Movie Review

**Movie Review – Daybreakers (2009)**

Daybreakers (2009), written and directed by Australian filmmakers Michael and Peter Spierig, depicts a dystopian near future in which vampires, their mythical lore a reality, rule the world. Here humans are an endangered species who are either in hiding or are factory farmed for their blood. Unfortunately, the blood supply, along with humanity, is running out, and starving vampires are morphing into ravenous bat-like creatures who stalk both vampires and humans alike.

There are varying feelings among the vampires, with some sympathizing with humans and loathing their present form, including the main character, Edward Dalton (played by Ethan Hawke), a hematologist working on a blood synthetic. He is approached by human rebels in need of his help to develop a vampirism cure. However, most vampires are nothing like Dalton and love being immortal bloodsuckers, content to gorge on the red commodity no matter the cost.

The cinematography is wonderful and while some of the make-up and CGI effects are terrific, some look rather awkward. Nevertheless, the film boasts a strong cast with Hawke, Sam Neill, and Willem Defoe, an intriguing script, unflinching gore, and a twist that will keep you interested to the end.

Just as importantly, Daybreakers is a film whose veins are brimming with metaphor. The vampires are a reflection of our modern society, addicted to human blood, which is fast depleting, rather than taking nourishment from baser, though less satisfying animals. Similarly, we are dependent upon a finite supply of the world’s oil or we feed upon animals without regard to moral considerations or the effects our lifestyle and diet has upon the natural world, merely because it’s inconvenient for us to do so. Replace oil or animals for any number of malicious habits we have that do serious harm to the planet and its population. Likewise, the vampiric elite greedily isolate themselves from the hardships of the lower dregs, caring nothing for those beneath their class. Many could readily accuse today’s upper echelon of much the same disregard for those not within their tax bracket.

Daybreakers is a smart horror film that has a lot to say about the present. If vampires could see their reflections in the mirror, they would look like you and me.

Grade: B-

Movie Review – Pulse (2001)

**Movie Review – Pulse (2001)**

Kiyoshi Kurosawa’s Pulse (2001), known in Japan as Kairo, is a slow-paced mystery heavy with melancholy that effectively builds tension in a stark, bleak atmosphere. After a young man commits suicide his friends see his ghostly image on the internet. Soon other suicides follow. The images themselves are not particularly creepy, but rather their enigmatic purpose is as an overwhelming feeling of loneliness spreads. It is this despair that permeates through the film, assisted by depictions of empty streets and a devastated Tokyo, and which stays with the viewer after it is over. The supernatural is used symbolically as a critique of the physically isolating nature of the internet.

At times, however, the film moves a bit too slowly. Also, the scenes focus so heavily on a few characters who are in fairly remote corners of the city that it is not immediately apparent until rather too abruptly that the city is nearly empty.

That being said, there are some fantastic pieces, including a particularly realistic and well-timed suicide. While the message of the movie and some of its reasoning are at times questionable, the mystery, if not the answer, are well worth the exploration.

Grade: C+

August 16, 2015 0

Movie Review – Train (2008)

**Movie Review – Train (2008)**

With a brutal opening sequence of graphic dismemberment, Train (2008) begins on an unwavering track aimed to please gorehounds and fans of films like Hostel (2005). Directed and written by Gideon Raff, and starring Thora Birch, Train was originally set to be a remake of the Jamie Lee Curtis slasher Terror Train (1980), but evolved, if one can accurately ascribe that term to this film, into an original story.

Through numerous logical failures, an absurd script, and incredibly stupid characters who continually throw away their weapons to keep the film’s running time longer, Train is slowly derailed. Case in point: three wrestlers with an axe can’t overcome one guy, and their attempt is so halfhearted you actually want to root for their attacker. That these characters are strong athletes in a physically demanding sport seems forgotten by the filmmakers until the final battle, which is among the most ridiculous I have seen. Add to all of this Thora Birch, who I had expected to be the highlight, giving a performance where she seems incapable of expressing either fear or compassion and instead walks through the movie as though in a bored, stone-faced daze. Impressive practical effects, unfortunately, cannot mask the film’s many, many shortcomings.

Grade: D-

August 16, 2015 0