(The Horde) Zombie Movie

After a colleague is brutally slain, a rogue group of police officers decide late one night to raid the high-rise base of operations of the Nigerian gangster Adewale (Eriq Ebouaney). Ouessem (Jean-Pierre Martins) is the voice of reason amongst the cops, preferring not to leave an indiscriminate bloodbath in the effort to get Ouessem.

However, it soon becomes apparent that blood is going to flow freely all through the night, as the building becomes surrounded by ravenous zombies. The gangsters and cops alike who are gunned down in the firefight quickly rise as the walking -- or rather, running -- dead. Now, sworn enemies must team up if any of them want to survive.

The End Result

L-R: Eriq Ebouaney, Doudou Masta and Jean-Pierre Martins in 'The Horde'.

Photo credit: B.RUN © Capture The Flag

Although French film has a reputation of being classy, arthouse fare, those of you who've seen horror movies like Inside, Martyrs and Frontier(s) or actioners like The Nest and District B13 know that they can be just as shallow, gratuitous and downright silly as anything that Hollywood spits out.

The Horde is a combination of these two French cinematic extremes: horror and action. There's nothing particularly original about it; it's filled with the sort of hardboiled cop-and-robber caricatures that we've seen in dozens of action movies and the sort of bickering protagonists and growling "fast" zombies we've seen plenty of times in modern zombie movies. The juxtaposition of the two, however, makes for an intriguing final product that's rarely dull.

That said, it's also rarely smart, rarely believable and rarely has a character we like. The writing is broad, with few nuances in plot or character development beyond the fact that no one is truly a "good guy". Despite a compelling setup, the plot never really goes anywhere, seemingly repeating the same scenes over and over again: shoot a bunch of zombies one way, find a dead end. Shoot a bunch of zombies another way, find another dead end.

Of course, plot and character development aren't the priorities for this type of movie. Where it earns its keep is in the action, which keeps things going at a steady pace. The action sequences are solidly entertaining -- particularly if you enjoy seeing zombies riddled with bullets (the protagonists never seem to figure out the whole "head shot" thing) -- but frankly could benefit from a more over-the-top John Woo-like flair to match the level of octane inherent in the story.

As it is, only one action set piece -- with Ouessem standing atop a car surrounded by "the horde" -- is truly spectacular. The rest are fine but lack originality, sort of like a first-person shooter video game. (No need to reload!) Perhaps to add some spark, directors Yannick Dahan and Benjamin Rocher seem to speed up the film in certain sequences -- almost to an ill-advised Benny Hill sort of effect.

But in a year in which good zombie movies are few and far between, The Horde fits the bill -- even if horror fans don't appreciate the downplaying of the fright elements in favor of action. It has a sense of nihilism that's a boon to an apocalyptic film of this sort. Not everything shines (particularly if you're stuck with the English dubbed version), but there are visceral moments that will get any zombie fanboy's blood flowing…internally speaking.

Full movie on Twomovies

THE Rock

The Review from Rotten Tomatoes

The sophomore film from former music video and commercial director Michael Bay, this fast-paced action yarn featured rapid-fire editing, a cutting-edge rock soundtrack and liberal use of shots awash in a haze of burnished hues, all trademarks of producers Don Simpson and Jerry Bruckheimer. Nicolas Cage stars as Stanley Goodspeed, an FBI chemical weapons expert handed a unique assignment. Francis X. Hummel (Ed Harris), an insane Marine Corps general, has taken 81 tourists hostage on the abandoned island prison of Alcatraz. He and his men are threatening to bomb San Francisco with deadly gas unless $100 million is paid in war reparations to the families of servicemen killed in covert operations. Goodspeed is teamed with former British spy John Patrick Mason (Sean Connery), the only man ever to escape "The Rock," as well as a Navy SEAL team. When their military escorts are ambushed, it's up to odd couple Goodspeed and Mason to break into Alcatraz and stop Hummel. The Rock was the last film produced by Simpson, who died of a drug overdose before the film's release. Solo, his partner Bruckheimer continued making the sort of glossy, frenetic films for which the duo was famed. ~ Karl Williams, Rovi

Reveiw From Rogerebert

"The Rock" is a first-rate, slam-bang action thriller with alot of style and no little humor. It's made out of pieces of other movies, yes, and not much in it is really new, but each element has been lovingly polished to a gloss. And there are three skillful performances: Sean Connery is Mason, an intelligence expert who's been in prison for 30 years; Nicolas Cage is Goodspeed, an FBI scientist, and Ed Harris is Gen. Hummel, a war hero with a mad scheme to wage chemical warfare against San Francisco.

The plot hook is a mission to break into Alcatraz. Harris and his men have occupied the former prison island, taken civilian hostages, and threatened to fire deadly rockets at San Francisco unless their demands are met. What are the demands? Hummel, who has three Purple Hearts, two Silver Stars and the Medal of Honor, is angered that 83 men have died under his command and never been recognized, because they wereon secret missions that the government denied even existed. He wants $100 million in payments to their next of kin.

Hummel is known and respected in Washington, and his demands are taken seriously. A news blackout is imposed while the Pentagon assembles a team to break into Alcatraz and neutralize the poison gasmissiles. We've already seen Goodspeed think fast while sealed in an airtight chamber with a deadly chemical bomb; now he's assigned to join the task force, even though he's basically a lab rat with minimal fieldor combat experience.

Another key member of the team is Mason, a British spy who, we learn, successfully stole all of J. Edgar Hoover's secret files("even the truth about JFK's assassination") before being secretly jailed for life without a trial. Mason's qualification: He is a jailbreak expert who is the only man ever to escape success fully from Alcatraz.

Movies like "The Rock" progress from one action sequence to another. Sometimes it doesn't even matter much how they fit together. Consider, for example, the highly entertaining way in which Mason turns a haircut into an opportunity to dangle one of his old enemies by a cord from a top floor of a hotel. And the way that leads to a San Francisco street car chase inspired by "Bullitt," leading to acrash almost as sensational as the train crash in "The Fugitive." Strange, isn't it, that after going to all that trouble to escape, Mason allows himself to be recaptured almost passively--probably because unless he joins the team, there's no movie. Strange, too, that although it has time for unlimited action, "The Rock" never slows down enough for a scene you might have thought was obligatory, in which Mason has the plan explained to him, along with a pitch about why he should go along. (He has a motive, all right--his only child is in San Francisco, and could be one of the poison victims. It's just that the movie never quite bothers at this stage to tell him, formally, about the poison.) The break into Alcatraz owes something to Don Siegel's"Escape from Alcatraz," the 1979 Clint Eastwood movie. While that one negotiated the maze of tunnels under Alcatraz in murky darkness, however, "The Rock" provides Alcatraz with a subterranean labyrinth as large and well-lit as the sewers in "The Third Man" and as crammedwith props and unidentified metallic machinery as the "Alien" movies.

The plot moves efficiently between firefights, explosions, torrents of water, hand-to-hand combat, interrogation, torture, imprisonment, escape and scientific mumbo-jumbo, as the infiltrators try to stop Harris' men from wiping out 70,000 San Franciscans, and the Pentagon prepares to firebomb the island with plane loads of Thermite Plasma, which sure sounds neat. All of these elements are standard issue for action thrillers, but the script adds some deft touches (asked if he knows why he has been released from prison, Connery wryly said, "I've been locked up longer than Nelson Mandela. Maybe you want me to run for president.").

What really works is the chemistry between Connery, as a reluctant warrior who has all the skills necessary to outsmart and outfight the occupying force, and Cage, as the nerd who can disarm the rockets but is not much in the killing department. And then there is an intriguing complexity added to the Ed Harris character, who is not as one-dimensional as he seems (early in the film, he advises some small children touring Alcatraz to return to their tour boat).

There are some loose ends. Cage and Connery keep turning up dry when they should be wet. A White House aide gently says, "We need adecision, Mr. President"--after the deadline has passed--and gets a speech so long it could have cost the 70,000 lives. And of course the heroes are allowed to eavesdrop as needed on any conversations containing information they need to know.

In a movie that borrows from all the movies I've already listed (plus second-hand filching from "Die Hard" and related epics), there are two particularly obvious steals: the old hypodermic-needle-plunging-into-the-heart trick, from Quentin Tarantino's "Pulp Fiction," and the Mexican standoff in which everybody has a gun pulled on everyone else (from QT's "Reservoir Dogs" and "True Romance" courtesy of old Westerns). Two lifts from Tarantino? Maybe the producers,Jerry Bruckheimer and the late Don Simpson, were getting their revenge for the famous Tarantino monologue in "Sleep With Me" where he analyzed their "Top Gun" as a homosexual parable.

No matter. Director Michael Bay ("Bad Boys") orchestrates the elements into an efficient and exciting movie, with some big laughs, sensational special effects sequences, and sustained suspense. And it's interesting to see how good actors like Connery, Cage and Harris can find a way to occupy the center of this whirlwind with characters who somehow manage to be quirky and convincing. There are several Identikit Hollywood action stars who can occupy the center of chaos like this, but not many can make it look like they think they're really there. Watching "The Rock," you really care about what happens. You feel silly later for having been sucked in, but that's part of the ride.

The Movie on HDmovie14

Backtrack

Jodie Foster before Silence of lambs
The Rotten Tomatoes Review

Originally prepared for European release under the title Catchfire, Backtrack wasn't given a wide distribution until 1991, and then only to capitalize on the Oscar win of Silence of the Lambs star Jodie Foster. In Backtrack, Foster plays a youngish innocent who witnesses a mob hit. Professional assassin Dennis Hopper is contracted to silence Foster for keeps. Instead, he falls in love with her. Directed by star Hopper, Backtrack has some of the feel of his earlier, better Easy Rider: the cast ispopulated by such old Hopper chums as Dean Stockwell, Charlie Sheen, Joe Pesci, Bob Dylan, Vincent Price and Julie Adams; and, like Easy Rider, it looks as though the story was improvised during filming. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

I watched the Movie on Crackle

YouTube Trailer
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Iron Doors

Review from Zombiedontrun

Locked in a vault, a young investment banker faces a slow death from starvation. Who kidnapped him and why? How can he escape the concrete walls and massive iron door that confine him? His journey of self-discovery has only just begun and his fight for survival will teach him values he previously thought impossible.

This close encountered film plays off people’s uneasy feelings towards closed-in areas. Of course something like this will either be hit or miss with the viewer; depending on if you buy what the director is selling overall or not. Before I get into that I will say that as far as the acting went with this one I do think it does a great job. Then again when your film only has two actors in the entire thing you best hope the acting is strong, even if one character doesn’t even speak English.

That being said, I wouldn’t say I was an overall fan of this one. One reason would be the fact that I feel the film never does deliver the goods or make a point. We go along with these people and we keep expecting a big reveal or some form of motive for the situation only to be disappointed when the movie does hit the money shot. I think the best way I’d sum up, Iron Doors, is by saying it’s a well-acted affair that is promising, but never fulfills that promise.

Review from CinemaHeadCheese

Movie Review: Iron Doors (2010)

Posted by Kevin Moyers 
 

Review by John Beutler

As the old saying goes, "...what doesn't kill us, makes us stronger"; a very fitting allegory to this tautly produced, albeit powerful and cleverly conceived trite of a psychological drama...from 2010, "Iron Doors". In the onset, the film delves very much into a ho-hum contrived 'Saw' or 'Cube' meld, but as the claustrophobic events further unfolds, this singular character study becomes something more about survival, and the indomitable human spirit, which in this case, become strengthened and determined, despite the resignedly foreseen breakdown of the body.

Axel Wedekind, coming off as sort of meld between Adrian Brody and Elias Koteas, solely and capably carrying the film, and giving a very engrossing performance as an unnamed bewildered man (...vocation: unknown...though, at one point, he does mention 'hazing', possibly implying his belonging to a group prone to 'prankster' group initiation), who wakes up in what appears to be an old and abandoned bank vault...replant with nothing but a large, rusty foot locker (...what's inside??), a flickering neon lamp overhead, and the vault's only other resident, at this point...a decomposing rat carcass.



The character's dialog shifts back and forth, from anguished inner thoughts, to vocal self-contemplation and progressively rage-infused outbursts, as...in trying to explore his options of escape...he stumbles upon clearly planted 'aids'; however, these 'aids' prove to be more akin to tortures, as it seems that just when he becomes elated at the possibilities laid before him, or created by him, they eventually turn out to be false hope and promises, so to speak...further enraging the desperate prisoner...for lack of a better term, 'progress, based upon failure'. Yet, despite these potentially spirit-shattering setbacks, as well as further surprises, tortures and revelations to come, this guy finds it within himself to drive on...bent upon both survival, as well as vengeful anguish, towards whoever put him in this predicament...grabbing onto dear life, an unswerving strength which builds, in contract to his physical being and mental state...which is slowing deteriorating...unhinging, as the result of thirst, hunger...and loneliness.

Intense and captivating in character, it becomes a mute point for the film, as to why this guy is in the precarious situation he is in, or what the eventual outcome is (...which turns out to be quite ambiguous and head-scratching; what was the filmmaker trying to do, with the ending?? Or is this reviewer trying to look too much into things, and not seeing the conclusive simplicity of matters, here??). Reportedly, the film (...three years ago) was originally presented in 3D; I'd be most curious as to how the film presented itself, in that respect. However, despite the visual format, this tight little drama definitely bears checking out, and should not be missed...a very satisfying trifle...an irresistible cinematic page-turner...

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Tasmanian Devils

Well This is a Action adventure movie usual thing from myths come to Eat everyone. Has it good points actors good. The Damsel in distress is not part of this movie. It is a SyFy movie.

This Syfy original movie features a Canadian roster of actors from such shows as Battlestar Galactica, Jericho, Stargate SG-1. Oh, and it stars Danica McKellar (Winnie Cooper from The Wonder Years). McKellar portrays Alex, an American forest ranger working in Tasmania. When a group of rich cliff-jumpers stumble upon an ancient cave and release these monstrous versions of the Tasmanian devil, she's thrust into the action. First, these creatures don't look like the infamous marsupials--rather like giant rats. Also, there's a bunch of supernatural googledegook about them that quickly lost my interest. Basically, this is another paint-by-numbers SyFy Channel killer animal movie. You should probably do anything else rather than watch this tripe. 

Review from Cinema Static

Dogma

RogerEbert

Kevin Smith's "Dogma" grows out of an irreverent modern Catholic sensibility, a byproduct of parochial schools, where the underlying faith is taken seriously but the visible church is fair game for kidding. For those reared in such traditions, it's no reach at all to imagine two fallen angels finding a loophole to get back into heaven. I can remember passionate debates during religion class about whether, if you missed your Easter duty, you could double back across the International Date Line and cover yourself.

Of course the faith itself does not depend on temporal rules, and "Dogma" knows it. Catholicism, like all religions, is founded on deeper mysteries than whether you will go to hell if you eat meat on Friday. I am reminded of the wonderful play "Sister Mary Ignatius Explains It All for You," in which a pre-Vatican II nun tries to cope with changes in church law; as I recall, her advice was to eat meat once on a Friday, to show you know the pope is right--and then never eat it again.

As someone who values his parochial school education and still gets into interminable debates about church teachings, I enjoyed the "Dogma" approach, which takes church teaching jokingly and very seriously indeed--both at the same time. It reflects a mentality I'm familiar with. (For example, it's a sin to harbor an impure thought, but how many seconds counts as harboring?) I am also familiar with the types at William Donohue's small but loud Catholic League, which is protesting this film as blasphemous.

Every church has that crowd--the holier-than-thous who want to be your moral traffic cop; when they run meetings, they drive you crazy with Robert's Rules of Order. It's interesting that no official church spokesman has seconded them. You'd think the church might tell the league to stop embarrassing it, but no, that would be no better than the league attacking Smith. We are actually free in this country to disagree about religion, and blasphemy is not a crime.

What's more, I think a Catholic God might plausibly enjoy a movie like "Dogma," or at least understand the human impulses that made it, as he made them. ("He's lonely--but he's funny," an angel says in the movie.) After all, it takes Catholic theology absolutely literally, and in such detail that non-Catholics may need to be issued Catechisms on their way into the theater (not everybody knows what a plenary indulgence is). Sure, it contains a lot of four-letter words, because it has characters who use them as punctuation. But, hey, they're vulgarities, not blasphemies. Venial, not mortal. Sure, it has a flawed prophet who never gives up trying to get into the heroine's pants, but even St. Augustine has been there, done that.

The story: Matt Damon and Ben Affleck play Loki and Bartleby, two angels cast out of heaven and exiled for all eternity to Wisconsin. They hear about a trendy bishop (George Carlin) who wants to give the church an upbeat new image. He's rededicating a cathedral in New Jersey in the image of Buddy Jesus, a Christ who blesses his followers with the A-OK sign. Anyone entering the cathedral will get a plenary indulgence (which means that if you are in a state of grace, all temporal punishment for sin is remitted, and you can enter directly into heaven). Bartleby and Loki see the loophole: Walk through the church's doors, and they qualify again for heaven.

There is a problem with this plan (apart from the obvious one, which is that church rules govern men, not angels). The problem is explained by Metatron (Alan Rickman), an angel who appears inside a pillar of fire in the bedroom of Bethany (Linda Fiorentino). After she douses him with a fire extinguisher, he explains that if the angels re-enter heaven, God will be proven fallible--and all existence will therefore end. He tells Bethany that she is the last surviving relative of Jesus on Earth, that two prophets will appear to her, and that she must follow them in order to stop the angels and save the universe.

Fiorentino is a laconic, edgy actress with an attitude. That makes her perfect for this role. In an earlier draft of Smith's screenplay, the character was a bimbo, but she's much better like this, grown-up and sardonic. It's fun to watch her handle the prophets, who turn out to be a couple of slacker mall rats (Jason Mewes and Smith himself). Later she meets Rufus, the 13th apostle (Chris Rock), who has a grievance about why he was left out of the New Testament.

If the film is less than perfect, it is because Smith is too much in love with his dialogue. Like George Bernard Shaw, he loves to involve his characters in long witty conversations about matters of religion, sexuality and politics. "Dogma" is one of those rare screenplays, like a Shaw playscript, that might actually read better than it plays; Smith is a gifted comic writer who loves paradox, rhetoric and unexpected zingers from the blind side.

There is a long tradition that commercial American movies challenge conventional piety at great risk. For a long time, any movie dealing with religion had to be run past Hollywood's resident monsignors, ministers and rabbis for approval (the habits of actual orders of nuns could not even be portrayed, which led to great ingenuity in the costume department). On the other hand, nobody has any problem with a movie that treats spiritual matters on the level of the supernatural. This has led to an emerging anti-religion based on magic, ghosts, reincarnation, mediums and other new age voodoo. Talk shows allow "psychics" to answer your questions over the phone, but God forbid they would put on a clergyman to supply thoughtful spiritual advice. And if a movie dares to deal with what people actually believe, all hell, so to speak, breaks loose.

Kevin Smith has made a movie that reflects the spirit in which many Catholics regard their church. He has positioned his comedy on the balance line between theological rigidity and secular reality, which is where so many Catholics find themselves. He deals with eternal questions in terms of flawed characters who live now, today, in an imperfect world.

Those whose approach to religion is spiritual will have little trouble with "Dogma," because they will understand the characters as imperfect, sincere, clumsy seekers trying to do the right thing. Those who see religion more as a team, a club, a hobby or a pressure group are going to be upset. This movie takes theological matters out of the hands of "spokesmen" and entrusts them to--well, the unwashed. And goes so far as to suggest that God loves them. And is a Canadian.

Rotten Tomatoes

MOVIE INFO

The latest battle in the eternal war between Good and Evil has come to New Jersey in the late, late 20th Century. In what can only be deemed a comedy parable, two renegade fallen angels attempt to jerry-rig the entire cosmological system -- unless a rag-tag group of humans can stop faith. Bethany, the heroine of DOGMA, is a woman who feels her prayers haven't been answered when, out of nowhere, a heralding angel appears in her bedroom and declares her the potential savior of humanity. This abrupt meeting sets her off on an extraordinary journey of mystery, comedy and suspense as she is transported to a fantastical world of celestial characters and spirited adventure. Along the way she will meet up with a heaven-sent messenger, an apostle with a 2,000 year old beef, a hotheaded demon, a heavenly Muse and two unlikely Prophets known as Jay and Silent Bob as they each discover the power of their own individual faith.

IMDb

An abortion clinic worker with a special heritage is called upon to save the existence of humanity from being negated by two renegade angels trying to exploit a loop-hole and reenter Heaven.

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The Sixth Sense

Well this is a well known movie of the Dead. Love its free on YouTube now.
Here Roger and Ebert Review

"The Sixth Sense" isn't a thriller in the modern sense, but more of a ghost story of the sort that flourished years ago, when ordinary people glimpsed hidden dimensions. It has long been believed that children are better than adults at seeing ghosts; the barriers of skepticism and disbelief are not yet in place. In this film, a small boy solemnly tells his psychologist, "I see dead people. They want me to do things for them." He seems to be correct.

The psychologist is Malcolm Crowe (Bruce Willis), who is shot one night in his home by an intruder, a man who had been his patient years earlier and believes he was wrongly treated. The man then turns the gun on himself. "The next fall," as the subtitles tell us, we see Crowe mended in body but perhaps not in spirit, as he takes on a new case, a boy named Cole Sear (Haley Joel Osment) who exhibits some of the same problems as the patient who shot at him. Maybe this time he can get it right.

The film shows us things adults do not see. When Cole's mother (Toni Collette) leaves the kitchen for just a second and comes back in the room, all of the doors and drawers are open. At school, he tells his teacher "they used to hang people here." When the teacher wonders how Cole could possibly know things like that, he helpfully tells him, "when you were a boy they called you Stuttering Stanley." It is Crowe's task to reach this boy and heal him, if healing is indeed what he needs. Perhaps he is calling for help; he knows the Latin for "from out of the depths I cry into you, oh Lord!" Crowe doesn't necessarily believe the boy's stories, but Crowe himself is suffering, in part because his wife, once so close, now seems to be drifting into an affair and doesn't seem to hear him when he talks to her. The boy tells him, "talk to her when she's asleep. That's when she'll hear you." Using an "as if" approach to therapy, Crowe asks Cole, "What do you think the dead people are trying to tell you?" This is an excellent question, seldom asked in ghost stories, where the heroes are usually so egocentric they think the ghosts have gone to all the trouble of appearing simply so they can see them. Cole has some ideas. Crowe wonders whether the ideas aren't sound even if there aren't really ghosts.

Bruce Willis often finds himself in fantasies and science fiction films. Perhaps he fits easily into them because he is so down to earth. He rarely seems ridiculous, even when everything else in the screen is absurd (see "Armageddon"), because he never over-reaches; he usually plays his characters flat and matter of fact. Here there is a poignancy in his bewilderment. The film opens with the mayor presenting him with a citation, and that moment precisely marks the beginning of his professional decline. He goes down with a sort of doomed dignity.

Haley Joel Osment, his young co-star, is a very good actor in a film where his character possibly has more lines than anyone else. He's in most of the scenes, and he has to act in them--this isn't a role for a cute kid who can stand there and look solemn in reaction shots. There are fairly involved dialogue passages between Willis and Osment that require good timing, reactions and the ability to listen. Osment is more than equal to them. And although the tendency is to notice how good he is, not every adult actor can play heavy dramatic scenes with a kid and not seem to condescend (or, even worse, to be subtly coaching and leading him). Willis can. Those scenes give the movie its weight and make it as convincing as, under the circumstances, it can possibly be.

I have to admit I was blind-sided by the ending. The solution to many of the film's puzzlements is right there in plain view, and the movie hasn't cheated, but the very boldness of the storytelling carried me right past the crucial hints and right through to the end of the film, where everything takes on an intriguing new dimension. The film was written and directed by M. Night Shyamalan, whose previous film, "Wide Awake," was also about a little boy with a supernatural touch; he mourned his dead grandfather, and demanded an explanation from God. I didn't think that one worked. "The Sixth Sense" has a kind of calm, sneaky self-confidence that allows it to take us down a strange path, intriguingly.

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House on Haunted Hill

The original 1959 Vincent Price stars in it. It is a fun dramatic mystery horror story then and now. The Remake Was good in 1999
the youtube info

"House on Haunted Hill" is a 1959 American horror film. It was directed by William Castle, written by Robb White and stars Vincent Price as eccentric millionaire Fredrick Loren. He and his fourth wife, Annabelle, have invited five people to the house for a "haunted house" party. Whoever stays in the house for one night will earn $10,000 each. As the night progresses, all the guests are trapped inside the house with ghosts, murderers and other terrors.Exterior shots of the house were filmed at the historic Ennis House in Los Feliz, California. 

Eccentric millionaire Frederick Loren (Vincent Price) invites five people to a "party" he is throwing for his fourth wife, Annabelle (Carol Ohmart), in a rented house, promising to give them each $10,000 with the stipulation that they must stay the entire night in the house after the doors are locked at midnight. Arriving late at night in separate funeral cars with a hearse leading the procession, Loren's guests are told the rules of the party, and each are given a .45 caliber pistol for protection. Forced to attend the party, Loren's wife tries to warn the guests that her husband is psychotic, causing them to be very suspicious of him. Nora Manning (Carolyn Craig) becomes convinced that he's trying to kill her when she keeps seeing frightening apparitions, including the ghost of Annabelle, who had apparently hanged herself some time during the night. Almost as frightened as Nora is another party guest, Watson Pritchard (Elisha Cook), the owner of the house. He is convinced that the house is genuinely haunted by the ghosts of those killed there in the past, including his own brother, and that those ghosts have the power to "come for" (kill) anyone in the house. Party guest Lance Schroeder (Richard Long) is attacked in a basement room, but is convinced his attacker was real, and tries to calm Nora's fears.

It is eventually revealed that Annabelle, in league with one of the guests, Dr. Trent (Alan Marshal), faked her death in an attempt to frighten Nora so badly that she will be compelled to shoot Frederick. After being driven into a fit of hysteria by the repeated frights she has experienced during the night, Nora, seeing Frederick walking toward her in the basement with a gun in his hand, does indeed shoot him. After she flees the room, Dr. Trent slips in and tries to get rid of Frederick's body by pushing it into a vat of acid there, but the lights go out, and the sounds of a struggle and splash are heard. Hearing the gunshot, Annabelle rushes down to the basement to confirm that her husband is dead, but finds the room empty. Suddenly, a skeleton rises from the acid accompanied by Frederick's disembodied voice. As the animated spectre approaches her, a screaming Annabelle recoils in horror, accidentally falling into the acid herself. The real Frederick then emerges from the shadows, holding the contraption that he used to manipulate the skeleton. Triumphant, he watches Annabelle dissolve in the acid.

Nora tells the other guests that she has shot Loren in the basement, but when they all arrive there they find him alive. He tells Nora that the gun she fired at him had been loaded with blanks, and explains to his guests that his wife and Dr. Trent had been trying to kill him and that they have each met their end in the vat of acid, adding solemnly that he is "ready for justice to decide" his guilt or innocence. Watson Pritchard, still an avid believer in the supernatural, looks into the acid and declares that Annabelle and Dr. Trent have now joined the ranks of the house's many ghosts. With a terrified expression on his face, he announces that the ghosts are now coming for him, then, breaking the fourth wall, he turns toward the camera and adds, "and then they'll come for you."

---

Directed by William Castle, prodced by William Castle, Robb White, written by Robb White, starring Vincent Price, Carolyn Craig, Elisha Cook, Carol Ohmart, Alan Marshal, Julie Mitchum and Richard Long.

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The Tunnel

Synopsys : An investigation into a government cover-up leads to a network of abandoned train tunnels deep beneath the heart of Sydney. As a journalist and her crew hunt for the story it quickly becomes clear the story is hunting them.

Review from Horror Hotel
Determined to find the truth behind a government cover up, a news team descends into a network of abandoned underground train tunnels looking for the facts of the story. What they find there in the endless darkness is something unimaginable. Something that is hunting them, one by one. And they're running out of light...

First of all, lets get the history of this films inception out of the way. It seems that THE TUNNEL's actual merit as a work of film, has been overshadowed by its rather excellent back story. The movie was funded independently, by the filmmakers selling frames of the film online in order to finance it. It was then releases simultaneously on a variety of platforms, including DVD, pay per view, and for FREE as a torrent download. I posted an article going into a little more detail about it here. Of course, I'm all for this method of film production. Its original, its risky and its somewhat symbolic of the independent spirit that is the horror genres birthright. And, lest we all forget, it worked. The film has been well received and word of mouth is quickly bringing it to the attention of many. The real problem here is that for a film with such an original conception, the work itself does come across as very derivative.


I'm an unapologetic fan of the found footage sub genre. When its done right, it can make for a very effective film that draws the audience into its world and its situation in a very personal, unique way. When executed poorly, however, it can be an unmitigated disaster. I despised Romero's DIARY OF THE DEAD yet I love THE BLAIR WITCH PROJECT, REC and even enjoyed CLOVERFIELD. In a film that implores you to take it as factual, you damn well better make it appear authentic. Background music and poor performances will draw you straight out of a film of this type, (see DIARY for more details). But as I said, there are very good examples of horror to be found. And its a fine place for an up and coming director to make his mark on the industry.

Bel Delia as Natasha

THE TUNNEL isn't really a found footage film, though. The bulk of the movie is made up of footage recorded by the ill fated crew, but in essence, it falls into the 'mockumentary', (hate that term), branch off that LAKE MUNGO and THE POUGHKEEPSIE TAPES followed a few years earlier. I'm fond of this style of filmaking too, and this film is a pretty fine example of it. I should add that there is music used in the film, but it works well as its a faux documentary, and the dramatic music used is a fair representation of what you'd find in any dark documentary on cable. Alas, THE TUNNEL has a number of flaws that I'll have to be honest talking about as they let the film down, but before I go into that I have to say I commend the filmmakers for their work. I have a lot of respect for these guys, and I'm not hating on the movie at all, so stick with me.

The main issue the film suffers from is a lack of originality. The basic plot, a group go looking for a story in a secluded location, find themselves lost and fighting for their lives; is pretty much a retread of BLAIR WITCH, and while this film hold its own and is well made, its setup is simply too familiar by now. Any discerning horror fan will have seen almost everything here done before, and often done better, though THE TUNNEL is certainly an above average film of its type, its unfortunately came along a few years too late, and by sticking to the formula so rigidly, it loses some of its power.

The other flaw, although this is a matter of opinion, is the decision to inter cut the footage with interviews from the surviving members of the crew. What this does, of course, is tells us in no uncertain terms who's gonna live and who's gonna die. Its a double edged sword. For some, the tension will come from NOT knowing who's going to bite it. For others, knowing the ultimate fate of the crew builds apprehension as to when the hammer will fall. In this case, I'd much rather have been kept in the dark as to who lives and who dies horribly. The film lost a measure of its tension, for me, due to this.

That THE TUNNEL remains a very suspenseful, and creepy film, despite these errors, is testament to the talent on show. It follows all the beats we're used to, but its made so well that you may find yourself caught in its web regardless of familiarity. The underground tunnel network is a brilliant location, allowing for many very claustrophobic sequences and a feeling of total isolation. Its very easy to imagine getting lost in this place. Also of not are the four central performances. The cast all come off as naturalistic as the script allows, and they really help sell the sense that this really happened. The two 'survivors' also do really well during the interview sections. They manage to convey a greater sense of loss and tragedy than is written in the script. The casting is spot on and the performances are great. We spend a good portion of time with the news team before we head into the dark with them, for some perhaps too long. For me, it was just the right amount of time for me to get a feel for these people. For others, it will be worth the wait, as when the film wastes no time at all hitting them with hell once they're down there in the pitch black. Also of note is James Caitlan in a very small but significant role as Trevor, a homeless person who's lived in the tunnels and knows a few secrets about the place. He's very effective as a tramautised soul, and his one scene is filled with a creeping dread that really ups the horror, and anticipation of whats to come.

James Caitlan as 'Trev'

I wont go into revealing what horror they encounter in those dank tunnels. Hell, I'm not even sure I know for sure myself, though there are hints here and there at an urban legend regarding a 'Slender Man'. Eagle eyed viewers will find a number of clues as to what the hell is down there in the dark, but they ARE only hints, and its to the filmmakers credit that your left as much in the dark as the poor bastards trapped down there with the damn thing. And what of the human/creature hunting the news team? Rest easy, it's pretty damn scary. Theres some brilliantly eerie scenes in here. One in particular, (and the films only real moment of onscreen violence), involving an underground lake and an ill fated security guard, really sent a chill up my spine. In this scene and many others, the use of light and dark is excellent. Barely glimpsed shapes in the blackness and creeping shadows really fuel the viewers imagination. Its a scary little film, this. Familiar, but very effective.

THE TUNNEL can be watched for free, so there's really no reason to miss this one. That its actually a memorable edition to the sub genre doesn't hurt either. Watch this one with the lights down and surround sound if possible. Its got solid scares, a location that nightmares are made, a great cast and a very creepy, mysterious killer. As horror fights for new ideas and concepts, returning to old ones is a given. When they're executed this well, its very hard to complain.

The Movie on youtube
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