“Home Alone” was a smash hit in America, and to this day it’s one of the landmark blockbuster films of all time based solely around such a simplistic formula of comedy and storytelling. After the success of “Home Alone” every single studio in America from the big guns to the low budget filmmakers sought to create their very own successful film starring a rambunctious kid and a group of inept criminals with some physical comedy thrown in for good measure. Many variations tried and failed. Among them was Charles Band’s very own “Remote.” Directed by Ted Nicolaou “Remote” is a film I vaguely remember back in the days of VHS rentals.
Category Archives: Movie Reviews
A Senior Moment (2012)
I was pretty sure I had an idea of where this film was going, but thankfully as with most productions with Patrick Rea behind it, you can never underestimate it or its ability to be clever and pull the rug out from audiences. That’s basically what “A Senior Moment” is all about, in the end. Sure it’s a nice and sweet little short about the lives of elderly folks that are amazingly similar to those of the younger persuasion, but the climax it leads up to is what kept lingering in my mind and giggling afterward.
Familiar (2012)
Robert Nolan is perhaps one of my favorite indie film actors already and he’s only been in two films I’ve seen in over the course of three years. Richard Powell and Zach Green formerly cast Mr. Nolan is the dark disturbing short “Worm” about a teacher on the brink of a breakdown and they catch lightning in a bottle yet again with Mr. Nolan as a man on the verge of madness as he soaks in every aspect of his life that is both mundane and maddening. Clearly unfulfilled and trapped, Nolan plays Chris who is a husband and dad seething with anger and hatred so bile that he can barely contain himself from committing horrible crimes against his own family. He can predict every aspect of his life and despises that fact until one night his wife reveals that she is pregnant.
Gamma (2012)
There’s no other lover of post-apocalyptic cinema than I, and Factory Fiffeen’s short film “Gamma” is right up the alley for anyone in search of a bleak piece of cinema that examines the end of the world thanks to giant corporations and our ability to search for easy fixes. Factory Fifteen’s short is something of a gem simply because to accentuate this world that has been lost to radiation and reduced to ruins, the film crew resorted to filming an enormous portion of the short in the ruins of Chernobyl.
Planet Patrol (1999)
“Planet Patrol” is yet another of Full Moon’s films that has its heart in the right place. At the right time with the right budget it could have been a decent B family film. As it stands it’s merely a mess of a picture that really doesn’t do much for the Full Moon banner. “Planet Patrol” is mercifully barely eighty minutes long, which is a plus. So thankfully the audience doesn’t have to endure the endless string of inconsistencies and messy editing that ensues. For one thing, around 1999, Full Moon found themselves losing money production wise. So to fill time and save money in “Planet Patrol” they re-use footage from their past films to work for this film.
Humans vs. Zombies (2011)
“Humans vs. Zombies” is at the end of the day a fan film for the hardcore fans of the hit live action role playing game and really no one else. I don’t chastise it for being a product solely for them, in fact I’m glad they have something to cling to when not engaging in the game. But that’s not to say “Humans vs. Zombies” isn’t for general movie audiences either. A meta-movie in many ways, “Humans vs. Zombies” is a fun and action packed zombie movie that packs a wallop of survival horror and really nothing else. Based on the hit LARPing game played around the world, this is a movie based on the premise of the game that brings it to the forefront of the apocalypse.
Project: S.E.R.A. (2012)
Project S.E.R.A. is yet another in a line of short films with feature length possibilities and Ben Howdeshell’s short action horror film has potential to be a small chapter in a larger story that invokes the likes of “Resident Evil” with a hint of “Mission Impossible.” Set in the beginning of a major zombie outbreak, a young girl struggles to face what has happened to her after investigating a top secret government toxin that they’re manufacturing. She’s caught along with her father who happens to be an agent himself, and both are tortured for information and leads. Of course none of them are aware what this enemy holds as they threaten to unleash this toxin on Jill’s father if she doesn’t speak.