsatisfied with our lot, may very well end up destroying ourselves.
If you’ve been avoiding Davis Guggenheim’s An Inconvenient Truth thus far because “documentary” is still a dirty word to you, then perhaps The Thaw is the answer.
I mean, if a teeny Ice Age parasite can help wake up the masses, I’m sure Al Gore wouldn’t mind…


Parting shot: Reviews of The Last Winter, The Ruins, The Last House on the Left, and Everything’s Gone Green can be found in the Archive.

(The Thaw DVD cover art and images courtesy of shocktillyoudrop.com.)

PIMP MY UNDERPASS (5)


Happy Halloween!
And in the spirit of said holiday, Summit is putting "Katumbas" online, in its entirety, here.
Feel free to check it, at least until November 6, when I understand it will dissolve into the aether.
If you like what you read, then please check out Underpass, now available out there "... in bookstores, newsstands and wherever Summit magazines are sold."
P175!! Full color!!
Go!!

(Underpass cover by Carl Vergara; "Katumbas" cover page art by Ian Sta. Maria.)

OUTPOST
(Review)

In the dark heart of war-ravaged Eastern Europe, where the constant sound of distant gunfire is a grim reminder of the savage violence that resides within men, an engineer (Julian Wadham, from the Exorcist prequels) on retainer for some undisclosed company, hires a hastily-assembled squad of mercenaries led by Punisher Mark 3 himself, Ray Stevenson, to protect him as he surveys some recently-acquired “real estate” for “minerals.”
That’s the set-up for Steve Barker’s feature debut, Outpost, and it starts off promisingly enough, though ultimately, doesn’t quite get the job done.


Now, I’ve long had a fascination with the possibilities in the collision of war and the occult, and the relatively slow burn of Outpost’s script—by Rae Brunton, from a story by Kieran Parker, Barker, and Brunton—works in the film’s favour, allowing the audience fleeting glimpses of some of the characters, as soldiers and as men. (Though Wadham’s engineer, Hunt, stubbornly remains more plot function than actual person.)


In addition, credit must also be given to casting director Kate Plantin, who has assembled a cast who decidedly do not cut the photogenic Hollywood soldier of fortune figure. There’s nary a ripped, gym-toned body nor young, pretty boy stud to be seen here. Just grizzled veterans who’ve seen far too much, who aren’t exactly the type young ladies would take home to meet their mothers.


For all the checks in its plus column though, Outpost doesn’t really live up to its promise, and when the nature of the unstoppable enemy is revealed, the proceedings gradually revert to a vaguely mechanical (and vaguely familiar) rhythm; you just know how things will turn out in this little corner of Hell.
The film’s rather unimaginative coda also plays as a tired little echo of many a horror film before it.


Still, much of Outpost is a sight better than most of the recent “horror during war” movies. Disappointing entries that come to mind include Alex Turner’s Red Sands (set in modern-day Afghanistan), Rob Green’s The Bunker (WWII), and Kong Soo-chang’s R-Point (the Vietnam war).
Actually, the only one I’ve seen recently that I truly love is Daniel Myrick’s The Objective (also using the Middle Eastern conflict as backdrop).
If only Outpost hadn’t buckled, it could have enjoyed some rarefied company.


The fact that a sequel (Outpost II: Black Sun) has been announced leaves me rather ambivalent. If it’s going to be more of the same, I think I’ll pass.
If Barker (who returns as director) intends to step up his game though, then Black Sun could be worth a look.
We’ll just have to wait and see, won’t we?

Parting shot: A review of The Objective can be found in the Archive.

(Outpost UK quad courtesy of impawards.com.)

A Rundown of the 13 Best Horror Movies I’ve Seen in the Past Year
[13 of 13]
THE LAST HOUSE ON THE LEFT (March 2009)


… Dennis Iliadis’ grimly violent The Last House on the Left—a reworking of Wes Craven’s infamous debut feature— [is] certainly a very adult and ballsy piece that effortlessly leapfrogs over its recent remade ilk and is officially the first 70’s/80’s horror remake that I’m actually satisfied with.

Read the entire review here.

Parting shot: Well, that’s it for this year’s list. Let’s see what the next dozen months have to offer horrorwise, so we can see how those titles will impact 2010’s rundown.
Happy Halloween!

(The Last House on the Left OS courtesy of bloody-disgusting.com.)

A Rundown of the 13 Best Horror Movies I’ve Seen in the Past Year
[12 of 13]
THE CHILDREN (December 2008)


As if the French weren’t bad enough, the holiday season gets yet another kick in the nuts in Tom Shankland’s shocking The Children.

Read the entire review here.

(The Children UK quad courtesy of shocktillyoudrop.com.)

PIMP MY UNDERPASS (4)

Thanx are in order…
To everyone at Summit, for making it possible; to the Underpass crew, for concocting a particularly formidable brew; to Ella & Sally and the Visprint crew; to the Komikon organizers; to Ruey, for the much-appreciated words; to absolutely everyone who stopped by to pick up copies (not just of Underpass, but of the novellas as well) and have them signed (seeing that vintage copy of Flashpoint was a blast!); to those who threw out questions at the Q&A; and to Budj, for persistence which paid off…
Many, many, many thanx.

Now, as per the press release, Underpass, the “graphic anthology featuring dark fantasy stories from some of today's greatest Pinoy comics creators” will henceforth “… be available in major magazine shops.”
Check it out, please.

(Underpass cover by Carl Vergara.)

A Rundown of the 13 Best Horror Movies I’ve Seen in the Past Year
[11 of 13]
SPLINTER (October 2008)


Toby Wilkins’ Splinter is a frisky blast of low budget horror that grabs you from the get-go… and introduces us to one of the freakiest cinematic beasties from 2008.

Read the entire review here.

(Splinter OS courtesy of shocktillyoudrop.com.)