ZOMBZANY AND THE UNDEAD DOC FREAK: PART SIX -- DOC FREAK DISARMED

In the sixth part of Zombzany and the Undead Doc Freak -- which I've titled "Doc Freak Disarmed" -- Zombzany regales his viewers with a story about Zacherley running for president with the slogan “Put a Ghoul in the White House.” Despite his fear of punishment, Freak enters the tomb and tells Zombzany that according to his source, the slogan was “Put a Vampire in the White House.” Zombzany refutes this claim and uses a spell to dash Freak to the ground.

Zombzany sarcastically goes into an unflattering description of the next film in the horror movie marathon and Freak can be heard in the background screaming for Zombzany’s attention. At the conclusion of Zombzany’s soliloquy, Freak confronts Zombzany, showing him that his spell has now removed Doc Freak’s other hand. When Freak explains to Zombzany that without hands, he won’t be able to serve his master his coffee, Zombzany attempts a regenerative spell to restore Freak’s missing appendages.

The spell goes awry and Doc Freak is now missing both of his arms!

Enjoy Zombzany and the Undead Doc Freak: Part Six -- Doc Freak Disarmed.

THE DEAD – 2010 – A DEAD END

“I honestly can’t recommend The Dead as either an exciting zombie-horror film or as a compelling character-driven drama, so I reluctantly have to advise you to avoid The Dead because it is a dead end.”

Horror and Drama

Starring - Rob Freeman as Lt. Brian Murphy, Prince David Oseia as Sgt. Daniel Dembele, David Dontoh as The Chief, Ben Crowe as the mercenary leader, Glenn Salvage as a mercenary and Dan Morgan as James

Directors - Howard J. Ford and Jonathan Ford

Writers - Howard J. Ford and Jonathan Ford

Rated R for bloody zombie violence and gore

Runtime - 105 minutes

There have been so many zombie films made in past decade that it is more difficult than ever to do something different with the genre. I was interested in The Dead because it was billed as “the first Zombie Road-Movie set against the stunning backdrop of Africa, shot on locations in Burkina Faso and Ghana, West Africa.” That alone should have made it visually unique enough to make The Dead worth watching. Unfortunately, its unique setting is all that is remarkable about The Dead.

A U. S. Army engineer, Brian Murphy, is the only survivor of a plane crash off the coast of Africa. Murphy makes his way on foot to a seemingly deserted village and finds and fixes a truck. Getting the truck stuck in the mud, he is suddenly attacked by zombies, but is saved by an African soldier named Daniel. Daniel explains that his wife was killed by the zombies, but is looking for his son, who he told to leave the village during the zombie outbreak. Murphy and Daniel drive off together in the truck. Daniel agrees to drive Murphy to the nearest airport in exchange for helping him look for his son.

A film like The Dead, whose story depends so much on developing its two lead character's personalities and background, is also dependent on the strength of the two actors portraying those characters. Rob Freeman is a versatile character actor who has been featured in over a dozen genre TV programs in the past decade; most recently playing Coach Quigley in Smallville. He has also played supporting roles in Dark Angel, The Lone Gunmen, The Outer Limits, Strange World, Millennium, First Wave, Viper and The X-Files. Rob Freeman has appeared in feature films as diverse as Ten Dead Men, Shanghai Knights, Prozac Nation, New Blood and Saving Private Ryan. I have seen many of these TV series and films, yet I have no recollection of his characters from these roles. It might be a credit to his ability as an actor to disappear into his characters, but I unfortunately think it is more likely that Freeman is just not a very memorable actor. This could explain why The Dead is his first starring role in a feature film. Rob Freeman is perfectly serviceable in his role as a U. S. Army engineer, but he isn’t able to add any gravitas to his character and the entire film suffers because of it. So much of the film is spent with Murphy and Daniel wandering in the deserted landscape and discussing what might be happening in the rest of the world, that without crafting truly three-dimensional characters, the film just drags along.

A zombie film that features the slow-Romero zombies has to rely on character and dramatic tension to create suspense and horror. While the several zombie attacks that appear in The Dead are handled with great technical skill, they still lack any real emotional weight. Blame for this should go to director and writers Howard J. Ford and Jonathan Ford. Their directorial resumes are pretty slim: They consist of the low-budget thriller Distant Shadow (2000) and the even lower-budgeted crime-drama Mainline Run (1994). I don’t blame the lack of budget on The Dead being less exciting than bigger budgeted zombie films, because the master George Romero has proven that with a powerful script, a low budget can be overcome. The Dead may have been better if the script had explored more of the zombie-infested African setting - and to be fair, it does touch on this in small part. However, too much of The Dead is just our two protagonists wandering the landscape, looking for transportation and moping about missing their respective loved ones.

I honestly can’t recommend The Dead as either an exciting zombie-horror film or as a compelling character-driven drama, so I reluctantly have to advise you to avoid The Dead because it is a dead end.

TECHNICAL: Acting – 6 Directing – 7 Cinematography – 8 Script – 6 Special Effects – 8

VISCERAL: Visual – 8 Auditory – 7 Intellectual – 6 Emotional – 6 Involvement – 7

TOTAL - 69

RED LIGHTS – 2012 – PULLS OUT ALL THE STOPS

“If you are interested in a film that plays with the ideas of the paranormal and how it affects the lives of some remarkable characters, give Red Lights a try.”

Horror, Thriller, Mystery and Drama

Staring - Cillian Murphy as Tom Buckley, Robert De Niro as Simon Silver, Sigourney Weaver as Margaret Matheson, Joely Richardson as Monica Handsen, Elizabeth Olsen as Sally Owen, Craig Roberts as Ben. Toby Jones as Dr. Paul Shackleton, Burn Gorman as Benedict Cosell and Leonardo Sbaraglia as Leonardo "Leo" Palladino

Director - Rodrigo Cortés

Writer - Rodrigo Cortés

Rated R for language and some violence

Runtime - 113 min.

Red Lights is a psychological thriller in the tradition of films by Hitchcock and De Palma. While those directors dealt strictly with perceptual reality, Red Lights director and writer, Rodrigo Cortés, adds a paranormal element to his film. Rather than detract from the dramatic impact of the film, I felt it contributed greatly to it.

Red Lights plot focuses on Margaret Matheson and her assistant, Tom Buckley. Matheson has spent thirty years investigating and disproving the existence of the paranormal. Working for an underfunded University department, Matheson and Buckley continue to investigate false psychics, while teaching at the university. Simon Silver, one of the world’s most renowned psychics has come out of retirement and Buckley wants to investigate him. Matheson refuses and Buckley finds out that early in her career, Matheson had an encounter with him which shook her firm disbelief in the paranormal. Buckley decides to pursue Silver himself and tragedy befalls not only his investigation, but Matheson herself.

Red Lights is a film that hinges so firmly on the events of the character’s past and how they relate to their actions in the present, that I would be doing you a disservice if I went into any further detail of the story. I will say that it is the type of film that builds very slowly, as much of the film is spent detailing the history of the main characters and how it affects their current lives. Fortunately, these characters are interesting and sympathetic enough that you are captivated by their seemingly routine and yet, peculiar lives.

Sigourney Weaver is remarkable as the paranormal investigator Margaret Matheson. She brings real conviction and gravitas to a role that could have been played more overtly melodramatic by a lesser actress. Cillian Murphy, who plays Matheson’s assistant, is an actor whose wide-eyed looks have always vaguely disturbed me. However, he is perfectly cast in this role, but for reasons I can’t say here without giving away one of the film’s truly remarkable revelations. My initial interest in Red Lights was in Robert De Niro playing the role of psychic Simon Silver. De Niro has been in many roles lately that have not required him to do more than reiterate tropes from previous performances. Here De Niro plays a blind psychic, whose controversial past has caused him to go into hiding, but suddenly puts himself back into the limelight for unknown reasons. De Niro perfectly captures a man who on the exterior exudes calm confidence, yet seems to be quietly hiding darker and more complex motives. All these three actors make Red Lights worth watching, even in the longer stretches where nothing important appears to be occurring.

While Red Lights does occasionally get bogged down with somewhat simplistic melodramatic character motivations, particularly the revelation of Matheson’s son being in a coma for decades, for the most part the complex character interrelationships ring true. I found Red Lights to be both captivating as a character drama and as a moral examination in regards to the paranormal.

It is a shame that Red Lights did not get a wider release in this country. It was only released in eighteen theaters for one week in this country and as a result made very little money. It has been unfairly compared by some critics to some of M. Night Shyamalan’s lesser efforts, but unlike his films, I felt Red Lights plays fairly with the audience and doesn’t completely live or die on the film’s final revelations. If you are interested in a film that plays with the ideas of the paranormal and how it affects the lives of some remarkable characters, give Red Lights a try.

TECHNICAL: Acting – 10 Directing – 9 Cinematography – 9 Script – 9 Special Effects – 8

VISCERAL: Visual – 9 Auditory – 9 Intellectual – 8 Emotional – 9 Involvement – 9

TOTAL - 89

Without sounding too self-congratulatory, (I hope) this is my 200^th post on Guardians of the Genre and my 58^th movie review. I didn't set out with any set goal of a number of posts or reviews when I started this blog with my (mostly) silent guardian members, but I do feel a certain degree of satisfaction with these two accomplishments. Thank you for reading and commenting on my posts.

THE CABIN IN THE WOODS – 2012 – THIS IS ONE CABIN WORTH FINDING!

“You may love The Cabin in the Woods as I did; or you may hate it, but any fan of the horror genre should watch Cabin in the Woods and decide for him or herself.”

Horror, Dark Fantasy and Satire

Starring - Kristen Connolly as Dana Polk, Chris Hemsworth as Curt Vaughan, Anna Hutchison as Jules Louden, Fran Kranz as Marty Mikalski, Jesse Williams as Holden McCrea, Richard Jenkins as Gary Sitterson, Bradley Whitford as Steve Hadley, Brian White as Daniel Truman and Amy Acker as Wendy Lin

Director - Drew Goddard

Writers - Joss Whedon and Drew Goddard

Rated R for strong bloody horror violence and gore, language, drug use and some sexuality/nudity

Runtime - 95 min.

I am a horror film fan. I have been a horror film fan for over fifty years. Some of my earliest movie watching memories are of watching the Universal monster movies. I was particularly enamored of Frankenstein’s monster and even though he gave me nightmares, I insisted on watching Frankenstein, Bride of Frankenstein and Son of Frankenstein whenever they aired on TV. I have followed all the trends of horror films, watching and enjoying the best of them. Despite my dislike of most of the slasher films of the 1980’s/1990’s, the torture-porn of the 2000’s and the recent found footage fad, I have watched all of the best of them and even many of the worst of them. I say all this to give background to my reason for why I think The Cabin in the Woods is the most entertaining horror film I have seen in over a decade!

The Cabin in the Woods is difficult to describe without ruining the basic premise on which the plot of the film hangs, so I won’t even try. If you watch the trailer for the film, you can tell that this film is not your typical teenagers killed in the woods movie. While the film starts out like every other film of this ilk, it quickly turns into something much deeper, much more disturbing and most unexpectedly of all… one of the funniest dark satires of the horror genre ever made.

The Cabin in the Woods is a dark satire of the horror film genre, but is also perhaps an allegorical parody of our current society as a whole. Dark humor often plays well to some and not to others, so if you don’t like the conventions of all the horror films made in the last thirty years satirized, Cabin in the Woods is not the film for you. However, I personally took Cabin in the Woods to be so darkly humorous as to be almost farcical. The basic premise of The Cabin in the Woods – which I won’t spoil here, because I am trying to convince the few horror film fans that have yet to see it – is the most original, absurd and humorous that I have seen. If you are a knowledgeable and experienced horror film fan, I think you’ll notice and appreciate all the horror film tropes that the film plays with. The Cabin in the Woods is an amazing metaphorical pratfall and a darkly sinister lark, which plays with the common fears of all modern horror films by flipping them upside down and inside out. You may love The Cabin in the Woods as I did; or you may hate it, but any fan of the horror genre should watch The Cabin in the Woods and decide for him or herself.

TECHNICAL: Acting – 9 Directing – 10 Cinematography – 9 Script – 10 Special Effects – 10

VISCERAL: Visual – 10 Auditory – 9 Intellectual – 9 Emotional – 10 Involvement – 10

TOTAL – 96

RESIDENT EVIL: RETRIBUTION – 2012 – RESILIENT AS EVER!

“While Resident Evil: Retribution won’t go up as my favorite Resident Evil film, it certainly isn’t the worst film in the series either.”

Science-Fiction, Horror and Action

Starring - Milla Jovovich/Alice, Sienna Guillory/Jill Valentine, Michelle Rodriguez/Rain Ocampo, Aryana Engineer/Becky, Johann Urb/Leon S. Kennedy, Kevin Durand/Barry Burton, Li Bingbing/Ada Wong, Oded Fehr/Carlos Olivera, Boris Kodjoe/Luther West, Colin Salmon/James "One" Shade and Shawn Roberts/Albert Wesker

Director - Paul W.S. Anderson

Writer - Paul W.S. Anderson

Rated R for sequences of strong violence throughout.

Runtime - 95 min.

My immediate and initial visceral reaction to Resident Evil: Retribution was one of exhaustive contentment and marginal confusion. While I was still blown away by Paul W.S. Anderson’s ability to create innovative and exhilarating action sequences, I was puzzled by his creative choice to take the plot from Resident Evil: Afterlife and throw it away in favor of a completely different one in Resident Evil: Retribution.

Resident Evil: Retribution opens with the Umbrella Corporation’s attack on the freighter Acadia by a fleet of airships. The Arcadia is being destroyed by the airships, when Alice fires on one of them, causing it to crash into the Arcadia and throwing Alice overboard unconscious into the water.

Alice awakens in an idyllic suburban setting; complete with a husband Todd (who inexplicably looks like Carlos Olivera) and daughter Becky. Zombies suddenly burst into their home, kill her husband chase Alice and Becky out of the house, where they are rescued in a car driven by Rain Ocampo. Their car is hit by a truck and Alice is knocked unconscious once again.

Alice awakens this time alone in an enormous Umbrella base cell. Alice is interrogated and tortured by former ally Jill Valentine, who is being controlled by Umbrella through a red scarab device attached to her chest. Alice awakens again and there is a sudden power failure, which enables her to escape her cell.

Alice exits the Umbrella facility and is a city that looks exactly like Raccoon City. While battling a horde of zombies, she meets Ada Wong, who tells her that she is in a huge facility built by the Umbrella Corporation to recreate the great cities of the world. Umbrella used these to stage zombie attacks, in hope of selling their anti-virus-toxin to the highest bidder, but it was instead taken over by none other than the Red Queen – the Artificial Intelligence Computer that ran the original Umbrella Corporation facility that created the zombie virus in the first place. Alice teams with old and new allies, in an attempt to stop the Red Queen and the zombie plague from wiping out what is left of the human race.

Resident Evil: Retribution feels very much like it is treading water and merely setting  itself up for a sixth and perhaps final film in the Resident Evil series. However, there is actually quite a lot of plot squeezed into all the multiple chase sequences and fight scenes in the movie. I think the reason that the film feels so bereft of plot development is because of its sudden shift in direction and its unresolved nature. The story is also confusing because of the many characters from the previous Resident Evil films that are brought back are not only clones of those characters, but sometimes they are multiples of those clones with both “good” and “bad” personalities. The film’s plot advancement relies so heavily on Alice’s character, that too many times it is unclear to both her and us, what the motivations of the other characters are.

Plot aside, the reason that Resident Evil: Retribution and all the other films in the series have been so entertaining are the multiple fight sequences between Alice and the zombies. While Resident Evil: Retribution certainly has its fair share of these, much of the film is taken up with Alice being chased and fighting with more human opponents. While these are done with Anderson’s usual panache and style, there is a certain lack of accomplishment to them. Every time Alice beats someone, it seems that that opponent is either replaced or made to be an ally. Still, the action scenes are for the most part top notch and definitely worth seeing on the big screen. I did not see it in 3D this time, but it was more from the fact that it wasn’t playing in that format at my local theater than the lack of desire to see it in 3D.

While Resident Evil: Retribution won’t go up as my favorite Resident Evil film, it certainly isn’t the worst film in the series either (that honor still goes to Resident Evil: Apocalypse -2004). Even that film is more entertaining than many bigger budgeted Hollywood films and I will definitely be going to see the next film in the Resident Evil film franchise to see how Alice helps to save humanity from the zombie hordes. 

TECHNICAL: Acting – 8 Directing – 9 Cinematography – 9 Script – 8 Special Effects – 10

VISCERAL: Visual – 10 Auditory – 9 Intellectual – 7 Emotional – 9 Involvement – 9

TOTAL - 88

DETENTION – 2012 – DEMANDS YOUR ATTENTION!

“I can only recommend it [Detention] to someone who likes their films filled with dark satire, frenetic pacing and an odd reverence of the pop culture of the 1990’s.”

Horror and Comedy

Starring - Shanley Caswell/Riley Jones, Josh Hutcherson/Clapton Davis, Spencer Locke/ Ione Foster, Aaron David Johnson/Sander Sanderson, Dane Cook/Principal Verge, Walter Perez/Elliot Fink, Erica Shaffer/Sloan, Parker Bagley/Billy Nolan, Alison Woods/Taylor Fisher and James Black/Mr. Cooper

Director - Joseph Kahn

Writer(s) - Joseph Kahn, Mark Palermo and Mark Palmero

Rated R for bloody violence, crude and sexual content, nudity, language, some teen drinking and drug use.

Runtime - 93 min.

Detention is a film that is nearly impossible to describe. It uses the tropes of so many different film genres, that watching it is an almost exhausting experience. However, it is the type of film that if you open your mind to it and allow yourself to adapt to its crazed visual style, I think you’ll find yourself enjoying the wild ride that Detention sends you on.

The story is told from the viewpoint of Riley Jones, the self-described “second biggest loser to walk Grizzly Hills High.” Besides being extremely accident prone, Riley’s biggest problem stems from her crush on Clapton Davis, a slacker hipster liked by virtually everyone, who is dating her former best friend and cheerleader Ione Foster. Riley’s life is further complicated by Sander Sanderson, a friend who continually attempts to have sex with Riley, and Billy Nolan, the school jock and ex-boyfriend of Ione, who is still in love with Ione and keeps trying to beat up Clapton to win Ione back. All this is fairly typical high-school drama. The difference between Detention other films of the ilk are quickly discovered.

Right at the outset of Detention, the most popular girl in school, Taylor Fisher, is killed by someone dressed as Cinderhella, the serial killer from a fictional horror film. Cinderhella begins stalking Riley, but through a series of bazar accidents, Riley survives every attempt on her life. Ione wants to win a dance contest, so she switches bodies with her Mom, who won the same school contest in 1994 and Ione finds herself transported back to that year. We discover the source of Billy Nolan’s testosterone anger and strength is from being part fly, which occurred when he discovered an alien meteorite as a child. This is only some of the weird and strange people and things that you will see in Detention.

Directed by Joseph Kahn, whose only previous feature film was 2004’s Torque; a visually frenetic, but narratively vacant motorcycle gang movie. Detention has that same visual style, but has a quirky and unique satirically humorous plot and characterization that make it a much richer and rewarding cinematic experience.

None of the young actors are particular standouts. However, Shanley Caswell instills Riley Jones with a certain sympathetic distain that makes her character’s viewpoint of the strange events in Detention feel a bit more grounded than they would with a less talented actress. Josh Hutcherson, who is now better known as Peeta Mellark from The Hunger Games, shows a real knack for playing the slacker Clapton Davis with just enough panache to make him likeable even in his worst moments. Dane Cook has many detractors for reasons I’ve never been sure of, but his role as Principal Verge is the most interesting of the few adult roles in Detention.

Because Detention is such an unusual film, I can only recommend it to someone who likes their films filled with dark satire, frenetic pacing and an odd reverence of the pop culture of the 1990’s – or as Taylor Fisher declares at the begining of Detention, “The 1990’s are the new 1980’s.”

TECHNICAL: Acting – 8 Directing – 9 Cinematography – 8 Script – 9 Special Effects – 8

VISCERAL: Visual – 9 Auditory – 8 Intellectual – 8 Emotional – 9 Involvement – 9

TOTAL - 85

TRAILER TUESDAY! RESIDENT EVIL: RETRIBUTION – 2012 – REDUNDANT OR REQUISITE?

 

Resident Evil: Retribution is an upcoming fifth film in the Resident Evil film franchise and is set to be released September 14, 2012. I’m a fan of all the films and am looking forward to Retribution as well.

 

The Resident Evil is a film series based on the Campcon survival horror video game, which made its debut on the PlayStation in 1996. In January of 1997, Constantin Film bought rights to the first film. After failed scripts by Alan B. McElroy and George A. Romero, that film never got made. Sony acquired distribution rights to the film in 2001 and hired Paul W.S. Anderson as writer and director for Resident Evil (2002). Made on only a budget of $33 million, Resident Evil went on to make over $102 million worldwide! Anderson went on to write and produce both Resident Evil: Apocalypse (2004) and Resident Evil: Extinction (2007).  Anderson then returned as director for the fourth installment, Resident Evil: Afterlife (2010). After finishing directing The Three Musketeers (2011), Paul W.S. Anderson went back to both writing and directing Resident Evil: Retribution.

There were rumors that this may be the last film in the franchise, but in a recent interview on Collider.com, Anderson hinted there may be more Resident Evil films to come.

Collider.com: We have heard from some of the cast that when you were writing this one you were thinking of a 5th and 6th film and that there was almost talk of you guys filming them back to back.

Anderson: We definitely…there was an earlier discussion about that, but then we just decided to focus on this movie. But if it is that we make another one, I do know where it would go. It would obviously be great to kind of make two full trilogies and then just bring everything to an end.

Collider.com: That is the thing. Your significant other was mentioning that she can only play the character for so long. In your mind, is the 6th film the finale?

Anderson: Definitely. Unless, of course, no one goes to see this one. Then this one would be the finale, just maybe not a very satisfying one. [laughs]

To read even more about Resident Evil: Retribution and other Anderson projects go to:

http://collider.com/paul-ws-anderson-resident-evil-retribution-interview

 

The official synopsis for Resident Evil: Retribution reads thus:

The Umbrella Corporation's deadly T-virus continues to ravage the Earth, transforming the global population into legions of the flesh eating Undead. The human race's last and only hope, Alice (Milla Jovovich), awakens in the heart of Umbrella's most clandestine operations facility and unveils more of her mysterious past as she delves further into the complex. Without a safe haven, Alice continues to hunt those responsible for the outbreak; a chase that takes her from Tokyo to New York, Washington, D.C. and Moscow, culminating in a mind-blowing revelation that will force her to rethink everything that she once thought to be true. Aided by newfound allies and familiar friends, Alice must fight to survive long enough to escape a hostile world on the brink of oblivion. The countdown has begun. -- (C) Sony

 

So, is Resident Evil: Retribution redundant or requisite? If Resident Evil: Retribution is as action-packed as the previous four films, then I’ll definately vote requisite and I for one can hardly wait for this one! I won’t have to wait long, because the film is set to be released September 14, 2012, which is less than two weeks away! Meanwhile, enjoy the latest trailer for Resident Evil: Retribution!

 

THE DARKEST HOUR – 2011 – AN ESCAPIST ALIEN INVASION

"There are many different elements of The Darkest Hour to enjoy! Foremost and most obvious are the marvelous locations that the film was shot on. I personally liked the design of the various alien technologies; which were all consistently based on light or energy. I really liked how Emile Hirsch’s character Sean grew from a shallow-seeming underachiever at the outset of the film into a quick-thinking selfless leader. Possibly the preeminent aspect of The Darkest Hour is its brisk pacing and efficient plot. Every scene provides pieces of information on the aliens, their purpose and the progression of the invasion."

Science Fiction, Horror and Action

Starring - Emile Hirsch/Sean, Olivia Thirlby/Natalie, Max Minghella/Ben, Rachael Taylor/Anne, Joel Kinnaman/Skyler, Gosha Kutsenko/Matvei, Veronika Ozerova/Vika, Dato Bakhtadze/Sergei, Nikolay Efremov/Sasha,  Pyotr Fyodorov/Anton Batkin, Georgiy Gromov/Boris, Artur Smolyaninov/Yuri and Anna Rudakova/Tess

Director - Chris Gorak

 

Writer - Jon Spaihts

Rated PG-13 - sci-fi action violence and some language.

1 hr, 29 min.

This film has been unfairly criticized for its unimaginative aliens and lack of characterization. The same could be said for any alien invasion movie ever made. The important thing about this gene of film is that the alien creatures look and act differently enough from the humans to pose a plausible threat; and that the characters are likable and relatable enough to want to see them survive the alien threat. The Darkest Hour succeeds in both respects.

Ben and Sean are two college friends, who decide to start a social networking business. Ben is the brains of the business and Sean is the face of the operation. They partner with a young Swedish businessman to enter the budding Russian free market. When Ben and Sean arrive to meet Skyler in Moscow, they find out that Skyler has already sold a knockoff version of their application software and due to the non-existent copyright laws in Russia, the friends can only drink away their woes at a local nightclub. They meet an American woman Natalie there and her Australian friend Anne, who are in Moscow to show Natalie’s art. The power abruptly goes out in the nightclub and everyone dashes out to see the sky filled with bright light, which quickly breaks off into hundreds of smaller spheres that plummet to the ground.

One of these light spheres alights near the crowd of young people outside the club and a police officer bravely confronts the alien object to intercede himself between the civilians and the possible threat. The police officer is immediately disintegrated against an invisible force barrier that surrounds the sphere, which sends the crowd running in a panic for the relative shelter of the club. More and more of the alien spheres hurtle ground ward and begin killing dozens of the frightened people. Sean finds a hole in the wall of the nightclub that leads to a basement storeroom and he leads Ben, Natalie and Anne there. Once behind the heavy steel door, they hear loud banging at the door and open it to reluctantly let Skyler in their shelter.

Hiding there for days, they finally leave to find that Moscow is completely devoid of people. Venturing further out into the city in search of a proper map, Ben and Sean become trapped by one of the alien spheres under a car. As it passes over the car, they notice that the sphere causes all the lights of the vehicle to alight and they quickly devise a warning system for the aliens out of incandescent light bulbs. They use the map from the car to find the American Embassy, where they had hoped to find help in finding a way back to America, but it is just as desolate and demolished as the rest of Moscow. They do find a logbook there near a wireless transmitter and discover that the alien invasion is a worldwide event. The group decides they need to find another way out of Moscow and they enter a high tower building to get a superior view of the city. Skyler is leery of being trapped in the building, so he stays on the ground floor while the others climb to the roof. They hear Skyler being attacked by one of the spheres, firing a rifle uselessly at the alien’s force shield. Skyler bravely leads the alien away from the rest of the group and they witness his death as they get away.

Sean, Ben, Natalie and Anne head towards a building with lights in the window, hoping to find someone alive. Once inside, they’re attacked by another alien sphere, but are helped by a Russian teenaged girl to escape into an apartment that has been transformed into a giant Faraday cage that hides them from the aliens. The girl introduces them to Mr. Sergei, who rescued Vika from the streets. Sergei explains to them that the aliens are generating an electrical field that not only makes them invisible, but also shields them from conventional weapons. Sergei then proudly demonstrates his microwave gun that destabilizes their shields enough to kill the aliens inside. They show Sergei a working radio they found at the embassy and play the frequency that repeats a message in Russian for him. Vika and Sergai interpret the message, which broadcasts that a nuclear submarine is waiting in the Moscow River to take refugees of the alien invasion to safety.

Sean, Ben, Natalie, along with the capable Vika escape Sergei’s building – which regrettably he and Anne do not – and are helped by a small but skilled Russian militia to find the Russian submarine promise of escape from the alien infested city of Moscow.

There are many different elements of The Darkest Hour to enjoy! Foremost and most obvious are the marvelous locations that the film was shot on. From the stunning exteriors of the Academy of Science Plaza to the impressive interiors of the Lenin Library, The Darkest Hour makes wonderful use of the city of Moscow to create a real feeling of alienation for the American and Australian protagonists in the film. The scenes of them wandering Red Square, which is shown to be completely devoid of any trace of humanity, are effectively eerie.

I personally liked the design of the various alien technologies; which were all consistently based on light or energy. The gigantic towering light funnels, that appear to be sucking the very life essence of Moscow itself, were disconcertingly efficacious. The opening sequence, where the massive vaporous light field in the night sky dissipates into hundreds of the energy spheres and begins at first to gently fall to the surface; only to quickly dive bomb the people on the ground and immediately disintegrate them, leaving only floating particles of dust was very imaginative and powerful. I thought that keeping the aliens themselves hidden behind the invisible energy shield for most of the film made them even more menacing than if they had been revealed early on in the movie. Because genre films and particularly science fiction films, portray alien technologies and biology with CGI so frequently now, I think our mind’s eye has become oversaturated with these images to the point that every films’ aliens begin to blend into one another. It is easy to criticize a lack of originality with the alien design work on The Darkest Hour, but honestly, when was the last film that truly impressed you with its innovative design work? Every film now is just a variation or modification of what we’ve seen in other science fiction films, so I think it’s just a cop out to disparage a film like The Darkest Hour for its lackluster special effects, when it is we as film aficionados that are being lazy in our critical analysis.

While I do think it might have been better if the central characters were more varied in age, ethnicity and vocation, I do think that the featured foursome were more than adequate at presenting the audience with relatable personalities and viewpoints. I really liked how Emile Hirsch’s character Sean grew from a shallow-seeming underachiever at the outset of the film into a quick-thinking selfless leader. I also appreciated that Olivia Thirlby’s character Natalie wasn’t just a bimbo to be rescued; nor was she throwing herself at Sean at every opportunity. In fact, at the beginning of the film she is more attracted to Ben because on the surface he seems to be the more stable and successful of the two male leads. Only after it becomes apparent to Natalie that Ben is actually very dependent on Sean for providing strength of leadership, that she – and we the audience – see Sean in a different light. My favorite characters in the film are some of the Russians; the foremost being Georgiy Gromov who played Boris the leader of the Russian militia. His obvious familiarity with American pop culture lent his character a real charm in relating to the Americans that he is put into a position to help. Boris demonstrates his appreciation for American films when after he and his small band of soldiers kill an alien he quips, “Welcome to Russia sucka!” I thought the young Russian actress Veronika Ozerova, who played the resourceful Russian refugee Vika, portrayed her character with just the right blend of quiet toughness and hidden terror that never once verged on overacting. Even with his relatively brief screen time, Dato Bakhtadze’s electrical engineer and amateur inventor Sergei was a fun and sympathetic character.

Possibly the preeminent aspect of The Darkest Hour is its brisk pacing and efficient plot. Every scene provides pieces of information on the aliens, their purpose and the progression of the invasion. These build on the each other, until the end of the film, which culminates with a satisfactory conclusion that still leaves open the possibility for a sequel. While, as a science fiction fan, I feel the film could have benefited from another character like Boris to better explain the alien technologies, I can’t quibble too much with the way this information was disseminated in bits and pieces throughout the film.

As you can no doubt tell by the length of this review, I truly enjoyed The Darkest Hour and recommend it to anyone who is looking for a pleasant bit of escapist alien-invasion science fiction!

TECHNICAL: Acting – 8 Directing – 8 Cinematography – 9 Script – 8 Special Effects – 9

VISCERAL: Visual – 9 Auditory – 8 Intellectual – 8 Emotional – 9 Involvement – 10

TOTAL RATING – 86