I was worried that Steven McKay’s follow up to Sam Raimi’s original pulp tribute would stink, but thankfully it’s a very good sequel. It not only keeps to much of the formula from the first film, but increases the pulp aspects of the story. There’s the return of an old villain, a mad scientist, a super secret weapon, underground lairs, intrepid reporters, and our dark anti-hero who mainly keeps to himself. Arnold Vosloo takes over for Liam Neeson as the character of Peyton Westlake, who is now living in a large underground subway.
Category Archives: Halloween Horror Month
Darkman III: Die Darkman Die (1996)
It’s interesting how solid the “Darkman” series ended up being. While “Darkman III” is by no means on par with Raimi’s original, it’s still a very entertaining exit for such a unique superhero. Director Bradford McKay pushes Darkman toward the Phantom of the Opera style super heroics rather than the grisly monster in the shadows this time around, and Arnold Vosloo returns to really provide a passionate turn as Peyton Westlake, once more. While Liam Neeson gets credit for the role, Vosloo really is a great successor in his own right.
Dark Skies (2013)
Your attitude toward “Dark Skies” depends on whether or not you want to see a remake of “Signs.” In reality, the entire movie is one big reworking of the M. Night movie sans the religious overtones. There’s the disjointed family, the bonded siblings, the static laden communication devices, the doe eyed youngster who can sense the aliens, the barking family dog, and there’s even an awkward dinner where the dad begins sharing stories about his children. And yet, despite the obvious derivations from the aforementioned M. Night film, I really enjoyed “Dark Skies” through the very end.
Darkman (1990): Collector’s Edition [Blu-ray]
Leave it to Sam Raimi to take lemons and make batshit crazy insane lemonade. Pulling a George Lucas, “Darkman” was once the efforts from Raimi to adapt “The Shadow” on the big screen. When that fell through, he created his own superhero, a demented horror oriented avenger named Darkman. And he’s about what you’d expect from the man who gave us Ashley Williams. Liam Neeson gives a very entertaining turn as Peyton Westlake, a scientist who becomes the unwitting victim of a mob scheme. After Peyton’s fiance Julie discovers a document that can incriminate her boss in his efforts to develop land over the deserted docks, Peyton is tortured by local mob boss Robert Durant’s gang and murdered.
Alien Abduction: Incident in Lake County (1998)
For an early specimen of the found footage sub-genre, “Alien Abduction” is surprisingly solid. It’s cheaply made, confined to one setting, and the acting is dodgy, but its execution is creepy and many moments reflect what would become common imagery in future found footage movies like “Blair Witch” and “Cloverfield.” Back before the internet, viral videos trickled in to underground collectors’ circles and even networks that sought out to convince audiences of their realism. “Alien Abduction” is a film desperately trying to convince audiences it’s a real document, and back in 1998, you’d believe it was a groundbreaking chronicle of a family facing aliens.
Grave Halloween (2013) (DVD)
See kids, that’s why whenever you want to honor someone’s memory, sometimes a symbolic ceremony works better than getting lost in woods haunted by demons. You don’t always have to do what dreams tell you to. Despite some flaws in the narrative though, “Grave Halloween” is a solid horror film. It’s a little bit of “Evil Dead,” and a little bit of “Blair Witch” thrown together for a pretty entertaining ersatz Asian horror picture. Albeit one that’s only given the Halloween tag because character Maiko has to commit the ceremony Segaki for her mother, which happens to fall on Halloween.
Disaster L.A.: The Last Zombie Apocalypse Begins Here (2014) [Blu-Ray]
“Disaster L.A.” actually seems to be going for something in its prologue and set up. It props itself up as a disaster film with zombies thrown in for good measure, and for the most part the big doomsday event is grim and creepy. Then the writers completely switch to auto drive unfolding a movie that’s just a shameless regurgitation of “Cloverfield.” The hero of our tale is having a party before said big event, his ex-girlfriend shows up with her new boyfriend, they bicker, she leaves, big event, and now boyfriend pledges to go across the city to find her as the military threatens nuclear strikes. There’s even the tragic brother dynamic like the aforementioned film. It’s sad considering this is from the director of “State of Emergency” which I actually loved.