Reviews

A troubled father and son find themselves staying farm that was the site of the Garden of Eden, and their evil host wants them to repeat history's first mistake in this interesting misfire. I find myself in a bit of a quandary with movies like this. I have given worse films better reviews because of a varied level of expectation. If, for instance, "Dark Town," had the same production values and the level of acting talent on display in this film, I would have been thumbs-down on it. However, as it was, I recommend it on what it was able to accomplish on a shoestring. "The Garden" looks great and features real actors and therefore has to stand toe-to-toe with the "real" movies I see in the theater. Sadly, it falls short on that level. The main problem is the script. It is a very interesting idea, but the internal "theology" ultimately doesn't make sense and therefore it isn't especially compelling. For instance, how is Sean Young able to "call" the sword protecting the tree? Is the Apocalpyse a good thing meant to help man that Satan is trying to stop? Why would another human eating from the tree through the moral universe upside down? Those are just a fraction of the questions I had that the film left unanswered. I should perhaps congratulate the film for making me think, but, I think I would have preferred to be entertained instead. A little sharper writing would have made all of the difference.

This is the third of the recent Stephen J. Cannell horror films which I have seen. (The other two being "Room 6" and "It Waits.") All three featured good production values, acting and make-up effects. Sadly, I didn't find any of the three particularly compelling. Hopefully that will change as Cannell continues to make these films. I admire the fact that he is attempting to tell interesting stories and not just offering up more blades and babes films. I am relieved that someone is trying to tell horror tales that someone over twenty can watch. He just needs more compelling stories. I hope he finds them.

A woman with a pathological fear of hospitals is forced to confront her fears when her boyfriend is held prisoner in an evil hospital staffed by devil worshipers, including vampiric lesbian nurses, that burned down decades earlier. Sounds confusing, eh? Trust me, I simplified it. This film actually had a lot of potential. The budget was higher than the average straight-to-DVD flick and it showed on the screen. Decent sets. Decent performances from the actors. Adequate direction. And, in my opinion, very good make-up. Unfortunately, their were two problems: The story was unnecessarily convoluted, and it simply wasn't scary. This film was a one-trick-pony when it came to scares. Here's the simple recipe: A). Marcia Brady, ooops, I mean, Amy looks at someone. B). She looks away. C). She looks back and the person is now a demon who mutters a warning. D). She screams. It took tiresome after a while. However, let's be honest, that's pretty much the whole shtick for the J-horror trend too. (This is no less senseless than "The Grudge," which I found reasonably compelling the first time I saw it, but I don't think it sustained repeated viewings.) Overall, I'd say this film had the feel of one of minor 70's devil films like "The Sentinel." It held my interest, but it could have been so much better.

A man infected with a strange virus while wiping out a houseful of zombies is arrested and placed in a maximum-security prison. Unfortunately, the virus spreads before a CDC doctor can isolate him and the entire prison soon becomes a battleground between the living and dead in this lively horror film. Director Peter Mervis makes good use of the prison setting and the tight script by Mike Watt – making this one of the better efforts by prolific, but wildly inconsistent, team at The Asylum. The special effects are decent, and the pace is brisk, however, the editing does get annoying in places. Although I found this film superior to many of the straight-to-video films I have seen recently, it still suffers from undeveloped and unsympathetic characters. Is it the actors or script? Hard to say. All I know is that it had emotional impact when Duane Jones died at the end of "Night of the Living Dead." You don't feel anything when the SWAT guys waste the chick at the end of this film.

What a rip-off! What did the box art say? Fifty stories, Five hundred inhabitants, Zero survivors. Lies on all counts. Granted, companies often take liberties with the box art. The monsters are never as cool looking in the film as they are on the box. (That could be said for the actors and actresses too.) However, this time they want too far. The box art showed a building which looked like a cross between New York's Flat Iron Building and a Medieval Castle. The villain looked cool too. Then we have the tag line: Fifty stories, Five Hundred Inhabitants, Zero Survivors. First off, I didn't see fifty floors, just a rooftop and a few shabby rooms and corridors that could have been anywhere. As for the 500 inhabitants – what a freaking lie. The building is abandoned. And, in a way, there is a survivor. Wrong on all counts. One of the reasons I was anxious to see this film was that the box made me believe it had an epic scale. Wrong. Just another 1980's slasher ripoff. (The biggest difference is that the breasts were real back in the 1980s!) It did have some gore. That might satisfy some fans of the genre, but it wasn't enough for me.

Detective John Hobbs finds himself battling a formidable supernatural foe when a string of serial killings continue after the murderer dies in the gas chamber in this compelling thriller written by Nicholas Kazan and directed by Gregory Hoblit. Usually, I don't expect much from big-budget studio "horror" movies except special effects overkill. This film is a rare, pleasing exception that doesn't insult the intelligence of the audience. I really liked the script. It was rich and complex, even if, in retrospect, the misleading voice-over crossed the line. I was really expecting a lot more from writer Kazan after this film. Hard to believe all he's been able to deliver subsequently was "Homegrown," "Bicentennial Man" and "Enough." Enough indeed! As good as the script is, the film ultimately belongs to the actors. Denzel Washington is terrific, and it is great to see him backed up with talented supporting actors like Donald Sutherland, John Goodman, and a then-unknown James Gandolfini. Director Hoblit relaxes the pace enough at times to linger on their byplay, which gives the characters depth. Of course, all of that character development would have been wasted if the film didn't deliver, and it does. Don't expect any gore, but there is suspense galore. A fascinating and chilling film.