Flicks: Apocalypse LA (2014) aka Yuppies Whine For Hours

Look-out, Zombie Apocalypse! Here comes five whining yuppies with big time complaints.

Apocalypse LA (2014) aka Disaster L.A. aka Yuppies Whine For Hours is another questionable film that has found a home at WB and The Sy-Fy channel. Far from the enjoyably campy, trashy variety of zombie film (Return of The Living Dead) the film is crippled by a cast of bland, unlikable, whining yuppies. The cast seems to draw their inspiration for their roles as survivors by recalling the sheer terror of paper cuts or maybe the deep sorrow of getting their food mixed up with their bros at Taco Bell.

There is an unmistakable lack of character and an inability to commit that is all too apparent in these actors that is troubling to say the very least. It's like having a sheltered and marginally educated person attempt to portray Julius Ceasar - it's not gonna go well at all.

To cripple a decent premise even more (90% of LA are zombies and the city is on fire), writer and director Turner Clay chooses to have his actors whine like small petulant children when faced with overwhelming existential crises such as: picking keys up off the floor, running two blocks, running down stairs, facing stationary enemies, facing off against a handful of zombies, operating a radio and so on.

Much like Skyline (2010) it has really good digital effects but it's stars are terrible. Also, like Skyline, starring the wooden and charisma-less Eric Balfour, the movie is completely and utterly unwatchable. It's like five Eric Balfours got together in their cramped LA apartment and decided that running in circles, while whining, would be a super great idea for a film.

Did I mention the practical effects? Think wet paper towels draped on actor's faces. Think melted Klingon make-up from the 1960's re-purposed for today - 50 years later. The practical effects are so bad that you are almost glad that there are only four or five "zombies" in the entire film. Did I mention the current population of LA is 3.8 million? Kinda makes you wonder how fast the crew ran out of paper towels...

What really makes the movie so bad is that it is done in earnest. There are dozens of heart-to-heart scenes that last just a few seconds and are totally unbelievable. This led to Rotten Tomatoes giving the film a 13% - which is probably far too generous.

Do yourselves a favor and avoid this one at all costs.

References:
IMDb, Disaster L.A. (2014)
Horrornews, Disaster L.A. (2014)
Rotten Tomatoes, Please God Let This Be The Last Zombie Apocalypse Movie

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Flicks: Wyrmwood (2014)

A masterfully paced adventure in an Aussie landscape of burrowing ghouls and brutalized survivors.

A gutsy independent horror film has just wrapped principle photography on September 12th in Sydney and New South Wales in Australia. The film is Wyrmwood from brothers Kiah and Tristan Roache-Turner. It's set to make it's first appearance in South Korea on October 3rd at the Busan Film Fest. Afterward, it will be available for US and UK audiences.

This film, from the extended clips that have been made available, looks very interesting. Your ol' pal The Sleaze-A-Saurus is waiting with baited breath until this film reaches domestic markets. It's got great pacing. There's a grit and realism in the film that seems to escape big budget films that have cashed on the zombie genre. I would go so far as to put it near the brilliant Zone 261 (2014) in terms of realism and tension.

This film received an additional $11,000 in crowd-funded support from fans in March that allowed Kiah and Tristan to add some interesting post-production effects such as toxic fumes exhaled by the creatures, CG gore and punched up sound effects. Here's the pitch video from Indie Go Go.


Two zombies artfully explain why the Internet is going to give them 10 grand to finish their film.

The official description is this: In the aftermath of a comet breaking up over the Earth, most of the planet’s population quickly succumb to a strange disease which turns them into "zombies". Few survive, and those who do quickly discover all existing fuel sources have been rendered unusable by the plague.





Trapped in a wilderness filled with living dead, unable to travel to any safer location, survivors have little to live for. One of those survivors, family man Barry (Jay Gallagher) has lost everything except his sister Brooke. But even as the disaster unfolds, Brooke is kidnapped by a gang of paramilitary thugs and dragged off to a horrific medical lab run by a psychotic "doctor" who is performing a series of deranged experiments on plague survivors.

For distribution information and upcoming screenings go to: Roache-Turner Films.

References:
Roache-Turner Films, Wyrmwood
IMDb, Wyrmwood
Facebook, Wyrmwood

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Walking Dead: Season Four

The trailer for Walking Dead Season Four from Comic Con 2013 in San Diego.

The Walking Dead will be returning in only a matter of weeks from the time of this post. This show has shattered all cable television records and is threatening to do the same this year as the survivors dig in deeper into the re-claimed prison with most of the population of an abandoned hunter town, Woodbury, now joining them.

According to longtime practical special effects guru and director of the series since the middle of season three, Greg Nicotero: "Our rocket is poised on the launchpad and we still have so much more to go."^[0]. And Nicotero is definitely credible due to his long career as a make-up tech in horror movies starting as an assistant to Mr. Tom Savini in 1985 on George Romero's Day of the Dead.

So let's re-cap Season Three.


You say that there's a Zombie Apocalypse on and I'm supposed to be in charge? Um, can I get a do-over?

Rick went apeshit. Total paranoid break. Seeing shosts and, well, chatting 'em up on a dead telephone. You gotta give Andrew Lincoln serious respect for the risky direction he took Rick. The last thing anyone wants is a paranoid schizophrenic for a leader yet Lincoln managed to take Sheriff Rick Grimes from cocksure cop in S1e1 to a babbling, angry killer by the time we collectively reached the end of S3e4 "Killer Within" and into S3e5 "Say The Word"

Lori is dead. Rick's libidinous wife was kind-of-a-schmuck who diddled his best friend and "lost" her son during the Zombie Apocalypse a half dozen times. She died in the middle of an improvised Caesarean section operation performed during a zombie horde attack instigated by a dangerous prisoner who Rick failed to kill during their initial recovery action at the prison.

Daryl Dixon is a leader. Norman Readus has been a crowd favorite since Boondock Saints (1999) due to his roles as a relentless underdog. As a smart kid in a white trash world Daryl Dixon grew up the mountains of northern Georgia to become a full-time suvivalist. This was all well before the Zombie Apocalypse struck.

Of every member of the current cast he was most ready for it.

*Spoiler Alert*
Don't read this if you would like to maintain a huge surprise. Seriously. Skip down a bit.

Daryl may not survive this season. This is for two reasons. Number One, Readus's career has come along way since co-starring in Blade II (2002) as a traitorous vampire food. He's was in four movies in 2013. Also, some leaked images, whether real or manufactured have been made available to The Sleaze-A-Saurus. These images clearly show a zombie Daryl.

*End Spoiler Alert*


Frisky? So... how's about it, then?

Until what is mentioned above happens, or doesn't happen, Dixon will probably head to the "Bone Zone" with recent widow Carol. Carol (Melissa McBride) is another candidate for "Mother of the Year" having lost her own daughter in the middle of the Zombie Apocalypse.

Let's talk about Season Four.

Tyreese, a new character from the original comics series, is back. And in the long standing tradition of horror movies aimed at white culture in America, nearly every black character T-Dog, Oscar, Big Tiny and Andrew have died so far. Like it or not, it is what it is.

In fact, Michonne (the undeniably sexy Danai Gurira) and Tyrese^[1], are the only black people who are seemingly immune to White Vengeance in the tv show. We can ascribe the Uhura factor to Michonne. She is definitely is as sexy as Nichelle Nichols ever was and then some. But how to explain a strong and trust-worthy black male character like Tyreese?

The most cornpone, bigoted audiences out there have to admit they'd want Tyreese in their corner in the Zombie Apocalypse. It's too bad that registered KKK member Merle Dixon isn't around to prove the Duane Jones, I-have-to-trust-this-guy-for-now, theory in Season Four.

The addition of Lawrence Gilliard Jr. (The Wire) as Bob Stookey will also continue to round out the cast in a more realistic depiction of modern America.

In the fourth season, anything can happen. The former leader of the hunter town, the "Governor" is wandering somewhere nearby with a few of his lieutenants. Will he be back? The hunters from Woodbury are now in the prison with the survivors. How many of them will betray the group? Judith, Rick and Lori's infant daughter lives in world without modern medicine. Can she be vaccinated and cared for in a Stone Age world? How can the hunters and the survivors work together as hordes of zombies line the prison gates?

Answering these questions could take up the entire season. The world will find out October 13th 2013 9PM EST on AMC.

Notes:
[0] = Greg Nicotero quote given to The Huffington Post June 7th 2013.
[1] = Tyrese is not long -lived in the comic. In fact, after being introduced in issue 7 he never leaves the prison. He dies in book 46.

References:
IMDb, Greg Nicotero
Huffington Post, 'The Walking Dead' Season 4: Greg Nicotero Talks Directing
Wikia, Walking Dead
IGN, Walking Dead Season Four: Everybody Dies!

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Flicks: Mimesis (2011)

Sid Haig and director Doug Schulze enthusiastically explore the modern horror movie genre.

Manlings. They live and die - and have no control between these two absolute certainties. Mimesis (2011) explores the certainty found in horror movies that provides the illusion of control over life and death. Horror movie fans know their classic films, such as George Romero's cultural epiphany, Night Of The Living Dead (1968), better than they know themselves, their own government institutions or ancient religious texts! It's true.

Why? Because it seems more relevant. Simple. And what could be more relevant than a movie that is an homage to, not a re-make of, Night Of The Living Dead?

Today, it is very usual to see a film using the exact structural framework of a classic like Night Of The Living Dead especially at a time when re-makes like Evil Dead and the latter Night Of The Living Dead sequels both sputter due to lack of interest in a Hollywood version of a cult classic devoid of imagination.

Mimesis starts out like Wes Craven's Scream movies, at a horror movie con (!), and quickly becomes a self-aware, full-color version of Night Of The Living Dead. Director Doug Schulze, who also co-wrote and funded the film, filmed Mimesis in and around Detroit, Michigan, which any resident of the US will tell you is a true land of the dead. Mimesis is very much a product of Michigan. Insane Clown Posse, based in Michigan, is featured on the soundtrack and the movie was released by the recently resurrected Anchor Bay (Evil Dead, Prom Night) who were originally based in Michigan before being bought out by Starz.

In an interview with Shock Till You Drop, Schulze remained clear about the influences that he had including The Last Man on Earth by Richard Matheson, which is actually a vampire film, and the tradition of people isolated in cabins or houses (Cabin Fever, Evil Dead).

Schulze's actors reprise the roles of Duane Jones (Allen Maldonado) and Barbara (Jana Thompson) along with horror movie vet Mr. Sid Haig (Spider Baby, House Of 1,000 Corpses) playing a horror film director making some extremely significant statements about the genre and entertainment in genral. The actors are forced into a game as doomed pawns re-creating a classic horror film where everyone is meant to die. Mimesis 2 in currently in post-production with a third movie planned.

References:
IMDb, Mimesis (2011)
Shock Til You Drop, Director Talks Mimesis: Night of the Living Dead
Fangoria, "Mimesis" Night Of The Living Dead

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Flicks: Juan Of The Dead (2011)

First, there was the classic Shaun Of The Dead (2004) and now... Juan Of The Dead (2012)!

All red-blooded hum-mons enjoy the Zombie Apocalypse. It's a theoretical time of great clarity for the troubled, confused hu-mon brain. While the survival-horror has unintentionally produced some excellent parodies in it's wake, few measure up to Juan Of The Dead (2012) a Spanish made independent movie filmed in Havana, Cuba. This out-standing picture was directed by Argentinian Alejandro Brugués and is as good if not better than Shaun Of The Dead (2004).

This blackly comic indie satire comments on the past 50 years of Cuban and American history while throwing in hordes of zombies and one disenchanted and oddly unkillable hero, Juan. Brugués delivered this Spanish language production for just $3 million (most movies are made for $20 million) - just enough for some incredible art direction by native Cuban Derubín Jácome and cinematography by Carles Gusi.

References:
Official Site, Juan Of The Dead
IMDB, Juan Of The Dead (2011)
Den Of Geeks, Juan Of The Dead Review

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