31 Nights of Terror 2015 #6 - Last Shift (2014)

Last Shift (2014) 
Director: Anthony DiBlasi (Dread)
Starring: Juliana Harkavy, Joshua Mikel, J. LaRose
Format: AVI

Plot: A rookie cop's 1st shift in the last night of a closing police station alone turns into a living nightmare.

This low-budget affair starts off with a premise that echoes John Carpenter's Assault on Precinct 13 - an old police station is empty because the department has moved into nicer digs down the street. A rookie cop is sent to play night watchmen on her first shift (and the last shift for the station, hence the name). But unlike it JC's movie the station doesn't come under attack by criminals, or at least not in the conventional sense. Spooky shit starts happening and from there it becomes a "haunted location" flick with some satanist cult elements thrown into the mix.

For the budget what you get is a very slick and well-shot film. The acting's also pretty good (for a bunch of no names) and there are enough jump scares and suspenseful moments to keep things interesting. The cult element is handled well, with the aforementioned cultists having a very Manson-esque vibe to them.

Unfortunately a lot of the early going happens in a brightly-lit police station, which detracts from the suspense, but unlike a lot of others I don't have a problem with the slow-burn approach taken here. Once the action kicks in it's entertaining and includes some really nice visual effects. The end twist is also pretty good, I didn't see it coming.

Last Shift isn't anything mind-blowing, but is definitely worth a watch for horror fans who don't mind a slow pace.

31 Nights of Terror 2015 #5 - Deathgasm (2015)

Deathgasm (2015)

Director: Jason Lei Howden
Starring: Milo Cawthorne, James Blake, Kimberley Crossman
Format: AVI
Plot: Two teenage boys unwittingly summon an ancient evil entity known as The Blind One by delving into black magic while trying to escape their mundane lives.

Before sitting down to watch this one, the only thing I knew about it was that it was about heavy metal music. I was aware that it played at a film festival near me a couple of months ago and had even seen one or two publicity shots, but other than that I was going in blind.

The first thing that surprised me was that it's a New Zealand movie. Hell, if I'd known that I wouldn't have downloaded it (I don't DL movies from my own country, preferring to support the industry by buying physical copies of them). But boy am I glad that I did, and I'll be buying it as soon as I can find it on DVD!

That last sentence obviously gives away the fact that I love this movie. In fact, I'd go so far as to say it's my joint favourite horror/comedy movie along with Shaun of the Dead. On top of that it's one of the best movies to come out of my homeland in a long time, and IMO much better than the recent What We Did in the Shadows, which seems to be a darling of the critics (I liked it, but Deathgasm to me is much better).

Maybe one of the reasons I dig Deathgasm so much is because I'm a metaller. Have been since I was 12 years old, and I'm now 40. Ask anyone who knew me as a teenager, and they'll tell you that I basically was the main character from this movie - a long-haired loner who lived for heavy metal. Well, without the ability to actually play guitar, but I do play a mean air axe.

But even with my love for all things metal, and of course all things horror, this movie could have still missed the mark as so many horror/comedy hybrids do. Instead it ticked all the boxes. The main characters are likeable and relatable, the comedy is hilarious (I don't want to give anything away, but I found myself in loud fits of laughter during the scene involving "marital aids"), the music kicks serious butt and best of all the gore (outrageously over the top ala Peter Jackson's Brain Dead or Bad Taste) is done with practical effects, not CGI. 

The only slight disappointment is in the climax, which doesn't live up to what it was building up to, but it's a small complaint. I can't recommend this movie enough and am damn proud that it came out of my country!

31 Nights of Terror 2015 #4 - [REC] 4: Apocalipsis (2014)

[REC] 4: Apocalipsis (2014)

Directors: Jaume Balaguero
Starring: Manuela Velasco, Paco Manzanedo, Hector Colome
Format: Netflix

Plot: Television reporter Ángela is rescued from the building and taken to an oil tanker to be examined. However, it is unknown whether it is her who is carrying the seed of the mysterious demonic virus.

Bringing the Spanish series REC to a close is part four, which wraps things up by bringing back news reporter Angela from the first two movies (she was missing from the third as the focus moved to a side story happening at the same time). But this time she's not in the claustrophobic apartment building, having been transported to a ship in the middle of the ocean.

Joining Angela on said ship are a few other survivors of the zombie attacks (two cops and a family member of the married couple in part 3), a team of scientists (studying the effects of the outbreak) and a shitload of armed soldiers/guards. Of course, things go haywire and soon everyone is fighting for their lives.

As a closing chapter, Apocalipsis unfortunately falls short. It does manage to tie up all the loose ends, and having Angela back is a nice touch, but apart from that it's your standard zombie action flick. The change of venue to a boat could have allowed for some of the same suspense and tension as in the first two parts, but director Balaguero (who co-directed the first two installments) doesn't go that route. Instead he fills it with jump scares, action and smatterings of gore.

The biggest disappointment is that the religious/demon aspect is abandoned altogether in favour of a more scifi approach. The result is a long way short of the out-and-out chills of Tristana Medeiros creeping around in that blacked-out penthouse in parts 1 and 2. While part 4 isn't terrible, I kept wishing they'd gone back to the old building to wrap things up.

31 Nights of Terror 2015 #3 - [REC] 3: Genesis (2012)

[REC] 3: Genesis (2012)

Directors: Paco Plaza
Starring: Leticia Dolera, Diego Martin, Ismael Martinez
Format: Netflix

Plot: A couple's wedding day turns horrific as some of the guests start showing signs of a strange illness.

Continuing the [REC] series, we move on to the first one so far that I haven't seen before. I liked this one but for different reasons than I liked the first two. Whereas the original and its first sequel are identical in style and atmosphere - found footage, creepy dark building, lots of suspense - part three does away with all of that.

For the first time the action ventures away from the claustrophobic apartment building to a much larger and more open wedding venue, where couple Clara and Koldo (dig the dude's name, sounds like a Star Trek bad guy) are celebrating their nuptials. One of their relatives works at a vet's clinic and was bitten by a sick dog - you can guess where it goes from there. Switched-on viewers will of course figure out that the dog in question was the one owned by the family from the first movie.

With the change of venue comes a complete switch away from found footage style. I have to give points for the way this is done, tongue in cheek. While the switch to a straight-up movie is a bit jarring at first, I think it's the right decision. Going for the same look and feel as the first two movies would have just felt redundant by now. There's also a lot more humour involved, at the expense of suspense, but again I don't have a problem with that. The characters are likable and the laughs are done well.

What this movie isn't short of is gore, which is turned up to the Nth degree. We get an infected person chainsawed in half, a tongue ripped from a victim's mouth and a lot more grotesque set pieces. There's also some hokey romance stuff thrown in, but without giving anything away, the ending more than makes up for it.

Essentially, [REC] 3 feels like it belongs to a totally different series. In fact, while watching I began thinking that it might be one of those classic "shot stand alone and renamed into a sequel of a popular series to cash in" cases, until things started tying into the first two flicks. But while I loved parts 1 and 2 for their suspense and scares, I enjoyed part 3 equally for its gore, action and complete fun.

Part 4 awaits next - will it continue to switch things up or move back into more familiar territory? I can't wait to find out.

31 Nights of Terror 2015 #2 - [REC] 2 (2009)

[REC] 2 (2009)

Directors: Jamie Balaguero, Paco Plaza

Starring: Jonathan D Mellor, Manuela Velasco, Oscar Zafra

Format: DVD

Plot: In order to ascertain the current situation inside, a supposed medical officer and a GEO team step into the quarantined and ill-fated apartment building.

Since my girlfriend and I started the 2015 edition of 31 Nights of Terror with the first [REC] movie, it only makes sense to continue with the series, especially since I have the first two on DVD and the next two are on Netflix.

This one I've only seen the once before, so I was fairly fresh going in. I like the way it continues on the same night as the first movie, kind of like Halloween 2, only this one stays in the same location. This time we've got new protagonists, with a SWAT team replacing the firefighters from part one, and a group of pesky kids thrown in for good measure.

[REC] 2 doesn't bring anything really new to the table, it's just more of the same from the first movie. Since the first movie was so great, that's not a bad thing. In the process they manage to expand on the background folklore, bringing more light to exactly what has gone on in the penthouse. And yep, that scary ass monster from the first movie is back to create more spinechilling moments.

I quite like the surprise twist at the end and am looking forward to seeing where they go for the third and fourth installments.

31 Nights of Terror 2015 #1 - [REC] (2007)

[REC] (2007)

Directors: Jamie Balaguero, Paco Plaza

Starring: Manuela Velasco, Ferran Terraza, Jorge-Yamam Serrano

Format: DVD

Plot: A television reporter and cameraman follow emergency workers into a dark apartment building and are quickly locked inside with something terrifying.

Normally when I do the 31 Nights of Terror (this is my fifth year, sixth if you count the first year when I only managed 21 movies) I pre-plan what movie to kick off the marathon with. This year I was a little busy and didn't have anything planned. Scanning the DVD collection with no idea of what to pick, my eye fell upon this fantastic Spanish scarefest, which I first saw on the big screen in 2009. My girlfriend hadn't seen it before, so it seemed a good choice.

And a good choice it was. I love this movie. Even though found footage movies are starting to get a bit old, and the same goes for zombie movies, [REC] stands the test of time. Found footage is done best when it is used to slowly build up the tension, as it is here. And this is of course no normal "zombie" movie. The infected people are more like the ones in The Crazies or 28 Days Later than a Romero zombie flick. These bastards are fast and fierce.

I also love how for most of the movie it's basically a "group of people try to survive zombie hordes" flick, but in the final act it changes tact completely, and boy does it bring the scares. Without ruining anything, the final monster is the thing of nightmares.

I haven't seen the American remake, Quarantine, and I don't want to. [REC] is fantastic, and those too lazy to read subtitles are seriously missing out!

What I Watched - May 20-26 2015

WHAT I WATCHED - MAY 20-26, 2015:

 Deadly Prey (1987) VHS
- Pure “so bad its good” gold from director David Prior and his blond-mulleted actor brother Ted. Take Rambo, take The Most Dangerous Game… remove the budget, the good acting and the special effects and you have Deadly Prey. Every moment of this movie is unadulterated awesomeness. Ted plays a Nam vet who is kidnapped by some bad guys who love to hunt humans. Only they chose the wrong guy this time! Another from my own collection (all of which I’m selling off for space purposes), and one every Z-grade action movie fan needs to see (along with other Prior brothers efforts like Aerobicide, Sledgehammer and Raw Nerve).

Slash Dance (1989) AVI
- That’s a catchy title right? Some nice wordplay on the name of the popular 80s movie, Flashdance. Well, that’s all this pile of crap has going for it. The premise is simple - girls auditioning for a musical start getting picked off by a serial killer so a sexy female cop goes undercover to catch him. There’s nothing wrong with a slasher that keeps it simple. But there’s plenty wrong with a slasher that features virtually no blood, no skin (come on, it’s a movie about dancing girls!) and some of the worst acting ever put to screen (the lead and several other of the “actors” were wrestlers from the short-lived Gorgeous Ladies of Wrestling, and acting wasn’t their strong point). Instead it has tedious amounts of girls in leotards “dancing” on stage - I use that word very, very reluctantly. Yawn, yawn, yawn.

Mortuary (2005) AVI
- Oh Tobe Hooper, we knew ye well. It’s well known that Hooper has gone from genre hero (Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Poltergeist) to genre zero (virtually everything after Texas Chainsaw 2 in 1986). Sadly, Mortuary doesn’t represent a return to form for him. The premise is okay - family move into an old house to restart an old mortuary and come under attack by a fungal growth that turns dead people into zombies - but it’s all done rather poorly (especially the CGI, yikes). Not the worst movie ever made, but definitely nothing worth wasting your time on.

JUDGEMENT MAY: I Survived a Zombie Holocaust (2014) DVD
- Pretty much the only time I buy movies on their released date is when it’s a New Zealand movie I really want to see, like this one. It was released on DVD and in a few cinemas here in NZ on Friday May 22. I picked it up a day later and watched it right away, and I wasn’t disappointed. It definitely feels very New Zealand-y, mixing our sense of humour with gore in the same vein as Braindead, Bad Taste and Black Sheep. I love the fact it’s about real zombies attacking the cast and crew of a low budget zombie movie, which gives it ammo to take shots at the movie industry as well as the overdone zombie sub-genre. NZ horror is on a real roll lately, between this, Housebound and What We Do in the Shadows.

Joe (1970) DVD
- With Memorial Day happening in the US, I wanted to watch something very ‘Murican. The cover to this one showed an Army uniform, a guy with a gun and the Stars and Stripes - sold! I knew nothing about it going in and found it to be a gritty, gloomy look at life in the late 60s and early 70s, a time of racial and civil unrest in Vietnam-era America. The late, great Peter Boyle shows off the grumpy chops he’d use so well in the TV show Everybody Loves Raymond, as a disgruntled, racist blue collar worker who befriends a rich guy with a wayward daughter, as the two go on a rampage against hippies. Blunt, un-PC, brutal in places and with a great ending. Kind of like Easy Rider without the motorbikes.