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Exit Humanity Review

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Movie: Exit Humanity
Year: 2011
Studio: Foresight Features
Director: John Geddes
Stars: Bill Moseley, Brian Cox, Mark Gibson
Language: English
Length: 108 Minutes
Sub-Genres: Drama / Western / Zombie

Plot: As the American Civil War concludes in 1865, Confederate soldier Edward Young begins to see something even scarier than his Union enemies in the wooded battlefields: walking corpses. When Young returns home to discover his 11-year-old son is missing, he begins to search for him across the zombie-infested countryside, while keeping a journal of his account of the living dead phenomenon.

Review: Many horror fans are purists and don’t appreciate the blending of genres that’s become so commonplace today. I’m closer to the purist side of the spectrum myself, so I was surprised that a zombie western that’s primarily a drama appealed to me. I attribute this to how well made the film is. “Exit Humanity” is a good-looking, well written period piece inhabited with the flesh-eating dead. Except for the “period piece” part, that’s all any zombie fan ever wants anyway.

Consider an early scene where Young’s Confederate soldiers are warring against the Union army in the woods. Even though he’s amid the horrors of war, something even more terrifying catches Young’s attention: a seemingly unstoppable ghoulish-looking man charging toward him, barely acknowledging the gun-fired body shots he’s taking from Young’s gun. Here the protagonist fights a literal monster for the very first time, and he behaves accordingly.

Contrast the scene described above with other modern zombie films where the actors confess their awareness that they’re playing in a zombie movie by referring to the monsters as “zombies.” I hate that. So many zombie films today regard their monsters as merely an atypical occurrence on an otherwise typical day. But in “Exit Humanity,” the characters behave as though they are genuinely freaked out by internalizing the fact that dead people are not only moving but trying to eat them.

Think about it: The reason why “Jaws” is a great title for the book and the film is because the characters never refer to the shark as “Jaws.” The moment a film becomes self-reflective is the same moment that the spell is broken for me.

Just to be clear, I review films like “Exit Humanity” with the hard-core horror fans in mind. So, you should know that this movie starts out as a period piece with zombie elements mingled in. And then at that point, the film’s tone shifts into a western, then a romance, and the zombies are almost forgotten about altogether. (And this doesn’t have a horror movie type of ending, either.) I suspect this problem with the changing tone of the film happened at the script level, where the lead character takes on other missions and objectives during the movie (such as keeping a promise to a loved one, or helping a friend in need), because there’s no single objective that the protagonist is trying to accomplish throughout the duration of the film.

“Exit Humanity” has some artistic merit, as well. For instance, particularly in the beginning of the film, there are animated graphics inserted from time to time as transitions. Some of the animations are better than others, but I suspect this decision was made of necessity, as a shorthand solution to cut down on some shooting and special effects costs. Creative choices like these graphics are often the result of some kind of limitation or restriction.

Horror actor favorite Bill Moseley has an antagonist’s role in this film, but his performance is fairly tame by Bill Moseley’s standards. Indeed, all of the performances are quite good, including the lead, Mark Gibson, who resembles Kiefer Sutherland and plays Edward Young convincingly.

The first 30 minutes of “Exit Humanity” are heavy-laden with voice-over narration (by Brian Cox), which is usually indicative of a problem at the script level, but for the first part of this movie, our protagonist is the only speaking character. The journal is the device used to sustain such lengthy narration, and it works.

Overall, “Exit Humanity” is a well written, smart and artistic film. It depicts the story of a believable, struggling character and his grief and pain, mixed with some zombie attacks and kills. The zombies look fine, with black and lifeless eyes, but we don’t see them as often as we do in other zombie flicks. As is the case with many zombie movies, the film itself isn’t actually about zombies.

As a film critic and a lover of the cinema, I have to admit that “Exit Humanity” is far better than I ever could have hoped for. It exceeded my expectations for a zombie film set at the end of the Civil War. But taking into account its genre-blending and how it might hold up for a horror purist who’s looking to watch a good horror movie, it’s a good movie, yes, but not a good horror movie: 5.5 out of 10 — Rental. “Exit Humanity” is currently new at Redbox as of this past Tuesday, June 19.

To hear horror movie reviews from Jay of the Dead and his cohorts, listen to Horror Metropolis.

Reviewer: Jay of the Dead
Date: 06/22/2012
Rating: 5.5/10
Recommendation: Rental		 Trailer: Watch
DVD: Amazon
BluRay: Amazon.ca
Social Media: Facebook

Bloodlust Zombies Review

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Bloodlust Zombies Cover PosterMovie: Bloodlust Zombies
Year: 2011
Studio: Impulse-FX
Director: Dan Lantz
Stars: Alexis Texas, Janice Marie, Adam Danoff
Language: English
Length: 76 Minutes
Sub-Genre: Zombies

 

Plot: In this horror-comedy hybrid, a chemical spill at a weapons lab leads to a zombie outbreak. This spells big trouble for the employees trapped inside the facility after an emergency lockdown is declared to try to contain the menacing horde of zombies. The most inconceivable person out of all the workers steps up in a big way and tries to escape before the ravaging, blood-craving zombies infect everyone in sight.

Review: I sat down, popped in the DVD, and after 5 minutes, I knew I was going to hate this film. It is a zombie-comedy, or zombedy, as they’re called now, with horrendous jokes, cheesy acting and wooden characters. These style horror films are a dime-a-dozen these days and most of them fail miserably, including Bloodlust Zombies.

For starters, the so-called zombies are nothing of the sort. Yes, I know, the infected and virus-ridden catch the zombie sub-genre, but I have no inkling why. The zombies in this are not the dead coming back to life. Instead, a spill of this newly devised chemical spreads through a laboratory turning people sick basically. How lame! It’s funny because the infected people try so damn hard to act like zombies, but it is so poorly done it wouldn’t convince a kindergartener.

The leading actress is a porn-star, Alexis Texas. She uses her stage name, which I don’t blame her, I wouldn’t want my real name associated with this horror film either. She does appear topless in many scenes, along with some other women, which is the only positive I could muster from Bloodlust Zombies.

Thank the high heavens that this film only runs for slightly over an hour, because I don’t think I could of took much more of this ultra-low junk of a horror movie. If you see or hear about Bloodlust Zombies, please let it go in one ear and out the other, cause it is not worth wasting your time and hard earned money.

Reviewer: BillChete
Date: 06/22/2012
Rating: 1/10
Recommendation: Avoid		 Trailer: Watch
DVD: Amazon
BluRay: N/A
Social Media: Facebook

Abraham Lincoln Vs. Zombies Review

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Abraham Lincoln vs. ZOMBIES (2012)

Starring:  Bill Oberst Jr., Baby Norman, Jason Vail, Don McGraw, Ronald Ogden

Written and Directed by Richard Schenkman

90 minutes

Distributed by The Asylum Home Entertainment

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Let me start off by saying I was not enthused when I first read about this film coming out, especially with Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter coming out in late June.  I finally decided to pick Abraham Lincoln vs. ZOMBIES up and give it a go, and let me tell you I am glad I did.  Bill Oberst Jr. portrays the 16th American President, Abraham Lincoln with such sincerity and realism like he was in a big budget blockbuster.  I commend Bill Oberst Jr. for giving his all in this role.  So to all the award people out there in Film-Land….GIVE Bill Oberst Jr. an award for his portrayal of the scythe swinging Lincoln!!! However, I can’t really say that about the rest of the acting, although it wasn’t terrible or to over the top….well maybe just a little.

This film could be on the History Channel with the way it is set up and filmed with the only difference that Lincoln was kicking ass and taking names.  Hell, even a young Teddy Roosevelt gets into the swing of things, literally.  The film was shot in Sepia tones giving it that classy look and feel no matter how absurd the concept.  At some points throughout the film, I thought I was enjoying some History Channel story about the Civil War.  Since I am an enthusiast of the Civil War and American History during that period, I had to try and separate my inner history nerd from my inner movie freak….which was easy enough to do.  Enough of me gushing on this right now….let me get down to business.

We start off with Lincoln’s father and mother running in the woods away from zombies.  Lincoln’s mother gets bitten by a zombie, but his father comes to the rescue.  Later on, all three Lincoln’s are at the family home, when young Abe hears a gunshot.  Abe goes in to the bedroom to find his father dying from a self inflicted gunshot wound, and his mother turned zombie tied to the bed.  Abe realizes what he has to do…the zombie slaying begins.  Flash forward to President Lincoln, who in having a past encounter with the living dead, stumbles upon a rather grisly discovery…the living dead were responsible for decimating a garrison of Union soldiers who were trying to take Fort Pulaski from Confederate soldiers in Georgia .  Lincoln then leads a rag tag group of Secret Service Agents, Confederate soldiers, and a couple ladies of the night into combat against the horde of the living dead.  With the grouping of such characters, the zombies are in for one hell of a fight.  Some of those characters begin to sympathize with the zombies, fearing that they are just innocent men, women, and children that are inflicted with some sort of medical condition.  I don’t want to spoil too much of this film, since I think it is a fun film to watch.

I do have one thing to say about the character of Confederate General Stonewall Jackson.  The actor portraying General Jackson was so much fun…considering the first thing I noticed was his beard.  A beard that was so fake that you couldn’t help but laugh.  I applaud the baby face actor who so generously graced the screen with such a horrible application of facial hair….I am sure ZZ Top would be proud of.

There are mentions of other historical characters throughout this film, which could inevitably be the base for more films in the future.  I was well into this film, and began guessing what could the ending hold for our characters.  Well it was cleverly tied in with historical fact…

Overall Abraham Lincoln vs. ZOMBIES was a fun and entertaining film.  The zombie special effects were not that bad, however, the CGI involved was easy to pick out….but with around $150k budget, it could have been worse.  Once again, Bill Oberst Jr. gets a 10 out of 10 for his portrayal of Lincoln, and I cannot express the awesomeness of his acting!!!  The other actors did well, but nothing compared to Oberst.  With all that being said, and me trying not to give away to many spoilers, I say this movie is definitely worth a rental…maybe even a purchase if the price is right.

 

Abraham Lincoln vs. ZOMBIES is a 6 out of 10

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The Dead And The Damned Review

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The Dead And The Damned Cover PosterMovie: The Dead And The Damned
Year: 2011
Studio: iDiC Entertainment
Director: Rene Perez
Stars: David A. Lockhart, Camille Montgomery, Rick Mora
Language: English
Length: 82 Minutes
Sub-Genre: Zombies

Plot: In this indie Western-horror hybrid, a meteorite strikes California gold country and turns a town full of prospectors, prostitutes and gunslingers into flesh-eating zombies who develop a craving for a bounty hunter and his Apache warrior prisoner.

Review: Set in the Western times, The Dead And The Damned also known as Cowboys & Zombies, begins with an old fashion shoot-out around a saloon. The acting was stale but the fighting scenes were satisfactory. What you come to find out after a good 10 minutes, is this bounty hunter is out to serve justice and make money for his family back home. His next “job” is to capture alive an Indian who apparently is a rapist and killer. Around 40 minutes in there is a little snafu.

The story slightly shifts to these townspeople who find a glowing green rock in the desert. In amazement they take a pick-axe to the object when a mysterious smoky gas protrudes and turns everyone into zombie-like beings, some slow and some fast. They are out for flesh when they come across the bounty hunter, mistaken killer and a young girl that the bounty hunter purchased to help him in the capture of his next prisoner.

The zombies in The Dead And The Damned were done fairly well. Some of them scary and ravaging. For the most part the make-up was good. But here in lye’s the problem, all of the gun shots, wounds and the like were a CGI catastrophe. I presume the director hasn’t heard of squibs, or either didn’t think it through. It is a low budget film coming in at $30 thousand, but a few bloody squib packs would of went a long way in this film, as 99% of the killing was with gun shots.

There was a particular scene I was impressed with; the young blonde gets trapped in a room with a fierce, older woman zombie. The look of this zombie was scary and the scene had a lot of tension. We also got the only non-gun wound kill here with an axe to the head. Props on that part there.

The sound and score was lame, nothing chilling or frightening, kind of bland and dull. A few nice tracks thrown in would of helped big time on The Dead And The Damned. I am not a fan of old westerns, if you are, this might be an easier watch to you than it was for me, but horror fans desiring decent sound will want to skip this one.

In closing, The Dead And The Damned is a predictable and un-engaging horror film. Will you care for these characters? I think not, because the acting was quite poor. It was hard to buy anybody’s motivation, and the Apache Indian character should of stayed mute, because when he talked it hurt the film more. Overall, this is an easy avoid. I don’t feel like I wasted 80 minutes of my life, but there are far better independent horror movies that deserve your hard earned money over The Dead And The Damned.

If you would like to see The Dead And The Damed, you will not have to waste any money because you can see it for FREE on Amazon Instant Video.

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Reviewer: BillChete
Date: 06/12/2012
Rating: 3/10
Recommendation: Avoid

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The Cabin In The Woods Review

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Plot: Five college-age men and women travel to a cabin in the woods for a weekend getaway, but they’re being watched and stalked by several, evil onlookers who seek their demise.

Review: I have tried to stop watching trailers altogether precisely because of movies like “The Cabin in the Woods.” You should go into some movies blind, with no foreknowledge about them whatsoever. “The Cabin in the Woods” is one of those movies.

So, if you haven’t seen the previews yet, then keep yourself in the dark. You can trust this review not to spoil any surprises.

Though it’s not really a horror comedy, this movie’s humorous taglines give you a sense of the attitudes of the writers behind this film. There are funny moments in this movie, but the most fitting tagline for “The Cabin in the Woods” is this one: “You think you know the story.”

Yeah, you think you know the story (but trust me, you don’t), because the writers referred to above were producer Joss Whedon and director Drew Goddard. The latter also wrote “Cloverfield” (2008) and was a contributor on the TV series “Lost,” from 2005 to 2008.

So, after realizing that Whedon and Goddard were in charge of this project, and after reading those comedic taglines, you know this isn’t going to be your everyday horror film. And it’s not.

At first, “The Cabin in the Woods” seems like it’s going to be a conventional zombie flick with some extra, unconventional characters who don’t seem to be a part of the movie. But there’s much more to it.

Most horror fans will spend the first half of this movie asking themselves, “What the hell?” and thinking it’s too tame and not hard-core enough to be true horror. That’s how I felt. But like most horror movies, it gets progressively more extreme and more bloody, and it ups the ante to a ridiculous degree.

Even so, “The Cabin in the Woods” is still very entertaining for at least a viewing. At one point in the film, the bloodshed approaches “Dead Alive” (1992) levels, except not as creatively and this movie uses some sketchy-looking CGI bloodletting, instead of practical effects.

I suspect that the most traditional fans will ultimately disapprove of the liberties and twists this movie takes with the horror genre. In other words, these screenwriters take classic horror elements (and characters) and present them in a satirical way that I can only describe as “playful,” or perhaps the British word “cheeky” fits even better.

If you decide to see this movie, here is a few spoiler-free list that you should watch for: The presentation of the film’s title may be the most obnoxious, and therefore, amusing film title presentation I’ve ever seen. I think the filmmakers were riffing on the jump scare. “The Cabin in the Woods” simultaneously celebrates and ridicules the conventions of the horror genre, somewhat like we’ve seen in the “Scream” franchise. And if you’re looking at the subtext, the writers seem to be commenting on how we justify and rationalize our enjoyment of watching unintelligent people get slaughtered by depraved maniacs or monsters.

The five, archetypal horror victims are all likable and attractive or funny. You’ll recognize some of the actors right away, such as Chris Hemsworth (“A Perfect Getaway,” “Thor”) and Richard Jenkins (“Let Me In,” “Step Brothers”). And there’s a bit of nudity, sensual dancing and, of course, a good-looking blonde making out with a stuffed wolf’s head.

If you think I’ve spent this review telling you what this movie’s not, instead of what it is, you’re right. As I wrote initially, “The Cabin in the Woods” is the kind of film whose enjoyment is delivered to its audience through its weird revelations. Beyond that, I can’t see this movie having nearly as much value upon repeated viewings. Therefore, my final rating is a 7, and I’m recommending it only as a Rental, even though I think the die-hard horror fans will probably scoff at this bizarre but loving tribute to their beloved genre.

By the way, speaking of movie ads, the previews that precede “The Cabin in the Woods” include a promising-looking trailer for “Chernobyl Diaries,” which is scheduled for release on May 25, 2012. Expect another Jay of the Dead review for that one. I’m sold.

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