Godzilla: King of the Monsters

 



Director - Michael Dougherty (Trick 'r Treat, Krampus)
Starring - Kyle Chandler (Super 8, The Day the Earth Stood Still), Vera Farmiga (The Conjuring, Bates Motel), and Millie Bobby Brown (Stranger Things, Intruders)
Release Date - 2019
Genre - Horror/Sci-Fi
Tagline - "Prepare for battle"
Format - Theatrical

Rating (out of 5):

 

     Like many horror fans I'm a fan of Godzilla.  I watched it growing up with my grandma when one of them would randomly air on sy-fy.  After catching a few that way I started renting them at the local video store.  I really enjoyed them but I wasn't obsessed with them like some of my friends.  When I was in elementary school I had watched a good portion of the Godzilla flicks when the 1998 American Godzilla was released.  It was nowhere near as good as the other Godzilla flicks I had seen but it wasn't bad.  However, watching it in theaters made me want to collect all the Godzilla films which is something I've continued to do to this day.  This Toho property was once again Americanized in 2014 with Godzilla which was the beginning of a MonsterVerse series followed by Kong: Skull Island and most recently Godzilla: King of the Monsters.  This was one if those releases I refused to skip a theatrical viewing of and I'm glad I did because it was fantastic.

     The film picks up five years after the events in Godzilla with the organization Monarch still conducting research on the 17 titans scattered throughout the globe.  Monarch believes that humans and titans have to live side by side in order to survive but the government is pressuring them into destroying the titans for fear they will wipe out the human race.  Doctors Mark and Emma Russell lost their son when Godzilla rampaged through San Fransico and has since split where Emma has kept her daughter Madison while she continued her research with Monarch while Mark became a nature photographer.  Emma has been working on a machine that will admit sounds that resemble an alpha predator codenamed Orca and uses it when Motha hatches it from her egg and is in her larva state.  An eco-terrorist group breaks in and captures Emma, Madison, and the Orca where they plan on using it to release all the titans so they can wipe out most of mankind Monarch enlists Mark to help track the Orca machine so they can stop the terrorists but they discover that Emma is actually part of it and now his daughter is in danger.  Now Mark and Monarch has to save her and Orca while aiding Godzilla as he battles Ghidorah for domain over the world.

     There was so many things I loved about this film but there is a few things that really got under my skin.  Not enough to ruin the film but just enough to stop it from being perfect.  The acting in this one is solid.  The characters are pretty much generic but the cast does a phenomenal job in their performances.  Sadly, no one is memorable and by the time the next installment roles around I won't remember any of the characters from this film but let's be honest, you watch these films for the monsters and not the people.  The story for this one is a little complex for a Godzilla film and I loved that.  The mythology and backstory is so compelling to me.  I love the rich history they give the titans in this one and they left so much room for more films and even more monsters.  They included Mokele-Mbembe and Bunyip which is known in the crypto-zoology community but they did not include other notable Godzilla foes.  I'm sure others will appear as the series progresses but it would be cool to see some of the other monsters appear.  The pacing in this one is solid.  We get some great tension building, lots of action, great character development and even more monster carnage.  As much as I'm all for character building and backstory I felt this one has a little too much on the happy family now broken by Godzilla.  This was shown at the beginning of the film and countless other times as the film progressed.  We were given the same family portrait over and over again meant to remind the viewer how Godzilla split this family up and they all once loved each other.  This was very redundant and once or twice would have been enough.  Finally, this film is a visual feast.  Usually a movie full of visual effects would look cheap but this movie was fucking gorgeous.  I loved the look of all the creatures especially Behemoth but Mothra just left me speechless.  All of her scenes were breathtaking.  I loved the creature designs and the visual effects are the best I've seen in a long time.  Overall, Godzilla: King of the Monsters is an amazing theatrical experience.  The action and historical aspect of the film kept me invested while the effects kept me mesmerized.  The 2014 Godzilla film was a decent watch but the MonsterVerse was kicked up a notch with Kong: Skull Island but Godzilla: King of the Monsters is the pinnacle of this series.  I can't imagine Godzilla vs. Kong being better than this.  I highly recommend checking this one out. 





The Devil's Rejects

 



Director - Rob Zombie - (31, Lords of Salem)
Starring - Sid Haig (Spider Baby, Aftermath), Bill Moseley (Night of the Living Dead, Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2), and Sheri Moon Zombie (Halloween, Halloween II)
Release Date - 2005
Genre - Horror
Tagline - "This summer, go to hell"
Format - Bluray (Personal Collection) (Screener)

Rating (out of 5):

 

     When House of 1000 Corpses was released on home video I became obsessed with it.  I watched it so many times I could almost quote it from beginning to end.  I did this for a few years until Rob Zombie announced his follow up The Devil's Rejects.  By this point I was burned out on the film but I didn't want to skip the opportunity to see this one.  A theater had just opened near my home so I was able to check it out.  I absolutely fucking loved it and was shocked.  Not only by how much he had grown as a director but by the route he took the film.  I was not expecting that at all.  I loved the film even more than the first but I was smart to not burn myself out on it.  It has been a few years since my last viewing but it was time to check it out on blu sent to me from Umbrella Entertainment.  Thanks guys!

     The film begins with the police invading the Firefly farmhouse with an investigate by Sheriff Wydell (Forsythe).    They capture Mother Firefly (Leslie Easterbrook), kill Rufus (Tyler Mane), while Baby, Otis, and Tiny gets away.  Tiny goes into hiding while Otis and Baby go to a their planned spot to meet Captain Spaulding who is actually Baby's father.  Wydell is hot on their trail and he hires two bounty hunters, The Unholy Two, to track them down.  Baby and Otis meets with Spaulding and goes to Spaulding's brother's whorehouse to lay low but Wydell knows about their aliases and plans an ambush at midnight.  He captures them and tortures them at their farmhouse before freeing Baby for a game of cat and mouse but Tiny is able to save her and kill Wydell.  The three try to ride off into the sunset but a police roadblock stands in their way...

     House of 1000 Corpses gives fans a dark and relentless horror film that takes a story similar to The Texas Chainsaw Massacre and builds upon it.  The Devil's Rejects does the opposite.  It is brutal in it's own rights but it has an old exploitation feel to it.  It almost feels like a modern day hixploitation film and many could argue it is.  Either way, this film is superior to the first film.  The acting in this one is fucking fantastic.  Bill Moseley, Sid Haig, and Sheri Moon Zombie kills it.  Sheri Moon Zombie didn't sell me on her character with the first film but she brought it with this one.  Her character is not as annoying as the first film and she pulls together a wide range of emotion.  She did a fantastic job.  The same can be said for the entire cast.  Mosely, Haig, Ken Foree, Leslie Easterbrook, Geoffrey Lewis, Danny Trejo, and so on absolutely kills it.  Every scene is perfect.  With that being said, no one brings the intensity that William Forsythe does.  He absolutely steals every scene he is in and his character truly deserved his own spin-off.  The story for this one builds up on what the first film created but added even more unforgettable characters.  It took the claustrophobic atmosphere from the first and replaced it with a road trip type film.  It makes the film feel bigger in scope.  I also liked how the film turned three iconic horror villains into anti-heroes of sorts while the film's authority figure takes on the role of villain.  It was great.  Honestly, I can't find a problem with the story outside of the masked killer in the first one being Tiny's father while Baby's father is Captain Spaulding.  I get that they are a dysfunctional family but that's stretching it.  Finally, this film was hit and miss with the effects.  The practical effects and gore are fucking top notch.  The effects team really out did themselves here but the visual effects were shit.  I know it was almost 15 years ago but these visual effects were so bad.  I'm talking Syfy bad.  Who approved them?  Overall, The Devil's Rejects is an iconic horror film that I would be shocked to meet a horror fan who hasn't seen it.  This release from Umbrella is a must for horror fans and fans of Zombies' films.  

 



House of 1000 Corpses

 



Director - Rob Zombie (31, Lords of Salem)
Starring - Sid Haig (Spider Baby, The Devil's Rejects), Sheri Moon Zombie (Halloween, Halloween II), and Bill Moseley (Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2, Evil Bong)
Release Date - 2003
Genre - Horror
Tagline - "The most shocking tale of carnage ever seen"
Format - Bluray (Personal Collection) (Screener)

Rating (out of 5):

 

     When I hit high school I was a full fledged horror fan.  I was obsessed with it and spent every cent of my allowance buying movies and comics.  This was the time where I was an avid Rob Zombie fan.  Like most metal and rocks fans of the time I was obsessed with him thanks to the Twisted Metal games which featured him on the soundtrack.  In 2003 I was a sophomore and he announced his first horror film House of 1000 Corpses.  I fucking shit my pants at the news.  Sadly, there was no theater near me at the time so I had to wait for a physical release.  When it was released on DVD I had to have it and I'm glad I bought it.  The DVD menu alone was worth the price.  To this date I have yet to find a DVD with a menu as fucking cool at that one.  I loved the movie and watched it so much I burned myself out with it.  With news of Zombie's third film in the series Umbrella has released the first two films House of 1000 Corpses and it's sequel The Devil's Rejects on blu and was kind enough to send a review copy my way.  Thanks guys!

     The film follows two couples who are on their way home after traveling the country and documenting roadside attractions.  They stop at Captain Spaulding's Museum of Monsters and Madmen where they hear about the legend of Dr. Satan.  They decide to investigate it further and meet a female hitchhiker named Baby (Sheri Moon Zombie) who takes them back to their house for a Halloween they will never forget. 
    
     I always loved this film.  As I said earlier, I pretty much watched this one non-stop for a few years before giving the DVD a retirement.  It's been about 10 years since my last viewing and I have to say that it did not hold up well.  Don't get me wrong, the movie is fantastic but some of the things that I didn't mind so much are actually working against the film.  It's still a fantastic modern horror film but it doesn't have it's faults.  The acting in this one is fucking fantastic.  Zombie wrote some unforgettable characters with this one and pulled together a cast that brought them to live.  These performances are unparalleled in horror and almost every character is one you will never forget.  Their actions hold the scenes and the lines will be quoted for decades.  Bill Moseley and Sid Haig were already genre icons before this film but they moved to pop icons with their performances here.  We also get some great performances from two other pop culture icons Rainn Wilson and Chris Hardwick who was relatively unknown at the time.  They all do fantastic jobs and make these characters larger than life.  The story for this one often gets compared to The Texas Chainsaw Massacre.  I can see why.  A farmhouse out in the country that is home to a family of serial killers.  I can see why people compare the two but there is more to the story here than TCM.  We get urban legends, medical oddities, a group of characters that you follow compared to TCM's one.  The story has a lot going on which is also it's biggest flaw.  The movie struggles to figure out what kind of movie it wants to be.  We have a road trip horror that leads to the TCM style set up that ends with the evil doctor and his medical experiments.  Its a solid movie but it just doesn't know it wants to be.  There is also these random inserts that will remind viewers of Rob Zombie's music videos.  They serve no purpose to the film but do extend the running time.  Finally, this one has some fantastic effects.  We only get a few deaths here and there that are mostly gun shots but we do get some insanely amazing effects later in the film.  We get some top notch practical and costume effects that are still amazing even by today's standards.  The film isn't as gory and as brutal as other horror films of the time but it very effective at creating atmosphere.  Overall, House of 1000 Corpses is a fantastic horror film.  It was very ambitious for the time but it did not age well.  The characters are now iconic and the effects are insane but there some things this young director should have done differently. 





Howling VI: The Freaks

 



Director - Hope Perello (Pet Shop, St. Patrick's Day)
Starring - Brendan Hughes (Torchwood, Return to Horror High), Michele Matheson (Kingpin, Revenge of the Nerds III: The Next Generation), and Sean Sullivan (Wayne's World, Back to the Future III)
Release Date - 1991
Genre - Horror
Tagline - "Vampire vs. werewolf.  The ultimate clash of the forces of evil"
Format - DVD (Personal Collection (Screener)

Rating (out of 5):

    I know Howling VI: The Freaks is not the last in the Howling series.  If memory serves I think there is two more after this one but I knew this would the last one in the set so I didn't have high expectations.  This 1991 horror film is often mentioned in groups and compared to the first Underworld series that features a werewolf/vampire hybrid.  People often bashed The Freaks but referenced it when Underworld was released.  I had never seen The Freaks until now and I finally understand why people compared the two.  Way different stories but the beast is very similar.  I was not looking forward to this one but it actually surprised me and I liked it.  This box set begins and ends with solid films while the middle is murky. 

     The film follows an English handyman who goes to a small town during a drought looking for work.  A preacher who is a single father hires him to help restore the church in hopes of inspiring others in the community during this troubling time.  Everything goes smoothly until the night of a full moon.  The handyman changes into a werewolf and the owner of a traveling carnival that is traveling through knows exactly what he is so he cages him to use in his sideshow.  The preacher's daughter is in love with him and tries to free him but discovers that the sideshow owner is harboring a dark secret as well.

     I didn't know what to expect from this one but at the end of the day I really enjoyed it.  It was just as flawed as the previous installments but I really enjoyed myself.  The acting in this one is actually pretty entertaining.  We get some rather enjoyable characters with some great development mixed with some very forgettable characters.  The cast does give the scenes everything they have to offer but there is a few where it just comes up short or falls flat.  With that being said, it is leagues better than Howling IV.  The story for this one really held my interest.  I've always enjoyed horror films centered around traveling carnivals and sideshows.  Carnies have such a horrifying appeal to me.  They could be roaming serial killers that bounce from town to town or vampires that drains entire towns during their visits.  The possibilities are endless.  With that being said, I really liked how it was added to the Howling universe and even expanded upon.  However, there is several scenes that are painfully slow to watch as the film progressed.  The first 45 minutes or so coasted by but the film does start to wonder after the hour mark.  Finally, the film has some solid practical effects.  We get some blood and great practical effects and the creatures are great with the exception of the one werewolf scene where he is caged.  He was very laughable.  Overall, Howling VI: The Freaks may not be perfect but it doesn't deserve the shit that it gets  It definitely deserves a watch.  

 

 



Howling V: The Rebirth

 



Director - Neal Sundstrom (Dead Easy, Space Mutiny)
Starring - Phil Davis (Alien 3, Sherlock), Victoria Catlin (Ghoulies, Twin Peaks), and Elizabeth She (Howling VI: The Freaks, Howling: New Moon Rising)
Release Date - 1989
Genre - Horror
Tagline - "The beast returns!"
Format - DVD (Personal Collection) (Screener)

Rating (out of 5):

 

     Horror franchises are rarely consistent through every film.  The Evil Dead trilogy is always fun and almost all of Romero's Dead films are worth every horror fan's time but there is other franchises that start with a bang but quickly turn sour.  Series like Return of the Living Dead, Phantasm, Leprechaun, and The Howling are just several series that start out great but soon start releasing films that are poor quality just to cash in on the fan base.  A week or so ago I was sent The Howling Collection DVD box set from Umbrella Entertainment.  The set includes Howling III, IV, V, and VI.  I had seen the first three prior to receiving this set.  I actually own all these all ready on DVD and blu but I had never got around to watching them until now.  After watching Howling IV and V I can safely say this is a franchise that suffered as the series progressed. 

     The film begins 500 years ago when a family massacre happens inside an old castle in Budapest.  The castle was closed up and not opened again until now when a bus of strangers is asked to come spend the night there.  There is nothing that connects them all together except they have a peculiar birthmark on their arm.  As the night progresses they find themselves dwindling in numbers until the final few remaining learn that they were brought together by an ancient order that believes one with the mark is actually a werewolf and this is their only shot to kill it.  This creates paranoia among the group and the real werewolf is able to get the upper hand. 

     I'm reaching new territory with this set.  I didn't know what to expect but after forcing myself through the painful Howling IV I knew it could only get better with Howling V and for the most part it did.  The acting in this one is leagues above Howling IV.  The characters are extremely clichéd but the cast worked with what they were given which makes the scenes tolerable.  The story for this one mixes the werewolves with the murder mystery format.  It could have worked except we never get werewolf action.  The carnage takes place off camera and the werewolf is barely a character throughout the film.  Most werewolf fans will be disappointed by this.  With that being said, I loved the introduction to the ancient organization that hunts werewolves.  I hope this is something explored in later installments because it could be something extremely entertaining.  Finally, this one has some solid practical effects but they are just after moments.  We don't get to see the kills actually happen and the werewolf is barely visible in the film.  Overall, Howling V: The Rebirth is a little better watch than Howling IV but still has it's own fair share of problems.  It still deserves a watch but don't expect to be revisiting it anytime soon.  

 



Howling IV: The Original Nightmare

 



Director(s) - John Hough (The Legend of Hell House, Twins of Evil) and Clive Turner (Howling: New Moon Rising)
Starring - Romy Windsor (The X-Files, Surf Ninjas), Michael T. Weiss (Dark Shadows, The Mummy), and Antony Hamilton (Nocturna, The Twilight Zone)
Release Date - 1988
Genre - Horror
Tagline - "A terrifying journey into the gaping jaws of death..."
Format - DVD (Personal Collection) (Screener)

Rating (out of 5):

 

     Horror franchises rarely end as well as they started.  Companies love to beat a dead horse.  This can be seen with franchises like Child's Play, Hellraiser, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, and so on.  These names sell so companies continue to hash out half-assed films because fans will pay for it.  The Howling franchise is a bit of an odd duck.  These werewolf films have nothing in common aside from the fact they are centered around werewolves.  The first two films are tied together but the others have nothing to do with each other.  Most sequels at least try to fit together but not with this series.  I recently reviewed The Howling III on blu from Umbrells Entertainment and Scream Factory.  At the same time I was sent a Howling dvd box set from Umbrella as well that contained Howling III, IV, V, and VI.  While I was at it I thought this was the perfect time to start that DVD set.  

     The film follows an author who suffers from an overactive imagination and has visions of nuns and wolves.  Her husband, being the genius he is, takes her into the woods to relax because wolves don't live in the woods.  While there, you guess it, she hears wolves and becomes infatuated with their howls.  Her search of the woods and the local town brings her the attention of a former nun who is also doing research there after one of her best friends goes missing and is found completely insane.  The two start looking together and quickly uncover that the townsfolk is now as they appear to be.
     I wanted to like this one.  I had heard nothing but horrible things about this one so I thought it would be just as fun to as me as Howling III.  I was wrong.  The film just could not pull everything it had together into something coherent and entertaining.  The acting in this one had me laughing so hard I couldn't breathe.  Most of the men are dubbed over in a deeper voice that reminded me of those late 80s wrestling shoot videos.  They seemed to be more aggressive than the actor actually was and a few times I was expecting them to start quoting the Ultimate Warrior.  With that being said, Romy Windsor actually delivers an impressive performance which is overshadowed by everything else wrong with the film.  Her character is great and she does a fantastic job.  The story for this one is more a kin to the source material than the first film.  Sadly, it is a nightmare to sit through.  The scenes are painfully boring and will try the viewer's attention.  So many scenes could have been cut from the film and the story would have still worked.  Hell, making it shorter would have made the film have a completely different feel and more entertaining.  Editing is key to this one.  Finally, the film does have some awesome effects.  We get some great practical effects and I fucking loved the werewolf.  It did look a little cheesy but I still liked it.  Overall, Howling IV: The Original Nightmare tries to me more faithful to the book the series is based on but compromises the quality of the film.  The movie has plenty of unintentional humor and great practical effects but falls flat everywhere else.  In the Howling franchise this is the weakest installment so far. 

 



Howling III: The Marsupials



Director - Philippe Mora (Mad Dog Morgan, Pterodactyl Woman in Beverly Hills)
Starring - Barry Otto (Rogue, The Punisher), Imogen Annesley (Queen of the Damned, The Outsider), and Lee Biolos (Vietnam, Echoes of Paradise)
Release Date - 1987
Genre - Horror
Tagline - "The "Howling" terror continues"
Format - Bluray (Personal Collection) (Screener)

Rating (out of 5):

 

     People are highly opinionated but rarely respect other's opinions.  You either think the same as they do or they will bash you for being different.  Horror fans are no different.  From a young age I realized that my movie tastes are much different than others and as a horror fan that is extremely true.  I tend to like the films that most people deem bad or unwatchable.  To me these films are more original and fun.  When I was in high school I was traveling to Tennessee with my dad to visit my brother.  We stopped in Virginia and near a gas station was a store called Roses.  I wasn't familiar with that store then but since then I've come to realize that it is a chain store in the same line as Big Lots.  I went inside while my dad pumped gas and found a movie display.  Most were $5 but there was a few far less.  It was here that I first found Howling III: The Marsupials.  The movie was $1 and I couldn't leave without it.  I had seen the first film and loved it so I needed it for my collection.  As soon as I got to my brother's home I had to watch it and I fucking loved it.  Jump forward and Scream Factory has recently released the film on blu and was kind enough to send a copy my way.  Thanks guys!

      The film follows a young woman who is a weremarsupial that lives in the bush with several other women and her step-father who sexually abuses her.  She longs for something more and leaves to Sydney where she meets an assistant director who offers her a part in Shape Shifter 8, a werewolf film is he working on.  Her abusive family follows her to bring her back to her step-father.  Trapped in the middle of the feuding family is an anthropologist who suspects that werewolves exist after discovering an old video of one being killed by aboriginals.  His research put him in the middle of the family but soon they are all in danger when the government learns of their existence as well and sets out to eradicate them. 
      I know this sequel to the popular Howling film often gets a bum rap among horror fans.  I can see why it would turn many off but I fucking love it.  In fact, I do find it a little more fun than the first film.  I know that is an extremely unpopular opinion but that's just how I feel.  The acting in this one is actually pretty fucking good.  I always enjoyed Barry Otto's performance.  He may not be the traditional lead but he sure delivers one hell of a performance.  Imogen Annesley and Lee Biolos work perfectly together.  They feed off each other's emotions which really sells their scenes.  The supporting cast is fun as well.  The story for this one is what really sold me on the film.  Tasmanian tigers are something I was very interested in middle school.  That whole cryptozoology thing had kicked in so I was very interested in it.  Several books I had read made mention of the tigers and sighting of the creature that had been extinct since in the 1930s.  Having a werewolf movie set around this was pretty fucking cool if you asked me.  I also liked the love story tacked on and the various werewolf tribes.  This created a huge universe that could be used for future films.  With that being said, the biggest drawback to this one is that it is not a continuality of the first two films.  It is a standalone film.  My biggest complaint about the film is the ending.  The action ends and we enter this happy phase of the film which is cool and all but it just keeps going.  It could end at any time but it doesn't.  It chooses to just keep going and going with nothing new added to the story.  Finally, this one has some questionable effects mixed with some fun one.  There is several scenes that always fascinated me but there was a few times where I could not figure out what they were thinking.  Like the werewolf nuns with the rubber masks.  They looks completely ridiculous when they tried to talk.  If they would have just stayed still it would have been a cool shot and not look so cheap.  Overall, Howling III: The Marsupials is a guilty pleasure of mine.  I absolutely love the film and the blu release from Scream Factory is a must for any collector. 

 



Death Warmed Up

 



Director - David Blyth (Mighty Morphin Power Rangers, My Grandpa is a Vampire)
Starring - Michael Hurst (Hercules in the Underworld, Andromeda), Margaret Umbers (Smash Palace, Mr. Wrong), and William Upjohn (Dark City, Water Rats)
Release Date - 1984
Genre - Horror/Sci-Fi
Tagline - "I'll get you.  I'll get you all..."
Format - Bluray (Personal Collection) (Screener)

Rating (out of 5):

 

     When horror fans think of New Zealand they rarely think of it as a country that has contributed to the genre.  They often forget that New Zealand is the home to legendary filmmaker Peter Jackson who gave the world Dead Alive and Bad Taste.  Aside from the Pete Jackson films, New Zealand has released several great horror films like Black Sheep, I Survived a Zombie Holocaust, and 1984's Death Warmed Up.  The last is one film I had never seen before.  Sometime back Severin Films announced that they was releasing the film.  I couldn't wait to see it but I was unable to grab a copy when it was released.  Not too long ago I was able to grab a copy at a con I was at to add to my collection.  A few weeks later Umbrella Entertainment released the film on blu as well and I was lucky enough to get a review copy.  Thanks Umbrella for sending this one my way.

     The film follows a young boy who has experimented on with a mind-controlling substance.  He goes home and promptly murders his parents.  We jump forward and he was institutionalized for the murders and has since been released.  He is stable and has a girlfriend and friends.  They all go out for a holiday and visit the island that the company responsible for his brainwashing owns and he has more things on his mind than relaxing.  He want's to kill all those responsible for making him kill his parents.  

     I didn't know what to expect from Death Warmed Up but I did go into it with a lot of excitement.  I absolutely loved the cover used by Severin Films which I believe is from a VHS release.  The Umbrella Entertainment uses a cool cover but I really like the old painted artwork from the 80s.  It just looks so much fun.  Sadly, the film just wasn't as fun as the artwork was.  The movie had me scratching my head until the last 15 minutes or so which wasn't enough to save it.  The acting in this one is not that entertaining.  Some of the minor characters were actually more entertaining than the leads.  I especially liked the dude foaming at the mouth.  He was funny and actually did a decent job.  I also liked the dirty guy with bad teeth.  He was quirky and added some light humor to the film.  Sadly, the leads were unable to deliver that much fun.  The story for this one had a lot going for it but it failed to actually pull it all together into an entertaining film.  The first hour of the film I struggled to pay attention.  The character were not that entertaining and the story was just very uneventful and the action scenes were still very lackluster.  With that being said, the last 15 minutes or so of the film was very entertaining.  It wasn't enough to save the film but it was fun.  I think its safe to say that this film was the inspiration for, or at least inspired certain events in the 1993 Australian horror comedy Body Melt.  Finally, this film doesn't shy away from carnage.  We get several pretty gruesome deaths.  Some make great use of gore but the kills are rather quick and not as entertaining as the gore itself.  We get great practical effects throughout the film that does spice up a few of the slower scenes.  Overall, Death Warmed Up is a movie that could be something so much more but we are given flat characters and a story that doesn't build momentum until the last portion of the film.  With that being said, this is a solid release from Umbrella Entertainment and collectors will want to grab this one. 

 

 



Mega Time Squad



 

Director - Tim Van Dammen (Romeo and Juliet: A Love Song)
Starring - Anton Tennet (Her Majesty, Penny Black) , Johnny Brugh (Power Rangers: DinoThunder, The Almighty Johnsons), and Hetty Gaskell-Hahn (Shortland Street)
Release Date - 2018
Genre - Sci-Fi/Comedy/Crime
Tagline - "Out of time without a clue"
Format - Bluray (Personal Collection) (Screener)

Rating (out of 5):

 

     I love horror and exploitation but watching these day in and day out does get a little old.  It doesn't turn me off to them but it does start to wear thin over time.  I try to break these up by checking out non-genre films.  Sometime back I received a press release for the sci-fi comedy Mega Time Squad.  The film went through several posters and all of them caught my eye.  I loved how playful and funny the posters were.  When the movie was available for review I had to jump on it.  I requested a copy and they were kind enough to send one my way.  I'm glad they did because I really enjoyed it. 

     The film follows petty thief John (Tennet) who works for small time crime boss Shelton (Brugh) who forces him to rob a Chinese antique store that was holding Triad money.  John does the job and steals an old bracelet in the process but it warned that it has a special ability.  He disregards the warning and takes the money to Shelton where he learns that Shelton had set him up.  Facing death, John triggers the watch and jumps back in time several minutes and creates another John in the process.  He decides to use the bracelet to get the money back from Shelton and creates several more Johns which team up to form the Mega Time Squad.  Sadly, not all Johns are equal and one plans to secretly snuff out the others and make out with the cash.  Now the Johns have to worry about each other and Shelton and his goons.

     I was expecting this one to be a funny with a large sci-fi spin but that was not the case.  We get a heavy crime story with some sci-fi elements and the laughs just wasn't there.  It was still an entertaining film but the laughs fell flat.  The acting in this one is solid.  The characters are big and bold for the most part but some of the minor characters were poorly written.  The cast tries but these characters are just there to fill up space on the screen.  We get stellar performances from Anton Tennet and Johnny Brugh.  They both work very well together and make their characters fun.  The story for this one wants to be a comedy but the laughs just don't work.  The writing tries but the delivery and timing is way off.  Most of the humor falls under the table and never finds it's mark.  The story has great pacing and is fun for the most part but it does stumble over it's own footing near the end.  It starts to feel rushed.  Finally, we get some solid visual effects that are used sparingly.  We get a few death scenes with some blood but we never get a good look at the kill so you miss out on the practical effect.  Which is a bummer considering the amount of blood in the scene.  Overall, Mega Time Squad want to be a funny sci-fi actioner but finds itself as a solid sci-fi crime film.  It entertains just don't expect the laughs to follow.