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AICN HORROR celebrates the coming of 2012 with new apocalyptic horrors THE DIVIDE! APOCALYPSE, CA! AUTUMN! 2012: ZOMBIE APOCALYPSE! ROBOTROPOLIS! & a look back at THE LAST MAN ON EARTH!!!
Greetings, all. Ambush Bug here with another AICN HORROR: ZOMBIES & SHARKS column.
WE’RE ALL GOING TO DIE!!!
Depending on who you talk to, the end will come either by plague, by zombie, by robot, by comet, by vampire, or by nuclear war; it’s inevitable. It’s gonna happen. However you slice it, some day in some way, we’re all toast.
But there’s no need to sit around and whine about it. We might as well embrace it. So if the Mayans are right and 2012 will be our last year, AICN HORROR will embrace the inevitable by checking out some new films of apocalyptic proportions (plus a look back at an apocalyptic oldie but goodie)!
Enjoy the end of the world, folks!
(Click title to go directly to the feature)
THE LAST MAN ON EARTH (1964)
AUTUMN (2009)
APOCALYPSE, CA (2011)
2012: ZOMBIE APOCALYPSE (2011)
Advance Review: ROBOTROPOLIS (2011)
Advance Review: THE DIVIDE (2011)
And finally…Richard Foster’s INTO THE VALLEY Short Film
THE LAST MAN ON EARTH (1964)
Directed by Ubaldo Ragona & Sidney SalkowWritten by Richard Matheson (screenplay & novel), William F. Leicester, Furio M. Monetti, & Ubaldo Ragona (screenplay)
Starring Vincent Price, Franca Bettoia, Emma Danieli, Giacomo Rossi-Stuart, Umberto Raho, Christi Courtland
Retro-reviewed by Ambush Bug
Just like Will Smith’s I AM LEGEND (without all of that annoying Will Smith-ness) is THE LAST MAN ON EARTH starring horror icon Vincent Price. Though heavy on narration by Price, this film is somewhat similar to Will Smith’s mostly solo adventure in that it spends a lot of time illustrating just how alone the titular character of Morgan truly is.
Price does a fantastic job of portraying a man who is trying to stay busy in order to retain his sanity. He’s a man on a mission to end the vampire plagued streets of the world one creature at a time, checking city blocks off of a map in his boarded up house. Price does a fantastic job, rarely uttering a line save for the narration, yet conveying his frustration crystal clearly. This is one of Price’s most sympathetic roles. There are no puffy shirts or Medieval speechery here—just a lone man wandering the streets trying to keep hold of his humanity against unbelievable odds.
Having read and viewed Richard Matheson’s masterpiece in its various forms through the years, it’s a testament to Matheson’s story that it still holds up today. Though the “vampires” in THE LAST MAN ON EARTH move more like zombies, the film utilizes much of the vampire mythos for its story with nods to the vamps’ aversions to garlic, crosses, and their own reflections. At times, the horror of this story is a mirror image of its time and might not shock the jaded audiences of today, but I can’t believe anyone won’t get chills when Morgan confronts his undead wife. It’s Price’s performance that makes this version of Matheson’s tale so special. Though I didn’t hate Smith’s modern update, I definitely prefer Price’s performance in THE LAST MAN ON EARTH and can’t help but picture him every time I re-read the Matheson classic.Watch the whole movie below!
AUTUMN (2009)
Directed by Steven RumbelowWritten by Steven Rumbelow (screenplay), David Moody (screenplay & novel)
Starring Dexter Fletcher, Dickon Tolson, Lana Kamenov, David Carradine, Anton Brejak, Tricia McMurtry, Jody Willis, Marisa Zaza
Find out more about this film here!
Reviewed by Ambush Bug
Based on a novel by David Moody of the same name, AUTUMN is a pretty cool little zombie film. Rather than diving into flesh eating ghoul territory, Moody’s AUTUMN takes a more patient and scientific approach. In many ways, this is a thinking man’s zombie flick with some fun performances and decent effects.
The definite highlight of this film isn’t the scope or the effects, though filmmaker Steven Rumbelow does a decent job with both. The real draw is AUTUMN’s handling of the dead as evolving creatures. Though these are aspects of the living dead that are only hinted at in Romero’s DEAD films, in AUTUMN, it’s not only noted, but illustrated in a damn fine way as the dead at first appear catatonic, then somnambulistic as they appear to be walking with little or no threat to the immune survivors, then finally beginning to regain senses and starting to act primally. One might think that, given time, they might even become human again, but the story doesn’t really have time to go there.
A lot of the stuff in this film wouldn’t be possible without 28 DAYS LATER. There are a lot of similarities when looked at side by side, but with great performances by LOCK, STOCK & TWO SMOKING BARRELS’s Dexter Fletcher, newcomers Lana Kamelnov and Dickson Tolson, and an especially creepy cameo by David Carradine in what I believe is his final performance, AUTUMN stands on its own.Though I haven’t read Moody’s book, I have to assume it’s a smart read as this story unfolds in a very intelligent manner. The effects are great here too, depicting the zombies as brown oozing disease-riddled pustules rather than the zombies we usually see. Sure, there are scenes that mirror issues of THE WALKING DEAD comic or 28 DAYS LATER or ZOMBIELAND, but when done with technical skill by the director Rumbelow and innovative idea-filled scripting by Moody, AUTUMN makes for a damn fine zombie experience.
This one was released a few years ago, but I just happened upon it this month. AUTUMN is definitely worth seeking out for the zeek in search of genuine scares and interesting takes on the sub-genre.
New on DVD!APOCALYPSE, CA (2011)
Directed by Chad PeterWritten by Chad Peter
Starring Nick Mathis, Erin Bodine, Anne McDaniels, Alexander Cardinale, Elizabeth Sandy, Sarah Smick, Ryan Jordan
Find out more about this film here and on Facebook here
Reviewed by Ambush Bug
Though not so much a horror film as it is a quirky romp filled with whacked out weirdness, APOCALYPSE, CA is definitely a film like few others. If I had to find something to compare it with, I guess I’d choose Gregg Araki or John Waters above anyone else as Chad Peter attempts to twist both gender and reality as a cast of ridiculous goodlookings try to survive in LA mere days before an asteroid is about to hit.
The acting here is not top notch, but they are damn good looking (especially the nummy-liciously bikini-clad Anne Daniels) and do their job pressing this story along. A pill is discovered that gives the taker a dose of what it is like to be the opposite sex. At the same time, one of the male cast members switches bodies with another female cast member and both go through the motions of most of the gender swapping films you can think of. Also, there’s a giant woman crashing through LA smashing airplanes and stomping on civilians.
What does this have to do with an asteroid crashing into the Earth?Not really sure, but APOCALYPSE, CA doesn’t bother itself with explaining all of that.
Like Araki’s films, the good looking cast flops in and out of bed with each other with little or no remorse or care. Like Waters, the offbeat is incorporated with pride and ease. Though it may not make a lot of sense in the end, this is a nice apocalyptic romp with enough touches of the bizarre to qualify it a mention here on AICN HORROR. APOCALYPSE, CA does have a lot to say about gender roles and assumptions one has about the opposite sex--not your usual horror theme, but one well plumbed here. If you’re looking for something off the beaten path, Peter’s APOCALYPSE, CA might be exactly what you were looking for.
New on DVD & BluRay from The Asylum!!2012: ZOMBIE APOCALYPSE (2011)
Directed by Nick LyonWritten by Brooks Peck & Craig Engler
Starring Ving “MuthaFukkin” Rhames, Taryn Manning, Lesley-Ann Brandt, Lilan Bowden
Find out more about this film here!
Reviewed by Ambush Bug
Lifting from pretty much every zombie film you and I have seen is 2012: ZOMBIE APOCALYPSE. Not a bad film--actually quite fun, in a lowbrow sort of way. But nowhere near the top of the zombie film list.
2012: ZOMBIE APOCALYPSE starts out six months after the initial outbreak after a quick montage catches us up about a plague resulting in the dead walking and running about. Soon we find Ving “MuthaFukkin” Rhames bashing skulls with a sledge hammer with a band of survivors that look like they’ve leapt from clothes catalogs with trendy clothes and hairstyles. Rhames plays his usual gruff self, a role we’ve seen in three zombie films now, while the rest of the cast do their best lining up to be eaten one by one at the zombie all you can eat buffet.One thing that bothered the hell out of me about 2012: ZOMBIE APOCALYPSE was that the actors in this film could have used a weapons coach. SPARTACUS’s Lesley-Anne Brandt tries to do her best Michonne from THE WALKING DEAD, but swings her sword as if she doesn’t want to break a nail. Lilan Bowden is abso-tutely smoking hot, don’t get me wrong, but obviously has never shot a bow and arrow in her life by the way she holds it. Others use their weaponry as if they’ve never fired weapons in their life, yet, go figure, their accuracy with these weapons are spot on time and time again.
But aside from that, 2012: ZOMBIE APOCALYPSE is a fun movie as long as you aren’t expecting anything too innovative. It’s your typical fight zombies—walk—fight zombies—talk deeply about stuff—fight zombies film with no real resolution or theme other than lining up the next zombie attack. The effects are pretty well done, though some of the computer effects are a bit distracting. Plus it’s got a zombie dog and a zombie tiger in it and Ving “MuthaFukkin” Rhames with a chainsaw, so it can’t be all that bad. Don’t want to heap too much praise on this by the numbers zombie flick, but 2012: ZOMBIE APOCALYPSE hits all of those numbers decently and will sustain interest on a boring Sunday afternoon.
Advance Review!ROBOTROPOLIS (2011)
Directed by Christopher HattonWritten by Christopher Hatton
Starring Zoe Naylor, Graham Sibley, Lani John Tupu, Edward Foy, Jourdan Lee, Karina Sindicich, Peer Metze, Tonya Cornelisse
Find out more about this film here!
Reviewed by Ambush Bug
I’ve read a couple of unfavorable reviews about this film, but wanted to check it out nevertheless because of the trailer. I’m glad I did. What attracted me to ROBOTROPOLIS was the Paul Verhoeven feel I got from the trailer. The scenes of these robots running amok reminded me of the batty utopian commercials which permeated both ROBOCOP and STARSHIP TROOPERS. The herky jerky robots of ROBOTROPOLIS seemed to be the bastard offspring of a Jawa droid sand transport from STAR WARS and the ED 209 robot that fought Robocop. I was intrigued and couldn’t wait to see the film.
Having seen the film, I understand the problems some might have with ROBOTROPOLIS, but despite that fact, it was a hell of a fun time. The main detractor of this film is the illusion of scope it tries to convey. Filmmaker Christopher Hatton tries to make a big budget film, but it falls short of epic despite the fairly fantastic robot effects. Hatton wants this film to be larger than life, but doesn’t seem to be able to fill the entire screen with the rampaging robots promised on the poster up above there. While there is a lot of action going on, the wide shots sometimes fail to achieve that grand scope because of limited extras and even more limited amount of rampaging robots.Despite its failed promise of blockbuster epic-ness, ROBOTROPOLIS is a lot of fun. Like DISTRICT 9, this film, for the most part, seamlessly incorporates fantastic effects with real world actors on a low budget. Like the aforementioned Verhoeven films, Hatton has a nice comedic sensibility, making the robots interactions somewhat farcical and ironic as they serve as public servants to an oil rig island utopia walking kids to school and taking out trash for their masters.
The film also successfully mixes its story with news reports by following a newscrew (led by journalist Christine Nouveau, played by THE REEF’s Zoe Naylor) as they have the exclusive on an interview with the robot’s creator played with distinguished geek chic by Lani John Tupu which is interrupted by the on camera murder of a civilian by a robot. Soon all of the robots are attacking the human populace and the newscrew desperately struggle to survive.This film ends before we know whether or not this robot rebellion becomes a worldwide phenomenon, so though the robot apocalypse is only hinted at here, it does do a decent job of depicting the beginning. I went into ROBOTROPOLIS with an open mind and came out entertained. With some decent acting and some nicely done effects, there’s a lot to like about ROBOTROPOLIS despite its shortcomings.
Advance Review; In select theaters in January 2012!THE DIVIDE (2011)
Directed by Xavier GensWritten by Karl Mueller & Eron Sheean
Starring Milo Ventimiglia, Courtney B. Vance, Lauren German, Ashton Holmes, Jennifer Blanc, Michael Eklund, Iván González, Michael Biehn, Rosanna Arquette
Find out more about this film here!
Reviewed by Ambush Bug
Finishing off our cadre of apocalyptic treats is THE DIVIDE which has been making its way around the festival circuit all year and will be released in select cities starting in January. The film was made by FRONTIER(S) and HITMAN director Xavier Gens. While I haven’t seen HITMAN, I have seen FRONTIER(S) and know that the guy can deliver some extremely powerful and horrific imagery, and he does so again here with THE DIVIDE, an apocalyptic thriller that goes ballz-deep into the well of madness before the credits roll.
The film literally opens with a bang as alarms go off in a city, followed by crowds of people scampering for some kind of shelter. Not much is known, but what these people do know if that their lives depend on finding a safe place to hole up in for a couple of hundred years. In the opening moments, a crusty looking Michael Biehn attempts to close a vault door, but not before a handful of random people force their way in. When the door shuts, THE DIVIDE is mostly a one locale nose-dive into madness for these survivors. As the food becomes scarce and the group gets stir crazy and radiation poisoned, THE DIVIDE becomes more like LORD OF THE FLIES than anything else.
The bleak depths this film ventures into is frightening in itself. Seeing HEROES Milo Ventimiglia and Michael Eklund go off the deep end is the true highlight here and makes for some of the most disturbing moments of the film. Eklund’s “moment”, when he repeats “It’s in the hair…” as he shaves his body bare and blames the radiation poisoning slowly eating them all away as residing in his follicles (eyebrows and all), made what little hair I have on my own head stand on end. I applaud both Ventimiglia and especially Eklund (who I’ve never seen before, but will look for in future films) for pitch black performances above and beyond the call of duty.
Courtney B. Vance attempts to be the conscience of the group, while Rosanna Arquette comes out of hiding as a mother pushed over the edge. HOSTEL PART II’s Lauren German rounds out the cast as the only sane mind of the group. All of the performances by this cast are top notch.At times, things are somewhat contrived and occasionally characters do something out of the ordinary just to push the story along, but THE DIVIDE is an amazing character piece/one locale story allowing the actors to shine despite the dingy setting. With some truly harrowing moments and bold and brave performances from a top notch genre cast, this apocalyptic yarn is a must see when it goes into limited release next month.
And finally…here’s a damn cool apocalyptic short film called INTO THE VALLEY by Richard Foster. Bleak, but extremely well done. Enjoy the end of the end!
Hope to see you next year, folks!
Ambush Bug is Mark L. Miller, original @$$Hole / wordslinger / reviewer / co-editor of AICN Comics for over nine years. Mark has just announced his new comic book miniseries GRIMM FAIRY TALES PRESENTS THE JUNGLE BOOK from Zenescope Entertainment. He is also a regular writer for FAMOUS MONSTERS OF FILMLAND and has just released FAMOUS MONSTERS first ever comic book miniseries LUNA (co-written by Martin Fisher with art by Tim Rees) You can order it here! Support a Bug by checking out his comics (click on the covers to purchase)!
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Readers Talkback
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Looks to be the best of the lot above.
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The media saturation of impending doom is complete. The people are ripe for harvest and prepared to embrace their ends. Unleash Executive order 666. All useless people are to be destroyed and the population reduced to a level that the earth can sustain. Effective immediately- all attractive women are to report to UltraTron station at Denver International for repopulation plan Ceta-Genesis. Demon-Alien hybrids are to report to dimensional gateway Vlax-Delta for immediate transport to a safe universe. Stand by for further orders once population has been reduced by 80%. Golux- Mordrahd- Chana solex drah naabot. Eedrex- redah noh lotah cha sootat.
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Dec. 30, 2011, 10 a.m. CST
been bored with zombies for a long time, probably since the hype over dawn of the dead remake
by HornyForHarry
but truly think zombies peaked with return of the living dead, haven't really been topped since.
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...and Last Man was as close as anyone's gotten to actually filming I am Legend (though not the most fun...that goes to Heston's Omega Man with Anthony Zerbe and the overwrought score and the whole crucifixion thing at the end). Can't wait to see The Divide.
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...end of the year seems a good time to thank you for this column. You've caught a few this year I'd missed. Unless my memory's wrong I think I even first read about Yellow Brick Road here, and it would make my short list of favorite horror movies of the year.
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Dec. 30, 2011, 10:20 a.m. CST
Actually a solar flare is a good possibility for ending us.
by cookylamoo
Solar Activity is going wild and will peak in 2013. We could be wiped out like in that Nicolas Cage movie.
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Dec. 30, 2011, 10:23 a.m. CST
I Am Legend by Steve Niles is THE best telling of the story.
by Mickster_Island
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He looks like Price and he wouldn't have to talk much.
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We've had massive CMEs in the past e.g. 1859. No one noticed. And besides, the sun's activity is actually trending downwards to a long-term minimum. Earth's magnetic field has reversed dozens of times - doesn't coincide with mass extinctions.
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That's the kind of useless, hipster garbage we can all expect to see more of. Please, don't encourage that kind of thing. With enough time and luck, the metro-grunge, faux-gay male of that species will gradually lose their fertility, due to the groin-crushing jean sizes they wear. Autumn looks just ok, but Bug's interesting review sold me on it. I'll give it a try at some point. Zombie Apocalypse looks like uninspired, cash-in sludge. The Divide looks really good, but I fear the trailer will exceed the movie. Robotropolis looks fantastic. That's the rare kind of gem that my boyfriend and I love to watch, while drinking and laughing ourselves silly. Sometimes we'll accidently get into the movie, but it's not often. Not when you're dealing with SciFi Channel originals, anyway.
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But I'm bored with the way almost every zombie movie now tries to be the 2004 remake.
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1. LAST MAN ON EARTH 2. THE DIVIDE 3. AUTUMN 4. ROBOTROPOLIS 5. APOCALYPSE, CA 6. 2012: ZOMBIE APOCALYPSE If anyone is interested.
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Dec. 30, 2011, 11:34 a.m. CST
I worry about solar flares, asteroids, methane, microwave pulse
by Autodidact
Microwave pulse is the least talked about.. it's caused by supernovas.. they're far away but it turns out an exploding star will shoot "jets" or laser-like focussed pulses of microwave energy at certain points. These fly through space forever, not dissipating much until they hit mass. Would be almost instantaneous death for much of the life on the planet, and we'd never see it coming.
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Last Man on Earth is one of those movies that I've never seen, and always felt guilty about never seeing, but still never sat down and actually watched it. I love and own a ton of 50's Sci Fi, but not horror, and the whole Vampire angle and Vincent Price has always pushed me away. But I'll see if it's on Netflix and give it a chance.
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Dec. 30, 2011, 12:01 p.m. CST
Famous Monsters cover painted by THE Rick Baker? I know make-up and special effects people
by openthepodbaydoorshal
have to be good artists, but thats one cool painting... And although it looks like your standard Twilight Zone episode "blown up", The Divide looks interesting (and a good cast, yea Michael Biehn).
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Dec. 30, 2011, 12:23 p.m. CST
If the world ends next december i'll miss the Hobbit!! Damn you mayans!!
by cameron
Even if i see part 1 i'll miss part 2 in 2013...bummer........ On another note, you watch some dud movies fella, just how many low buget zombie end of the world movies does 1 person need to see?
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Because if it did, no one would be here to report it.
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iirc this was written a while before 28DL or TWD.
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That was pretty good. When he raised his gun at the baby and then the end credits started rolling I was shocked & prematurely clicked stop. But then I noticed there was more time left so I played it all the way though. Sorta gives you two different endings. I think life on earth would be hell after something like that happened. I would rather just off myself then suffer though endless days of miserable pointless survival.
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Dec. 30, 2011, 2:02 p.m. CST
You are more likely to be killed by a mutated form of the Bird Flu than any of the aforementioned.
by v3d
Or a traffic accident, cancer, falling off of a ladder, tripping on your shoe laces, etc.
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one of the major influences on one George Romero for his end of the world movie, Night of the Living Dead. If you haven't seen Last Man, check it out.
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Before Photoshop, Baker would lay a clear acetate sheet over an 8x10 of the actor he would create a makeup for, and paint on that acetate. You can see a great example of this in the Making of Thriller. His first introduction to makeup was his father showing him how much he could achieve using only highlights and shadow. So his work is firmly grounded in drawing and illustration as well as sculpting.
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In terms of pure odds, if a solar flare big enough to cook the earth hasn't happened yet over the course of a few billion years, it's probably never going to happen. That movie you mentioned by He Who Must Not Be Named had to invent a fictitious type of solar event to make that particular apocalypse happen. Furthermore, the 'solar peak' you're talking about actually happens every 10 years like clockwork. If it makes you feel any better, there's also a 150-200 year solar minimum cycle, and we're literally overdue for it. Continuing on with the 10 year mini-spikes and dips, the activity should continually decrease for about 400 years after this coming maximum until it reaches the 'little ice age' minimum, then continue to it's climb back to the 800 year maximum. So the weather's looking pretty safe for the next thousand or so years. It might even reset all our global warming fuckery.
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Thank you for not saying 'matter'.
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You're both wrong. The mini-cycles are 11 years and the longer-term cycles are around 100 years... http://solarscience.msfc.nasa.gov/images/ssn_yearly.jpg We hit at maximum in the 1950s and are due for a minimum now. Both max & min don't have any real impact on global temperatures. As for flares (e.g. CMEs), we've had massive ones in the past but we're shielded by the magnetic field and our atmosphere. Just relax, fellas.
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Solar flares reach earth on a regular basis. The thing that makes them harmless, is the fact that they are charged particles, and we are surrounded by a massive magnetic field. As the flare hits earth, the overwhelming majority of the solar particles are moved out of the way along our magnetic field lines. The only real threat we face from solar flares are the accompanying EM pulses that sometimes knock out power grids here and there.
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Wow...that was...weak? Lots of running - I'm tired just watching it. I don't know - it seems like something I would have watched on Cinemax 'Vanguard' back in the mid 80's, at 2 a.m. Kind of a 'Hardware' vibe. Except I like 'Hardware'. Totally going to have to see 'The Divide'. Watched the trailer back when Biehn was pushing his 'grindhouse' film - I'll support anything Michael does. He should have been a huge star. I've always felt Hollywood abandoned him since he seems like a guy who doesn't stand for a lot of bullshit. Embarrassed to admit I've never seen 'Last Man on Earth'. As a big 'Omega Man' fan, I'm gonna have to finally check that out. I bought a Matheson anthology a while back that included the original novella - simply awesome. Never saw the Will Smiff film - never will. And I don't know why, but I felt the guy at the end of 'Into The Valley' ate the baby at the end. Yeah, I know. Fucked up.
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And there's been hundreds of them over the past centuries
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Just stay home and reread Robopocalypse instead of going to see Robotroplis. One more year and Spielberg will show us rampaging Robots done right.
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ENOUGH WITH THE ZOMBIES!!! IT'S NOT FUNNY ANY MORE!!!
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I'm divinely protected, asshole!
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I'm tired only of bad zombie movies, but I still enjoy reading good zombie novels, and there are a lot of goods ones out there. Try this one: DEAD OF NIGHT, by Jonathan Mayberry.
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Yet another reason to marry Pink! She will be mine!
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Fido! Hands down, the most original zombie premise since the genre began in 1970. Every other zombie film I've ever seen never asks how zombies could move, much less eat, and survive over time. Fido hints at 'space dust' which sounds suspiciously like the nano-machines from 'Assemblers of Infinity'; but since is it's a Lassie movie about a boy and his zombie, they don't run with the concept much.
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Dec. 30, 2011, 6:47 p.m. CST
@autodidact...I think you meant "Gamma Ray Bursts", not microwave bursts.
by tritium
And the closest GRBs ever recorded correspond to a look-back distance in the billions of light years. Obviously, these energetic events ocurred long ago in galaxies that are now incredibly far away (in terms of Proper cosmological distance). Which also means they occured in the relatively early Universe. None have been observed anywhere near our Local Group, much less in our own Milky Way Galaxay. So, I wouldn't be worried about a GRB causing an extinction level event. The highest probability for a major extinction level event is (by far) due to a cometary or bolide impact...and that has, statistically speaking, an extremely very low probability of happening within our lifetimes, although almost 100% probability of happening at some point in the future. Can't think of any other realistic, singular event which has enough energy to cause the outright extinction of large fraction of Life on Earth. It is even debatable wether a full scale nuclear exchange between USA/Russia/China would be enough to cause mass extinctions on the same level as the K-T or Permian/Triassic events. Also, it is becoming progressively more difficult to imagine real-life scenario(s) in which hostilities escalated to the point of a complete, full on nuclear exchange between the two or more of the major nuclear Powers...although it makes for good books, good film and nightmare fuel.
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...sadly, I didn't really like the followup, Dust Devil. It just didn't work for me.
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It would cause fatal cases of Hulkamania.
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Dec. 30, 2011, 11 p.m. CST
just watched some of Autumn on some of these recommendations
by zom-bot.com
...and..i didn't care for it. besides beardy guy, the cast was horrible, the shots too long and badly edited, the camerawork stank. i had to stop watching after 15 minutes or so. does it get better? is there a turning point i can forward to?
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Dont know what to tell you. It could be that Autumn is just different than most zombie films out now. At this point I'm impressed if someone just comes up with an original concept such as the slow evolution of the zombies. If it didn't impress in the first 15 then it might not at all. I still find it better than a lot of the zombie crap I saw this year.
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Thanks for the clarification. Although I'm pretty sure any supernova of the right size can create new gamma ray bursts, so it's not just an old universe thing. So far they've only been seen in distant galaxies, but that might be due to the "laser" like nature of them.
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Dec. 31, 2011, 8:48 a.m. CST
true- there is a lot of zombie CRAP....Autumn wasn't CRAP
by zom-bot.com
..it just looked cheap to me. the acting and the way it was shot mostly. typically i can work around that...it's weird that i couldn't this time. Autumn is streaming on Netflix,btw if anyone wants to check it out... maybe i'll hit 'resume' on a slow day and give it a second chance.
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Pretty fun whenever someone new would walk in the room. Oh you're all gonna die from the shit pouring out of Fukushima waaay before you ever get roasted by microwaves. We've now deliberately left a nuclear bomb spewer continuously spewing this whole time. Fun fact: on the day fuckyoushima was elevated to a Chernobyl-level disaster we suddenly "got Osama!". And then not one word of news ever came out of fukushima on any major news network after that moment. You are all being killed off
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Anyway. Doom and gloom. Yada yada. Smoke em if ya got em
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A potential GRB (Gamma Ray Burst) pointing at Earth - but newer measurements indicate it'll miss... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WR_104
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The other night I watched martyrs, inside and kill list in one sitting. Nearly sent me fucking mental, all good films though.
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There is only a handful of great zombie movies, let them keep trying because when they're great they're great. Side note, my buddy just bought a box of Zombie Max Just In Case ammo for his AK-47, the fact it exists is awesome.
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Even putting ASIDE the possibility (which is still not certain at this point) that one of the poles of WR-104 may be pointed at us, it is STILL very much a matter of debate wether WR-104 would necessarily produce a collimated Gamma Ray Burst when it reaches Supernova stage...which could happen tomorrow, or tens of thousands of years from know (perhaps even hundreds of thousands of years, depending on certain stellar models). We just do not have enough (well actually any data) on the individual, specific progenators stars which explode as a Type IB/C Supernova event. All we have are computational models, which are subject to not only human input errors, but errors in the fundamental physical theory behind the initiation, propagation, evolution and aftermath of any specific class of Supernova. Now, while we may have a high degree of confidence in the accurate modeling of stellar collapse and Supernova initiation within certain ranges of Solar masses, the further we push the boundaries upward, the greater the uncertainties. In terms of super, super massive stars, such as Wolf Rayet type (i.e greater than 30 Solar masses), the instabilities present at the moment of collapse, as well as the subsequent radiation transport and hydrodynamics are not fully understood. At this particular moment in time, it in not at all definitive that WF-104 would necessarily produce a long-duration GRB when it goes SN. Putting the possibility of directed GRB events aside, the highest liklehood of a "local" supernova event within the next geologically significant time-frame would be perhaps Betelgeuse or Eta Carinae.
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I'm not losing any sleep over it. As I said to someone else on this forum who was worried about solar flares, etc - just relax. We are blessed with a very stable star (otherwise we wouldn't be here). Jupiter supposedly helps protect us from large debris. The moon supposedly stabilises our orbit. Tectonic plates supposedly stabilise our climate. So all is swell. Plenty to time to enjoy cheap apocalyptic B-movies.
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Not!
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Sorry about the above.....anyway just wanted to say I saw The Divide and it kicks all sorts of ass....very impressive
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The premier for The Divide is next week at the Nuart theatre in L.A. , Michael Beign is definitely in attendence.
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I watched Autumn, and ROBOTROPOLIS , and both where hideously shite, just stupid ,cheap and nasty.
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Just watched Autumn on Netflix. Jesus, Ambush Bug. That was terrible. Other than a couple of OK low key performances, nothing else in this film worked. The cinematography, directing, and editing were all terrible. I can't even call it amateurish, because I've seen some really good amateur films that look a thousand times better than this shit. They had a pretty large crew. Did no one think to maybe bring a few lights? Did the DP not understand how to white balance the camera? Why didn't the editor color correct the movie? Why does it look like the director flunked out of The Tony Scott School of Stylish Filmmaking? I should have known your opinion was suspect when you threw out that cheap shot at Will Smith's performance in I Am Legend, and then turned around and halfway praised that Zombie Apocalypse bullshit.
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Again, see my post above about Autumn. I liked the different take on zombies better than anything else regarding the film. And i praised zombie apocalypse for being a brainless romp, not being a great movie. Then again if you loved Will Smith's I Am Legend, dopey singing and all, well, then I don't know what to tell you. Price and Heston are far far superior in the role.
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LOL! C'mon, Ambush, stop backpedaling! You heaped so much hyperbolic praise on Autumn, one would think it was the new coming of Romero's original Dead trilogy! "Thinking man's zombie film", "Rumbelow's 'decent' job with effects and scope", etc. Are you serious? Did you not see the lousy green screen motorcycle shots? How about the fact that after "x" amount of days (because the story is unclear about over how many days the film takes place) the zombies still have fresh wet blood all over their faces? Granted, I do like how the zombie infection progresses, but it's handled clumsily. If you really think about it, it really doesn't make sense. The infected are killed outright by the disease and their bodies decompose like normal. But as the days progress, they get more active and mobile even though their bodies are falling apart. It's a different take, and I applaud the writers for trying something new, but it kinda defies human physiology. Yes, it's a work of fiction but even the most fantastic story needs to have a certain element of internal logic. And again with the Smith shots. So many AICN reviewers/talkbackers kill me with that shit. Honor and revere one note 'actors' like Schwarzenegger, who is all schtick and criticize Smith, who absolutely has his own schtick, but is also one of the better actors of his generation. Price, Heston, and Smith all brought three different performances to three different films with three different creative teams. As far as emotional honesty in that particular situation goes, Smith rises above the group followed closely by Price, who was still using that old school theatrical style of acting. Heston was, well, Heston. Stoic, slightly stagey, but completely believable as Neville the killer.
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delightful film
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