Stake Land II (2016)

aka: The Stakelander
Dir: Dan Berk, Robert Olsen

I would not have guessed that the vampire apocalypse film STAKE LAND would get a sequel. The film does offer a different take on end times, and does a wonderful job of world creation, but its deliberate pace and inward reflection (think Terrence Malick directing a vampire flick) did not lend itself to becoming a franchise. I found the film to be above average, a tad too slowly paced for the material, but recommend it to viewers looking for a fresh take on bloodsuckers rampaging across a broken country. Here we are six years later with a follow-up.

Martin (Connor Paolo CAMP HELL), his family destroyed by The Mother (Kristina Hughes FEROCIOUS), the leader of a vampire pack, searches for his former mentor Mister (Nick Damici who also wrote the script). His plan is to find the vampire slayer extraordinaire and team up to crush The Mother and her minions. His journey takes him across North America pitting him against vampires, the malignant cult The Brotherhood and other humans who seemingly have given up hope for a better world and have turned to cannibalism for sustenance and redneck gladiatorial combat for entertainment. The world is shit, humans are no longer working together.

Finding Mister the two do team up and find a community that does work together. They also learn that they have fallen into a trap laid by The Mother who's forces are gathered to destroy the community and Mister.

Most of the navel-gazing of the first film is gone leaving the basic framework of the post-apocalyptic road film (MAD MAX II, THE ROAD, PHANTASM series). The pace is picked up, this film runs a scant 81 minutes, with an emphasis on action rather than characters. Unfortunately the low budget, it is a Syfy Channel feature, hampers the action. A few of the action set pieces left me scratching my head as to why they were shot that way but in the context of not having the funds I can understand. Fortunately the world building carried over from the original film goes a long way to elevating this film. I found the world to be that rich in ideas. It would make for an interesting role playing game where there is no limit to the imagination's budget.

Steve Williams plays a veterinarian turned doctor in the community under siege by the vampires. Look for producer Larry Fessenden in a small role as a guard who isn't as perceptive as he needs to be.

For those who enjoyed the first film, keep in mind the tonal shift of the sequel. I found this film to be just as entertaining as the first but in a different way.

** 1/2 out of ****

Daylight's End (2016)

Dir: William Kaufman

You know Rourke (Johnny Strong GET CARTER remake) is a bad-ass as soon as you lay eyes on him.He rocks the manly stubble on his face, speaks only when it is necessary, carries a full auto M-14 and drives a beat up armoured Plymouth muscle car. Rourke is a survivor haunted by the death of this wife. A survivor in a world over run with vampires. Or are they vampires / zombies? No matter, the world has gone to shit and Rourke cruises what remains of it hunting and killing the creatures of the night.

One day he witnesses an ambush of a group by marauders. It's easy enough to pick out which group are the good guys; they drive a police car and stop to check on a woman cradling a baby in the middle of the street. The bad guys are just as easy to spot, they look menacing and are the ones about to rape the sole survivor of the ambushed group. Luckily for the young woman Sam (Chelsea Edmundson ISOLATION), Rourke finally jumps into the fray and caps the bad guys. As a way of saying thanks and asking for a ride home, Sam offers fuel and ammo once they make it back to her compound in Dallas.

A Mopar never dies

The compound is a former jail turned fortress run by the no-nonsense Frank Hill (played by the great Lance Henriksen). The survivors make the cells their home and by using the jail's technology such as security cameras and heavy doors they are able to survive the nightly attacks. Only the attacks lately have increased in ferocity with some of the creatures finding a way in. It's almost as if the creatures have gained purpose. Sam relates to the group that she found a cargo plane in good working order that can take everyone to a spot in Baha, 150 miles away from everything. Unfortunately an Alpha (ex-MMA fighter Krzysztof Soszynski) creature was spotted leading an attack on the compound and it is determined to get at the sweet, sweet human flesh hiding behind concrete and steel. Can our group of plucky heroes survive the night?

Writer Chad Law (THE HIT LIST) and director William Kaufman make the most of a small budget. Much of the film looks to have been shot on location and the jail really adds to the grittiness and despair. The plane, which is to take the survivors to the promised land, is only seen in a photograph. Yes, that low of a budget. But the scenes that take place on the streets of the big city look like I'd expect post the collapse of society so it is a job well done by production design. The budget is on the screen as they say and apparent in the multitude of action scenes.

The creatures, one bite from them brings on an infection which turns the victim in a short time, are a bit different from the usual vampire or fast moving virus zombie. They only come out at night as the sun will burn them to a crisp, and possess superhuman strength like a vampire but they can be killed by run of the mill bullets.

The film doesn't bother to go into detail if the creatures need to drink blood or are repulsed by garlic or a cross. It doesn't even bother with an explanation of how the apocalypse kicked off.

Lead Johnny Strong is a bit wooden trying his best to look stoic but he certainly looks the part of someone able to face vampires in a dystopian society. Lance Henriksen isn't given much to do but he's a plus to every film he appears in. Hakeem Kae-Kazim from television's BLACK SAILS has a small role.

DAYLIGHT'S END is a decent choice for those looking for mindless action.

**1/2 out of ****

Pandemic (2016)

Dir: John Suits

I doubt that I'll ever tire of the zombie themed films (or television or board games) but will admit there has been a glut of poorly scripted, amateurishly shot and derivative gut munchers of late. And by saying 'of late' I mean the last decade or so. I initially passed on viewing PANDEMIC via Netflix's streaming service as I thought it was yet another found footage film made to cash in on the popularity of the zombie sub-genre. There I was one night, a few beers into the evening, looking for something to watch and I re-read the film's synopsis and decided to give it a chance.

An unknown virus has infected most of humanity. The infected deteriorate through five stages, from feeling weak and tired to brain damaged hyper violent flesh eater. After the fall of a New York base / research centre, Doctor Lauren Chase (Rachel Nichols CONAN THE BARBARIAN remake) arrives in L.A. to work at a facility investigating the virus and rescuing the uninfected. As facility head, Doctor Greer (Paul Guilfoyle SESSION 9) has no qualms killing the infected once they are no longer medically useful or making certain that everyone provided safety and security by the facility are productive members of the society. Leading Chase through a tour of the compound, he also is preparing her for a rescue mission.

Chase is assigned as medic to a rescue squad tasked with going into the city and locating a large group of uninfected. The squad is comprised of ex-con driver Wheeler (Alfie Allen GAME OF THRONES), Denise (Missi Pyle UNCLE NICK) the navigator and Gunner (Mekhi Phifer DAWN OF THE DEAD remake) the, er... squad gunner. Chase has a secondary mission that she keeps secret from the group. She's lost contact with her husband and daughter. Desperate to speak with them she scrounges for a mobile phone at every opportunity. Gunner also has something he'd like to accomplish outside of the mission. His wife, who was part of a previous rescue mission, is lost. The facility lost contact with them and no one knows their whereabouts or even if they are still alive.

It wouldn't be a zombie film if things didn't turn to shit for the rescue team.

PANDEMIC is not a true found footage film. It breaks the rules of showing only what can be captured by the recording devices in use by the characters early and often. Director John Suits (BREATHING ROOM) has stated it is a POV first person film akin to a first person shooter in the video gaming world. The shooting style works to some extent. The rescue squad wears hazmat suits outfitted with cameras so there's plenty of coverage but when it comes to the action scenes, ugh! I've played a number of first person shooters, everything from DOOM to QUAKE to COUNTER-STRIKE but I could not fathom what I watching onscreen during the more frantic POV scenes. I had no such issues while watching the POV sequence from the film DOOM but will admit to difficulty in tracking the action scenes in the POV shots from the mis-fire THE BROTHERS GRIMSBY.

There is a lot to like about PANDEMIC. The film is derivative but there's enough in the script to make it stand out a bit from the legion of other zombie films. Rachel Nichols puts in a good performance as the doctor with secrets and the love her character has for her daughter comes through.

Recommended for fans of the zombie.

**1/2 out of ****

Hidden (2015)

Dir: The Duffer Brothers (Matt Duffer, Ross Duffer)

301 days.

That's the number of days a family of three has spent living in a bunker, not daring to go up top, after a devastating event occurred. The father Ray (Alexander Skarsgard STRAW DOGS remake), the mother Claire (Andrea Riseborough OBLIVION) and their young daughter Zoe (Emily Alyn Lind THE HAUNTING IN CONNECTICUT 2) live day to day in the darkness with the parents clutching to as much of their lives prior to seeking shelter in the bunker as possible. While scared of the creatures called breathers who prowl the devastated world above ground, Zoe longs for friends her age and to eat something other than cold mushy beans.

The Duffer Brothers, writers and directors of the film, dole out just enough information as the film unspools to maintain viewer curiosity and tension throughout the run time. There's a twist at the end that I didn't expect until just before the reveal and looking back the twist makes sense. The twist is effective but at its heart the film is about the family dynamic. Unlike the zombie family drama MAGGIE (2013) which also uses a cataclysmic event as a background to parent / child and parent / parent drama, HIDDEN's characters are interesting and I wanted to see what came next. The acting all around is well done and I believed Skarsgard, Riseborough and Lind as their characters.

HIDDEN is talky, in a good way, there is little in the way of action or gore but this is an example of why the horror genre can be so good and diverse when in the right hands.

*** out of ****

Extinction (2015)

Dir: Miguel Angel Vivas

A convoy of school buses packed with civilians and soldiers heads towards a military checkpoint in the town of Harmony. Concerned that the lead school bus has stopped short of the base, the second bus stops and the soldiers exit to investigate. It's then that the viewer learns why the faces of the occupants look scared. The civilians are being taken to the military base as they are the few remaining uninfected. A virus, spread by bites, has humanity teetering on the edge of destruction. Yes, this is a zombie apocalypse. The soldiers are attacked by the fast moving zombies and the flesh hungry infected turn their sights to the warm bodies on the bus. On the bus are Patrick (Matthew Fox LOST), Jack (Jeffrey Donovan BURN NOTICE) and the pregnant Emma (Valeria Vereau). Together they fight the zombies while escaping the bus buffet in search of safety.

Nine years later Patrick and Jack live next door to one another in secured compounds on the outskirts of Harmony. Jack raises his daughter Lu (Quinn McColgan), teaches her to read and write and is overly protective of her. Patrick hunts for food during day light hours and at night drinks to excess while broadcasting over the air waves in hope some one is out there and will hear him.

Neither one talks to each other.

Something in the past created a rift between the two men. A rift that has widened over the years so much that Jack reprimands Lu if she dares talk to her Uncle Patrick. Their compounds have kept them safe from the zombie horde over the years but the lack of co-operation between the two is starting to take a toll on both men.

This Spanish-Hungarian co-production helmed by Miguel Angel Vivas (KIDNAPPED) is a different take on the usual zombie film. Much of the nearly two hour running time focuses on the every day existence of the small group of survivors and how the adults, Patrick and Jack, continue that existence and the role that Jack, as father, must play to the growing Lu who has no recollection of zombies. Fox shines as a tormented man driven to the bottle, Donovan is solid as the protective father and McColgan expresses well the innocence of youth.

The good news is that the world ended AFTER Guillermo made the film

Book-ending all that drama and family angst are two action set pieces with plenty of blood, gore and zombie mayhem to satiate my thirst. But it is the characters and their stories that raises this film above the others in the zombie genre that I've complained about in the past.

*** out of ****


Official website

Wyrmwood: Road of the Dead (2014)

Dir: Kiah Roache-Turner

This is one fucked up Ozzie film.

There's not much plot to this frantic zombie film called a cross between MAD MAX 2 and DAWN OF THE DEAD. A meteor shower somehow turns part of the population into flesh eating ghouls. Survivor Barry (Jay Gallagher) teams up with a group of odd ball characters in his quest to rescue his sister Brooke (Bianca Bradey WRATH) who has been kidnapped by military men and is being experimented on by a pop music lovin' mad scientist. To say any more would give away the surprises and outrageous plot twists. It may not always make sense or even reside on the same continent as plausible but it was great fun to see what the film makers next had in store for the viewer.

I'm scratching my head what else to say about this mad cap, kinetic, gore soaked zombie film as the film is out there. See it.

*** out of ****


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The Aftermath (1982)

aka: Zombie Aftermath
Dir: Steve Barkett

The three astronauts abroad the Nautilus ready the ship for re-entry to the Earth but are disturbed by a lack of radio communication. While checking the equipment a fire breaks out killing Williams (stop motion / visual effects master Jim Danforth) and sending the ship crashing into the ocean a few miles off the coast from Los Angeles. Separated at first by the crash, Newman (Steve Barkett) and Mathews (Larry Latham) reconnect and begin the trek into town puzzled as to why the authorities did not come to investigate the crash. Stopping for the night to rest, they are attacked by mutant creatures; half man, half beast and driven to kill. Luckily for the astronauts they had a campfire going and the creatures are very flammable.

In the morning the pair complete their climb and look down upon L.A., a city that has been destroyed by nuclear warfare.

Setting up base in a mansion in the hills, Mathews stays behind while Newman goes off to explore the devastated city. Seeking shelter from an oncoming radioactive storm by nicking into a museum he finds The Curator (Forrest J Ackerman) and his boy charge Christopher (played by Barkett's son). Dying from radiation poisoning The Curator places the care of the boy in Newman's hands and walks off to die.

4E!

The two continue to explore the city and are shot at by Sarah (Lynne Margulies, sister of Johnny Legend). Sarah has escaped from the clutches of Cutter (Sid Haig) and his murderous gang and mistook Newman for one of Cutter's henchmen sent to retrieve her. Cutter's crew has left a swath of death and destruction behind them as they kill any man they find and kidnap the women to rape at their pleasure back at their compound.

Cutter on a smoke break between killings

As Newman, Sarah and Christopher bond to become the quintessential nuclear family, Newman swears that he will mete out justice against Cutter.

A very perky Sarah

This is Steve Barkett's film all the way as he is writer (story by Stanley Livingston, Chip of MY THREE SONS fame), producer, director and star. He isn't a very good actor or writer or director but he somehow managed to cobble a film together, pass himself off as a macho action star (must be the mustache) and talk a few women into not only getting nekkid but one of them to bed him.

The matte paintings of bombed out L.A. look fantastic but otherwise this is a cut rate project lacking in continuity, thrills and Sid Haig. Haig is the best part of the film but I'm guessing due to the amount of screen time wasn't part of the production for long.

I had watched the film on VHS when it was first released, was bored by it and didn't like it. In a fit of nostalgia, I decided to give it another chance. Thirty years on and I have an appreciation for what Barkett was able to achieve and what little of the script there is isn't bad, but THE AFTERMATH is still a plodding boring film and time ain't gonna change that.

*1/2 out of ****

Survivor (1987)

Dir: Michael Shackleton

The NASA Challenger 2 mission promised peace in turbulent times by deploying a satellite based laser anti-missile system (SDI). Instead it brought about WWIII and a nuclear holocaust that nearly wiped man from the face of the earth, destroyed the ozone and polluted the ecosystem. The astronaut on that mission, given the name Survivor (Christopher DUKES OF HAZARD Mayer) in the end credits, travels the wasteland on rail lines via a solar powered converted hand car.

Survivor met an old man who spoke of seeing paradise but was ambushed and run off by its inhabitants. A place of water and electricity. A place to start anew without the dangers of every day life found in the nearly uninhabitable desert environment. For years Survivor has travelled to find that paradise. With each passing day, week, month he's had to kill in self defense those he has come across as there are no friendly strangers, only those who want to steal a few gulps of water and a handful of scraps to eat. Crashing his hand cart Survivor continues on foot through the desert. After days of walking, his thirst all consuming, he enters the camp of two Bedouins (one portrayed by the film's writer Bima Stagg) busily guzzling water and not caring if they spill any. Pleading for water the Bedouins at first appear compassionate but it's only a ruse to get close to Survivor and drive a blade into his gut. Survival instinct kicking in, Survivor pulls his pistol and guns down the two Bedouins before passing out from his wound. A prisoner of the Bedouins, hiding under a blanket, stirs, stands up and assess the situation.

Kragg and Survivor debate who has the baddest name

The Prisoner, The Woman (Sue REPO MAN Kiel), tends to Survivor's wounds. After some time she starts to trust him and allows him to wander her home, a ship off the coast in fish rich waters, freely. In time they become lovers (the 80's cliche sex scene is only surpassed by the one in MADMAN). The paradise that Survivor is looking for? It's no paradise. The Woman escaped from that dystopian society. And on cue, The Woman is kidnapped by one of the leaders of that society, Kragg (Richard THE SWORD AND THE SORCERER Moll).

Following the kidnapper's trail, Survivor discovers that his dream utopia is a former power plant buried under sand. Infiltrating the base he is captured by Kragg's thugs and brought to the community's leaders. Realizing his abilities they offer him haven in exchange for killing Kragg.

First, and only time if IMDB is to be believed, director Michael Shackleton helms a mess of a film. It seems inspired by other post apocalyptic films; the desert environment and underground society reminded me of A BOY AND HIS DOG while the plot of one leader hiring an outsider to kill another leader is a device used in MAD MAX BEYOND THUNDERDOME (Survivor also looks similar to Max). Sound recording seemingly was done by a child of Doris Wishman as there is oddly constructed narration throughout the entire running time and none of the dialogue sounds like it was shot sync. On the plus side the destroyed Earth is conveyed well for a low budget film and Richard Moll flexes his acting chops by channeling Brando's Col Kurtz as he tempts Survivor to join him in propagating a new race to take back the Earth.

This South African production does try to be different from other post apocalyptic films of the period. I wasn't expecting the flash back and forward narrative or the contemplative nature of the protagonist. But it doesn't work. The quirkiness with the sound, narration, and flash forwards distract from the story telling instead of propelling what ever novel ideas the writer and director thought they were conveying to the audience.

** out of ****

How I Live Now (2013)

Dir: Kevin Macdonald

Bratty, teen aged American Elizabeth (Saoirse Ronan from BYZANTIUM) has become so estranged from her father that she goes by the name Daisy and runs off to her Aunt's rural home in England. Arriving in the country to an airport crawling with soldiers and breaking news about bomb blasts in Paris, she is more concerned that her Aunt is not there but instead is greeted by her cousin Isaac (Tom Holland). Underage Isaac manages to drive them safely to his home in the countryside which he shares with his older brother Edmond (George MacKay) and little sister Piper (Harley Bird). The house is in disarray with dishes piling up on the sink as high ranking government employee Aunt Penn (Anna Chancellor) works to all hours behind the closed door of her home office. It's not until the next night that Aunt Penn has a few moments to spare for Daisy and breaks the news that she has to leave for a peace conference in Geneva.

Left alone until a friend of Aunt Penn's can stop by, the children spend their time walking through the woods and swimming in a nearby pond. Daisy is at first reluctant to join her English cousins but quickly warms to them and develops a crush on Edmond, whom she calls Eddie. The idyllic day turns to a night of anxiety and fright when a nuclear bomb is denoted in London and unidentified terrorists attack (it's never stated if the terrorists are home grown or foreign invaders). The electric and mobile grids fail and there is no way for the children to get a hold of Aunt Penn or her friend who was supposed to pop in.

An American from the consulate (Corey Johnson) stops by the house with a pass for Daisy so she can be evacuated with all other Americans. Ignoring what it means that all Americans are to be evacuated she chooses to stay with her cousins. The next day British soldiers stop by the farm to round everyone up; girls being sent to one camp and boys to another.The camps are supposedly a safe place for the people to be housed, fed and assigned jobs such as farming, for the communal good during the war. Not content with the life style nor being away from Eddie, Daisy plots her and Piper's escape from the secure zone to get back to the homestead and hopefully into the waiting arms of Eddie. Little does she know the trials that will be faced traveling across a country scarred by war and through woods housing terrorists.

Director Kevin (THE LAST KING OF SCOTLAND) Macdonald's film is based on the critically acclaimed book by Meg Rosoff. I wasn't sure what to expect but the first half of the film is about Daisy battling with past illness (mental and physical) and learning how to interact with others. The character of Daisy isn't very likeable at first but actress Saoirse does a good job of portraying Daisy coming out of her shell and maturing. Right around the time I was starting to become a bit tired of the children swimming and playing in the woods the war story kicks in. I'm glad to have had time to get to know the characters first but I enjoyed the war story more due to the speculative nature of how an invaded England would look and the thriller aspect of the two girls trying to find their loved ones and make it back home.

There are dark edges to the film but it pulls its punches possibly due to the book's appeal to juveniles. The low budget also prevents much of the war from being portrayed. And that's fine for those who want the drama and aren't expecting a post apocalyptic tale about a girl and her cousin.

*** out of ****