Posts by John Dubrawa

You get the sense from watching Dog Soldiers that first time writer-director Neil Marshall had this great idea for a survival horror movie about werewolves, but also in the back of his mind had created a colorful cast of action-cliché characters and ultimately decided it would be fun just to pit the two against one another in an action-horror mash-up with a little British humor thrown in for good measure. There's no doubt that the mix of thrilling chase sequences and wince-inducing gore is fun to watch, especially when the word "bollocks" gets tossed around a lot during these scenes. But the fun in Dog Soldiers lasts for merely the first act of the film. After that, the film slows down considerably and the remaining two acts are comprised of predictable action and boring characters. It's a shame to see a promising director run through his reserves so quickly. (read more...)

There is a morbid curiosity that lingers over I Spit on Your Grave, a film that in the thirty-years since its original theatrical run¹ has gained cult status for its depravity. I admit to being someone with such a curiosity, which began when I read that Roger Ebert and Gene Siskel had called it the worst film they had ever seen and launched a successful campaign to have the film pulled from the United Artist Theater in Chicago². Something in me had to know if the film reviled so much could be that bad, if the controversy surrounding its depictions of violence and rape against women was appropriate or misconstrued, and whether or not the film needed to be discussed further.(read more...)

It might seem like a clever marketing technique that initial rentals of the New Zealand indie zombie-flick, Braindead (released here in the states as Dead Alive), came supplied with vomit bags, but having just watched the film, I now know that the video retailers just had their customer’s best interest in mind. But this little tidbit should not discourage viewers. There is much to admire about a film like this; Dead Alive pulls no punches when it comes to completely disgusting the audience. Dead Alive possesses some of the best stomach-churning visuals and gag-inducing sound effects ever put to celluloid, not to mention one of the most underrated comedic performances. All of this comes from the mind of director Peter Jackson, far removed from his turn as the multiple-Oscar-winning director of Lord of the Rings - but still making great films.(read more...)

At the time of its release in 1957, Fernando Méndez’s El Vampiro was the first film about vampires that dared to show the creatures’ now-famous fanged incisors. This seemingly minor inclusion helped craft the modern vampire. Yet, time has certainly not done El Vampiro any favors, and while this film is a landmark in horror history, genre aficionados will remember the use of light and shadow in F.W. Murnau’s Nosferatu or the swagger and charm of Bela Lugosi’s Dracula before remembering the teeth shown here. There is an excellent plot unraveled in El Vampiro, complimented by an equally excellent score; however, it is is filled with (mostly) uninteresting characters, misguided pacing, and constricting camera movements. El Vampiro is not a bad film - it’s just not a particularly interesting one.
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