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.

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.

Dead Alive AKA:Braindead

This is an early movie by Oscar winner Peter Jackson, of Lord of the rings fame. People will always argue which Peter is better. The goremonger of Bad taste/ Dead Alive fame or the CGI special effects guru of Lord of the ring/ King Kong fame. I am of the camp that both are tremendous. I love his old work and really dig his new word as well. The same arguments are often made about Sam Raimi. Several internet dorks argue that Peter sold out when he began making the Lord of the rings, but this is just stupid to me. He made movies he always wanted to make and happened to make a ton of money doing it. Sure I would like to see some more films from him in this vein, but you can’t fault him for doing what he really wants to do.

Dead Alive starts with a New Zealand zoo keeper captures a ratmonkey on Skull Island and returns it to the local zoo. The monkey ends up biting Lionel’s mother. The bite turns the woman undead and Lionel tries to keep her in check with tranquilizers. Of course the woman spreads the virus and Lionel and his new girlfriend fight to stay alive. First time viewers will compare this to Shaun of the dead, and wouldn’t be far off. While Shaun of the dead is a fantastic film (thinking about it makes me want to watch it again and review it here) this movie is so much more over the top Shaun can’t even touch it.

This movie doesn’t take itself seriously and is written to be much more of a comedy than horror, despite its gore and horrifying storyline. This movie has perhaps the most gore I have ever seen in a film and it is glorious. You won’t believe some of the things that Peter Jackson puts in this movie. You will laugh at things if described to you would make you sick. I won’t go into too much detail so as not to spoil it for those that have yet to see this wonderful gorefest but I actually almost threw up from laughing so hard a one point. I can’t underline the amount of gore in this film though, if you are the least bit squeamish you may want to have a trashcan nearby.

My rating 9 out of 10

Review by Elvis Lawson

Here is the trailer.

Planet Terror- Grindhouse

Planet Terror is a part of the Grindhouse double feature that was put out by The Weinstein Company. This one was written and directed by Robert Rodriguez. The movies even had fake movie trailers between them, which were way over the top. One of them (Machete) is actually being made, and had one of the best trailer taglines ever. “They just fucked with the wrong Mexican.” How can you not want to see that movie after hearing that? This movie was processed to really feel like you were watching a movie form the 70s, with tons of scratches on the film and often made to look like parts of the film had warped or burned. I felt this effect really worked well and added a very nice touch. It was particularly great when He used a missing reel gag.

A bio-chemical spill has started transforming a small town into flesh eating zombie-like creatures. A group of various people happened to be immune and fight for their lives and freedom. So it sounds like a nice cliché Day of the dead remake right? Wrong, this movie takes a lot of the clichés to a new level. It looks like a b movie and even has many things that would be seen in a B horror movie but actually makes them work. Some of the things are so freaking cheesy but I found myself liking them and rooting for the characters even more. I found myself rewinding the DVD at least 4 times to see parts over again. I mean Rose McGowan gets her leg eaten of and replaces it with a machine gun and it is fantastic. This movie is over the top in every area. The gore is absolutely of the charts. It has been a good while since I have seen a movie this gory.

I will not say much more so as not to ruin it for those that haven’t seen it, but trust me in that this movie is worth seeing. I would rate this as one of the best zombie movies of all-time.

My rating 9 out of 10

Review by Elvis Lawson

Here is the trailer.

Dawn of the Dead (2004)

Just about every single horror buff that has lived through the past century has seen Dawn of the Dead, but for those that haven’t,I will describe it for you. Dawn of the Dead is a survive-the-mass-zombie-outbreak-in-which-you-happen-to-be-one-of-the-1%-of-the-known-world-left-alive genre movie. The original took place almost exclusively in a mall while zombies swarm around and inside the said mall. The survivors are forced to avoid or outwit the zombies to retrieve items they require for sustenance while devising a plan to escape the mall and flee to safety. Overall in my opinion, this is one of the best zombie flicks created to date.

The 2004 remake of DOTD follows relatively closely with the storyline of the original with some satisfying revisions. First of all, the beginning of the film goes into much greater detail as to how the outbreak started and progressed. It then follows to how the individuals find themselves into the mall. Within the mall, differences are added with the interaction between the characters and the number of characters as well. More characters are added with a group of people who flee to the mall in a big rig. More depth is added as with family relations and having to deal with the birth of a “child”. Near the end it changes with the group of survivors flee the mall to escape to an island where they should be safe. Secondly, the zombies can HAUL ASS! Unlike the original version or basically every other zombie movie in existence, the zombies in this movie can run. In my opinion, this adds to the scary and freaky values of this movie and makes the zombies ever more human.To me it also added the question of what is next? Zombies that can operate tools and machines? Perhaps firearm wielding zombies?! Only time will answer, but for now, this is a very solid and fun-to-watch film.

Review by Tyler Zimmer

I really don’t have much to add that my son did not cover above. I will say that I know there has been a controversy since this film came out about the running zombies. Some hate that they have changed the classic zombie while others love that it adds a new dimension to the fright. I am firmly on the love them side of the line. As hard as it is to say, this film offered me more fright (well as much as someone who has seen as many horror movies as i have can feel) than any Romero film ever has. This is one of the best zombie movies i have seen in a long while.

My rating 8.5 out of 10

Review by Elvis Lawson

Here is the trailer.