The Thing (2011)

In 1982 Sci-Fi/Horror maestro John Carpenter made his remake of The Thing from Another World (1951) called The Thing (1982). In my opinion, an that of many others, he made one of the best sci-fi/horror films in history. Now, in the 2000's we have a habit of remaking everything that stood out above the rest. Luckily the producers of this film decided that Carpenter's film was already perfect and so they decided to make a prequel, also called The Thing (2011). 

Paleontologist Kate Lloyd is invited by Dr. Sandor Halvorson to join his team who have found something extraordinary. Deep below the Arctic ice, they have found an alien spacecraft that has been there for perhaps 100,000 years. Not far from where the craft landed, they find the remains of the occupant. It's cut out of the ice and taken back to their camp but as the ice melts, the creature reanimates and not only begins to attack them but manages to infect them, with team members devolving into the alien creature.

The Thing (2011) turned out to be a hugely disappointing film that doesn't come near the quality of John Carpenter's The Thing. The great atmosphere that made The Thing (1982) such a good film is largely gone. Even the feeling of complete isolation from the rest of the world doesn't come over. The ''infamous'' scene where the crew develop a little experiment to test who is an alien and who is not is recreated in this film. This time they check if they have fillings in their teeth to see if he's an alien or not. A pretty stupid replacement if you ask me. And again the tension is nowhere to be found. The special-effects featured in this film are not worth looking at. There is an excessive use of, crappy, CGI and it quickly makes you want to re-watch Carpenter's The Thing with its amazing old school effects. 

The cast is pretty decent, although you can hardly replace a guy like Kurt Russell. It is also nice to see what happened at the Norwegian camp. The findings that Russell and his crew did in The Thing (1982) (two-headed alien, bloody axe, burned bodies etc) al return in this film and we get to see how it happened which is a cool element for the ones who saw Carpenter's film as well. 

Overall The Thing is a pretty big disappointment. It doesn't come near the quality of Carpenter's film and misses a big piece of its moody atmosphere, pure tension and feeling of isolation. As a stand-alone film it's ''watchable''

 

TV Series: Renegade (Season 1)

Once upon a time, as a very small child, I used to watch an action serie called ''Renegade''. Now in 2013 I could only recall that it was about a bounty hunter riding a Harley Davidson and that I was crazy about it. So it was time for me to relive those childhood memories and start watching some Renegade. 

After crooked cop Lieutenant "Dutch" Dixon kills his girlfriend and frames him for murder, Reno Raines escapes from jail and goes on the run. Teaming up with Bobby Sixkiller and Cheyenne Phillips, Reno works as a bounty hunter while searching for the only man who can clear his name.

Reno Raines is played by Lorenzo Lamas, a B-grade actor who made more shitty movies than Eric Roberts and with the five season running Renegade has his ''acting-prime''. Lamas might have starred in some shitty movies and also might not be the best actor alive on this planet but he suits the role of Reno Raines pretty well. He has the body and the skills for the many fighting sequences and more than once, if the script isn't poorly written, delivers his one liners quite well. As soon as it gets to emotional or dramatic though Lamas is clearly out of his element and so I cheer every time they skip the dramatic shit and hand him a shotgun instead.

The supporting cast is certainly worth mentioning. Reno's partner is ''Bobby SixKiller'' played by the always enthusiastic Branscombe Richmond. Richmond clearly has more flair and charisma than Lamas has and is a nice character to have around. They form a good team of what you can call ''The muscle and the brains''. Another one of Reno Raines' sidekicks is Cheyenne Phillips played by Kathleen Kinmont. Kinmont's character wasn't necessarily necessary for me but the fans of the TV show seem to like her and quite frankly I don't really care if she does or doesn't feature in the show. Other notable actors that feature in episodes of season 1 are Charles Napier (First Blood: Part 2), Jackie Earle Haley (Shutter Island), Miguel Sandoval (Jurassic Park), Martin Kove (First Blood: Part 2) and more. 

About 80% of the 22 episodes of season 1 are about Reno Raines riding through the desert and randombly stumbling upon some redneck gang members. Usually these are the most entertaining and action packed though. The few episodes that do actually develop the main plot line never really have much impact as this serie just isn't made for much plot. It's about a bad-ass biker fighting for the weak and destroying the evil. That's what we want to see and luckily that's what we get to see most of the time as well. 

The first season of Renegade is a successful one in my opinion. Most of the episodes are decent at the very least, 1 or 2 are absolutely great. Overall the serie manages to keep a very steady line in terms of quality and it seems like the less serious and dramatic the script, the better the episode gets. It's a bummer though that the two-part season finale is quite a disappointment. The storyline is cool but for a season finale I would have suspected a bit more action towards the end.

Complete list of episodes and my grades for them:
Ep1. Renegade - 7,0
Ep2. Hunting Accident - 7,0
Ep3. Final Judgement - 8,0
Ep4. La Mala Sombra - 7,0
Ep5. Mother Courage - 6,0
Ep6. Second Chance - 5,0
Ep7. Eye of the Storm - 7,0
Ep8. Payback - 7,0
Ep9. The Talisman - 5,0
Ep10. Partners - 6,0
Ep11. Lyon's Roar - 8,0
Ep12. Val's Song - 5,0
Ep13. Give and Take - 7,0
Ep14. Samurai - 4,0
Ep15. The Two Renos - 8,0
Ep16. Billy - 4,0
Ep17. Headcase - 7,0
Ep18. The Hot Tip - 9,0
Ep19. Moody River - 7,0
Ep20. Vanished - 6,0
Ep21. Fighting Cage: Part 1 - 6,0
Ep22. Fighting Cage: Part 2 - 7,0 
 

State of Decay (Game)

I probably got this game on release date, which was early June, so I realise that it's quite uncommon to write a review about a game that was released about 6 months but we'll get to the reason of that later in this review.

You start as Marcus who along with a friend comes back from a weekend of hiking in the woods only to find out the the world has gone to hell. Everywhere they dead corpses eating on living people who then turn into corpses as well. Marcus quickly finds shelter at a survivor group that lives in an old church.

In State of Decay it's all about surviving. You'll need to scavenge in town to look for food, weapons, ammo, medicine etc. I have to admit that that seemed cool in the beginning, and I even had a lot of fun with it a for a period of time, but after a while this feature starts to get old and boring.

Another important feature about State of Decay is expanding your survivor group with more helpful people. You'll find these people all over the map. Usually they are part of a struggling group themselves and would love to join you. It's up to you whether you allow 'em to or not. Again, this sounded very cool in the beginning but I didn't really care about as you'll never get a bond with any of the survivors. They are ''just'' virtual dudes surviving in an virtual world. There is nothing human about them. That's mainly due to the very, very limited dialog in the game. Throughout the whole game I felt like the survivors where some kind of mutes. And IF there finally is any dialogue it's usually a stupid joke about shooting a pony through the head (This joke literally gets repeated hundreds of times!).

You also have to make sure you're group is motivated and happy. As soon as there are too many infestations (large groups of zombies) or not enough food the moral of your group will go down. They'll be scared or just ''down''. One way to help them is to go out with them and shoot some zombies. After a while this gets such a pain in the ass. Every 5 minutes another member will be desperate and would want your help. And it's not because I'm such a bad gamer that there were infestations everywhere and that people where turning into cannibalism due to the lack of food. No! I had food like I was running a soup kitchen and supplies like I was running a hardware store. After a while I just thought; just kill yourself and get it over with so I can continue doing my own business.

The reason that I wrote this review is because of this. I arrived at the final mission (Yes, there are missions in this game although most are continually the same) with my favorite black zombie killing motherfucker ''MARCUS''. My guy Marcus accidentally dies during the mission (Yes, your characters can die but I'll get to that later) so it's mission failed. You get reset to your compound as another member of your group but some kind of glitch kept me from playing it again. I played hours and hours but the mission just never got offered again. I'm pretty certain this is some kind of glitch or otherwise I'm the biggest douchebag in the world. Long story short: I can't fucking finish the game!

This game obviously isn't all shit. As I already said your characters can die and this is a great add. It adds to the realism and it will make you think twice before going into some old building filled with walkers while just carrying a simple stick. The only problem is again: If a character dies you don't actually give a rats ass because you never bonded with the dude or chick.

The game does feature a nice soundtrack and stumbling upon other survivors is pretty cool. The fact that there are a limited amount of cars on the map adds to the realism as well.

In the end this game wasn't for me. The realistic set-up purely based on surviving and surviving only seemed cool and ''refreshing'' in the beginning but gets quite boring after a while. The lack of decently structured missions and the fact that there is no bonding between characters whatsoever are annoying problems about this game.

Buio Omega (A.K.A Beyond The Darkness) (1979)

Buio Omega is a film by one of Italy's infamous directors, Joe D'Amato. D'Amato wasn't particularly infamous for killing off animals like Rugero Deodato or Umberto Lenzi was but more for making sleazy movies filled with cheap looking gore and ridiculous sex scenes. 

A young rich orphan loses his fiancée to voodoo doll mischief on the part of his housekeeper who is jealous of his attentions. He digs his girlfriend up, cleans her out, stuffs her, and puts her in bed at the mansion. Following this, he tries out and disposes of a series of young maidens, trying to find the right replacement for her, and the disapproving housekeeper helps him with the disposals.

Buio Omega has a terrible beginning. As a viewer you have to fight your way through the first 20 minutes and make sure you don't pass out due to boringness. Scenes are build up insanely slow and are stretched out for absolutely no reason. Luckily after about 20 minutes hell starts to break loose. The gore is pretty awesome and the soundtrack that comes with it is actually quite good. 

D'Amato is obviously inspired by cannibal and killer Ed Gein. Digging up graves, keeping the corpse of someone you love in your house like it's still alive, cannibalism etc. These are all things 50's maniac Gein did as well. Not to mention the housekeeper Iris who treats Frank (Our main character) like a little baby much like Gein's mother did to an already grown up Ed Gein. 

Obviously the film is not entirely filled with blood and guts. There are some scenes where there ain't no killing and the director tries to develop the story. These are the moment you'll actually notice how shitty this movie is. Dialog is scarce and there is absolutely no character development (I still don't get why the main character started killing people). 

On the other hand. Character development and dialog obviously aren't really the first things you think of in a movie made by a guy who also made movies like ''Porno Holocaust'' and ''Erotic Nights of the Living Dead''. 

The fact is that Buio Omega succeeds at the points you want it to succeed. It has lots of gore, nudity and a great soundtrack. Any ''mainstream'' movie critic will destroy this movie 'cause in reality it's a crappy movie. Fans of 70's 80's gory shit will definitely like it though and those are the guys these movies are made for.

The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974)

This is the one you've been dying for. The Texas Chain Saw Massacre quickly became my favorite horror movie and one of my favorite films ever. I've seen it about 8 times now and it still is as macabre, sick, twisted and brilliant as the first time I watched it. 

En route to visit their grandfather's grave (which has apparently been ritualistically desecrated), five teenagers drive past a slaughterhouse, pick up (and quickly drop) a sinister hitch-hiker, eat some delicious home-cured meat at a roadside gas station, before ending up at the old family home... where they're plunged into a never-ending nightmare as they meet a family of cannibals who more than make up in power tools what they lack in social skills...

Tobe Hooper is a very wel known name in the horror genre and it is all because of this film. It's a shame Hooper has gone down hill fast the last couple of years. Don't get me wrong I liked his more recent films like The Toolbox Murders and Mortuary but only due to the entertainment level. It isn't nearly as brilliant as The Texas Chain Saw Massacre or even as good as his Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2 and Eaten Alive which were both of his earlier days as well.

This film constantly has a sick vibe around it. The low budget works so well in this movie. It definitely adds to the realism. Every second of this film is sick and twisted. After you watch it a few times you'll also notice Hooper's eye for detail. Just look around in the rooms where the story takes place. This doesn't come close to a clean film set like you'd see in modern movies. This is exactly what the house of a mentally deranged farm family  should look like. Rooms filled with bones, chickens in small cages and disgusting human parts. 

Obviously The Texas Chain Saw Massacre is based on the 50's serial killer Ed Gein. Hooper finds an amazing mix between fiction and reality. The lampschades made of a human face, chairs made of human bones etc. are all based on Ed Gein. Leatherface however is a fictional character, apart from  the human skin masks he wears which Gein wore too. Anywhay, Leatherface is portrayed brilliantly by Gunnar Hansen. He doesn't have a single line in the whole movie and that makes it even more special how Gunnar Hansen manages to create a body language that looks like a real insane, mentally deranged person instead of some tall bodybuilder who has no body expression.

Please.. Forget about Nightmare on Elm Street, Halloween or Friday the 13th. The Texas Chainsaw Massacre is as close to terror as you can come without actually hurting yourself. Get ready for a sick and macabre ride that will absolutely disgust you. 

Fun Facts (Source:IMDB)

During the dinner scene towards the end of the film, when Leatherface cuts Sally's finger, he actually does cut her finger because they couldn't get the fake blood to come out of the tube behind the blade.  

Director Tobe Hooper claims to have got the idea for the film while standing in the hardware section of a crowded store. While thinking of a way to get out through the crowd, he spotted the chainsaws. 

A family was actually living in the house that served as the Sawyer family house in the later half of the movie. They rented out their house to the film crew and continued to stay there during the entire shoot. During filming, the crew discovered that one of the residents had been cultivating a marijuana field; fearful that production would be shut down if they were found near the plants, the filmmakers called the Sheriff, who never arrived to investigate. 

Scream 4 (2011)

 I haven't been posting movie reviews on here for a while with the simple reason that I haven't seen any for a while. The reason is because I'm currently rewatching every season of Lost. I decided to watch Scream 4 last night to get back in horror films a bit.

Sidney Prescott, now the author of a self-help book, returns home to Woodsboro on the last stop of her book tour. There she reconnects with Sheriff Dewey and Gale, who are now married, as well as her cousin Jill and her Aunt Kate. Unfortunately, Sidney's appearance also brings about the return of Ghostface, putting Sidney, Gale, and Dewey, along with Jill, her friends, and the whole town of Woodsboro in danger.

The first +- 45 minutes of Scream 4 annoyed the hell out of me. Ghostface has as much as a cameo and sticks mostly to ''creepy'' phone calls. It must also be said that even the phone calls are less ''creepy'' as in the original. The many references to other horror films feel forced and are far from original. Next to all this BS the old cast has returned and are supplemented with some annoying teens. 

David Arquette is probably the best character and actor in this movie. Neve Campbell and Courteney Cox are decent. Then there also is Marley Shelton's part as the clumsy deputy Hicks which to me wasn't funny and felt like a complete failure. The role of Anthony Anderson as deputy Perkins was probably the most entertaining although it must be said that the character was cliche as hell. 

After about an hour Ghostface starts turning up. It sure as hell isn't best killer out their and more often than not looks rather clumsy but at least he brings some action in this movie. His kills by the way are arguably more brutal than in the original film. 

My review looks slightly negative but it's not like a hate this movie. I'll be the first to admit it's far from original but overal it is an entertaining movie. Definitely not as great as Craven's 1996 original but still a cool movie with some very decent kills and a couple of hot girls to add some flavour. 

Fun Fact (Source:IMDB)

This time, the footage from Stab includes the credit "A Robert Rodriguez Film." Rodriguez really did direct the footage, and also made Grindhouse co-starring Scream's Rose McGowan and Scream 4's Marley Shelton.

The Walking Dead: 400 Days (Game)

This review contains spoilers..

So Telltale is at it again.... They promised us die hard Walking Dead fans something to keep us entertained 'till season 2 is finished and they sure as fucking hell kept their promise.

The Walking Dead: 400 days takes place over 400 days of the zombie apocaylpse. You'll play as 5 different survivors who all have their own group and their own stories. I'll take every survivor, explain his story and give my opinion on it. Of course this game doesn't feature our heroes from Season 1, Lee and Clementine and so I was very curious whether Telltale was going to succeed in making another powerfull episode.

Vince:
So I started off with Vince. Vince is procecuted for murder. We find out he killed someone who hurt, and might very well, killed Vince' brother. It then cuts to inside of a prison bus that's stuck in traffic before you know a fight starts and one of the prisoners kills another one who quickly turns a zombie. The guards bail and Vince and two other prisoners, conman Justin and rapist Danny must find a way out. This is probably the shortest episode of 'em all, maybe 5 or 10 minutes, but although the episode is very short I still liked Vince a lot. There is something about that guy, and I wouldn't be surprised if he could be our lead in Season 2.

Shel:
Next I played Shel's story. She and her sister Becca are part of a survivors group that try to survive in an abondoned gas station. Among the fellow survivors are some of Vernon's (The old fuck who took your boat in Season 1) men and some kind of hardcore biker guy named Roman who will do everything to protect his group. You'll have to make some choices what to do with people who were trying to steal supplies. This probably was the most boring character story of 'em all. I couldn't care less about Shel, Becca and her idiot group of survivors.

Bonnie:
Up next was Bonnie. Bonnie is part of a small group that only appears to have 3 people. Bonnie, an ex-junkie, Leland, a charming fella who appears to have the hots for Bonnie although his wife is with him, and eventually there is Dee, she's Leland's wife and seems to be on his cheating behaviour. Anywhay, Dee stole a bag of supplies from a survivors group, that turns out to be Shel's survivor group, and now they get hunted down by them. This character story is actually very intrguing. It has some very good tension and the ending is one hell of a shocker. 

Wyatt:
Next is Wyatt. He, together with his friend Eddie is on the run for a pickup that is chasing them. After it looks like they shook 'em off we get to know the guys a bit better. They're clearly a couple of stoners and are a brilliant add to the character list. They're dialog, although they're in a shitty situation, is funny as hell. They then run over someone and play rock-paper-scissor to decide who gets to check it out. This probably was my favorite character story. Both characters are funny as hell and after a tough story like Bonnie's it was nice to see these two goof balls. Don't suspect it's all great fun though. There is tension and tough things will happen. 

Russell:
Last but not least is Russell's story. Russell is a teenage guy walking on an empty road heading to his grandma's house. He then suddenly hears a car approach. You'll then have to make a decision that won't matter much but that will feature a nice reference to Season 1, not to spoil to much. In the car sits Nate, a typical rough redneck, who offers him a ride. Nate seems likeable, a little crazy, but likeable. They stop for supplies at an abandoned gasstation, the one Shel's group lived although they did not at the point Russell arrived, where they suddenly get shot at. This was another amazing character story. Not only does Russell turn out to be a pretty cool kid but there also are some nice action sequences and a shocking ending that you won't soon forget. 

After you played the last story we switch to a lady that is looking for survivors to join her community. She finds a group of survivors that contains all the survivors from your previous stories. She offers them to join your community. The choises you make (made) depend which survivors will go with her. 
 
And this is just me thinking, and hoping, out loud but my guess is the group of survivors you have left at the end of this game will be your group in Season 2, with Vince being the main man. That would sure kick ass. It will be complicated for Telltale to do this but they said that your choices will have bigger impact in Season 2 and they also said your choises in 400 Days will carry on to Season 2. Obviously we don't know anything about Season 2 yet so my look on this isn't worth anything but it's what I hope. 

 In the end I'm very satisfied with what Telltale did with this DLC. I had my doubts that they could do it again but they proved they can. Even with so much characters and so little time they manage to create amazingly intriguing stories. I can't wait to see what Season 2 will bring but they have my support.