Vampires, Zombies, And Quickie Reviews
Remember how I said I'd acquired some movies from the Internet? I've been watching a few more of them today, so why not have a replay of last Saturday and discuss them? Sure, I could be doing other things right now. But sometimes, the same old stories are better than no stories at all. Am I right?
Anyway, first up on today's checklist is the direct-to-video sequel Lost Boys: The Tribe. Basically, the movie is a remake of the original, hidden beneath the guise of a sequel. Sure, there's little acknowledgements to the prior movie, but other than that, there aren't really all that many differences between the first Lost Boys movie and its sequel. The sequel is basically a carbon copy of the original only with enough changes made to qualify it as a sequel. And as both a remake of and a sequel to The Lost Boys, the movie doesn't exactly live up to the original movie's legacy.
But when viewed in the context of a stand-alone movie, it isn't terrible. There are a few parts that don't really hold up, and it doesn't really have the same sense of whimsy that the original has. But it's good enough for what it is. The acting is acceptable, and despite a few instances of lame jokes and corny dialogue. the writing is sufficient. The only truly bad thing about Lost Boys: The Tribe is the inherent "been there, done that" feeling. If you've seen the original movie, then you'll end up thinking you've seen it all before once you watch The Tribe.
That's why I called it a remake earlier. The plot is nearly identical, albeit with a few alterations. Wouldn't it have just made more sense to do a straight, unabashed remake instead of this remake in sequel's clothing? Or why not do that Lost Girls movie that was rumored a few years back? But in any event, anything bearing the Lost Boys name is cool by me. Lost Boys: The Tribe gets three stars on the Sutton Scale. And after that scene during the credits, I really want to see Lost Boys 3 now.
Up next on the movie-watching agenda was the remake of George A. Romero's Day of the Dead. This was another direct-to-video movie that came out back in April, and it boasts the unenviable distinction of having the worst DVD cover art I have ever seen. Luckily for me, my copy of the movie was downloaded off the Internet, so I can easily bypass that whole "ugly DVD cover" thing. But enough about that, let's talk about the actual movie itself. The original Day of the Dead is my favorite of Romero's five zombie movies, so I was both nervous and curious to see how the remake went. As it turns out, I was actually mildly surprised.
I guess it should be noted that Day of the Dead is really only a remake in the loosest way possible. The "zombies vs. the military" concept remains, as do the names of certain characters and the idea of an intelligent zombie. But other than that, the Day of the Dead remake is its own movie. Boy, is it ever its own movie. It's basically the most insane Sci-Fi Channel Original Movie ever made. I say that not only because the movie looks decidedly low-budget, the acting is hammy at best, the CGI blood is laughable, and the script is atrocious, but the zombies are unlike any other zombies I've ever seen in my life. It's far beyond the simple running zombies. These things make the running zombies look tame. The Day of the Dead remake's zombies not only run at ninety miles an hour, but they can leap up into second-story windows in a single bound and crawl along walls or ceilings. Go back and read that last sentence. I swear that every last word of it is the absolute truth. Seriously, these are the most relentless zombies I've ever seen. And I've seen a heck of a lot of zombie movies in my day.
Steve Miner, the director behind the second and third Friday the 13th movies and Halloween H20, is in charge here, and the whole movie is basically a document of his efforts to polish a turd as hard as he can. If there's one thing that can be held up and acknowledged as the worst thing about this movie, it's the script written by Jeffrey Reddick. How do you go from writing Final Destination to this mess? There are a few things brought up that you think will be explained later, only to just have it blown off with the phrase "it's complicated." Mena Suvari's character curiously doesn't keep her gun loaded. Why? It's complicated. She and her brother don't get along. Why? It's complicated... and something about bicycles was thrown out there that I didn't really get. Why even bring these things up at all if you're not going to resolve or explain them? Were the necessary scenes deleted, or was Reddick just being incredibly lazy?
But the point of this whole thing is that there are many reasons why the movie should suck, but so help me, I couldn't bring myself to hate it. I actually had fun watching it. I'm so conflicted right now. Do I actually want to give the movie a good review in spite of its lameness, only because it managed to be fun? Oh, what the heck. The Day of the Dead remake gets three stars and a thumbs up.
And that's it for this one. I probably shouldn't be watching all these downloaded movies when I've got movies in from Netflix. I've got one in from Netflix that I need to watch in order to review it for the long-delayed "Super Saturday 2" project, but I've been neglecting it for the last week or two. I really need to fix that so I can get this stinking project done. I'll jump right into that tomorrow.
Anyway, first up on today's checklist is the direct-to-video sequel Lost Boys: The Tribe. Basically, the movie is a remake of the original, hidden beneath the guise of a sequel. Sure, there's little acknowledgements to the prior movie, but other than that, there aren't really all that many differences between the first Lost Boys movie and its sequel. The sequel is basically a carbon copy of the original only with enough changes made to qualify it as a sequel. And as both a remake of and a sequel to The Lost Boys, the movie doesn't exactly live up to the original movie's legacy.
But when viewed in the context of a stand-alone movie, it isn't terrible. There are a few parts that don't really hold up, and it doesn't really have the same sense of whimsy that the original has. But it's good enough for what it is. The acting is acceptable, and despite a few instances of lame jokes and corny dialogue. the writing is sufficient. The only truly bad thing about Lost Boys: The Tribe is the inherent "been there, done that" feeling. If you've seen the original movie, then you'll end up thinking you've seen it all before once you watch The Tribe.
That's why I called it a remake earlier. The plot is nearly identical, albeit with a few alterations. Wouldn't it have just made more sense to do a straight, unabashed remake instead of this remake in sequel's clothing? Or why not do that Lost Girls movie that was rumored a few years back? But in any event, anything bearing the Lost Boys name is cool by me. Lost Boys: The Tribe gets three stars on the Sutton Scale. And after that scene during the credits, I really want to see Lost Boys 3 now.
Up next on the movie-watching agenda was the remake of George A. Romero's Day of the Dead. This was another direct-to-video movie that came out back in April, and it boasts the unenviable distinction of having the worst DVD cover art I have ever seen. Luckily for me, my copy of the movie was downloaded off the Internet, so I can easily bypass that whole "ugly DVD cover" thing. But enough about that, let's talk about the actual movie itself. The original Day of the Dead is my favorite of Romero's five zombie movies, so I was both nervous and curious to see how the remake went. As it turns out, I was actually mildly surprised.
I guess it should be noted that Day of the Dead is really only a remake in the loosest way possible. The "zombies vs. the military" concept remains, as do the names of certain characters and the idea of an intelligent zombie. But other than that, the Day of the Dead remake is its own movie. Boy, is it ever its own movie. It's basically the most insane Sci-Fi Channel Original Movie ever made. I say that not only because the movie looks decidedly low-budget, the acting is hammy at best, the CGI blood is laughable, and the script is atrocious, but the zombies are unlike any other zombies I've ever seen in my life. It's far beyond the simple running zombies. These things make the running zombies look tame. The Day of the Dead remake's zombies not only run at ninety miles an hour, but they can leap up into second-story windows in a single bound and crawl along walls or ceilings. Go back and read that last sentence. I swear that every last word of it is the absolute truth. Seriously, these are the most relentless zombies I've ever seen. And I've seen a heck of a lot of zombie movies in my day.
Steve Miner, the director behind the second and third Friday the 13th movies and Halloween H20, is in charge here, and the whole movie is basically a document of his efforts to polish a turd as hard as he can. If there's one thing that can be held up and acknowledged as the worst thing about this movie, it's the script written by Jeffrey Reddick. How do you go from writing Final Destination to this mess? There are a few things brought up that you think will be explained later, only to just have it blown off with the phrase "it's complicated." Mena Suvari's character curiously doesn't keep her gun loaded. Why? It's complicated. She and her brother don't get along. Why? It's complicated... and something about bicycles was thrown out there that I didn't really get. Why even bring these things up at all if you're not going to resolve or explain them? Were the necessary scenes deleted, or was Reddick just being incredibly lazy?
But the point of this whole thing is that there are many reasons why the movie should suck, but so help me, I couldn't bring myself to hate it. I actually had fun watching it. I'm so conflicted right now. Do I actually want to give the movie a good review in spite of its lameness, only because it managed to be fun? Oh, what the heck. The Day of the Dead remake gets three stars and a thumbs up.
And that's it for this one. I probably shouldn't be watching all these downloaded movies when I've got movies in from Netflix. I've got one in from Netflix that I need to watch in order to review it for the long-delayed "Super Saturday 2" project, but I've been neglecting it for the last week or two. I really need to fix that so I can get this stinking project done. I'll jump right into that tomorrow.
posted by Matt Sutton at
11:50 PM
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