At the end of the day I really wanted to love “Kidnapped,” but the problem with Miguel Angel Vivas’ lengthy and dreary home invasion picture is that he sends out mixed messages and can never be sure where he wants to lead the audience. Sometimes our characters are merely horror movie cannon fodder to be bashed around and humiliated at a moment’s notice, and other times Vivas seems to really want to depict these characters as fleshed out human beings for the audience. And he fails at accomplishing both tasks. From minute one Vivas almost wants to show us this family bond that is lacking from the get go and never gives us a reason why we should quite care about these people.
Tag Archives: Foreign
The Horde (La Horde) (2009)
It’s cops and robbers meets zombies in Yannick Dahan and Benjamin Rocher’s French zombie spectacular entitled “La Horde.” One of the main things I love about today’s zombie films is that we don’t often go too deep in to what’s causing a zombie apocalypse, nor do we ever find the characters questioning what is causing this mayhem. We just know their asses are about to be chomped on and they have to move quick. From “Dead Set” to “Rammbock” right down to “The Walking Dead,” not much is made of what is the cause of the apocalypse so much as is how to work around it. “La Horde” is one of the many zombie flicks that just doesn’t understand a good zombie movie has to be about the people in and around it and less about the zombies.
Paranormal Activity 2: Tokyo Night (2010)
Whether or not you enjoy “Paranormal Activity 2: Tokyo Night” is directly proportioned to whether or not you enjoy the “Paranormal Activity” franchise at all. At the end of the day this is Japan’s piece of the Paranormal pie and it is officially a sequel to and an extension of Oren Peli’s lore that he established with he first film and that has been established with the second film. This is not the first time an American film has seen a foreign sequel matched with an American sequel as George Romero saw his film “Dawn of the Dead” become its own franchise in Italy while “Day of the Dead” was simultaneously released and for once it’s refreshing to see Japan take on an American hit film and provide their own adaptation of the source material.
To kako – Stin epohi ton iroon (Evil – In the Time of Heroes) (2009)
When last we met our heroes from “Evil,” they were stranded in the middle of a futbol stadium looking for an escape helicopter rumored to be able to take them to a safe haven. Instead they were met with nothing and found themselves in the middle of a field surrounded by wall to wall walking dead. According to this film, they survived this hopeless battle and are now on the move to learn more about this dread zombie apocalypse. Never has there been such a scattered and hopelessly awful sequel than “Evil: In the Time of Heroes.” While the original was no masterpiece, it at least strived to bring us something of an interesting and intense zombie picture that practiced the formula of the modern zombie films with a twist on the supernatural.
The Dead (2011)
The Ford Brothers have obviously come from the school of Romero with “The Dead,” a film that touts itself as one of the first South African zombie movies ever released. It strives to bring audiences the genre that Romero built in its most traditional sense as a zombie movie where the living must fight to ward off the walking dead, all of whom lumber and groan at the sight of fresh meat. There’s not a runner to be found, which should please traditionalists looking for a dread filled good time and the Ford brothers seemed to have been fed on a strict diet of Romero’s films as their monstrous zombies actually walk in rigomortis stricken pale bodies that turn them in to rather omnipotent and menacing beings.
Attack the Block (2011)
As a product of its environment, “Attack the Block” is not only the definition of an independent film, but one of the finest films of the year. A true testament to the ingenuity capable by filmmakers under a small budget and limited resources, director Joe Cornish’s “Attack the Block” is that rare cinematic adventure that manages to live up to expectations and surpass them at the same time. It’s one of the most pleasant experiences I’ve had at the movies in years mainly because it’s so competently made and well imagined that it doesn’t require the respective movie goer to do much except watch mankind fight some alien monsters in the middle of the UK.
X: Night of Vengeance (2011)
Filmed over the course of one night, it’s hard to imagine “X” being thought of as anything other than a bona fide action thriller that teams two powerful female entities together to battle misogyny and abuse that plagues their life. Though described as this sex filled romp, “X” is so much more in the end. It’s about empowerment and survival and at best, I can peg it as an Australian female version of “Judgment Night.”