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Director Doug Roos is a
man with a clear eye for detail and color and makes "The Sky Has Fallen"
in to something of an attractive and eye pleasing horror film, one
that's often painted in shades of white and light blues, all the while
using the forest as its own presence rather than relying on it to
compensate for lack of budget. The editing is often really top notch
with tight choreography and barely a hitch in the storytelling and
narrative flow. Roos definitely has an ambition and enthusiasm that
shines through the production and it shows more times than not. Beyond
that the special effects and make up are quite incredible making for
some gruesome villains, most of whom have faces that are so mangled and
rotting, it's utterly nauseating at times. Roos and co. were clearly
channeling the likes of Lucio Fulci with these designs as zombified
monsters with faces so mangled you could barely make out their sexes at
times. They make for some really disgusting menaces and they actually
manage keep the audience in suspense for most of the movie considering
how quiet and fast they tend to be. The make up is top notch considering
the budget Roos works with here, and I just couldn't stop gasping every
time I caught a glimpse at the monsters.
For a movie
about the end of the world through an Ebola-like virus that infects
people and turns them in to demonic killing monsters that feast on
the living, while shadowy specters wait in the darkness carrying off
the innocent and the dead, I was surprised at how utterly bored I
was through most of this movie. In fact "The Sky Has Fallen"
literally had me watching the clock and completely apathetic to its
entire premise. As someone who adores almost any movie about the end
of the world, director Doug Roos really doesn't put an argument as
to why his movie stands out among a slew of better indie films about
the apocalypse and the undead. Don't get me wrong, like most indie
films of this nature, this is really an ambitious endeavor and one
that is not the worst I've ever seen, but it really doesn't stand
out among its contemporaries, not even in the slightest. Roos has a
massive premise on his hand and one that can barely meet or justify
the budget before us. So instead of witnessing most of the aftermath
of the apocalypse we're instead force fed recollection after
recollection from the characters about their experiences. The two
heroes walk for a while and sit to talk about a story, they walk
some more and sit to talk about the carnage, then they walk and sit
to talk about the carnage and so on until we're basically wondering
why we're not seeing anything resembling it in this beautiful forest
landscape.
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The stars Carey McLaren and
Laurel Kemper are attractive and interesting, but their
characters are never as fascinating as Roos insists they
are, all the while their performances leave much to be
desire. Every person in the movie speaks in hushed monotones
gazing in to space as if this were an Ingmar Bergman
picture, and moments pop up that barely make any sense. I
never understood the appearance of the dad and his two
children. |
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Nevertheless, the actors try their best but can never muster up
enough chemistry or friction to make them a believable pair and
often times Roos depicts them unevenly.
One moment Rachel is
completely useless watching and standing around, and another moment
she's roaring from the woods guns blazing and battling zombies. One
minute Lance (who... has his own Lance) is a wise Samurai biding his
time and smashing monsters, the next he's falling in to traps and
screeching at Rachel to run away. Which she never does. Roos
constantly sets us up for a big death scene only to step back and
allow more time for the duo, both of whom have a goal that is never
quite apparent. Is Lance trying to stop the source of the infection
or the source of the wraiths in the forest? Nonetheless I anxiously
tried to involve myself in everything happening before my eyes, but
I just couldn't. The lethargic pacing, followed by the lackluster
performances, and uneven story make this an apocalyptic horror film
that's really pretty forgettable, in the end.
Director Doug Roos has a definite eye for detail not to mention an
ambition, both of which can't really meet the expectations of a movie
that is otherwise lethargic, dull, meandering, and features stiff
performances that leave much to be desired. Excellent gore effects
aside, "The Sky Has Fallen" won't change the sub-genre.
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