Inception

Christopher Nolan writes and directs this Sci-Fi/Thriller with an all-star cast including Leonardo DiCaprio (Shutter Island), Ellen Page (Juno) and Joseph Gordon-Levitt (500 Days of Summer). With the track record of Nolan's previous movies, Inception had a lot to live up to and it does not disappoint.

Inception centres around a device that allows people to create dream worlds for others to enter into. This device is used by a team of thieves led by a man named Cobb (DiCaprio) to commit industrial espionage. The team enter into dreams and steal ideas and secrets from some of the most powerful businessmen in the world when they are at their most vulnerable; while they are asleep.
Cobb has made mistakes in the past that mean he cannot be with his family but he is given the chance to right those wrongs by performing an act that most say is impossible, an act called 'Inception'. Instead of stealing secrets, inception is the planting of an idea in someone's head.

The cast are all perfectly suited to the roles they play and there are no weak links to distract viewers from the action.
The movie covers some complex concepts very quickly and expects the user to accept the information and go with it however luckily, the movie does have some characters for whom concepts are broken down step-by-step, ie.:
• Inducing a dream using the machine causes time in the dream to feel like it is passing at 1/20th speed; 5 minutes in the real world feels like 1 hour in the dream.
• In order to accomplish the inception they will require to cause multi-layered dreaming (A dream within a dream)
• The above rule is true for a dream induced while in a dream; 5 minutes in the real world feels like 20 hour in the dream within a dream.
Trying to keep track of where there are (Real world or a particular layer of a dream) could potentially become confusing but each level has vastly different yet equally stunning locations with unique feels which assists the viewer to quickly determine where the scene is taking place.

Inception as a concept could have so easily gone wrong, there are so many aspects that if handled incorrectly could have made the movie so much less than it was. Inception is able to cover a lot of ground rather quickly without feeling cluttered, it will have you on the edge of your seat from start to finish. This movie obviously won't be for everyone but if the viewer is willing to give the movie their undivided attention they will be rewarded with an amazing story which will cry out to be watched again.

Rating 5 out of 5

See it if you liked:
eXistenZ
Blade Runner
Cypher

What does IMDB say?

Review by Kevin Brown

The Human Centipede (First Sequence)

Sometimes in history, films push the boundaries of acceptability. "The Woodsman" portrays a paedophile in his attempts to live a next to normal life, "American History X" showed us the utter brutality to Neo-Nazi fanaticism and now, The Human Centipede. If you think I am trying to place this film as highly as the others, you are dead wrong. However, in terms of pushing the boundaries and doing something that is not only different, but genuinely shocks you, this passes with flying colours.

The entire film takes place in Germany, where two young - some might call them stupid - American girls are travelling through Europe. They have been invited to a party and are in the process of getting there when their car gets a flat tyre. A conversation strikes up between the two about their inability to change a blown tyre - surprise, surprise - and the fact that one of them isn't dressed correctly to get out the car to look for help. did I mention that they aren't getting any mobile phone reception? I know this doesn't sound terribly unique so far, but trust me it gets there.

After a trawl through the nearby woods in the dark they stumble upon a house with the lights on. they rattle on the door pleading for help; a call which is soon answered by an insanely creepy gentleman. As he invites them in, this is where the film starts to pull away from the typical and move into a league of its own. Soon the two girls are fighting, but not for their lives. for their individuality. The doctor's plan? He wants to a create a "Human Centipede" by stitching people together - ass to mouth.

This film has something original in it, and for something so grotesque, it does not show a lot of gore. It lets the actions of the film shock and fester in your mind. Rather than making you feel sick with blood and guts and horrific deaths, it remains rather subdued. The thing that really made me feel uncomfortable and scared was the Dr's general attitude towards his creation. His level of dementia; the fact that he just seems to think what he is doing is the right thing. It gave me shudders...Now I am not saying the film lacks gore entirely, but it just doesn't rely on the sort of torture porn level of violence that has been made popular by films like "Saw".

Now that I have placed it high on a pedestal, it's time to knock it down. Despite the film being original and playing to its strengths, those strengths are few. The acting, other than that of the Dr is mostly atrocious, with typical performances from the two American female leads. Most importantly, even although the plot is unique, it is...well for lack of a better word, icky! My idea of fun isn't watching people joined ass to mouth struggle with existence - and other things ie going number two! -for an hour and a half. In all, it kind of misses the mark a little. It does explore new territory, but maybe not a good territory.

Despite my hang-ups, the movie seems to have done fairly well in terms of success. Word of mouth is what got me to watch it, and I can only assume this is similar in most cases. We can expect a sequel coming in 2011. Not quite sure if I want to watch it yet, but maybe I will give in.

In closing, I wanted to talk about the tag line for the film, "100% medically accurate". The thought in my mind right now, "I bloody hope not!"

Rating:
2 out of 5

See it if you liked:
Tetsuo, the Iron Man
Audition
MPD Psycho

What does IMDB say?

Transformers & Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen

TRANSFORMERS has now managed to be a successful franchise for over 25 years and spawned onto all medias imaginable. From toys to television to games to comics. In 2007, the Transformers franchise got a massive makeover for the silver screen in a reboot series for the master of explosions director Michael Bay.

TRANSFORMERS (2007) does not waste time and immediately we see an angry Decepticon completely destroy an american military base with only a small handful of soldiers escaping across the desert only to be chased by another Decepticon. Within the first 10 minutes, we are introduced to the awe inspiring visual effects of the transformations. Naturally the main draw of the new film was how were the creators going to recreate the transformers and their battles. The transformations themselves are excellent and remarkable as the special effects team were able to create the transformations to be possible due to the right measurements. This does however limit the transformers sizes. Transfromers such as Starscream due to being a jet whereas Bumblebee and Jazz are considerably smaller being only sports cars. Megetron himself is incredibly large and could easily destroy each transformer, but of course he doesn't. One of the main problems with the transformers is that we can't tell which one is which. The original cartoon designs had each robot with very distinct colours and weapons. This time around, they have designed to look like mechanical and limited by the measurements already set ahead for them. The battles are also difficult to tell as the action is incredibly fast with cameras flying all over the sets so we can't tell what is actually happening until a transformer has died or run away.

One of the main problems of the film is actually the lack of transformers within the film itself. There is roughly 10 - 12 transformers, and even then they are given very little screen time. Bumblebee is given the spotlight as the main transformer of the film, even out staging the Decepticon leader Megatron (who is only seen in the last quarter of the film) and the legendary Optimus Prime who is easily the best factor of the film. Prime is even voiced by the original voice artist Peter Cullen which does add a large amount of nostalgia to the film. Prime' s entrance is hammed up to max with music playing to him transforming in front of the main humans and declaring himself Optimus Prime: Leader of the Autobots. What we do have an abundance of is human characters. All of which are pretty insufferable.

The main character is Sam Witwicky (portrayed by a very annoying Shia LaBeuf who seems to have the same performance in every production), a teenager attempting to pass grades at school and ultimate ambition to get with Megan Fox's man eater of a character named Mikaela. Whilst buying his first car, he unwittingly is introduced to the Autobot Bumblebee and is now involved in the war to find the All-Spark being an almost endless source of energy. He is in my mind the worst mistake that the writers have made with this film. The character is loud and has been made to try and sound funny and appealing to the late teen audience of the movie. Complete with one liners and bumbling around trying to impress Mikaela with his brand new car and 'charming' personality. Fox herself is nothing more than eye candy for the film and brings almost nothing to it other than that. Out of all the characters she is the one that could have been edited out and there would be no dramatic changes to he story, other than a decrease of orange women. Sam's parents make their segment look nothing more than a coming-of-age-teen comedy with awkward scenes when they believe they have stumbled across their son masturbating, when he is actual fact hiding the Autobots in his garden. Strange but it does happen. Another character that seems to have his own story (that brings almost nothing to the overall plot) is the main surviving soldier of the attack of the beginning of the film. Again he is a character that the writers wanted to make more appealing to the audience than having relevance to the plot. The last sub-character is the Sector Seven Agent Simmons played by the excellent John Turturro. Whilst Turturro's is a fresh breath of talent in the film, his character is nothing more than a typically perverted and abusive portrayal of an Area 51-esque conspiracy. All other characters are insignificant, or annoying. He is made the butt out of the film and is actually 'urinated' (simply fuel) on by Ironhide. Is this really what the hardcore fans want to see? Their childhood television hero's bathroom habits?

The story is very basic as it becomes a series of brawls between the Autobots and Decepticons. Autobots are attempting to the keep both the All-spark and Megatron's location a secret whilst the Decepticons are trying to find them both. Doesn't help that both Megatron and the All-spark are in the same location of the Sector 7 base. The film eventually comes down to the final confrontation as Megatron is awakened and heads towards a heavily populated city to begin destruction and what not. The Autobots follow and attempt to keep Sam safe with the All-spark. This is where the action becomes incredibly confusing as we see at least 3 different fights going on. The most shocking moment is seeing Jazz getting ripped apart by Megatron, which probably made a lot of die-hard Transformer fans livid with killing one of the main Autobots. We are treated to more nostalgia though when Prime and Megatron begin their own battle with the iconic line 'One shall stand, One shall fall' from the 1986 animated 'Transformers the Movie'. Megatron is seemingly killed by Prime and the remaining Decepticons flee (namely Starscream who actually didn't do that much to begin with). The Autobots are now here to stay and to help fight any new threats to the Earth. And of course Sam gets Fox at the end.


Two years later in 2009 and we are given the sequel TRANSFORMERS : REVENGE OF THE FALLEN which promised more action, more Transformers and more explosions. They did deliver and all these counts, but still managed to miss the mark on a decent plot. It is now two years later and the Transformers have become a military aide and are instrumental in seeking out and destroying any Decepticons hiding on Earth. In fact, the opening scenes of the film include the Autobots track down a gigantic Decepticon with Optimus Prime eventually killing it. The chase is possibly the best part of the film which is both thrilling and tremendous in terms of visual effects with the giant Decepticon cutting through a large freeway bridge as if made of lego with the rubble flying everywhere. How the government covers all this up is beyond me. Sam and Mikaela are together now (still don't see the appeal with either of them) and Sam is going to college. Already this part of the plot feels like the 'American Pie' movies. However, Sam is not as insufferable as he was in the first installment. The character has matured slightly (as one does when they are involved in a war between large robots from another world) and is wanting out of the whole situation to get his life back on track and to continue his relationship. Once again, Fox is mere eye candy and brings nothing to the story and could be edited out of the film completely as before with the same effect.

College life is as expected. There are trendy campuses, neon nightclubs, no unattractive women and the most annoying roommates. Sam actually gains my sympathy when we are introduced to his roommate Leo who is driven only by the daily fix of wild conspiracy theories. How convenient that the main character (who is the Earth ally and correspondent to the Autobots and bound to keep them a secret) has to share a room with a man dedicated to government conspiracies (one of which is the final battle from the first film and is wanting to reveal the Transformers to the world). Sounds like a sitcom to me. My belief is that the writers created Leo to be as annoying as Sam from the first film, only to make the maturer Sam look better by comparison. It does work though so. Despite trying to take himself out of the Transformer wars, he is eventually sucked back into the messy situation time and time again as he almost killed by female transformer motorcycle assassins.

The Transformers themselves now get a large amount of screen time this time round which both aides and brings them down. We have the usual crew of Prime, Bumblebee, Ironhide and Rachet, but we now have the displeasure of the Arcee twins. Twin transformers (one green and one red) who transform into identical cars shamefully accompany Sam and Bumblebee on the adventures in order to defeat the new threat of The Fallen. The twins are pure comic relief and there for the kids as they are meant to be from 'the getto' if that were possible for a transformer and bring no serious contibution to the plot. Megatron is revived and flies across the solar system to reunite with Starscream who has been harbouring The Fallen, an ancient transformer who is searching for a machine cappible of harvesting the power of a sun on Earth. The most interesting Decepticon to newly appear is the almighty Devastator from the Constructicons. However, he looks more like a large dog like robot made of a giant scrapyard. He also a scrotum. Another Transformer to appear is the large and ancient Jetfire in the form of a Blackbird jet. Rather than being the scientist and explorer (which he was in the original cartoon and had traveled with Starscream) he is portrayed as an old Decepticon having defected to the Autobots. And has a walking stick. An extremely powerful Transformer, with a walking stick, and a memory problem. Someone severly screwed with the characters in this one. Even Megatron and Starscream have their basic characters messed around with. Megatron is the leader of evil robots and has never once considered anyone to be his equal. Even when he does find someone powerful he usually destroys them, yet in this series he bows down and accepts The Fallen as his master. Starscream is a power hungry and yearns for the day that Megatron falls so he can take over the Decepticons. Here he is nothing more than Megatron's lackey and takes it whilst lying down. The writer's took the characters and dropped the basic principles as to what made them so interesting.

One of the main mistakes with the plot of this film actually involves the death of Optmius Prime. The death was not so much the problem, but that he was revived within the same film. About midway into the feature, Prime is mauled to death by Megatron, Starscream and a third Decpticon (which Prime actually kills) in a rather epic battle and is then disregarded by the government. Sam and his team follow a trail all across the world and eventually ending up in Eygpt where it turns out the sun harvester is hidden within a large temple. The large confrontation between Autobots and Decepticons again happens with the american military thrown in the middle. With explosions left and right, random (and insignificant) Decepticons being killed and with the camera flying trying to catch the action, it's all very difficult to make sense of what is happening. Eventually, Prime is revived and destroys The Fallen and the sun harvester, resulting in both Megatron and Starscream fleeing. In a strange moment at the end, we see a slightly homoerotic attraction between Sam and Prime. This is meant to show they have a strong bond, but it is so out of the blue and over the top, it comes out too strong. What I feel should have been done is keep the death of Prime but have it near the end of the film as that way he would have had more screen time. The third film could have been dedicated to raising Prime from the dead which would highlight the importance of the character.

For all the faults of the first and second films of the new Transformers franchise, they are nothing less of awesome entertainment. Michael Bay has gained a reputation of having more effects than plot devices, but its still manages to keep a person interested in what is happening. To say the films have no redeemable features is harsh even for these features. They have little plot and revelance to the original Transformers, but the effects are still good enough to just keep the films watchible. We are now waiting for the third in the series which is to be released in July 2011. There are rumours that Triple Changers will appear and possibly even the planet Transformer Unicron. Lord knows how they'll do that.

Review by Rory Dunn

Batman: Mask of the Phantasm

After the success of Tim Burton's new BATMAN franchise, Warner Brothers created the new children's TV show, 'Batman the Animated Series' in the early 90's. And instantly we had a new breed of children's television was born. The show, like the new movies, had abandoned the colourful world of Adam West and became a dark tale of revenge and psychotic villains. The show included many of the original villains such as Two-Face, Penguin, Riddler and of course the Joker (wonderfully voiced by Mark Hamill) whilst also introducing a series of new characters who usually were only used for filler episodes. However the one new character that stuck the most was the Joker's henchman, Harleyquin. The deadly duo were so enjoyable to watch that the show could have easily been for the two of them.

The mood like I stated was dark (especially for a children's show) and moody. Gotham city was seen almost entirely in eternal night with the sky scrappers so tall they could dwarf the Empire State. Whilst set in modern day, the style was very 1930's gangster, complete with fedora hats on almost every man, Tommy guns and the cars were something you'd expect James Cagney to arrive in. Despite this odd mixture of old and present style. it worked well. The show was a huge success and lasted 4 seasons and was followed up with several other animated shows, none were able to recreate the original. The success also led to a feature length movie of the series.

BATMAN Mask of the Phantasm clocks in at just 77 minutes, and feels pretty much like an episode of the show. But one of the best episodes they had ever created with the animation having a big step up. Now a well established threat to the criminal world, Batman continues his never ending fight against the gangs and super villains of Gotham city. Although, someone takes his crime fighting to a new level as a mysterious clocked figure appears and does more than simply terrify and throw his victims to the police. This new threat is named the Phantasm and appears to be the real deal dawning a skull-like metal mask that makes him look like death itself, which is exactly what he gives to his victims. Several of the cities hardened crime lords are being executed one by one by the Phantasm. Though as he is never seen by the public, they automatically assume Batman had turned homicidal and was responsible for the crimes. The film shows Batman attempting to solve the puzzle of who the Phantasm and trying to rekindle his love life with an old flame.

Large segments of the film is also dedicated to showing the history of both Batman and his alter-ego of Bruce Wayne. We see Bruce Wayne as a mere amateur, merely using a ski-mask to hide his identity. It is mainly Batman before he was Batman. We also see him almost marrying a young woman (who arrives in Gotham in the present day) who is the daughter of a business man who deals with Wayne Enterprises. The engagement is broken off after she has to leave when her father deals with a group of gangsters that have eventually taken care of. These are the same crime lords that are being taken out by the Phantasm years later.

One of the most interesting moments in the entire film, is the brief glimpses of one Jack Napier as a driver and henchman of the gang. This man that we know of as the infamous Joker who has a large role of the film when he is hired to take on the Batman when it is believed he is responsible for the deaths. His first scene alone shows how far gone his mind is. The Joker has taken over a futuristic theme park long after it has been shut down. Having shooting 5 statues to dust for merely playing a song he hated and has fashioned a cooking robot to be a wive of his. The mere fact he speaks to an automatic carrot cutter as a wive and complains to her that the dinner is almost meat loaf, highlights how much of a disturbed character he is. Even to the point where he is sexually attracted to the machine. His own laugh near the end of the final confrontation when he is caught by the Phantasm and surrounded by flames, haunts us whilst sending a chill right up our spines. We also see him at possibly the most violent moments of the animated Batman universe ever. Though we only see the shadow, it is plainly obvious that Joker stabs a man in the chest, leaving him nothing but a raving madman laughing every second that he is awake. He kills Beaumont and leaves Salvadore to be nothing more than a smiling corpse.

The main controversy of the film is the fact that characters (not that many mind you) are killed. Though we don't actually see the deaths as it has been stylishly covered up with clever camera angles. The first death is caused by a car crash, which only reveals the character had died due to the car horn being blown constantly. The second victim is thrown into a freshly dug grave and has a large angel statue dropped on him. Horrific deaths, but carefully covered up to remind us this is a children's film.

Overall, BATMAN Mask of the Phantasm is an interesting entry into the Batman universe and shows just what can be done with animation, clever voice acting and a gripping story that can keep both adults and children entertained. The kind of story that Christopher Nolan and Christian Bale have yet to perfect.

Review by Rory Dunn

Superman IV: The Quest for Peace

I have a theory on superhero movies. It doesn't apply to every saga, but does in my mind seem to be repeated over time. This is how I feel it works.

Movie 1. Introduces the characters, is often a good beginner and gives the writers a chance to see what works and what doesn't. Often is fun to watch.
Movie 2. The characters are well established and the writers don't waste time and jump straight into the story. This installment is either equal or better to the original.
Movie 3. There is a notable difference in quality. Could be either the acting talent or writing or effects but this sequel is starting to swerve from the main point of the superhero. But it still has redeemable qualities to be enjoyed.
Movie 4. We just don't want to even acknowledge it's existence.

I feel this applies to superheroes such as the 90's 'Batman', 'X-men' and 'Spiderman'. Although, none more so than the 'Superman' series. SUPERMAN had started off so strong, but by the time 'SUPERMAN IV The Quest for Peace' had arrived, everyone from the audience to Christopher Reeve himself knew the franchise was well and truly finished. 'SUPERMAN' made in 1978 was a new film genre for audiences as it was the first successful comic-fo-film adaptation and made an incredible amount of money so naturally the sequels would be coming along soon enough. 'SUPERMAN II' followed only 2 years later and brought new story elements involving Kent's relationship with Lane, the return of Gene Hackman's incredible Lex Luthor and the arrival of Zod. 'SUPERMAN III' began to show how much the series was winding down in 1983 and is possibly the oddest Superman film to date in terms of characters. We had the usual Clark Kent, but no Lois Lane or Lex Luther (due to an argument between actors and producers). Instead we have a different love affair for Kent, Richard Prior as a good-but-he's-technically-still-a-bad-guy comic relief and a trio of power hungry business folk. It was strange, a little awkward with the OTT comic antics of Prior, and silly final villain but it is still watchable. Nothing compared to 'The Quest for Peace'.

Realizing that Superman had become a film, American and right-doing icon, the producers decided to use the character to raise environmental issues for it's younger audience during the late 1980's. Christopher Reeve agreed to return for the sequel, on the condition that he would have a large portion of the creative process. This is isn't what doomed the film from the beginning, but was certainly building the fuel. Reeve wished to raise awareness of the rising threat of a nuclear war as the world was starting to crawl away from the Cold War, but the threat was indeed still there. The writers felt that if Superman could say that nuclear weapons were more of a problem than a solution, then the world will wake up and strive to rid the world of the war demon. It could've worked, it they had written the film well.

Before we see any of this nuclear business, we watch Kent return to his home-farm and refuses to sell for the land to be used for a new shopping mall, which attempts to show that however powerful he is, he is still humble and remembers where he grew up. Back in Metropolis, The Daily Planet is taken over by a news tabloid owner in order to make big money. This introduces us to a kind of sub-villain and possibly to highlight how sick we can be in the media. Apart from that and a girl trying to seduce Kent, its all rather pointless to the plot. The real threat is the return of Lex Luthor who is sprung from jail by his nephew Lenny, who is the worst character in the entire Superman film series. He is to be the comic relief. While Prior did have some funny material (though some of which did make us cringe), this guy is just plain stupid and is a terrible sidekick to Luthor. True Otis from the first film was stupid but he had a bumbling charm that made him funny to watch, Lenny gave no serious contribution to the film other than reminding us how much the fashion trends in the 80's was idiotic at times. Luthor plans to become both filthy rich again whilst taking revenge on his arch nemesis Superman. How will he does this? By through the wonders of nuclear power.

The arms race was beginning to speed up, and all the countries are trying to outdo each other. A child then writes an emotional letter to Superman, asking him to rid the world of all nuclear missiles and other weapons. After much soul searching, talking to his computerized father, and jumping off a building, he decides to do so. It is as basic as that. It sounds more like a fable rather than a mature statement on the war driven world we lived (and still do) in. It could have been taken more seriously, if it had not been a giant net (which must've been miles in diameter) full of missiles from all countries and is then hammer-thrown by Superman straight into the sun. Luthor plans to create an anti-Superman by using a hair of the man of steel to extract DNA, mixed with new flesh and a couple pieces of clothing (you find out why) and sends it to the sun on a missile. The sun's radiation fuses with the DNA, and creates Nuclearman. It is as bad as it sounds. He is nothing more than a tanned model, complete with golden curly hair, a sparkly costume, and long golden fake fingernails (which are meant to be threatening, but look like a cheap halloween costume product). The actor's role is lessened a great deal as they dub the character with Gene Hackman's voice, not that he had the lines that could be delivered any better than casual conversation. He proves to be a formidable foe as he has the same strengths as Superman. He can fly, has super strength, freezing breath, laser eyes and actually makes Superman so ill that he is close to death. The main drawback, is that Nuclearman gains his energy through the sun. No sun, no power. Meaning he is useless even in the shade, giving him with possibly the biggest weakness that has ever been given to a superhero or villain. He is rather feebly destroyed once Superman moves the moon (probable causing great chaos on Earth) to create an eclipse which powers down Nuclearman, enabling Superman to grab him and throw him into a nuclear power plant. This generates power and lights up all the rooms in New York (possibly a hint from the producers to say nuclear power can be good).

Apart from the silly plot, and less threatening Nuclearman, the main aspect that lets the film down is the astoundingly awful special effects. The previous films were not masterpieces of technology, but they were thrilling enough and could carry the story well. You knew he was against a blue screen, but it still looked decent enough to pass. The forth film had a considerably lesser budget and it shows. You knew it was a blue screen, and a bad one. They use the same footage of Reeve flying towards the camera at least 6 times through out the film. There is no smoothness to it and can be compared to a badly made late 60's Godzilla movie, which would trump 'SUPERMAN IV' in realism. Whilst the original films had blue screen effects for the outer space scenes, the moon in this film simply has a black back drop, which has visible creases. Wires can be see from time to time as the two hero and villain fly through the studio. The film had actually run out of money due to the effects and general setbacks, so what we see now is an incomplete film. This is obvious as the first three Superman films are all over two hours long, the fourth barely makes it past eighty-six minutes.

The film's flaws simply outweigh the few good points. Not even Gene Hackman's terrific performance as his famous Luthor role could keep the film from falling into the gutter. However, if you just want some good laughs at some bad filmmaking, this is the film to watch and giggle to. The best part of the film in my mind, is the very harsh insult Luthor throws to his nephew Lenny.

'I have always considered you to be the Dutch Elm Disease in my Family Tree'

Funny, as it seems to not only describe Lenny within the Luthor family, but also the film itself in the Superman series. But as Luthor himself said, nothing's perfect.

Review by Rory Dunn

Return of the Living Dead

Zombies have always have a tough time in the cinema business. It was either crippled by its low budgets or looked down upon by the critics as it has less of a history such as Frankenstein or Dracula or the Wolf Man, or simply due to bad acting, writing and directing all in one go. Then it was given 'new life' so to speak, with George A. Romero's and John Russo's 'NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD' in 1968. Before then the zombie was simply a dead (or living in a deep trance) servant to serve a master through the means of voodoo magic (usually set in the island of Haiti). Romero and Russo had created a new breed of zombie, the kind that has become possibly the biggest movie monster of the late 20th and the new century, the kind that are hungry for the flesh of the living. The film followed a small group of people attempting to fend off hordes of the ghouls whilst seeking shelter in an abandoned farm house. The film not only changed the face of the zombie, but of the face of horror itself with it's shocking gore and controversial material of people being eaten alive. It has since spawned numerous sequels from Romero, but not from Russo as they had argued over who had the rights to the title. Eventually Romero gained the rights to the use of the word 'Dead' in his titles, whilst Russo retained 'Living Dead'.

Russo has indeed used the words 'Living Dead' several times. The main example was his novel sequel to 'NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD' which aptly named 'THE RETURN OF THE LIVING DEAD'. The novel is said to be pretty poor with badly written plots and unable to grip the reader. The film rights were then sold and eventually in 1984, the film adaptation was created. Although only the name was kept the same as the book's plot would've probably condemned the film. Although undoubtedly the best aspect of this film is that it's not the gritty and depressive horror as it's novel twin, but rather a slapstick comedy horror.

The story follows two medical warehouse employees as one if showing the other around the warehouse. The senior member (James Karen) then reveals to his new staff member (Thom Matthews) that the 1968 'LIVIND DEAD' film was based on fact in which the outbreak was caused by a new military biochemical weapon called 'Trioxin' and that the disposed bodies were accidently sent to that very warehouse and reside in the basement. Karen shows Matthews the boy and accidently releases the poisonous gas into the air (themselves fainting from the fumes) and through a rather hilarious chain of events, hits a large rainstorm overhead the city. Matthews friends arrive shorly later and decide to kill some time in a graveyard of all places where they drink, gossip, show off their unbelievable eighties clothes and in one case, a girl takes off her clothes and dances naked. Fantastic stuff.

The zombies attack after the Trioxin becomes acid rain and infects the entire graveyard, bringing all the corpses back to life, even if they are just bones and muscle. There are indeed several changes to the zombie in this film. The oddest (but that doesn't mean not clever) is that they have a limited speech. The very cliched 'Brrraaaiiiinnnnnnsss' phrase in fact comes from this very film. This is first coined by the first zombie seen which looks a if it's face has melted off and covered in tar (he came to be known as Tarman) as he eagerly eyes up his victims and excitedly shouts 'More Brains!' when he notices the curious teens. They also only eat the brains of their victims, as it numbs the pain of being dead. This is a new development as we had always considered zombies to have virtually no emotion or memory from their previous life. They are meant to be nothing but a shell, now we see them as beings in constant pain, and we actually give them a little sympathy for their plight. As they have this ability of speech, they have been granted a small amount of intelligence. This is humorously shown as when they have killed and eaten a team of paramedics, one zombie notices the live truck radio and radios to the hospital to 'Send more paramedics' which they in turn ambush in larger numbers. The zombies also run, not drastically fast but still enough to catch up with people. Finally, but possibly the most terrifying is that they are almost virtually indestructible. They can withstand the usual gunshot to the head, and are still 'alive' when dismembered, even to the point of still attempting to kill people. While these new characteristics of the zombie can be used to scare audiences, they are best put to use in the comedy for the film. One of the most amusing scenes is when Matthews, Karen and their boss attempt to kill a newly revived corpse by cutting off the head. The decapitated body then gets up and stumbles around the warehouse and still trying to kill its decapitators. If the Three Stooges had encountered a zombie, it would look exactly like this.

One of the main selling points of the film was actually it's soundtrack. Being released in 1984 meant it had plenty of both pop and new rock artists and songs to use. Many would be considered cheesy and dated at this point in time, but it does remind us that this is a comedy horror and to simply enjoy the fun. How could we not chuckle at the obscure bands name such as 'The Cramps', The Damned', 45 Grave' and 'The Flesheaters'. Notice how the main band's names all refer to death in some way.

The film had enjoyed a profitable cinema release and has managed to gain a massive cult following in the last 20 years and has spawned four sequels. The one to look out for is 'RETURN OF THE LIVING DEAD 3'. All the sequels have nothing in common with the original other than the use of the Trioxin gas and all are said to be unimaginative and boring. However, the third film is said to the best apart from the original as is has a female zombie who is aware of her state and attempts to fight her urges to feed upon flesh by causing pain to her own body to distract herself. Overall, it you want a serious horror film, stay very clear of 'RETURN OF THE LIVING DEAD'. If you want some outrageous fun with gore, slapstick and perhaps a naked punkish girl dancing in a graveyard however, this film is just the ticket for you. The film is pretty much trash, but that is what it set out to be, to be trashy and fun and takes the zombie into a new genre of comedy.

As one can imagine, Russo is rather jealous of the film's success.

Review by Rory Dunn

Red Dawn

The term 'Cult Classic' has introduced us to many strange and interesting films that most would overlook as either trash or just too weird to understand. Such examples are 'ROCKY HORROR PICTURE SHOW', 'A CLOCKWORK ORANGE', 'PLAN 9 FROM OUTER SPACE' and dozens more in all genres from horror to science fiction. One such Cult film is the war drama 'RED DAWN' from 1984.

The 1980's were a difficult time for the world. But the biggest threat was war which was being waged all over. Vietnam was still a dark shadow from America's history, the Falklands was all over the British news, but nothing was more terrifying than the soon to be over Cold War between America and Russia. What started out as a 'who has the bigger gun' argument was turning into the world's worst nightmare as a nuclear war seemed almost a certainty. The Americans were still as scared as ever at the thought of communism taking over their land which lead to great prejudice against any Russian or indeed anyone from communist countries. One product of this is the war drama 'RED DAWN' which deals in the what-if question of what if Russia invaded America. But rather than showing us the usual images of the government responding to the war or the military fighting on the battlefield, the film focuses on how the war affects the small town community.

Russian resources have plummeted due to harvest and economic problems and wishes to solve this by allying with Cuba in order to invade the United States, creating World War III. The film wastes almost no time in getting into the invasion. We are in the average American town, seeing brothers Jed and Matt (a teenage Patrick Swayze and Charlie Sheen in his film debut) on their way to high school. The Russians begin to parachute down and take control of the town. This happens all over the country but the film only shows this particular town so we can see more detail on one area. The invasion, as one would imagine, is extremely violent. We see a school teacher mercilessly gunned down whilst attempting to find out who the soldiers were. The school is the first place to be struck and we see not only adults, but school children killed which is a rather bold move as the subject of child death in cinema is a major controversy, but to avoid the subject wouldn't be faithful to the depiction of war. Jed and Matt both manage to escape the slaughter and drive out of town with a couple of other boys while they gather food and supplies and hide out in the Colorado mountains to sit the invasion out.

The invasion is practically over about a month later. The USA and Russia are presumably in peace talks or simply in a standstill. The southern states have all more or less been conquered and is now considered 'Occupied Territory' whereas the northern states remain safe and known as 'Free America'. The boys are still in the mountains and have spied on their hometown and discover it full of Russian soldiers and even tanks. The townsfolk go about their normal business whilst under the watchful eye of the soldiers. The boys are also now wanted fugitives for fleeing the original invasion. They also witness the brutal execution of their fathers and 20 other people on the out skirts of town after they have built a mass grave, presumably for themselves. The boys (now accompanied by two sisters wanting to escape to the 'F.A') then take the fight back to the Russians as guerrilla soldiers and cause all types of havoc. Usually violent.

The first attack is by far the most gritty as it shows the pain that the teenagers are in due to the war. Three Russian soldiers who are on patrol stop by a national forest which is a tourist attraction (though the soldiers translate the sign wrong and has the funniest moment in the film) when they notice the teens hiding nearby. One soldier is shot in the back with an arrow and is the gunned down, the second is shot when chasing the teens. It's the third that suffers the most as he has been shot in the back, crawls back to his jeep to call for back-up when Jed appears and after a long pause of them staring at each other, shoots him in the head.

The film continues to show the teens fight back with ruthless efficiency (and does make you wonder how they know how to fight practically an entire army) until we do see the downfall of the team who are now ironically known as The Wolverines. Apart from the sudden deaths of two members (which catches us completely by surprise and effects us immediately) we also see the main break up of the group due to one member selling them out in order to save his father. He is executed as brutally as when the Russians executed the boy's fathers. Possibly giving us the impression that Jed is so blinded by rage, that he has lost all compassion for people apart from his own brother. After the loss of the two most aggressive members, Jed and Matt make one last ditch effort to give the other two remaining teens to escape to the northern states by destroying a large base and killing two of the main Russian generals but do die in the massacre. The film ends on a shot of a large rock (which the teens had carved their names into) that has become into a national monument in memory of the teen soldiers.

The film does feel like a large documentary which gives it a good sense of realism and fact (despite it being based on a war that does not exist). The characters do have detail put into them and we can tell them distinctly from each other. One change was one boy who was quiet but turns in a vengeful and quite ferocious killer despises the Russians as much (or possibly more) than Jed. The film though is possibly nothing more than a large propaganda movie designed to continue the fear of communism. It can be seen as a large act of patriotism, young Americans fighting against the Russian army and driving them back. The film was also very controversial when it was released and was the first film to classified as a 12 rating, despite it's now an 15. Is also technically the most violent film created with an average on 1 violent act every 12 seconds.

One of the best cult films of the eighties and is an excellent war film that few people have heard of but actually has references all over other films and TV shows. The film has in fact been remade and will be released this year, but instead of a Russian invasion, China goes to war with the US. Let's hope it does better than most remakes from the last ten years.

Review by Rory Dunn