Rammbock: Berlin Undead
Quick Synopsis: “Just when Michael arrives in Berlin to visit his ex-girlfriend Gabi, a terrible virus starts spreading across the city at a rapid pace…”
Director: Marvin Kren
Rammbock: Berlin Undead does something marvellous that other films neglect to do by. It flaunts a 59 minute running length and follows the idea of “tell your story and move on.”
How many times are we, the audience, forced to sit through puffy filler scenes just to bump a movie’s run time into hour and a half normality? Here, Kren creates a tight and concise story that only needs an hour for full exposure and ends when absolutely necessary, which avoids senselessly dragging on.
Time flew by as the characters defended themselves from zombies and Macguyver-ed their way through a populated apartment complex, never letting up due to the short delivery. But more impressive still is Kren’s ability to bury a tender love story which comes beautifully full circle under the mounting corpses and lets us horror nuts share romantic emotions unique to our beloved genre.
Short, sweet, and to the point: Rammbock: Berlin Undead capitalizes on minimalistic filmmaking coupled with a grand understanding of efficiency. In other words, a punctuated lovey dovey bloody mess. Come Valentines Day horror fans now have their own movie tradition to start!
Final Rating: 7.5/10
Chop
Quick Synopsis: “Lance Reed is forced by a psychotic stranger to confront his duplicitous past. Seeking retribution for a crime, the man forces Lance to reveal his inner most secrets by systematically removing his limbs.”
Director: Trent Haaga
Haaga’s directorial debut oozes every bit of Troma influenced campy hilarity absorbed from his time with the famed B-Movie production company, creating an original horror comedy knowing no boundaries. Detach yourself from reality as Lance (Will Keenan) is forced to re-live his drug filled and debaucherous past while visited by people whom he wronged and who seek a little deserved payback.
Rational thought should be found nowhere near Chop, as Keenan crafts a dimwitted and charismatic lead character, understanding the cheese-tastic nature B-Movie actors normally exude, and tailors such behaviors to Lance.
Timothy Muskatell play’s Lance’s abductor and deserves his own acting recognition as well, embodying a vivaciously delusional and twisted torturer who is exposed full force come Chop‘s finale.
It almost feels devilish watching Lance’s body be severed in numerous places as he struggles to remember the fateful incident which spurred his capture, but writer Adam Minarovich keeps a joking tone present which never lets his script slip into serious horror land so laugh away!
Sick, twisted, deranged, and wildly entertaining, Trent Haaga picked up all the right traits from Troma and forgot the bad, making a splatterific B-Movie worthy of the highest Troma distribution honor. Too bad Bloody Disgusting Selects beat them to it!
Final Rating: 7.5/10
The Woman
Quick Synopsis: “When a successful country lawyer captures and attempts to “civilize” the last remaining member of a violent clan that has roamed the Northeast coast for decades, he puts the lives of his family in jeopardy.”
Director: Lucky McKee
Screened at the Sundance Film Festival in 2011, McKee’s torture film hybrid was said to be so offensive it sent one audience member into an irate rant which obstructed Q and A sessioning and eventually led to his removal (video here). So yes, I was instantaneously excited for “The Most Controversial Film At The Sundance Film Festival.”
From a horror point of view, The Woman was every bit disturbing as I could have expected, but for completely different reasons. Lucky doesn’t pointlessly degrade women in a perverted Saw type mannerism or shamelessly exploit actors for a horror film lacking any moral compass, as much larger themes are at play. McKee’s picture perfect family, The Cleeks, are seemingly straight from a Lifetime special, until each member peels back a mask hiding shocking dark secrets.
“The Woman” herself, played by Pollyanna McIntosh, serves more as a tool used to break each character down, debating supposed civility against our most basic animal instincts.
On the flip side, actor Sean Bridgers absolutely embodies the villainous role of Mr. Cleek to a sickening extent, exposing McKee’s fantastic script twist just as you think you’ve figured it all out. Bold performances and a strong script deserve brilliant recognition from the horror community.
The Woman is a very strong horror film, put together by an ingeniously savvy director dancing through dangerous territory to question so many aspects of the society we have created. No one deserves the Bloody Disgusting Selects bump more than Lucky McKee.
Final Rating: 7.5/10
Exit Humanity
Quick Synopsis: “A young man’s struggle to survive in the aftermath of a deadly undead outbreak during the American Civil War.”
Director: John Geddes
A period piece yes, but a character piece more so. Not the epic zombie vs. zombie or zombie vs. human Civil War such as the story teases, but instead an emotional film about how one lonely soldier deals with the arrival of undead foes and the loss of his family.
Geddes follows poor Edward Young, strongly portrayed by relative newcomer Mark Gibson, on his quest for answers and vengeance. A tad bit slow for the adrenaline junky, Exit Humanity represents intelligent and heartfelt horror through the eyes of one phenomenal character.
We’re not robbed of scenes featuring zombie slaughter and crooked villains as veteran genre actor Bill Moseley plays antagonist General Williams, but Edward’s self discovery about what humanity actually means demands screen time and trumps usual horror drivel.
Edward’s tumultuous struggle only strengthens Geddes’ zombie menace by offering a jaded protagonist amongst some wasted backdrops, but following our hero sets a heavy pit in our stomach as Geddes displays superior storytelling to accommodate brutal circumstances, all while altering a sacred piece of history.
Exit Humanity successfully displays the serious tone that Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter so questionably used, achieving a believable realism while never making us wish for a tonal shift to utter silliness.
Plenty of brain munching and six-shooting makes Exit Humanity a passable flick, but hallowed storytelling by iconic voice Brian Cox separates schlock from impressive craftsmanship. Major studios could learn a thing or two from Exit Humanity‘s focus on a tightly knit story and respectable horror, all done on an independent budget mind you.
Final Rating: 7.5/10
Cold Fish
Quick Synopsis: “When Syamoto’s teenage daughter is caught stealing, a generous middle-aged man helps resolve the situation. The man and his wife offer to have Syamoto’s troublesome daughter work at their fish store. Syamoto soon discovers the horrific truth of the seemingly perfect couple.“
Director: Shion Sono
Cold Fish exists as the “coup de grace” so far for Bloody Disgusting Selects.
At a marathon run time of 144 minutes, Sono achieves horror in a full circle transformation of lead character Mr. Syamoto (Mitsuru Fukikoshi), as he becomes corrupted by fiendish competitor Yukiko Murata (Denden). With a familiar story showcasing character development from timid doormat to full-blown psychopath, Cold Fish strikes a chilling nerve commentating on both big business monopolization and leaders possessing a God-like complex.
Kudos to actor Denden who embraces the role of evil genius with vibrant realism, showing signs of true psychosis as he manipulates Mr. Syamoto while literally slaying the competition. But more terrifying is the character of Mr. Syamoto himself, a once quiet and respectable man harboring a beast within which breaks out beyond control. Both clashing personalities work as a crazy team at first, offering a dramatic dynamic, culminating with a poetic nature as Mr. Syamoto completes his bloody metamorphosis.
Much like I Saw The Devil, Sono takes us on a wild and brutal ride by breaking down one unlucky character and telling a tale so sadistic and twisted, one wonders how our actors even remained sane during production.
Just like any good Japanese cinema, Cold Fish is a test of wits from the intimidating run time to ruthless gore vicious enough to send weaker stomachs away, but Sono grasps every single minute of ambitious yet disturbing psychological terror worth biting into.
Final Rating: 8/10
The Retrospective:
Ratings be damned, Bloody Disgusting Selects are admirably giving originality a fighting chance in today’s increasingly hard Hollywood market. Studios have begun passing on more “gamble” projects as of late, which writer Todd Farmer can attest to since his Ghost Rider 2 script got denied for being “too violent” and brutal.
I actually sat down one day and read Farmer’s script treatment. As an avid horror fan/gorehound, I had loads more fun imagining Ghost Rider’s written antics than watching inevitable safety play out in Ghost Rider 2: Spirit of Vengeance, which made every single mistake found in the first.
Horror fans everywhere are screaming for a savior in today’s film world to give us something new, fresh, bold, unique, and all around fun. Bloody Disgusting heard those pleas for help and are trying their absolute hardest to quell such cries.
Bloody Disgusting Selects creation stands as THE best thing to happen to horror since…well…honestly I’m not even sure due my beloved genre running rampant with reboots and remakes. It was always a chore to get a copy of lesser known and underground titles overshadowed by the 27 millionth Friday the 13th film, but BDS can now provide that shining spotlight such films deserve.
To the guys at Bloody Disgusting, this is my very own plea: PLEASE NEVER STOP.