Stag Night of the Dead (2010)

"OK ramblers, fuck rambling, let's get rolling"


As a mysterious plague sweeps the nation, the government seeks to contain the pandemic. Holding the Zombie creatures in one place, where they're put to good use.

It's Dean's stag do, although he's got things to organise and pick up before the big wedding, his friends have other ideas. The shenanigans get underway at a local pub with a stripper, but soon move on to a surprise location for most of the lads.

Thinking that the activity is merely paintball, they enter an airbase that's under the watch of armed guards. After a briefing from Mr. Big and Mr. Ree, the lads find out that this is no normal paintball facility. Rather this is Zomball, with real zombies!


Each armed with a P90 submachine gun that's been modified to discharge electricity, much like a stun gun but a hell of a lot more lethal, all the lads get in the mood for a fun afternoon of shooting zombies.

Out in the designated area the stags get to work taking down a horde of undead. In between games, they have a break while the guns are put on charge. But as boys will be boys, one of them strolls off to a restricted area and sets off a chain of events that put them all in danger.

The boys, with the stripper in tow, are now having to deal with more than they can handle, all while the man behind the operation, Mr. Ree, sits in the safety of his office and watches the events unfold on the screens in front of him.

With the threat of being turned into a zombie or worse, certain feelings come out and secrets are exposed which divides the group of friends. Will Dean make it to the wedding? Will there still be a wedding if he does get out alive? With what started out as a laugh, the situation gets completely out of control, and now the day have become a stag night from hell!

"Ain't these the guns from Stargate?"

The first thing I'll point out, this is a low budget zombie comedy B movie from the UK. It's nothing more than a bit of harmless fun or "popcorn horror".

The SFX are pretty standard with a good amount of blood and gore that would keep most gore whores happy. But what stood out for me was the story. The normal idea of paintball taken to another level with the use of live bait, or in this case the undead, and instead of boring old paint, we have a high dosage of electricity. The perfect stag do for zombie fans!

The acting is never gonna be award winning, but most the cast still delivered the script well enough to make it more than bearable. The character development was good. Each person had a real enough back story and a believable personality, such as, there's always the idiot of the group, the level headed one, the womaniser, the not quite right in the head friend, etc. plus the eye candy.

The humour is typical of the average English bloke. Whether this passes over to countries outside the UK, but I've had a group of mates not too dissimilar from those in the film so I found it easy to relate to, which always helps.

With a few twists, turns and surprises, the movie actually kept me entertained and there was a running joke through the movie that made me chuckle every time it was mentioned. It ended quite perfectly too. That said, not everyone will feel the same as me. Remember this though, there's a lot of low budget horror films out there that try to be serious and fail miserably. OK, so it's no Doghouse (2009), but if you approach it as being a break from all the serious stuff and want a laugh, with a touch of internal organs, then it's worth giving a go.

I think Neil Jones did a decent job with his debut feature, especially the writing. I say give him a bigger budget and bigger named actors and let's see what he can do!

If just for the effort alone, Stag Night of the Dead gets 6/10

Director & Writer - Neil Jones

The Cast -
Sebastian Street as Dean
Sophie Lovell Anderson as Candy
Joe Rainbow as Ronny
Bruce Lawrence as Mark
Mike Busson as Number 48
James G. Fain as TC
Rez Kempton as Sanjay
Doug Grant as Gordon
Jeff Rudom as Mr. Ree
Brian Wheeler as Mr. Big

Check out the trailer below...

Stake Land (2010)

As part of disturbingfilms.com's Vampire Week 2012, which runs from July 22 - 28, I'll be reviewing 8 Vampire movies. Yes, that's right, EIGHT, this is my favourite sub-genre! This is the sixth film...


"Waiting for the messiah but he never came, death came instead and it came with teeth"

Set in a post apocalyptic USA, the country is in a state of economic and political disaster due to a vampire epidemic that has swept across what is left of the nation's abandoned towns and cities.

The story follows Martin, a teenage boy who's family is slaughtered by a single vampire. He is saved by a death dealing, lone vampire hunter simply known as Mister.

Under the protection and care of Mister, Martin is taught how to defend himself and kill vampires as they travel across the country.

Heading north to Canada, where "New Eden" awaits, the two of them fight off vampires, pick up more people looking for safety and have trouble with a group of religious extremists known as The Brotherhood.

The vamps aren't the typical bloodsuckers we see in most movies. Rather, they are non thinking, non talking, almost zombie like, ravenous creatures acting in blind blood lust, directed only by their animalistic instincts. The movie very much has the feel of Zombieland (2009), but the big difference, besides the vampires, is the very harrowing story.

The film has it's jumpy parts and disturbing moments. In the first scene we see a vamp feeding on a baby and when I told my wife I was watching the film again, that was the first thing she mentioned as it still creeps her out to this day!

Nick Damici plays the hardened badaas hunter, Mister, in typical fashion - very few words but what he says is worth listening to and when he kicks ass he kicks it permanently. Connor Paolo's performance as Martin is a coming of age story in it's own right. He also narrates during the movie.

And with the "Scream Queen" Danielle Harris, Kelly McGillis and Sean Nelson rounding up the main supporting cast, you get attached and involved with each roll, which is testament to the solid writing and directing. Michael Cerveris as the nut job cult leader Jebedia, gives us another enemy within the film, providing more than just the vampires to fear.

"There's nothing to be done about it but kill that thing. Can you shoot?"

The film is actually one of my top horror movies of 2011 and with a good mix of drama, action and blood, I highly recommend watching it.

Stake Land gets 9/10

Director - Jim Mickle
Writers - Nick Damici & Jim Mickle

The Cast -
Connor Paolo as Martin
Nick Damici as Mister
Danielle Harris as Belle
Kelly McGillis as Sister
Sean Nelson as Willie
Michael Cerveris as Jebedia Loven
Bonnie Dennison as Peggy
Chance Kelly as Officer Harley
Marianne Hagan as Dr. Foley

Check out the trailer below...

The Dead (2010)

 
As part of disturbingfilms.com's Zombie Week 2012, which runs from March 12 - 17, I'll be reviewing four Zombie movies from the 00's. This is the second film...

The Cast -
Rob Freeman as Lt. Brian Murphy
Prince David Oseia as Sgt. Daniel Dembele
David Dontoh as The Chief


Directors & Writers - Howard J. Ford & Jon Ford













The Plot -
When the last evacuation flight out of war-torn Africa crashes off the coast, American Air Force Engineer Lieutenant Brian Murphy emerges as the sole survivor in a land where the dead are returning to life and attacking the living. On the run in a hostile and inhospitable parched landscape, where sudden death lurks around every sun-burnished corner, Murphy has to use his wits and ingenuity if he is to get home alive to his family. When Murphys path clashes with that of Sergeant Daniel Dembele, whose village has been torn apart by the reanimated dead, they join forces. The two desperate men from two very different cultures fight side by side to survive across the incredible scenery of Africa as the world succumbs to the deadliest of viruses.

The Review -
Set in the desert wasteland of Africa, we see a lone figure, dressed in black, making his way through the sandy but rugged terrain. It doesn't take long before he has company. Shuffling slowly towards the armed man, broken leg in toe, is a Zombie, which is passed by, by the unknown gunman. Just over the next dune though, he has to take action when another Zombie appears.
Cut to the next scene, on board a small plane, filled with military personnel and civilians alike. One man has been bitten and going into shock. The plane is running out of fuel and eventually crashes just of the cost. The only survivor, American Air Force Engineer Lieutenant Brian Murphy, is now stranded in hostile territory having to fight for his survival in order to get to his wife and child.
Meanwhile, in a near by location, Sergeant Daniel Dembele returns to his village to find it empty of the living and occupied by the walking dead, as it was evacuated the night before. His mother, fatally injured, barely breathing, tells Daniel that his son was taken to safety.

Brian and Daniel's paths soon cross. Brian wants to head to an airfield to see if he can find a plane that can fly and Daniel wants to head north to find his son. They decide to help each other towards each destination.
Upon discovering the abandoned airstrip, Brian stays the course with Daniel to find the camp in the north that Daniel's son was taken too. In between them and their final destination stands a numerous amount of flesh hungry killers. But with a hot desert by day, the cold nights and danger lurking behind every rock and bush, will the two soldiers find sanctuary or pay the ultimate sacrifice at the hands of the infected dead?

This is a road movie, with the backdrop of Africa and classic slow moving Zombies. Don't expect an action packed movie. Although there is plenty of rather good bloody special effects, most encounters are brief and to the point. This movie has more of a drama feel to it, drawing you into the harrowing story rather than distracting you with mindless violence. It very much has the feel of Stake Land (2010), but with Zombies instead of Vampires. The cast give believable performances. It's well scripted and directed and is definitely worth a watch for fans of the Zombie sub-genre.

The Dead gets a lively 7/10

Check out the trailer below...

Devil's Playground (2010)

As part of disturbingfilms.com's Zombie Week 2012, which runs from March 12 - 17, I'll be reviewing four Zombie movies from the 00's. First up is the British film Devil's Playground...

The Cast -
Danny Dyer as Joe
Craig Fairbrass as Cole
MyAnna Buring as Angela
Jaime Murray as Lavinia
Shane Taylor as Geoffrey
Bart Ruspoli as Matt Mills
Craig Conway as Steve
Lisa McAllister as Kate
Colin Salmon as Peter White
Sean Pertwee as Rob

Director - Mark McQueen

Writer - Bart Ruspoli





The Plot -
N-gen Industries, a leading pharmaceutical company, develops a new "legal performance enhancer" called RAK-295, that has bad side effects on all but one of their 30,000 test patients. In order to control the media uproar, Cole, the head of security is sent to find the immune patient Angela and bring her in for examination. But the hardened mercenary, Cole, comes up against more than just the infected in a bid for survival.

The Review -
London, in the not too distant future, while Peter White, the CEO of N-gen Industries, gives a cover speech to the press, all is not as peachy as it sounds.
Our hero, Cole, is charged with finding and bringing in Angela, to help find a cure for the ever increasing threat of the outbreak which is beginning to spread throughout the city. Cole is already battling the demons of his violent past, suffering flash backs to an act of cold blooded murder. And to make matters worse, he gets bitten, giving him little time to do his job, before the inevitable happens. Being the man he is, this only spurs him on to take on the army of bloodthirsty creatures.

Meanwhile, getting out of prison is Joe, an ex cop, with a tainted past of his own and wanting to get in contact with Angela also. It's not long before the spread of infection takes a turn for the worse, effecting more and more people, which is realised when the news broadcasts get interrupted by the deadly and very agile Zombies. Cole, tracks Angela and friend, Kate, to a workshop where Joe happens to be, along with friend Steve and two passers by, Lavinia and her American colleague.

The plan is to get to a helicopter across the other side of London where Angela's Police officer step-brother awaits. Between their location and the helicopter, it's a game of fight and flight, not just against the Zombies but against each other within the group. The question is, will they all make it in time to see Angela's immunity to the virus save the day?

With the solid British cast and a presentable story, even though it's not original, this is a pretty good attempted at a Zombie movie for the first time film director Mark McQueen. Craig Fairbrass (Cliffhanger, Rise of the Footsoldier, Dead Cert) steals the show even though it's Danny Dyer's (The Football Factory, Severance, Doghouse) name in the top spot of the credits. OK, that's not hard, it is Dyer, but this wasn't his worse or best role. MyAnna Buring (Doomsday, The Descent: Part 2, Kill List), played a fluid leading lady. The supporting cast filled in the gaps. Sean Pertwee (Dog Soldiers, Equilibrium, Doomsday) plays a bit of a cameo. Not to get carried away, there's no Oscar winning performances here, just decent enough acting to keep your attention.

Besides the look of the Zombies and the fact they eat people, they really don't have anything else in common with other Zombies, from other movies. They're very fast and agile. In fact, they could be mistaken for professional free runners! Some may find this off putting, while others may find them more frightening.

"The blood and gore?" I hear you ask! Well, there's plenty of skull beating action with various objects, but the humble hammer seems to be the favourite here. The blood flows freely, from both bites and strikes, and the special effects look real enough without being over the top.

Overall, I did enjoy this movie. OK, I'll be honest and admit I wasn't expecting much though. It's no 28 Days Later but it is a better than average Zombie film worth giving a go.

Devil's Playground gets 6/10

Check out the trailer below...

The Orphanage (2007) & Julia's Eyes (2010) Spanish Double Feature

The cast -
Belén Rueda as Laura
Fernando Cayo as Carlos
Roger Príncep as Simón
Geraldine Chaplin as Aurora
Mabel Rivera as Pilar
Edgar Vivar as Balabán
Montserrat Carulla as Benigna Escobeda

Director - Juan Antonio Bayona

Writer - Sergio G. Sánchez


The plot -
Laura, a former orphan, raises her adopted son Simón together with her husband Carlos in an old house and former orphanage where she was raised. While at the orphanage Simón tells Laura that he has five invisible friends which she believes are a product of his active imagination. Laura decides to reopen the orphanage to cater for disabled children and throws a party. During the party Simón tries to persuade Laura to go and take a look at his friends cabin but she's too busy. Later on she sees a mysterious masked boy and realises that Simón has also disappeared. Laura feels the presence of other people in the house and months later Laura invites a team of parapsychologists to try to unravel the mystery.

The cast -
Belén Rueda as Julia
Lluís Homar as Isaac
Pablo Derqui as Ángel
Francesc Orella as Inspector Dimas
Julia Gutiérrez Caba as Soledad
Boris Ruiz as Blasco

Director - Guillem Morales

Writers - Guillem Morales & Oriol Paulo


The plot -
After the death of the blind Sara, who hung herself in the basement of her house, her twin sister Julia suspects that she was actually murdered. Julia has a degenerative problem in her eyes and is losing her sight and she temporarily moves with her husband Isaac to Sara's house to arrange her funeral. Julia goes to the Centro Baumann for blinds where Sara frequented and she learns from the others blind users that Sara had a boyfriend. Julia is chased by a mysterious man but the police inspector Dimas does not believe on her. Julia follows the last steps of Sara trying to find the identity of her secret lover. Julia is surrounded by deaths and weird events while she loses her sight.


The first thing you'll notice is that Belén Rueda is the lead actress in both these movies but the more interesting point these movies have in common, besides being Spanish, is that Guillermo Del Toro is a Producer on both and you can tell he's had a certain influence on them. That influence being the underlining tension that is set in both movies.

The Orphanage has it's creepy supernatural side whereas Julia's Eyes is full of psychological suspense but both still have there jumpy moments too and are well written and directed with good performances from the cast. Both are more on the thriller / suspense side of horror, so no mentionable blood and guts. They have the fairly slow pace of most foreign horrors but that doesn't effect the movies in a bad way as these types of horrors don't need to be "in your face".

So lets separate the two and take a closer look.

The Orphanage feels almost like it could be a family film at first, but as the tensity increases as the movie goes on, a creepy kid in a mask appears and with the introduction of Aurora, the medium brought in to help find Simón when the police can't find him, things take a turn to the supernatural side.
It really is a slick and quietly chilling piece of work with a surprisingly happy ending.

Julia's Eyes gets stuck in from the outset with the opening scene setting the standard for the entire movie. With fading sight, being followed, a few twists and turns, you really do get drawn into Julia's world of turmoil with possibly danger around every corner.
It has one of the best scenes in a horror movie I've seen for a long time, involving a pitch black room, the heroin, the villain and a camera flash. It should have you on the edge of your seat, something that is lacking in many mainstream American horrors.

I enjoyed both of them, but for me, Julia's Eyes was just a little better.


The Orphanage gets an 8/10 and Julia's Eyes gets an 8(1/2)/10

Check out the trailer for each movie below...

I Saw the Devil (2010)

The cast -
Lee Byung-hun as Soo-hyun
Choi Min-sik as Kyung-chul
Jeon Kuk-hwan as Squad Chief Jang
Cheon Ho-jin as Section Chief Oh
Oh San-ha as Joo-yun
Kim Yun-seo as Se-yun
Choi Moo-sung as Tae-joo
Kim In-seo as Se-jung

Director - Jee-woon Kim

Writer - Hoon-jung Park











The plot -
Kyung-chul is a dangerous psychopath who kills for pleasure. He has committed infernal serial murders in diabolic ways that one cannot even imagine and his victims range from young women to even children. The police have chased him for a long time, but were unable to catch him. One day, Joo-yeon, daughter of a retired police chief becomes his prey and is found dead in a horrific state. Her fiance Soo-hyun (Lee Byung-hun), a top secret agent, decides to track down the murderer himself. He promises himself that he will do everything in his power to take bloody vengeance against the killer, even if it means that he must become a monster himself to get this monstrous and inhumane killer.

This was another movie I didn't really know much about as I hadn't read up on it, but only heard the hype that was going around.

Not knowing what to expect is not always a good thing but in this case, it was a good thing indeed.

Straight from the start we see how sadistic yet calm and cool Kyung-chul is as he sits relaxing smoking a cigarette before a kill.

About an hour in to the film Kyung-chul and Soo-hyun have there first encounter, and it's a bloody one with Soo-hyun basically kicking the crap out of the murderer!

Soo-hyun plants a bug, forcing it down Kyung-chul throat. Till that happened, I thought this isn't gonna be on for much longer as the killer has been tracked down, not more can really happen. But I was wrong! This is the part that I thought was brilliant. The bug is planted in order to keep track of him, and this is where the fun begins as this movie runs for two hours and twenty minutes, although you don't realise this till the end of the movie because it simply keeps you that interested.

The next series of event follows Soo-hyun as he listens in and keeps track of Kyung-chul, knowing where he will be and his every move, then thwarting his attempts at murder and, again, kicking the crap out of poor Kyung-chul. I say "poor" because you kind of feel sorry for him, even though he is a psycho killer. At the same time you still cheer on Soo-hyun as he delivers devastating blows.

"When you're in the most pain, shivering out of fear, then I will kill you. That's a real revenge"

This is testament to how well this movie is written and directed and how good a performance the two main actors delivered. I only thing I regret, I watched the dubbed version instead of the original Korean with subtitles. I think I would have enjoyed it even more.

With bloody and violent scenes, this is a must for all horror fans. Overall thoughts, this is a thoroughly brilliant movie from start to finish with a perfect ending and one of the best foreign movies I've seen to date.

I Saw the Devil gets a riveting 9/10

Check out the trailer below ( Sorry no subtitles )...