I am Omega

Based on the novel “I am Legend” this is the story of Renchard, played by Mark Dacasos star of the American Iron Chef, Who believes he is the last man on earth. The world’s population has been infected by a virus that turns them into cannibalistic mutants. He soon finds out that there are other people left, including a woman who is immune and may hold the key to mankind’s survival. He must rescue her before it si too late.

This is yet another Asylum “Hollywood tie-in” released to piggy back on the Will Smith fueled I am Legend coming out at the end of the year. This film was really pretty decent. It had allot in common with The Asylum’s War of the Worlds, in that they tell similar stories as their big budget counterparts but do it with very little special effects and using much cheaper locations. I thought the locations worked well and the mutants looked really pretty good for such a low budget film. The story was not bad but did get drawn out a bit. They could have added a few more story elements and cut down on some of the slower parts. The acting was good for the most part. Mark turned in a good performance and only seemed to struggle based on the writing. The female lead was not quite as good though and seemed very stiff in parts. This is defiantly the best Asylum film I have seen yet and one I would recommend to fans of B-movies.

My rating 7 out of 10 (b-movie rating)

Review by Elvis Lawson

Here is the trailer.

Resident Evil: Extinction

The T-Virus has spread throughout the world killing not only most of the humans but affecting the eco-system so badly that the world has turned into a barren wasteland. Alice meets back up with Carlos and LJ who are riding in a convoy with Claire Redfield. The group decides to make their way to Alaska where they think the Virus has not spread. Alice however must still contend with Umbrella Corp. who can still track her.

There were some parts I like much more in this one and some stuff less. I really enjoy dystopian movies and this one has that feel much more than the second one. I really like the story of this one the best of the three. This one also has much more and better gore than the previous two which is always a plus in my book. My main problem is that some of the acting and writing seemed very B-movieish and that is a shame from a major studio release. Overall my favorite of the three and a great stand alone movie.

My rating 8.5 out of 10

Review by Elvis Lawson

Here is the trailer.

Resident Evil: Apocalypse

Alice is back and her life just keeps getting worse. This film starts with Raccoon city still up and running, not yet knowing what Umbrella Corp has unleashed on them. Panic hits the streets when the virus begins to spread. Disgraced former S.T.A.R.S. member Jill Valentine reports back to help handle the ongoing rioting. Umbrella Corp decides to quarantine off the city to make sure no infected make their way out. The group get a proposal from a doctor whose daughter is in the city. If they get her out, he will help them escape. Alice and the crew fight their way through zombies and other umbrella monsters to find the girl and escape the city.

I thought this was better than the first. Since they had already moved past the idea of the video game they were able to move the story further. While I could have done without a few bits, namely the doctor, and the umbrella leader was a bad actor. Overall I liked the action better and I think the movie flowed better.

My rating 7.5 out of 10

Review by Elvis Lawson

Here is the trailer.

Resident Evil

The umbrella corporation is one of the worlds largest, producing products contained in 90% of the world’s homes. Unfortunately to gain the money to fund making all the products people buy, The Umbrella corp. deals in military weapons and viral weaponry. A saboteur purposefully breaks open a vile of the deadly T-virus on an unsuspecting research facility. Mila Jovoich plays Alice, a security operative for Umbrella Corp. suffering from memory loss. When the computer of the research facility kills everyone because of the viral contamination, a team of soldiers is sent to check it out, taking Alice with them.

I was unsure how I would take to this movie, with me being a very big fan of the video game. Honestly I was not as put off as I thought I would be at the plot changes (well completely new plot) I actually enjoyed the new story and didn’t really mind that it didn’t have much at all to do with the video game. Mila is pretty good as the heroine and does a pretty good job in the action scenes. I was not as impressed however with Michele Rodriguez though. She seemed much stiffer that her other performances. The special effects were done pretty well and the creatures looked pretty good, although the Lickers were a bit to CGI looking. All in all, I would say it is defiantly worth a watch.

My rating 7 out of 10

Review by Elvis Lawson

Here is the trailer.

28 Days Later

An activist group raids a Chimpanzee testing facility to rescue them. A doctor there tells them to be careful since they are infected with RAGE. The rage is a virus that makes the infected crazy and bloodthirsty. 28 days later Jim wakes up in an empty hospital and walks out to an evacuated London. After finding out that his family is dead and the Rage virus has infected most of the population,he meets up with a few other people and set out to see if they can find out anything about the virus. They end up at a mansion that is now a barricaded haven for survivors that are trying to rebuild. The safe haven isn’t exactly what they had in mind though. They must fight to escape with their lives.

There was a lot I loved about this movie. For starters, I loved the look of it. Some of the shots were stunning and the look of desolation when Jim was walking around deserted London was brilliant. It is rare that a post apocalyptic movie really conveys the sense of loneliness in my eyes but this film did it in spades. I really liked the way the infected move. It is very much like the Dawn of the Dead remake in that they run and it really gives a sense of fright and the need to run. The fact that these are not zombies spares the film from slow zombie purists. The film really had great suspense and it held that suspense extremely well throughout, especially in the action scenes. This movie was not exactly true horror in that it delved a lot into Sci-Fi range but the character development and drama was leaps and bounds beyond most horror movies. The soundtrack is fantastic and really makes the end of the movie outstanding.

My rating 9 out of 10

Review by Elvis Lawson

Here is the trailer.

Hellavator: The Bottled Fools AKA: Gusha no bindume

Set in a futuristic Japan which is a bit like “big brother” in George Orwell’s 1984 (although not near to the extent Orwell took it). A school girl (with some serious mental demons) accidentally starts a huge fire by dropping her cigarette (cigarettes are a felony in this world). While the girl is riding up to the top of the huge building we meet some strange characters, including some very creepy prisoners that are being transported to be executed. A bomb explodes (seemingly caused by one of the prisoners) and brings the elevator to a stop. The movie delves into all of their secrets, and boy there are some weird ones, as they all try to survive each other.

The film uses lots of strange editing to differentiate between the past and when the girl is reading someone’s mind. It also uses an abundant amount of quick editing which works pretty well here. It also has a pretty creepy soundtrack through much of it which really adds to the strangeness of it. I found this film to be petty intriguing where allot of “mind trip” type movies fail. It makes you wonder allot and throws lots of curveballs but never goes too far in my opinion. This film is in Japanese with English subtitles so bear that in mind if you look for it. The subtitles stand out well and are not hard to follow without missing action. I would say this is one of the most interesting films I have seen this year.

My rating 8 out of 10

Review by Elvis Lawson

Here is the trailer.

http://www.imdb.com/video/screenplay/vi380436761/

H.G. Wells War of the Worlds

Written and directed by David Michael Latt who is building a modern B movie empire. This is not the Tom Cruise fueled remake of the original B-movie masterpiece, or even the original masterpiece. This is based on the H.G. Wells book like the others but pretty much made to ride the coattails of the Tom Cruise remake (as are lots of Latt’s recent productions) This version stars C. Thomas Howell whose career doesn’t seem to be doing so well as of late.

This version follows a similar story line to the others since they are all based on the same book. Honestly I like the non action parts of this version better than the big budget Tom Cruise remake. Sure the special effects in the big budget version were much better but these for the most part were surprisingly suitable. While not ultra realistic, I found they had a bit of nostalgia feel to them. C. Thomas Howell was not as bad as I expected him to be and was pretty believable in parts. It is obvious that this was shot quickly and doesn’t have a ton of variation of sets but in an independent movie this is to be expected and they did pretty well for what they had to work with.

So while this movie was made to take advantage of the release and advertising of the Tom Cruise remake, I feel it holds up well and is a pretty decent B-movie. If you are tired of big stories being overshadowed by bigger special effects, then this movie is right up your alley.

My rating 6 out f 10 (B-movie rating)

Review by Elvis Lawson

Here is the trailer.