Genre Mashing On The Cheap..."Daylight's End"

Daylight's End (2016)

Not Rated

Starring Johnny Strong, Lance Henriksen, Louis Mandylor, Chelsea Edmundson

Directed by William Kaufman

The Story:

A drifter (Strong) saves a cop (Edmundson) from an ambush that kills her partner. She takes him back to the police precinct promising him a car and all the gas/food he needs to be on his way. However, they are trying to escape to a sanctuary to get away from the bloodthirsty savages that lurk in the shadows.

File this one under wanting to make a budget horror end of the world film but they couldn't choose between zombies or vampires, so they kind of combined the two into one.

That way you can get the best of both worlds without working too hard.

Throw in a dash of Mad Max, Assault on Precinct 13, I Am Legend, videogames and just about whatever else you can think of, and this movie has got you covered.

Henriksen of course is the face and name you recognize.

Everyone else in the cast is competent, but no names or faces that I recognized.

It could have used a little more tweaking and originality and a bit less borrowing from everything else, but it was good enough to keep my interest.

Final Grade: C

We've All Known A Few... "Bloodsucking Bastards"

Bloodsucking Bastards  (2015)

Rated R

Starring Fran Kranz, Emma Fitzpatrick, Joey Kern, Pedro Pascal, Joel Murray,

Directed by Brian James O' Connell

The Story:

Evan (Kranz) thinks he is about to get promoted at work by his boss (Murray). Instead, he loses out to Max (Pascal) and things really begin to change around the office. Add to that, the fact that he lost his girlfriend (Fitzpatrick) due to a bone-headed decision, and suddenly Evan's life is horrible. The only thing that might make it worse, is discovering that his co-workers are being turned into vampires.

Yep, things are about to get worse!

Another fine entry in the horror-comedy genre has arrived, and it's great fun.

The cast sucks you in and you're along for the ride as Evan and his best friend Tim (Kern) slowly unravel the plot to turn everyone into vampires, and then battle for survival and to try and save Amanda.

However, in their defense, the vampire outsourcing program is a very sound fiscal and productive move.

:)

Blood will be shed...launched... across the screen, but that's part of the fun from the film.

It's played straight, and for laughs, all at the same time.

I've seen a lot of enjoyable horror comedy this year. This and Freaks of Nature are the cream of the crop.

Final Grade:  B+

So Much Horrific Goodness... "Freaks Of Nature"

Freaks of Nature (2015)

Rated R

Starring Nicholas Braun, Mackenzie Davis, Josh Fadem, Denis Leary, Ed Westwick, Vanessa Hudgens, Keegan-Michael Key, Patton Oswalt, Bob Odenkirk, Joan Cusack, Ian Roberts, Rachel Harris, Mae Whitman, Chris Zylka

Directed by Robbie Pickering

The Story:

Welcome to Dillford, home of the riblet. Mmm, mmm, good! It also happens to be a town where humans, vampires and zombies all peacefully coexist, though there are bound to be some temperamental flare ups now and then. However an alien invasion has put its sights on Dillford (and the riblet!) and the uneasy peace is destroyed and now it's human vs. vampire vs. zombie, none of the groups aware of the existence of the alien menace. It's up to 3 teenagers to restore peace and save the world... or die trying!

I've been lucky so far this year with some great additions to the horror-comedy genre.

I'd never heard of Freaks of Nature before, so I gave it a whirl.

I'm so glad I did!

First, the cast is phenomenal and they get some hilarious dialogue throughout the film. Usually I stop at the main cast, or sometimes add a bit player or two, but I decided to just rattle off the full cast today. Whether they were on screen for the entire movie or just a minute or two, they all add to the rich texture of the story and provide momentum for the story progression.

The three main members of the cast are Dag (Braun) a human, Petra (Davis) who becomes a vampire shortly after the movie begins, and Ned (Fadem) who winds up becoming a zombie. These three band together to figure out what is happening with their town, and as they are all new to being non-human (save Dag), they don't hold the longstanding grudges that their communities have towards one another.

Yes, in a way, there's a bit of social commentary that can be found in the middle of a horror comedy if  you're not looking, so be careful, you could laugh AND learn something.

It's a fun story, the special effects are top-notch, and it's just a lot of fun from start to finish.

So far, this has been my favorite horror film of the year. :)

Final Grade: B+ / A- range.

Vampires Finally Reveal "What We Do In The Shadows"

What We Do In The Shadows (2014)

Rated R

Starring Jermaine Clement, Taika Waititi, Johnny Brugh, Cori Gonzalez-Macuer, Stu Rutherford

Written and Directed by Clement & Waititi

The Story:

Vladislav (Clement), Viago (Waititi) and Deacon (Brugh) are flatmates in New Zealand. They also happen to be vampires. After promising not to harm the camera crew that films them, they agree to let humankind take a peek behind the curtain and see what it's like to be a vampire. Sure, they're immortal, but not having mirrors really wreaks havoc on one's fashion sense. Then there are the endless arguments about chores. Plus, don't get them started on their dislike of werewolves. The dynamic of the group changes when they turn a local (Macuer) and he begins to disrupt the status quo of the group entirely.

This Is Veinal Tap.

A mockumentary that treats the subject both respectfully and with a sense of fun, after all, these are vampires in New Zealand!

The special effects are not bad at all, and it's easy to forget that this film was probably shot on a shoestring budget, compared to just about anything shot in North America.

Where I normally pick on a director and writer who are one and the same because they often don't know when to change something, these two obviously put a lot of effort and time into their film to make sure that there was very little waste or boredom in the film.

I won't go too much more into the plot other than this:

In a nutshell, if you like horror, horror comedy, mockumentaries or movies filmed in New Zealand, this one will be right up your alley.

Plus, the inevitable conflict between vampires and werewolves is ultimately more satisfying than anything you may have seen in Twilight.

Final Grade: B

These Vampires Don't Sparkle. They Don't Entertain, Either. "Only Lovers Left Alive"

Only Lovers Left Alive (2013)

Rated R

Starring Tom Hiddleston, Tilda Swinton, John Hurt

Written and Directed by Jim Jarmusch

The Story:

Adam (Hiddleston) and Eve (Swinton) are vampires. They apparently love one another, but as the movie begins, they are not together. Hiddleston is a musician with an eye and ear for electric guitars. Eve heads to Marlowe (Hurt) to get the last of his "good stuff". Adam goes to the hospital to buy some blood discreetly.  They all drink up...

And then I turned the movie off.

It had been over 20 minutes of artistic melodrama that was getting me nowhere but bored.

Whatever else happened in this movie, happened without my knowledge or care.

The amusing part, I was actually ready to turn it off when the movie started with the parallel scenes overhead of the main characters using a downward spiral effect from the camera.

I should have taken the downward spiral as a sign!

I came to be entertained, not nauseated.

This was the first Jim Jarmusch film I have seen.  Looking at his credits, I know I have one more in my queue that I had requested.

Now however, I'm in no hurry at this point.

Final Grade: D

Rewatchability/Purchase Factor: No chance..

These High School Kids Totally Suck... "Vampire Academy"

Vampire Academy (2014)

Rated PG-13 for language and blood-suckery

Starring Zoey Deutch, Lucy Fry,

Directed by Mark Waters

The Story:

At St. Vladimir's Academy, the Moroi attempt a peaceful co-existence with humanity, feeding off the blood of willing vampire fans.  They are protected by the Dhampir, a half-human/half-vampire who learn how to save their Moroi in question from the Strigoi, the evil vampires of legend that just want to kill anything.

This story centers on Rose (Deutch) a Dhampir who shares a deep bond with her Moroi, Princess Lissa, the last of the Dragomir line.  They are on the run from the Academy, because there are some not-so-nice characters there as well, but alas, to make the story work, they are returned to the Academy to ramp up the conflict and tension.

Does it work?

Yeah, pretty much.

This can help get the taste of Twilight out of your mouth.

The latest teen vampire novel brought to the Silver Screen shows some serious promise.  Or tongue in cheek promise at the very least.

It's by no means perfect, but the cast of characters is pretty fleshed out, and they bring a nuanced layer to their Vampires, Dhampirs and the relationship between the two.

And yes, they set up a sequel perfectly that I'm ready to see.  The question is, will they make it?

The writing has flashes of brilliance and humor throughout, and Rose is easily the star of the movie.

Add in your typical romantic entanglements, high school issues that even vampires are not immune to, and it's easily watchable.

Not quite the instant cult classic that Waters gave us with Mean Girls a decade ago, but I can see this one gaining some traction as time passes.


Again, not perfect.

But not Twilight either.

And that's a huge step up for this guy.

Final Grade: C+.. maybe even B-

Rewatchability/Purchase Factor: Wouldn't rush out to buy it, but I could watch it again down the road a bit.

Twas the Weekend Before Halloween... "The Revenant"

There are apparently worse things than dying...

The Story:

Bart Gregory (David Anders) is a soldier in the military who gets killed.  However, he winds up coming back to life, and with the help of his best friend Joey (Chris Wylde), he decides that it wouldn't be so bad if he killed bad people and used their blood to keep him alive.  Theoretically, he's doing the rest of the world a service.

Ah, the best laid plans of the undead...

I'm torn.

I'd been on such a great streak with all of the Zom-Coms this year, this one seemed to be heading down similar territory.

Instead of going for full-on vampire or zombie, they used the old myths of the Revenants, corpses that came back from the dead and needed to feast on blood to stay alive.

However, the movie then changes the tone by having the best friend get turned also.

Okay, now we have buddy revenants out for a good time...

But then they come back to the original love story from the beginning...

And the movie seems to lose direction...



Then boredom began to set in.

: /

And don't get me started on the meandering,  "totally lost their way" 3rd act.

It's like a movie that had no idea how it wanted to end, or find a way to execute it.

The final decisions aren't bad, and partly clever.  The beat-around-the-bush way of getting there though downgraded a movie that started off with a fairly strong premise.

Ah well.

Final Grade: C

Rewatchability/Purchase Factor: Have to say no to both.

But tomorrow, the scary weekend is redeemed!

Love at First Bite? "Vamps"

That bites!

The Story:

Two vampires in New York, Goody (Alicia Silverstone) and Stacy (Krysten Ritter) mostly enjoy their night life.  Taking college courses at night and working as exterminators to catch rats and drink their blood.  Yep, they and many other vampires have shunned human blood and concentrate on the vermin of New York as their sustenance.  Ah, but when the Van Helsing family moves to New York, the girls' existence is about to get really complicated...

Following up the latest viewing of Clueless, I wondered whatever happened to Amy Heckerling?

Turns out she wrote and directed this one last year, and brought back Alicia Silverstone (and Wallace Shawn!) in the process.

I'm not sure if she gave up on Hollywood, or vice versa, but there just hasn't been very much Amy Heckerling product in quite some time.

She comes out of the gate in 1982 with Fast Times at Ridgemont High, and then enjoys success again in High School in 1995 with Clueless.

Other than that, her career is filled with long gaps from the Director's chair, and even longer since she's had a box office hit.

Vamps apparently didn't help her much, which is a shame, because it is a cute little movie.

Perhaps that was the problem?    It's nothing special that screamed "I must be a movie" instead of something that could have been made for tv.

Her cast is impressive, with Sigourney Weaver playing the stem vampire that turned both Goody and Stacy.  As it turns out, only stems can turn people into vampires, and if a stem is injured or killed, it will have repercussions on the entire line of vampires that the stem had created.

So you can see where the plot device is coming from.

Either way, it's still a better film than Twilight.

: )

Final Grade: B-

Rewatchability/Purchase Factor: Mostly harmless fun.  Not Heckerling's best, but it's a  movie that I could watch again with no problem.