Screamers: The Hunting (2008)

Dir: Sheldon Wilson

I'm not sure why a sequel to a box office failure from over a decade previous was created but as I liked the original and recently re-watched it I thought I might as well check out the sequel. The clincher was that it stars Lance Henriksen. Yeah, he doesn't show up until the last 25 minutes.

Sarge explaining how important this piece of technology is

Thirteen years after the events of the first film, a distress signal is broadcast from the former mining colony Sirius 6B. The Alliance, the creators of the A.I. killing machines nicknamed Screamers, sends out a squad of soldiers to investigate. The squad includes Lt. Victoria Bronte (Gina Holden SAW 3D) the daughter of Alliance commander Joe Hendricksson who she was told committed suicide upon re-entry to Earth after his escape from Sirius 6B (the death is not part of the original film). Along for the ride are the usual assortment of characters seen in a low budget Sci-Fi action / horror film. The Sarge, who happens to be portrayed by the only black actor in the cast, is killed the instant he gives his tab, a device used to be invisible to the Screamers, to another squaddie. Also included for your cliche viewing pleasure is the soldier who thinks it a good idea to download the ROM of a Screamer found in an inactive factory as it is worth millions on the black market. It  is no surprise that his action revives the factory and hundreds of Screamers are soon rolling off the no longer dormant assembly line. As always, the squad must use its wits in a fight to survive and get back to Earth.

Sarge seconds after taking off said important piece of technology

Strip away the smart script and almost all of the tension that stems from wondering who is a Screamer in human guise and this is the first film re-done. It's not a bad film but is disappointing especially considering its parentage and the missed opportunity to improve and expand on a solid Sci-Fi setting.

The film may hold the record for most skulls split on camera. It has that going for it.

** out of ****

Screamers (1995)

Dir: Christian Duguay

Not sure why I skipped this one on its theatrical run especially considering Dan O'Bannon (ALIEN, RETURN OF THE LIVING DEAD) has a co-writer credit (with Miguel Tejada-Flores FRANKENSTEIN'S ARMY) but I did catch it on VHS and was impressed by its vision of a dystopian future inspired by the Philip K. Dick short story SECOND VARIETY. There's a lengthy text scroll at the beginning of the film but as that same information can readily be gleamed from watching the film I'll chalk it up to studio interference rather than the film makers fearing the film to be confusing.

It's 2078, the location the mining colony Sirius 6B. War has been raging for ten years between the New Economic Block Corporation (N.E.B.) and the Alliance, a federation of miners and scientists turned resistance fighters. The Alliance, finding it difficult to fight N.E.B. due to a lack of funding and resources, created artificial intelligent killing machines. Machines that burrow underground to sneak up on any detected living creature and then spring at their target with whirling razor sharp blades and a high pitched whine. Due to the whine, which sounds a bit like a battle cry, the machines are nicknamed Screamers. Fortunately, the Alliance scientists also created a wearable device, called a tab, that blocks the Screamers from seeing the wearer.

Both sides exhausted by years of war and a new discovery made by the N.E.B. that will obsolete the dangerous mining done on Sirius 6B, the N.E.B. makes a peace proposal to the Alliance. The Alliance is granted safe passage to the N.E.B. HQ. Alliance commander Joe Hendricksson (Peter Weller ROBOCOP) puts together a squad to make the trek to  meet with the N.E.B. But when he gets to the HQ, he finds it overrun by Screamers with only a small rag tag group of N.E.B. soldiers left, commanded by the tough mercenary Jessica Hanson (Jennifer Rubin BAD DREAMS). It is there that he learns the extent to which Screamers have evolved. Not only are they reproducing themselves in factories but they've now created models that look and act human. The former enemies must band together to fight the mechanical threat.

The medium budget SCREAMERS does have a few negatives due to the constraints of its budget that may have turned off its potential audience leading to poor box office returns. Some of the visual effects are dodgy and I'm surprised they made it into the film. A lot of the film takes place in a refinery or in a basement boiler room that we've similarly seen scores of times previously especially in low budget Sci-Fi action / horror films.

There is a lot here to like. The script is smart and the world, while not fully fleshed out, feels like something that can happen. Peter Weller's and Jennifer Rubin's characters are likeable and believable but the rest of the cast are more or less fodder for the Screamers. The carnage dealt out by the Screamers will please the gore hounds watching. Plenty of flashing, spinning blades splitting skulls in twain.

I can't recall reading any Dick (Yes, I should remedy that oversight) but the themes of corporate overreach and not knowing who is human in SCREAMERS are part and parcel of the other films I've seen that are adapted from Dick's stories. It is an intriguing set of themes when done well as it is in SCREAMERS.

*** out of ****

Lockout (2011)

Dir: James Mather, Stephen Saint Leger

Ex-CIA agent Snow (Guy Pearce THE ROVER) is in a world of hurt. Asked to provide backup by a friend to a deal over the mysterious contents of a briefcase, when the deal goes south and everyone but Snow lies dead, his only chance of survival is hanging onto the briefcase. A briefcase that the head of the Secret Service (Peter Stormare BRUISER) wants. Managing to hand off the case to his friend Mace (Tim Plester KICK-ASS), Snow proceeds to try and elude police capture in one of the worst CGI action sequence I've seen in some time. Bloody awful. Anyway, Snow is captured and the blame for the murders is placed on him. He is sentenced to thirty years in the M.S. One super max prison. As this is the future, 2079, prisoners are placed in stasis, frozen for the duration of their sentence. And the prison is in space!

Concurrently, the President of the United State's daughter Emilie (Maggie Grace THE FOG remake) is visiting the prison (in space!) to determine if the prisoners are being treated fairly. Emilie has heard reports that being placed in suspended animation messes with the mind. Unfortunately for her, the warden, the guards, and all the technicians aboard the orbiting prison, they picked the one inmate to interview that can escape (Joseph Gilgun HARRY BROWN). And escape he does. Freeing the other prisoners he takes those hostage who survived the initial outbreak.

Luckily for Prez, the government has just the man to break into the prison and free his daughter in custody, Snow. Working with the good cop in the Secret Service Harry (Lennie James THE WALKING DEAD), a plan is put into place to sneak Snow into the prison (in space!); his mission is to rescue Emilie and get her to an escape pod.

Guy Pearce does a decent job playing a wise crackin' bad ass in the Snake Plisken mode in this ode / homage / rip-off of John Carpenter's ESCAPE FROM NEW YORK / L.A. series. Luc Besson is attributed with the original idea for this French film in the credits. Carpenter apparently took umbrage and brought suit and the regional court of Paris agreed with him and awarded damages.

All the elements for a fun action film are here but I just could not go along with the inane script and enjoy the mindless action for what it was. Sure, the sub par video game graphics in the beginning of the film detracted from my ability to immerse myself into the film world but the remainder of the film's FX look fine. The script though is one stupid nonsensical contrivance after another. Everything from there being only one escape pod on the prison to the head of Secret Service relieving the President of his duties and taking charge in a move that would have made Alexander Haig proud.

LOCKOUT is yet another tepid action film.

** out of ****

Coherence (2012)

Dir: James Ward Byrkit

So you want to make a film but have no money? Of course you are going to make a horror film because they are cheap to make and easier than other genres to find a distributor to make back your investment. And it'll be best to copy what is big at the moment, right? Possession films are the in thing right now. How about a found footage film about demonic possession of a young woman? That will not take much cash and by ripping off the other shite films you've seen on Netflix the script will practically write itself. Is that your thinking? Fuck you. You are what is wrong with the horror genre.

The debut from director James Ward Byrkit is a low budget horror film shot over five nights at his house in California. Tick off horror, micro budget and short shooting schedule and one is well on the way to creating a by the numbers calling card film. But Byrkit has done something other writers and directors working in this genre often fail to do. He has come up with an interesting idea that goes in unique directions. He's put in the time and effort to come up with a creative film.

 A group of old friends meets together for a dinner party at one of the couple's home on the night of a comet passing close to the Earth. The guests are a bit upset that their mobile phones aren't connecting and the household computer can't connect to the Internet but the party continues. It's when power is lost in the entire neighbourhood save for one house two block away, that the partiers become concerned. Seeking a landline to contact the astrophysicist brother of one of the guests who gave a heads up about weird happenings due to the comet, two of the guests venture to the house with power. They come back with a box of photographs of each of them with a number on the back and a tale about the other house being occupied by their doppelgangers.

The largely improvised dialogue rings true as the bumps in the night escalate along with paranoia over what the other group is up to. There's a natural progression of the characters making jokes about their reliance on mobile phones to dark, troubling thoughts as they piece together the mystery. Call it a mind fuck film or what you will, the timeline is well thought out as are the reactions of the every day folk caught up in disturbing events.

Both THE TWILIGHT ZONE and PRIMER seem to be influences. The former for the spooky tone, the later for its can do attitude and creativity. COHERENCE is in good company.

Buy it, rent it, support it.

*** out of ****

Infini (2014)

Dir: Shane Abbess

Director and co-writer Shane Abbess' sophomore effort is an improvement over his debut GABRIEL. The budget is bigger, the set a bit more varied but a title scroll is still needed to explain the world we are about to enter.

It's the 23rd century and people can be broken down to 0's and 1's and sent across the galaxy via a process called slipstreaming. Whit Carmichael (Daniel MacPherson) has joined a mining security force so that he and his pregnant wife can better provide for their unborn child. Things go horribly wrong at the security depot when another squad returns from a slipstream and starts shooting the place up. Whit is able to slipstream to a mining outpost at the very edge of explored space right before the depot's detox and eradicate all living things defense kicks in. Judging by the portrayal of mega corporations in films (see RESIDENT EVIL) there must be an insurance break by setting up a kill everything protocol.

In response to the security depot mishap and lost communication with the mining outpost, an elite security team is sent to the mining outpost. The facility is powered down, dead bodies litter the corridors, oh, and an organism spread by touch and contact with blood that drives people mad is on the loose. Carmichael and the squad team up to survive.

The archaic computer graphics displayed on work consoles reminded me of ALIEN, or at least watching ALIEN today. A curious choice for a film set in the 23rd century. The people slowly going crazy until they lust for blood to be spilled was reminiscent of THE CRAZIES. Near the end of the film there's a shot and an explanation that had me thinking of SOLARIS. In other words I spent a lot of time thinking about other films while watching this one.

The film is nicely shot, the acting and directing are fine but I was not absorbed by the events or yet another film about people running around a space station.

** out of ****

Alien Outpost (2013)

Dir: Jabbar Raisani

In 2021 aliens invaded the Earth and by 2033 they have been beaten back to a few strongholds by the United Space Defense Force (USDF), a collective of the world's soldiers. Orbital satellites help defend the Earth from further intrusions by the aliens preventing reinforcements from landing. Feeling safe now after years of fighting and devastation, the world begins to forget that the fight is still ongoing in remote corners of the planet.

Two documentary film makers grab their cameras and tag along with a USDF squad being sent to Outpost 37 (the original title of the film), one of the few remaining bases still engaging the enemy, located in a DMZ between Pakistan and Afghanistan. Yes, this is a mockumentary or found footage film. And yes, there are shots where it would have been impossible for the documentarians to have captured the shot. We follow the yet to be battle tested squad from their last few days at home prior to being sent into action to their arrival at Outpost 37, and through the bases' destruction. Interspersed are interviews with the squad.

Visual effects artist turned director Jabbar Raisani does a fine job of capturing the look and feel of a military base under attack both the locals and aliens, forgotten by a war weary world. That look and the squad interviews reminded me of the documentary RESTREPO (2010) about a platoon of soldiers manning an outpost in Afghanistan. The action scenes are nicely done despite the low budget being obvious at times (in a shot of an artillery bombardment of a valley filled with attacking locals it's easy to see that the enemy are propped up dummies). The scrip however really needed another pass or two. The alien invaders, nicknamed 'heavies', come across as more bumbling than menacing as they stand in the open and seemingly fire their advanced weaponry randomly. The on camera interviews with the soldiers confused the timeline of events for me as they jumble past and present.

An interesting idea not fully formed.

**1/2 out of ****

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 ****

Battle of the Damned (2013)

Dir: Christopher Hatton

Dolph Lundgren. Zombies. Robots. That was all I needed to hear to add this low budget sci-fi / horror film to my Netflix queue.

An unnamed city in S.E. Asia (the film was shot in Malaysia) is under quarantine and surrounded by the military with strict orders not to let anyone in or out. Due to a chemical leak nearly the entire population has been turned into rabid creatures hungry for human flesh. While not technically zombies, they certainly act like the fast moving variety of zombies. The head of an international firm hires Max Gatling (Dolph Lundgren) and his band of mercenaries to rescue his daughter Jude (Melanie Zanetti) who was only staying in the city to be closer to her father. Boss man assures Max that the infected are dying from the contagion and will pose no threat but that's not the last lie he'll tell that will affect the rescue operation.

Once Max's crew is on the ground in the city the situation quickly goes from worse to hellish. The infected are hungry and their numbers easily over run the living. Even as the last man standing, Max continues his rescue mission. A couple of weeks later he stumbles across Jude who is staying in an elegant hotel with the last remaining uninfected. The rag tag group of survivors is led by Duke (David THE ROVER Field) who does not want his power usurped by Max, nor does he believe Max is on a rescue mission. Max and the group bump heads until Max is finally able to convince them that the city will be fire bombed.They agree to work together to make an escape.

But what about the robots? Like much of the plot there isn't much of an explanation as to why a pack of robots are seen one day patrolling the streets and gunning down the infected. Max recruits the robots to aid him and the others to escape the city.

With its over the top gore, robots with SMGs for hands, minimal plot and Dolph looking taciturn for most of the running time, BATTLE OF THE DAMNED is a barely entertaining time waster. It ain't high art nor does it come close to reaching the delirious and maniacal heights of B movie favourites like DEMONS or DOG SOLDIERS but it was acceptable for a lazy Sunday afternoon when I didn't want to engage my brain.

** out of ****

I'll Follow You Down (2013)

Dir: Richie Mehta

Gabe (Rufus Sewell), flying to a science conference, says goodbye to his young son Erol and his wife Marika (Gillian Anderson),  at the security gates at the airport. Marika speaks briefly with him by phone after he lands but that is the last time she will. Gabe has disappeared. He hasn't checked out of his hotel, no one has seen him. She enlists the aid of her father Sal (Victor Garber) as he set Gabe up with a work space at the university he teaches at but to no avail. The police are contacted. The students and faculty of the university are asked if they have seen Gabe. Nothing.

Twelve years pass since wife and son have seen their husband and father and the loss has taken a toll. Marika suffers from depression. Erol (Haley Joel Osment), while naturally gifted when it comes to mathematics, is a bit of a slacker and turns down acceptance to M.I.T. as he feels he cannot leave his mother. Sal approaches Erol with a powerful question, 'What if we can discover what happened to your father?'. A question that leads to obsession and a rift between Erol and his mother and Erol and his girlfriend Grace (Susanna Fournier).

I'LL FOLLOW YOU DOWN is a blend of Sci-Fi and family drama with heavy emphasis on drama. Sci-Fi is not used here as a reason for flashy FX, there is little in the way of FX, but to craft a scenario in which to see how the bonds between family members will play out. The acting is fine throughout with Anderson's performance notable for showing us how the passage of time has affected her character by using her voice and how she carries herself. But I never found myself drawn into this world. Other than curiosity as to what the twist will be (and there is a twist), I was never invested in the characters.

** out of ****