I guess it’s just a cardinal rule from now on, but regardless of who you are, some comic books just can’t be movies. Because while “30 Days of Night” is a very good vampire film, it just isn’t the best I’ve ever seen. I wasn’t tingling, I wasn’t beaming, and I simply wasn’t connecting to these fanged fucks from beginning to the end. Granted, “30 Days of Night” is a great chaotic vampire film that puts the bite back into these demonic beings, but watching it a second time grants a better sense of clarity, and it’s just not a masterpiece. Watching it again also made me appreciate what I may have ignored the first time. David Slade has a great grasp on the concept and narrative presented here giving his vampires an utter sense of terror. They’re mindless, but they’re also calculating and clever without being homoerotic and mopey theater patrons. “30 Days of Night” is a valiant success at completely rethinking the vampire concept, and it works for what it promises.
In a nutshell “Wrestlemaniac” hurts so good. It’s a stupid, moronic, and outright cheesy slasher flick and yet… I liked it. Believe it or not, “Wrestlemaniac” has every opportunity to fall on its face. It’s a little over an hour in length, it has this obnoxious yellow tint, and has some terrible acting, but the first ten minutes really do sell us on the intentions of it being nothing more than a tongue in cheek horror farce. I mean, when the primary monster is a psychotic luchador, you have to make the compromise and loosen your strings a bit, folks.
You have to appreciate the interesting new twist added on the tale of one of the more famous biblical figures of all time; Di Franco definitely has the right idea with this movie adding an entirely new perspective that not only made the final act of one character understandable, but also added some hint of dimensions behind his motivation in the grand scheme of the final events. The filming is beautiful with some gorgeous landscapes and wonderful set pieces. Di Franco definitely has an eye for breathtaking scenery and gives the film a flair it needs.
Beyond watching the movie marathons every summer on the local television stations as a child, I never really considered myself a fan of the Godzilla movies. Granted, I love the character of Godzilla, but I never actually cared about the mythos, the supporting characters, or any of the spin offs. But at one time I really cared for characters like Gamera, and Ghidorah, and Jet Jaguar, so the endless recommendations on the part of movie geeks insisting this was a very different Godzilla movie swayed me enough to want to see what “GMKG” was actually about, and surely enough it’s a very good Godzilla movie that takes all of the monsters and makes them villainous threats once again.
Take a recycled concept, grab some cliché characters, put them in a brutally horrendous situation and what do you get? A creative director providing one of the most exciting and horrifying independent zombie movies in years. “Automaton Transfusion” has the chips stacked against it from the beginning with a plot that could either be really good or really bad, but the entire film works and it’s barely ninety minutes. There’s not much plot to be taken here, which really isn’t a caveat.
Many people think that I’m much too hard on “Hatchet,” and unnecessarily punish it for being the victim of gross over hyping by a hyperactive press who stroked themselves to Green’s premiere debut. In actuality, I liked “Hatchet,” because it’s tough to disappoint me with a slasher film, and Green has a charisma about him that guarantees to win me over sooner or later. “Spiral” is a step in the direction where Green will definitely win me over as a fan if he continues at this rate.