Survival of The Dead Review

Survival of the Dead Review

Reviewed by Nyquill of the Gutter

Ok I know I have been slacking but this is one of those movies that have been sitting in my download cue for like 3 months and I finally put it to work and watched it. Man I wished I would have watched this earlier to save myself from the ups and downs that is George Romero’s newest chapter in his Zombie lore. Survival of the Dead kind of picks up where the Diary was going; if that’s what you want to call it because I felt that movie was going nowhere. There was a scene in Diary of the Dead where the kids in the film crew were robbed by a group of soldiers and these soldiers (or what’s left of them) are the new stars of this latest entity of this still existing franchise. There is also a small island off of Delaware that has 2 old Irish families as its leaders (on some Hatfield and McCoy’s type stuff) that the residents have completely parted ways due to the issue that some want to try to keep the dead there and make them perform duties that would suit them (um slaves George? Seriously?). Then the rest of the island natives want to kill off all the dead and keep the virus out of their land. Of course the smartest decision (to kill all the zombies) gets cast aside and they exile the Captain O’Flynn from the island that he called home because they did not agree with his slaughter them first ask questions later tactics. This is a zombie world, and I don’t know about you but I would have been right on the boat with Flynn, I slaughter first that’s why I have over an 80% percent chance of surviving a zombie attack, but that’s for another time. Anyway, the soldiers are doing what they can do to survive and I’ll be honest with you for the first couple parts of this movie I had no problem. I thought it started off with a lot of potential it was way more aggressive in the first 10 minutes than the whole film of Diary, and yes the zombies were moving slow just like they were supposed too. One of the beautiful aspects of all prior to Land of and even Land of to some extent (though I will never agree with you guys that that is a good film) is that Romero always gave you enough of the characters in the film that you related to them. They became your neighbor, you police officer, your butcher at the deli, daughter etc. He always did a good job of making the common folk the hero and staying very political on his distrust and views on our government and military forces. In this film, just like diary the characters really don’t matter except for the O’Flynns and Muldoon who bring the movie to their home for the conclusion.

Now I know there were a lot of problems with this film as the soldiers found a way to get to the island through various hicks and a spotty internet reception. They also come upon an abandoned armored car that has over a million dollars in it. After some maneuvering around the last of the dead at a nearby dock, in which one of the soldiers swims to retrieve a ferry and decides to bite off the finger of the contaminated that is reaching for him under water (like we don’t know what happens from here) they make it to the island to find weird things going on. I know you hated the zombie on the horse but if you have been followings Romero’s films religiously (like most of you) then you would understand since Day of the Dead (my personal favorite) Romero has always been showing an evolution of the creatures. Whether it’s shooting guns, coming to the mall, or riding horses Romero has shown us that no matter how carnal and primal we as humans become familiarity is a trip we can’t get rid of in this narcissistic lifestyle we have created for ourselves. So let the dead zombie ride her horse and shut up. The only part of interest in this section of the film is when Muldoon has a theory that they could stop the dead from eating humans and have them eat others things like horses, pigs, you know all the things they ate when they were alive. It seems as if it’s a failed experiment and the clash between Flynn and the soldiers against Muldoon escalates to a magnitude where I swear there were guns fight scenes that had zombies walking right behind the shooters and not attacking? Then it just got out of hand with all the remaining zombies on the island getting set free and of course the over used and abused by Romero himself person on the grown being pulled apart by multiple zombies scene is there and by the conclusion of the film I start to wonder if this movie was supposed to be a comedy that fell flat.

I’m sorry folks but with all the fast zombie movies and virus quarantine type things out there unfortunately I don’t see any need for Romero to be in the genre anymore. He reinvented and put a stamp on it that no one will ever be able to take away from him. Seriously though George I think it’s time to call it a day. I’ll be a fan forever of you and your franchise but it’s time to step out of the zombie movies if you do anything else in horror. I know you can and I’ll be waiting and so will everyone else! Wait for this on Sci Fy 31 days of Halloween, it will be on there I promise!

5/10

The Human Centipede Review

The Human Centipede (First Sequence) Review
Reviewed by Nyquill of The Gutter
So can I start off by saying this is one of the most fucked up movies I’ve seen in a long time, and that’s a lot coming from me. Seriously this movie tweaked me so much that it took my over a month to say anything about it. I just kept watching it over and over and the only thing that came to mind over and over is what the hell is this? Yay Dutch for stepping back in the genre and never failing to disappoint, um I think. So I’ll put it to you like this I’m not going to bore you like I usually do with all background of the characters because there is not to much of it , so lets dive in the film shall we.
Dieter Laser, say it with me people Dieter Laser! This dude looks like Udo Kier’s cousin that works on Wall Street, and he plays a surgeon with a passion for a little experimenting on his own. So he has this grand scheme to make a human centipede because he has previously done the experiments with his dogs. Not sure if it worked or not because he was looking at pictures of the dogs when he is in his car but when he gets home you find out that clearly the dogs are dead. Of course there are 2 American girls vacationing in Europe and they are trying to get to town from the hostel they are staying in to meet some German beaus they met earlier. Hey American women do me a favor stay out of Europe for a while will you, I’m sick of seeing you guys not knowing how to navigate around a small town get lost and abducted, stay in the states and watch The Hills thank you. So anyway the girls get a flat tire and its raining so after countless bickering they come upon a house in the woods which is of course Mr. Laser’s house. Dude comes off creepier then creepy has ever been. Even Crispin Glover (who I love) could get some creepy tips from this guy. He of course lets them in drugs their waters and makes a fake phone call for a tow truck. The girls thinking everything is ok drink their water and immediately pass out. They wake in a small laboratory and the find themselves strapped down to the chair. They also notice they have been gagged and are not alone. Then doc comes in and tells the girls that they are perfect for his experiment but unfortunately the guy in the other bed is not right because of his skin type? So he kills that guy and then brings in this asian tourist who when wakes up pretty much goes the fuck off on the doctor the whole time, it got kinda comical for a second with the stuff he was saying to the doctor and but he shut up real quick when doc explains the experiment in full detail, The Human Centipede. So what is a Human centipede you ask, well first off you cut the ligaments of the elbows and knees so that you are stuck in a all fours position and all parts must move together. Here is the good part, so the size of the humans has to match also because they must perfectly be aligned one behind another. The first person gets a butterfly type cut around the asshole to make it bigger and the person behind gets there face cut in that same position so that it can attached completely to the anus of the person in front and of course the middle person get the full deal because she has to have the face cut and the anus cut, to attach the third person. So who is in the middle? Why of course the girl who almost escaped that’s who. So I was a little displeased that they started off showing the surgery and then bam next scene they are all connected in bandages. It was weird because I wanted to see it, then I was like ok it’s cool that I did see that, but was like wait this is a horror movie wtf? Show that shit, um directors cut please? The doc wakes them up and beings to train his human centipede and of course he starves them a bit so they are forced to eat and a couple days later you know what happens. China man eats, and then shits in the middle girl’s mouth which feeds her; yeah this is the movie people no lie people shittin in each others mouth. Um excuse me, who approved this? Come to find out from some research that the director Tom Six didn’t even tell the film executives until the movie was finished and sent out for screenings. I’ll admit I got lil wood during that scene yeah I’m fucked up but that’s why you read my reviews and trust my opinion. After a couple of days finally the authorities show up looking for the missing people and they notice the doc is acting a little more weirder than usual, but the doc notices the 2 cops have similar body types and sizes and feels he can extend his centipede even more so he tries to drug their drinks but the cops aren’t buying his story that he doesn’t know about the kids missing and wants to look around the house. He tells the cops they need a warrant and they comply and say they will be back. All the while our 3 attached victims are noticing this is giving them a great chance for escape and they go for it. Now of course the cops come back and some things happen but you know me and my reviews sometimes, if it’s worth seeing I won’t tell you the ending because you need to see it, and the ending is pretty fucked up in this.
Now I don’t agree with all the hype that surrounded this movie but it for sure is new, unexpected, gross, and there is a little titty in it too so find it at your local rental franchise and check it out especially since the Full Sequence (what ever the hell that is ) is coming out in 2011 . Pick it up
8/10

Predators Review

Predators Review
Reviewed by Nyquill of the Gutter

So where is Arnold? That’s really the only question I had in regards to this film before it was put to the screen. Is he going to make a CGI cameo like he did on Terminator Salvation? Probably not but I wasn’t too worried about it with the cast of characters slated to be in this film anyway, oh and not only the cast this film is produced by one legendary Mr. Robert Rodriguez.
So lets talk about the cast first shall we, well this is my review so we shall. Adrien Brody is the man no matter if he is in a Dr. Pepper commercial or rocking liberty spikes in Summer of Sam, and me like many others were intrigued to see how he would do in a big action caliber blockbuster such as this film. Wait let me stop right there. Is this film truly a blockbuster? I mean people have known about it for about 2 years now, but you as a consumer don’t feel slighted just a little. I mean Adrien Brody is in the movie for god’s sake and how many trailers, sneak peaks, etc did you see or hear about before the past few months. Die hards like me can give you 1000 websites of clips, leaked info, stills from the set blah, blah we are nerds, and its ok. I’m talking to you though, you know Joe the head banger. The guy that works at Mobil every Saturday that always says the same stuff to the cute girls going out that night, “Hey what’s up going out tonight?”
That’s how I kinda felt going into this movie like hey Adrien what’s up man fighting some Predators tonight? Cool. Let’s get it. The only problem is Adrien didn’t respond like I wanted him to he gave me one liner after one liner, “Lets go this way” or “They know we are here” To be honest the script was nothing but one liners. It seems like they were just making it up as they went and allowed all the characters to follow suit.
Danny Trejo is a legend; I don’t care what anyone says. He is ultimate Latino badass machismo! I can’t wait for Machete to come out so he can finally get his due as lead actor. In this movie though he unfortunately gets short sided and becomes one of the many 1000 badass forgotten characters that he has unfortunately had to portray many times. Sad because I thought with the release of Machete coming up I thought Rodriguez would give him a bigger part to warm the movie audience up to him a bit more. Guess not. Laurence Fishburne was a huge disappointment as well and I’ll tell you why in a bit. Excuse me that 70’s what? Who is in the film Topher Grace? Topher skinny ass Grace? This is the luckiest cat in the world to still have a career after already being so lucky to kiss the lips of Laura Prepon so many times. The whole time I’m watching the film I’m like, really what is he doing here? So let’s talk about it then.
So the movie gets right into it. Brody is falling from what must be an airplane, his chute wont open until the last second and then boom he hits the ground. He is not alone and finds out fast as Trejo, a Russian, and a very beautiful Miss Alice Braga (I Am Legend) all have been given the same experience. So all of them decide to band together to find out how they all got there and even more who put them there in the first place. They run into a convict and a Somalia rebel fighter who points out Grace. They all notice something different about Grace as opposed to all of them, he doesn’t seem to fit the mold. After short lived background checks you find out that they all were doing something and woke up falling into this jungle with no idea how they got there. Sorry folks they never explain it but yes they are on another planet and yes it does not look like they are going home anytime soon. So they find out through various cages and what not they are not alone, as in species. They meet a yakuza who is quiet but understands like Brody that there is something more here then what is being seen, some kinda huge trap they are all in. They find out fast they aren’t the only ones with that in mind as they quickly walk into a deadly trap set up by a man that is already dead so obviously something got to him before he was able to use it.
Who let the dogs out? The Predators that’s who. I think I would have enjoyed this film more if there were more interaction with the actual predators themselves. There were gadgets and animals that the predators were using for their hunt that had never been seen in previous movies, and similar to the AVP portion of the franchise they gave you a glimpse on how these creatures may live but I wanted more. They finally have their first contact with the so called predators after they stumble into a trophy ground filled with ripped out spinal cords and skulls of all shapes and sizes and one very still alive um Predator? This was in my opinion the first good part of the film, why was there a Predator tied up in the film was this another trap. They don’t have time to find out as the cavalry comes in. They barely escape ( not all of them) and are guided away when they encounter what they think is another predator but just ends up being Mr. Morpheus himself aka Furious Styles Laurence Fishburne. He gives them the whole background on where they are and what’s going on. They are on a game planet set up by the predators to hunt various species from around the galaxy. He also says that there are 2 types of predators and the one that is strung up is game just like them because there are bigger predators that kill the smaller ones too. Well Fishburne ends up being a scavenger tries to kill them to take there stuff but he is unsuccessful due to a good plan by Brody. By this time the film is dragging and as you can tell by my review they introduce things that could have made the film better if they would have dove into those aspects but it just falls flat every time. To be honest I really didn’t care too much for the film after I saw how they used Fishburne in the movie I was a little disappointed, he totally played a Jackie Early Haley role in this one. So to finish this mess up because I swear this review is too long because I’m trying to stretch it to make it worth your while, Brody decides to enlist the help of the Predator that was tied up to help fight off the others. Then all hell breaks loose as they flash past every scene to give to a lackluster ending but I will say there was one bad ass part when the yakuza went at it one on one with a predator. No guns just a Katana and seriously folks the scene was bad ass kudos to the Rodriguez and the director Nimrod Antal’s (who gave us the classic Vacancy)crew because that part of the movie was totally a Rodriguez type of style, the rest don’t really think so. The ending just bombs and of course it leads to a possible return for another movie but who cares. I would have rather scene the aliens in this one with the humans to be honest with you. There was so much that could have been done but they failed to do so. It seemed like a very rushed put together film which garners the question why did this need to come out? The AVPs are doing ok at best, so was this necessary. Maybe the studios told Rodriguez that he has to make this before Machete sees the light of day. Oh well in my opinion they could have left this on out of the franchise, and seriously where is Arnold? Wait for this one to hit the shelves.
5/10

Splice Review

Splice Review
Reviewed by Nyquill of the Gutter

Here is the question I want to pose to you before we start this review: Do you consider creature movies as horror movies? There are many reviewers that want to discredit this as being a horror film, and state that it’s kind of an uncategorized film. I would have to disagree with that statement. I will agree that it is not a scary film whatsoever and that there were no high body counts or though there was a little gore in the film and titties (well little itty bitty ones) so I was okay with the direction of the film. Now let’s talk about the film.
So the film starts out with a new organism that has been created by Brody and Polley. This organism was created through the splicing of DNA from many types of animals. They successfully introduce the creature with another of the same that was created days prior. The problem they are having is there seems to be a short life span for these creatures so they want to alter the DNA with a little splicing from humans. Of course this is a no, no, and they are told that anything involving human DNA will not be tolerated and they would lose their grants unless they could prove these organisms were special at a conference they had coming up. Of course Polley has other plans and lure Brody into helping her do the ultimate Splice. After many failed attempts they finally are successful at creating the DNA and they notice that not only does it take but its starts growing into a living cell very fast. Within months the being is growing at a rapid speed and soon the uterus can no longer hold and the creature is read to be born. Polley does the dumbest thing in the movie by sticking her hand in to try and see what’s going on with organism and is immediately bitten. Brody rescues her by cutting open the bag and releasing the creature, which looks like a giant sperm monster! They capture the creature and lock it up for observation.
Brody feeling unsure if this is morally right decides they need to get rid of the creature. Polley sways him other wise when she shows through some tests that its growing rapidly and they have to keep it alive because it will die pretty soon because its aging days in hours. The weird thing is, is that the creature they think dies but finds out that it hatches the real creature after a few days. It looks like a cross between a bird and a human similar to an ostrich with a human face. It’s aggressive at first but as it matures it takes more of a human shape on top but the legs still look similar to the blue children on Avavtar. Like I said earlier this movie is not a scare you a minute film this is a movie with a well written script and great acting by all parties that gave you a moral sense of if this is just wrong what they are doing. The older the creature gets the harder it becomes to hide. So they create a room for it in the storage unit no one uses. There is a scene in the film when Brody and Polley are intimate and the creature named whom they name “Dren” watches them having sex. Now lets go here for a second and discuss something important to the film. This sense of this dark neurotic intimacy in the film reminded of the move “The Bride” with Sting and the girl from Flash dance. As said by many people in the industry this movie has a true Frankenstein feel to it but I would say due to the relationships between the cast and Dren it gave me more of a Bride feel.
Funny thing is this movie has creature feature all over it. I even compared certain parts with the interaction of the characters similar to the interaction of the main characters in King Kong. Even more then that without the singing there was a hint of Little Shop of Horrors feel to it as well. There is a crucial part in the film that I want to discuss but will hold off because I want you to see this film, and I know you may hate it, think it’s boring or to slow. I say the opposite. I was into the whole film; it just made sense to me. The ending of the film gives you more of the true horror film feel as the creature turns on them (you have to watch it to see how) and the characters are put at risk. The ending scene was pretty predictable but at the same time was brilliant in my opinion. Like I told my friend as we were exiting the theatre that I live for movies like this keeping true to all the classics and then making it there own. If anything it’s not a remake of another movie though it does give you the glimpses of many movies from yesteryear. I applaud Dark Castle for releasing this “Outer Limits” type movie that was well written and well played. It’s a bold movie to release and I can see younger audiences and true “I only watch horror movies” fans as disowning this and hating it for many reasons. I would say this though , if you are a fan of good moves no matter what the genre then this is a must see. Watch it with an open mind and you will see the beauty that this future cult classic has wrapped all inside of it, go see it!
8/10

A Nightmare on Elm Street 2010 Review

A Nightmare on Elm Street 2010 Review

Reviewed by Nyquill of The Gutter

So basically this took me a lot longer than expected to get this review for you. Why you ask? Well plain and simple I had too much to say when I first saw the movie. There was good about the film and there was bad about the film. The main problem I have with so many of these remakes is the fact they are a remake so even if you don’t want to compare them to the original  film, you have to because they are remake for gods sake! That’s why I personally didn’t have a problem with the last Jason film, it clearly was not a remake and was not trying to be (even though people argue that it is.) so everything worked for me in the film. Titties, blood, and Jason, period, that’s all I wanted and that’s all I got so I was not mad to admit I like it like some of you other purist are trying to do please get over yourselves thank you). So the reason I bring that point up about having to compare it to the original because it’s what made me ask the first question about the film. Who the hell are these kids? Sure they have Nancy in there but why not the other characters. Were was Tina, Rod, etc? When the movie starts I liked it, I thought it was an great intro scene, lets get right to it, dream sequence guy stabbing himself in the neck yes, I love it lets go. Then the next day all the kids start talking and I find out the girl who was supposed to be Tina is named Chris? Also the bad ass boyfriend is some little punk jealous dude named Jesse? Um excuse me, who are these people and what are they doing playing the keys parts of the beginning of the Nightmare franchise before Nancy takes over. They said in the interviews that they wanted to base the characters on the nightmare original, well then why the hell can’t you base a movie off the original (Like they did with Jason) instead of making it a remake and only keeping one character the same but have everyone else different. Especially when they are all dying the same way. When Tina, err, Chris gets thrown around in her room (which they did a helluva job throwing her around) and Rod, err, Jessee is screaming for her it’s a good one but they are missing the whole point, what happened to the sleep over? Where are the 2 kids making out on the couch, and what happened to the wild fighting love making that was going on in the original? I’ll tell you what happen and I’ll keep blaming these movies until someone proves me not too. Twilight and Haunting of Molly Hartley is to blame. They know these young kids are out having sex (which we were also back in the day) so they don’t want the films polluted with sex and drugs. Pause for a second and think about your favorites of all time. Was their sex? Was their Drugs? Now ask yourself whats wrong with that picture and I will continue on. So anyway I can go for days on that, but back to the film, so Chris gets killed in her sleep and instead of Jesse going missing for days he runs out the front door (who would do that) and sets off the alarm. He goes by Nancy’s to explain what happens and gets caught outside. What happened to John Paxson (who’s character was not even in the film) being cop daddy and sending guys to follow Nancy so when Rod shows up in a leather jacket and no shoes (best wardrobe ever) he gets caught by the cops. But I’m sorry this is an original not the remake so a bloody kid can end up in climbing in the window of another house (what’s up with all these young women with their windows open by trees?) and speak about what happens and get caught in the field after wards. Is it just me or where they like stealing from Wes Craven and making fun of his style at the same time. I swear some moments in the film felt sort of screamish if you ask me.

Now Nancy’s character I had no problem with, she did a good job playing the role and to some extent was rather believable, I did have a problem with her boyfriend though mainly because unlike Depp in the original (here I go again) he didn’t die. Then they have the nerve to redo the scene of him watching over her, wrong! God one of my favorite scenes from the Original is when Nancy call s out “Glen” he pops out from behind a tree and says “I’m here!” Classic! Not in this though homie has swimming flashbacks and things and ends up getting roughed up in the end but overall surviving. So this leads me to the part that I actually hate about the film. The final battle! Everyone knows there is a final battle in Freddy’s movie why, because he is the ultimate bad guy that’s always ready to take out the last one standing, not the last two. No boobie traps set in the house and no final confrontation with Nancy and Freddy boo hoo. I can’t stand it. What I can stand is this, when they introduced the homie Jack Earley I think he did a decent job, but why claim you are making a serious Freddy when all he was doing was giving one liners? “No just me?” “Now that’s a wet dream?” Come on get off your high horse and do it the right way. Jackie is a great actor so I know he could of pulled it off. He was not that scary because he was too short and the glove looked at times like a damn catchers mitt on his hand. They tried to take you somewhere and almost lead you to believe that Freddy was innocent and that he did not do this bad stuff to these kids and they lead you down the road of the kids being his victims as a pedophile gardener at their preschool, which being a parent I can say this, if I ever hear that my kids are playing with the gardner that sleeps in the basement, you don’t have to worry about Freddy Kruger you need to be worrying about Daddy Kruger because I’ll be damn before my kids are left alone unsupervised by a drifter, I mean what kinda preschool is this place. That’s what it’s all about though the preschool, all the bad things that happened at a preschool. No motivation no more drive movie over. I thought something good would come from it, but I was wrong, the only thing you find out is Nancy was his favorite (why we still have no damn clue) and that yes he indeed was pedophile. Big freaking woop! Like we didn’t know that all ready.

So in conclusion I’ll say this, I don’t even want hear about a the sequel already in the works for 3D , um Freddy’s Dead? Hello you still out there? Guess not. I want to see a new Freddy movie, people hate on new nightmare but it was brilliant, and people hate on Freddy verse Jason, but it was at least entertaining (titties anyone?) this movie is just plain outright awful. For days i tried giving  it some good, but the good I was trying to achieve only made it worse for me. Please wait on this one and lets boycotts the sequel shall we!!!

2/10

The Descent 2 Review

The Descent 2 Review
Reviewed by Nyquill of the Gutter

Man this excites me beyond belief. Is it the movie I’m talking about? Maybe, or is it the fact that I’m reviewing a sequel to a movie! I’m excited because I love talking about sequels. Why you ask, because people hate sequels with a passion. They don’t even give them a chance the minute the news is released that one is coming out. I know why, I’m a movie lover so of course I know of all the horrible sequels that exist, but there are so some good ones. Is this one? Well let’s see shall we?
Quick reminder of the first film: 5 lady friends go on a cave jumping trip. They get lost and soon find out they are not alone. What happens that makes this a classic? 1. Gore, and more gore. 2. Women power! “I mean who doesn’t enjoy seeing women kicking ass. 3. CLAUSTRAPHOBIA! I don’t care who you are if you saw the first film, you felt as if you were one of the women trapped in the caves tight squeezing through everything. I literally saw people in the theater having breathing problems while trying to enjoy it. So all of this would make you scream and say no way can they do anything to top that. Lets be honest isn’t Aliens the only sequel out there that you can mention that is better then the first alien? Lower your expectations you are horror fans we watch crap on a day to day basis in the eyes of people that don’t get horror. Now I’m not saying this movie is crap at all, and I’m also not saying that this movie is better than the first one. Also with such a delayed response on it coming to the states it makes sense that you would ponder “Dang this movie must suck!” Well let me be the first to say if you value my opinion at all (which most of you do that’s why you read this) and you know I know my horror; this is a very well made sequel as here is why.
You want to know my favorite part 2 in our genre? Halloween 2. Not that Rob Zombie psychedelic crap, (I still don’t understand the horse Rob!) The actual original Halloween 2 is one of my favorites because it immediately continues from where the first one ends off. Dear aspiring directors and producers of the horror genre here is a little tip for you, if you make a sequel make the timeline as close to the original event as possible. Example you say: 28 weeks later, now lets move on to this UK film.
Film starts guy driving in the woods everything seems to fine almost hits a deer looks to the left and blam! Here is our last remaining heroine from the first film, looking like; well um, that she just escaped the first film. Shoot to later that night. She is in the hospital and freaked out of her mind of what happened to her and also of what she did to Juno after she found out she had sex with her husband and left one of their friends to die so she did the same to her. The authorities have been looking for these girls for 2 days, listen 2 days, I repeat again 2 days. Not 2 years or 3 months later or whatever. So they have some questions for her since she is the only one that came out of the caves. First and foremost what the hell happen to her and her friends down there? Of course still in shock (wouldn’t you be?) she wants nothing to do with the cops at that time but the sheriff of the county has family ties with Juno and want some answers on where she is. So they do the smartest thing in the world which is go back to the cave. So our main heroine Sarah, the sheriff, his deputy, and a team of cave rescuers go to see what the fuss is about and believe me they find out very fast. The only thing I can truly say that I didn’t like in the movie is usually my favorite thing which is the gore. It seemed to me that they were trying to hard with the gore. The first film was just disgusting; there were all types of liquids and goo that the girls were getting thrown into over and over. Legs snapping, bones being exposed, and etc. In this one there were times when the gore was smart. Like when the cave rescue team had to jump, catch and swing on a dead body of one of the girls from the first film. Then there were times when the beasts were getting slayed and they made a huge effort to make you puke as they poured gallons of fake blood down everyone’s throat. It got to the point when I felt like I was watching an old school “Wizard of Gore” or something. This leads to may favorite part of the film, which was the setting. The film crew did a great job of recreating the original scenery from the first film. This is something that I don’t think people realize is hard to do especially when there are some years between the films. It seemed as if every single hole was there. They also had the small water sequence in from the first one that had me on the edge of my seat again. Now you could argue that they rushed past too many of the scenes and the film is a short 80 something minutes long. I would say that is a good thing in my opinion. It’s not like this movie was taking place in somewhere new. There are more people in this one so the body count is higher, and every other single element from the first film is there so this movie works in many ways as a successful sequel. There is a huge surprise in the film that I know most of you are aware of it so I would say it, but it would spoil the movie for fans of the first but aren’t diehards like me that knew this surprise about a year ago. There is a surprise at the end of the film that I was not aware of and let me say it was a nice little treat to finish of a well made movie. I have to admit I had pretty big expectations and I believe all of them were met the only thing that sucked was I was not able to see this in theatres to get the true feel of being once again brought to that place of despair. I will go and see this movie again when it finally hits our shores and I suggest you do too. I know guys that gave the first Descent a 10/10 and I can understand why because it is an instant classic, and like said in the beginning I don’t think this film is better than the first but it’s not to far off. It being short helped because it did not allow the opportunity to drag on at all it never lost its focus and I was very pleased with the ending and you will be too. The Movie has been released since Christmas time in France, the UK and in Japan. As of now currently it is scheduled for a limited release and straight to DVD release on April 27, 2010 in the U.S. Look for it online there are versions out there! Rent it or buy it but for sure check it out!
8/10

The Crazies Review

The Crazies Review
Reviews by Nyquill of The Gutter Reviews

So I never have problems speaking my mind. Usually half way through the movie I’m already writing my review in my head. I usually try to apply any horror movies that I watch to my inner child. You see when you watch over 40 horror movies a week like I do (something is always playing I the background at my house even when company is over) you become somewhat numb to horror so I try to always put myself in a mind frame as a child when watching because then maybe I will be more frightened. Not Crazies though ladies and gentleman this is officially a grown folks movie.
First off this is not a zombie move or any rendition of a zombie movie (ala 28 days and wks later). You nee d to think more along the line of “The Mist” for this one, or if you want to give it any type of zombie complex think compare it to the Return of The Living Dead franchise. Why would I say that, even though this is not a zombie movie? One word people “Government!’ Yes this is one of those creepy lil movies about one of big brothers mess ups and how it hits the heartland. Iowa that it, boring fields and clean drinking water, or wait so we thought until a plane crashed with a bio weapon on board. I guess my hardest thing with writing this review is I want to compare it to the first one and break it down piece by piece, I’m not though. It’s not fair it’s a remake about an event that could happen anywhere in the world and the OG was made in a time when people still gave a hell about what the country was doing to them, there was no skype or imdb.com or American Idol. People used to still eat dinner together back then I mean come on. So forget the remake. Yeah it’s out there, go watch it you probably won’t like it cuz it’s to slow or too political and over your head. Well that’s what makes George Romero a genius and you not!
On to the next on: Radha Mitchell, Radha Mitchell, please stay in horror movies for the rest of your career. You are tall, fine, and I have never seen a woman with as many facial expressions as she does through scenes. She is not the best actor by far but I like her, always have and I think I always will. Tell me you didn’t want to save her in Silent Hill? Yes you did! And mister Go drug dealer, Scream 2 killer, and Nicolas Cage Gone in 60 Seconds chaser Timothy Olyphant is the one of the few actors that you always see in memorable movies (like any mentioned above) or very bad movies (like Hitman) and you wonder how this guy hasn’t ended up in TV yet. Word to the wise all actors in Hollywood needs this dude’s agent like asap. He plays the sheriff of our little town and Mitchell is his wife and town doctor. Everything seems to be going just peachy in Pierce County until one of the locals interrupts a high school baseball game with a shotgun. Thinking the guy is lit. Olyphant takes him down when the townie pulls the shotgun on him with intentions to take him out. Now they assumed it was because this guy used to be the town drunk but his wife and son claim he was 2 years sober. Thinking it was a relapse they wait for the autopsy to find out he was a sober as a Mormon teenager. So obviously something is wrong in town as more of the town folks become some what distant and catatonic from their families and love ones eventually becoming sick and turning on them like a rabid dog. No this is not Rec (or Quarantine for you amateurs) about some rabies getting people though similar this is more in the water and airborne. There is one particular gentleman that decided to kill his whole family and when the cops show up after he burns his house down he is cutting the grass! They lock him up and observe very strange behavior which then turns to very violent behavior by their prisoner. Now this is the part of the movie I had a problem with. The scene of the madman and his family was awesome and I wanted more. You would think in a small town with an out break they could show more interactions of the rest of the town folks and show more blood maybe some titties shower scene whatever blah blah, I’m a dreamer sorry, but they didn’t they moved straight to the army dudes taking over capturing, killing, testing and all on the residents of Pierce county. I got over it real quick thanks to the pitch fork scene. I’ll leave it at that and say that scene is worth the price of the admission. The movie has a natural progression after that which is ok except for it really becomes about Mitchell, Olyphant and his deputy played by Joe Anderson (Ruins dude that got his leg ate up). It’s funny that these 3 are walking away from government danger and black helicopters are in the sky and they blow everything they drive but can’t pick them off when they are walking?
So of course you find out that the government is not going to let anyone live through this to leak out the news about their screw up, so our heroes do everything they can to get away from the army boys and surviving crazies. Lessons to be learned from this movie, stay away from car washes in times of peril and don’t trust dudes that hunt in the off season. See the movie and you will see why. All in all I have to say that I enjoyed watching the movie , there was definitely some, “yeah right!” parts in there , but if there was not, like every other survival movie if you kill the main character in the first scene then you don’t have a movie dammit! Of course the scariest thing about the film is this shit can really happen. There is enough gore to keep you happy and the acting isn’t really that bad. I can say it’s a remake that I can live with because it’s dumbed down from the OG for you mortals and I’m ok with that. Just remember though, if you are laying in bed one night and you hear a plane crash, don’t always think terrorist first, cuz sometimes true terror comes from your own back yard. Now go see it and demand they pay Romero for this movie!
7/10

Wolfman Review

Wolfman Review
Reviewed by Nyquill of The Gutter

So all the classics have had their make over do except for Creature From the Black Lagoon, I think. I’m holding my breath because I know its coming one day. Frankie, Mummy, and Drac have all had there next generation release in various ways with very mixed results on all levels. So what about wolfie? Isn’t it his time. Look at how they have praised his lifestyle over the past few decades. There have been crazy British wolf people from the 80’s, Americans that like to howl, soldiers of dogs ready for flesh and blood, high school Goth sisters wolfing it up through time, modern looking wolf gents chomping after Kate Beckinsale’s great ass and etc. Some good some bad on many levels but all bloody, hairy and bent on trying to prove that their lycanthropes are scarier than anything John Landis could dream of (to bad they are all wrong he will always be king of wolfie make up in my opinion). What about the OG though? The only way you can put the lid on a franchise in horror movies now days is by having the OG remake added to the collection. So someone did. Finally! Director Joe Johnston has been apart of every fantasy hero movie since the 80’s. He has directed big time movies like Jumanji and Jurassic 3 and cult classics like The Rocketeer. Who better to bring us that wispy nostalgic look than a man that has been doing it for sometime now? Throw in Benicio Del Toro, Anthony Hopkins and the very fine Miss Emily Blunt and you got yourselves the makings for a good movie. So what happened?
You know what killed this movie? How about I ask this again, do you know who killed this movie? It’s Toro!! I know this guy has been in some movies and has been damn good in nearly all he has been, but this is just bad. Before I get into this let me just first off explain to you the beauty of this film. If you saw the trailers and teasers then you know the scenery is wonderful in the movie, and when I saw wonderful I mean it. The dark imagery of the setting rivals the looks of movies like “From Hell and Sleepy Hollow”. I wasn’t too keen on the overly computer generated fuzziness at the beginning of the movie but as it went on it worked in so many ways. Throughout the movie the look of the film placed me back in the time period of the events and made me feel as a kid may have back in 1941 when the original first came out. So as you may be able to tell I’m in love with the look of the movie. Now to what I hated, the acting!
Don’t get me wrong Hopkins in never bad as long as he is playing an older European (no matter where from) he has the role on lock. Blunt is gorgeous and this movie allows her to use her English accent (which I haven’t heard from her since Prada) and she as with the other actors in the movie do a fairly decent job at their roles except for our star. I would love to see how many times it took Johnston to get Del Toro to say his lines just right, because believe me it was almost as if they were feeding him lines during filming. It was so bad it made me start to question Lon Cheney Jr’s performance in the original. I believe he was a little more personable and vocal character than what was portrayed in the remake. Every time Toro laid out one of the many one liners he had in the script I almost puked! Sometimes he was in the whole scene for over 10 minutes and all he would say would in the whole shot was 2 lines. Maybe the problem is this guy is allowed to be a cool badass in so many movies that he just forgot how to act. I’m going to leave it at that because I know the guy is talented go see Che if you want to see what I’m talking about.
The story differs from the OG in that Talbot (Toro) returns home from America after finding out his brother has gone missing. When they find the brothers body it has been torn to bits by some creature that the locals are saying is a werewolf. Determined to find truth Talbot stay in town to speak to people about this wolf legend and goes to see the gypsies to get more answers. While there the gypsies are being raided by the cops because the believe they are responsible for the recent bodies that are piling up Of course this becomes and all you can eat meal for the current wolfie on the prowl and Talbot gets attacked trying to save someone and luckily lives. Now that it has been confirmed a werewolf the locals want Talbot in chains because there is still a full moon on the horizon. There is also a scene in which they try to prove Talbot is crazy for thinking he is the wolfman so they take him to an insane asylum and its all just so wrong. His father (played by Hopkins) won’t have it and his brother’s girl friend (played by Blunt) wants to watch over him until he recovers. It’s crazy how the other actors carry Del Toro throughout the film; you would have thought he signed up to play Frankenstein instead.
Well you know I hate giving away the ending and this film moves pretty fast at 1 hour and 42 minutes. There are some pretty cool scenes of mutation that work pretty well and the body count, blood and gore are expected and appreciated. It really blows on Del Toro’s acting because this could have actually been a great remake on a classic film similar to what Wes Craven did with Reeves and etc. on Dracula. Yes Keanu Reeves out acted Del Toro, I can’t believe that one either. But as it stands since this is the main character in the film it really hurts it. It looked great though, and I would love to see more films with this look, but maybe on an original tale, which I know is hard to come buy these days. The ending of the movie is a yawn and very predictable. I’m glad I didn’t see this on the first week or I may have expressed more hate towards it but in all I’ll say I got the feel of the remake and it felt good, but the acting turned me sour and it will to you too so just wait for this one in the redbox!
5/10

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at the movies

Legion Review

Legion Review
Reviewed by Nyquill of The Gutter
So as my wife and I walked into the theatre I really had small expectations on how this movie would turn out. With angels being bad I really couldn’t see the horror factor being played out right , but hey there have been renegade angel movies that turned out pretty good (Prophecy anyone?) So I put my best face on and gave it my all. Let me tell you my preconceived notions were right. Nothing good can come from this and here is why.
So who knows and who cares about the small town that a diner is located in that seems to have its usual bevy of regulars. They shortly go through tad bits of info on the characters but they don’t give much. The only initial mystery is there is a waitress who is pregnant yet she will not disclose any information on the father. There is also a guy madly in love with her and does not care if she has a baby on the way or not, and the rest of the town folk think that is just foolish. So just like in the teasers an elderly woman appears out of nowhere and comes in the diner looking like a lost patron wanting a bite to eat. She orders a raw steak and makes some evil comment to the pregnant waitress on how her baby is going to burn! I really don’t have to tell you what is next because you saw it on the commercial. Then after disposing of the body they all feel it’s time to go because clearly there is a problem with an old lady crawling on the roof. Leaving does not go in their favor and they are immediately attacked by a cloud of flies and decide the shelter of the diner would best suit them. Then our hero arrives! He is a renegade angel that explains to them that god is pissed and he has sent his best angels out to make sure that the pregnant lady does not have her baby. For some reason (which they never explain in the film) the kid is the key to our salvation. Now normally when I leave the theatre on an unresolved issue (remember how you felt after the first time you saw Donnie Darko?) it gives me goosebumps and begging for more, but when they don’t even explain the reason behind the whole concept of the movie then we have a problem. So the reason all these people are coming to get the baby is because they are possessed by angels and they have no idea they are about to get pumped full of lead by patrons at the last diner on earth (which in my opinion would be a better title for the film). They show flashbacks of our renegade angel have conversation with another which I guess is at the fortress of heaven? Wtf? Let me also ask how and angel can talk behind gods back in the shadows of the heavens fortress without God hearing? Can someone please explain that to me? I didn’t think you could. Well anyway so a bunch of possessed people get shot up then the more bad ass angel shows up and him and our hero have themselves a little angel fight. Which was the worst moment of this movie, I swear I was coming to see a horror movie not street fighter alpha 4 angels’ edition!! So all in all the baby comes the angles says there is still more to be done and they drive off into the sunset! That’s it. Really I’m not lying people that’s it. That’s the whole goddamn movie. Pathetic with a capital P. Nothing about the film was scary because the scary parts were in the teasers on TV. I have nothing more for you on this one. Please don’t waste any of your hard earned money on this one. No theatre no netflixs no nothing. Just wait until next Halloween when this tragedy of a film with be on the 31 days of Halloween on a Scfy! The true sad part about this whole experience is the director and lead actor have another movie due t hit theatres in a few called “Priest”(I know right somebody has a god complex) which looked good preview wise until I saw this crap! Thanks for your time people and leave this one alone. 1/10

Daybreakers Review

The Daybreakers Review
Reviewed by Nyquill of The Gutter
    I was so happy to walk into a theater on opening weekend. I was also happy to see all the teenagers in line going to see a movie other than the one I was attending. I was all excited because I knew this film was going to be filled with blood. The premise is this. A bat starts an outbreak that turns everyone into a vampire. Vampires become the lead race and humans who don’t want to turn become hunted and farmed for food. Ethan Hawkes character is a hemotologist who works for a company whose goal is to find a substitute for blood to survive on after nothing is left. Seems like a hard task to do because every time they test the new synthetic blood it causes the vamps to explode (don’t know why they can’t hollar at the people from True Blood to see what they used?). So Hawke seems to have this distraught brother that is in the vamp military and they don’t seem to share the same views on human life. While all this vampire sibling drama is going on the main problem at hand is there are mutations going on all around the world. Vampires are starving due to no humans being found and it’s turning them into huge primitive looking bats sort of similar to the creatures in Dusk til Dawn. Now of course with the movie taking place in a New york type setting pretty much all of the homeless population is turning into these things. Hawke is also starting to feel the effects because he refuses to eat human blood and crashes into some humans when he frightens himself looking at his body changes. The humans could have easily been narc ed out to the vamp police but Hawke saves them. Then They come looking for him later in the film because they need a vampire that humans can trust for a special secret. I’m not telling you what the secret is because then there would be no reason for you to see the film. Its noting monumental and it won’t make you say wow, but after the film is pieced together it gives you a little reason to applaud. Its just different. What they do could have and in some cases has been done in many films before its time (think Blade series) but they just do it slightly different in this film and slightly better. The creatures in this movie are fowl, and the effects and cinematography in the film are hilarious. If I knew there was going to be this much cheese in the movie I would have brought a hot plate and some wonder bread! My wife commented on the music at the being of the film because a cello and bass sound wonderful together but it became so overdone in the film that it left me with a “whatever” smile on my face. The film moves through at a slow 1 hour and 40 minutes but there is enough explosions and blood to keep you interested. There is one beautiful scene in which these soldiers are attacking themselves and the director slows down scene in a way that leaves me with my mouth wide open. I paid the admission for that right there. In my opinion it’s not better than 30 days of night, it was just a little more deeper. Violent yes! So I scream and give 2 thumbs up for that part and the main bad guy is an asshole. They stick to all vampire lore so nerds like me won’t get offended (which is nice). So  I guess the only thing else I have to say about the film is I left the theater like “where the hell was Blade”, and William Dafoe brought most of the cheese to the movie every seen with him was supposed to be epic. If you like violent vamp movies and I know you all do go check it out it’s worth the price of admission.7/10