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Another leg
in Frank Sudol's "Budget Gore Series" of animated genre entries, and the
final cut out style animated movie from BlackArro, "Shock Invasion" is
pure Frank Sudol available solely for the open minded genre buff where
in Sudol channels Bakshi in a gore soaked science fiction tale that is
about as creative and surreal as Sudol can be. Going from zombies, to
demons, now on to merciless aliens, Sudol enlists his mini-budget and
vocal talents to animate a sick little gem that chronicles the fight for
survival of a group of rag tag denizens of a futuristic city. Ral Foster
awakens one day to discover his entire city has been infested by aliens
who have taken over the living and can inhabit their shells. Puzzled at
the notion that he's survived, he goes on the run to figure out where
his father is and happens across assorted characters, one of whom is an
obese ex-war veteran who has the location of a military base and leads
Ral on the fight for survival. With an immense amount of gore and
creativity this is Sudol's most ambitious in the cut out animated movies
to date with some wicked creature designs that get much more elaborate
and unique as the film goes on.
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The
pulse pounding score only serves to make "Shock Invasion"
feel something like a Carpenter film as Ral is a
self-centered anti-hero seeking only to please himself at
the expense of other people who fall under the merciless
talons and claws of the aliens who hover above them dropping
their pods and ensuring an obstacle where ever they go.
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Sudol keeps
a brisk pacing cutting straight to the action, but thankfully keeps
some things ambiguous including the true appearance of the alien
menace, the reason for some of the people's immunity to the Shock
paralysis, and why they're so horrified of natural light.
Sudol has really
evolved in to an eye catching animator with action sequences that
are just exciting especially when we're introduced to different
variations of the alien menaces in the forms of dogs, huge bipedal
beasts and winged monsters. The voice acting is mostly competent
with some zealous and over the top performances that work to the
advantage of the story and Sudol is never hesitant to kill off a
character whenever he feels like it. Almost channeling Whedon, the
man will introduce two or three potentially iconic warriors and
destroy them in to the most gruesome ways possible which eliminates
our notions that these characters will make it out alive in this
situation. Overall it's an entertaining finisher to Sudol's trilogy
and I hope it gets some well deserved esteem as a unique genre
ditty.
The problem with this movie is that it's never
entirely made clear why Ral and Ruford survive. We're told they
survived because of one thing and then Sudol alludes that perhaps
it's something else entirely in the final ten minutes that is never
confirmed. And if Ral's dad was working on a shock gun why doesn't
he ever bring it up with Ral? Meanwhile the final moments of the
movie are completely abrupt and utterly disappointing as the story
just comes to a complete halt in what seems like Sudol intended to
be a sick ironic surprise to end on, but instead just feels like he
had no choice but to stop it at the very scene and move on to the
closing credits. It's a disappointing final scene in an otherwise
entertaining film.
In spite of the letdown in the climax, "Shock Invasion"
is an entertaining and gruesome little animated genre entry with slick
animation, morbid humor, surreal landscapes and a sense of humor
strictly there for those willing to come down to Sudol's level and
comprehend what he's going for. This is definitely the superior piece in
his cut out animation trilogy.
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