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[center][color=darkred][font=Arial Narrow][size=3][b][font=Times New Roman][/font][/b][/size][/font][/color][color=darkred][size=3][font=Arial Narrow][b][font=Times New Roman][font=Arial Narrow][i]House of the Dead[/i] (2003)[/font][/font][/b][font=Times New Roman][font=Arial Narrow]: IMDB rating: 2.0 (#20 in Bottom 100); 6% fresh rating at Rotten Tomatoes[/font][/font][/font][/size][/color][/center]
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[left][color=darkred][font=Arial Narrow][size=3][font=Times New Roman][/font][/size][/font][/color][font=Arial][color=darkred]House of the Dead is Uwe Boll?s first foray into the video game-to-movie niche he?s carved himself. It?s based on a first-person-shooter by Sega that lets players blast their way through a haunted house and its undead tenants. There?s not much to the game. In interviews Boll has remarked at how he hated the film?s jokey script and rewrote much of it on the fly, trapping the film between the genres of horror and action. In the DVD jacket, executive producer/co-writer Mark A. Altman says, ?House of the Dead is no Citizen Kane.? This may be the understatement of the millennium, comparable only to Napoleon saying Russia might be a tad cold.[/color][/font][/left]
[font=Arial][color=darkred]Matt (Steve Byers), Greg (Will Sanderson), and Simon (Tyron Leitso) are meeting with fellow college students Alicia (Ona Grauer), Karma (Enuka Okuma), and Cynthia (Sonya Salomaa). They?re ready to party at the rave of the century. This rave of raves takes place on the ominously named Isle del Muerte (The Island of the Dead). I suppose this proves that no one on the rave planning board speaks Spanish. The kids eventually hitch a ride to the island from Captain Kirk (Jurgen Prochnow) and his first mate (Clint Howard). Hot on Kirk?s heels is Casper (Ellie Kornell), a border agent after Kirk for gunrunning. Once they arrive at the island, the kids are shocked to find the rave site vacated, destroyed, and swarming with zombies. Everyone makes a run for it and regroups with some of the rave?s survivors, led by Rudy (Jonathon Cherry). The groups team up, armed by Kirk, and set out to shoot their way home. But there?s also a very evil figure roaming about that has more sinister plans for the island?s fresh meat.[/color][/font]
[font=Arial][color=darkred]House of the Dead isn?t a horror movie at all. Boll has no idea how to stage scenes with tension. He has no feel for mood or atmosphere, which are the foundations of a good horror flick. So instead, House of the Dead is a riotously dumb action movie. But under Boll?s direction, it?s not even good at that. The action is repetitious and pedestrian. Boll?s big melee sequence becomes boring because it doesn?t progress. There?s just ten minutes of wall-to-wall shooting zombies, but there isn?t any order to it, no rhyme or reason. If you want a perfect example of Boll?s inept staging, skim to 47:20 into the DVD and watch. You?ll see a zombie leap onto a jumping platform and launch himself into the air. House of the Dead actually has scenes where we see exposed jumping pads and landing mats.[/color][/font]
[font=Arial][color=darkred]Boll gets drunk on special effects very easily. He loves the bullet time effect and throws it in at odd points. Every single character gets a tiresome slow-mo camera spin as they fire a gun. After the ninth and tenth time, the thing gets old. The characters don?t even have the same weapons in the shots before the slow-mo jazz. Boll doesn?t use flashy effects to benefit his narrative, unlike The Matrix. Boll actually thinks using clips from the actual video game is a good device to transition between scenes. There will be moments where screen shots of the game just pop up. Boll is a kid with toys and no clue when to put them back into the box.[/color][/font]
[font=Arial][color=darkred]This movie?s silliness is jaw dropping. The so-called rave of the century seems to be poorly attended, and the better for it since it takes place on the Island of the Dead (Isle del Muerte). Is that really the best place to host a social gathering? Perhaps everyone gets what they deserve for being stupid. Kirk, after shooting several zombies, limply remarks, ?[i]Now[/i] I know why they call this the Island of the Dead.? The line should be accompanied by a rim shot. The movie doesn?t even live up to the lofty ambitions of its title. The film should be renamed Island of the Dead.[/color][/font]
[font=Arial][color=darkred]By far the most ludicrous story element is the film?s villain, Castillo (David Palffy). It seems that before he stalked the island in a hooded cloak, looking like Robert DeNiro in Mary Shelley?s Frankenstein, he was a Spanish pirate/doctor. He tried to experiment on living tissue in order to unlock the secret of how to be immortal. He was imprisoned on a Spanish ship and was shipwrecked on the Island of the Dead (what are the odds?). He?s concocted a special Kool-Aid that will bring the dead back to life, though I don?t know why he?s still stuck on an island if he can?t drown. I guess he?s been biding his time and waiting for stupid college students so he can see some T&A.[/color][/font]
[font=Arial][color=darkred]The characters are made up of people interested in attending a rave, but when the action hits they?re all instantly adept at weaponry and kung-fu. That?s not the typical raver I know, and these people must be super ravers if they?re going to the rave of the century. Simon is described as ?the biggest underwear model in America,? and for all I know underwear models encounter a lot of gunfire on the runway. The DVD jacket has character profiles where it lists their name, age, weapon of choice, and skill. After having watched House of the Dead, the skills are laughable at best. Simon the runway model?s skill is ?tactical planning.? I also seriously question Rudy?s ?leadership? skills since he gets everyone killed.[/color][/font]
[font=Arial][color=darkred]Of course everyone in the movie is profoundly stupid. While trapped in the island?s lone house, Rudy says the kegs of gunpowder are useless without a charge, and then he walks past a series of lit candles. The whole house upon arrival is filled with lit candles (who has the time for that, by the way?). Alicia is convinced that the rave site being deserted, destroyed, and zombie-infested is all a practical joke, as if Ashton Kutcher is just around a tree poised to yell, ?You suckas just got [i]punk?d[/i]!? There are numerous moments where a character will wander into the dark and say, ?[Insert name], is that you?? Kirk takes the last stick of dynamite and plans to sacrifice himself by blowing up some zombies good. He lights the stick, wanders outside their barricaded stronghold, and blows himself sky high. What Kirk failed to do was move far enough from the house, because he also blows the front door wide open and the zombies filter inside. No wonder Picard is the better Starfleet captain.[/color][/font]
[font=Arial][color=darkred]The acting doesn?t even rise to the level of camp. The actors feel unrestrained and marooned, typical of a Uwe Boll film. The man has no feel for actors and this explains why his films have some of the worst line readings I?ve ever heard (2000?s Dungeons and Dragons is still the worst). Casper acts like a crabby fitness instructor. The dialogue is bad as is, but when added with the poor line readings it turns every spoken sentence into something of unintentional hilarity. Take this nugget from Simon: ?We got to the boat but it wasn't there.? Well, then did you really get to it?[/color][/font]
[font=Arial][color=darkred]House of the Dead can be enjoyed for the depths it plumbs. The dialogue is cheesy and leaden. The movie is bad enough that if you have some friends over, drink steadily, you?ll have a blast laughing and hurling popcorn at the screen. The movie does have a decent amount of blood and gore and the make-up effects are good but limited. You can enjoy House of the Dead in a fun derisive way, and it?s hard to argue with the price some retailers charge (I bought it on Amazon.com for 75 cents plus shipping). The DVD commentary is also good for a laugh, that is, if Boll?s self-flagellating remarks are serious. At one point he compares his zombie action movie to Schindler?s List. Boll also marvels at an actor?s ability to carry objects and make them seem heavy. I?m not sure if Boll is serious or just making fun of the movie like everyone else.[/color][/font]
[color=darkred][size=2][font=Arial][i][font=Times New Roman][font=Arial][size=2]House of the Dead[/size][/font][/font][/i][font=Times New Roman][font=Arial][size=2] is a dull action movie within the framework of a horror flick. The characters are powerfully stupid, the action is redundant, the effects are chintzy and overused, and the direction is lackluster. Boll has added little in transitioning a game about poppin? zombies onto the silver screen. The video game is flimsy and the movie based upon it manages to be even flimsier. [i]House of the Dead[/i] is incredibly dumb entertainment and the fact that a sequel is well underway cannot be a good sign for human existence. I never thought I?d utter these words but . . . Clint Howard, you?re too good for this.[/size][/font][/font][/font][/size][/color]
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[color=darkred][size=2][font=Arial][font=Times New Roman][b][font=Arial][size=2]Nate's Grade: D[/size][/font][/b][/font][/font][/size][/color]
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[center][color=darkred][font=Arial Narrow][size=3][b][i]Alone in the Dark[/i] (2005)[/b]: IMDB rating: 2.2 (#28 in Bottom 100); 1% fresh rating at Rotten Tomatoes[/size][/font][/color][/center]
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[color=darkred][size=2][/size][/color][font=Arial][color=darkred]Edward Camby (Christian Slater) is a paranormal investigator trying to rediscover what happened in his past. He was apart of 20 orphans taken by Fischer (Frank C. Turner), your basic mad scientist type. Camby was the only child to escape Fischer?s poking and prodding. The other orphans have become sleeper agents/zombies to assist him in opening a dimensional gate to another world, a world with bloodthirsty creatures that live in darkness. This world and its creatures were first discovered by an ancient Native American tribe who mysteriously vanished. But before doing so, they thoughtfully broke the dimensional key and hid the pieces all over North America. Aline Cedrac (Tara Reid) is a scientist/archeologist that specializes in this Native American tribe and its artifacts. She teams up with her old flame, Camby, to help stop the mad doctor. Monitoring the whole situation is Commander Burke (Stephen Dorff), the man in charge of the United States government?s bureau of the paranormal. He leads his no-nonsense super troopers to the location of the dimensional gateway, which just happens to be underneath Camby?s childhood orphanage.[/color][/font]
[color=darkred][font=Arial][i]Alone in the Dark[/i] is a good film for people that felt [i]House of the Dead[/i] was too intellectual. It should be obvious after reading the plot synopsis, but [i]Alone in the Dark[/i] is a movie of unparalleled stupidity. What was the point of making orphans sleeper agents/zombies? They?re very easily disposed of and not very effective. I don?t know whether or not this is because they didn?t have a mom and dad growing up. What does this mad doctor hope to achieve by opening the door to creepy crawly monsters? I guess he thinks the monsters will be grateful and give him some kind of bureaucratic job, instead of, you know, gutting him and drinking his blood. I?ll never understand why villains align themselves with creatures whose only purpose is killing. How does Camby end up having a childhood flashback from a perspective that isn?t his own? The plot of [i]Alone in the Dark[/i] is a gigantic mess. What other film in recent memory fits together ancient Native American tribes, monsters from an alternate dimension, government agencies, orphanages, zombies, and Tara Reid as a college educated person? You know you?re in bad hands when they open the film with a ten paragraph scrawl to explain what the film, by itself, cannot. And then they add narration because they don?t trust their audience to read.[/font][/color]
[font=Arial][color=darkred]The film is called [i]Alone in the Dark[/i] and tells us that killer creatures lurk where we cannot see them. This is a fine platform to engineer some good scares; really stir the audience into fearing what they cannot see. As always, nothing will be scarier than a person?s mind at work. Boll doesn?t agree. He doesn?t even toy with the idea of hiding his creatures and building tension gradually. Boll prefers to show you his monsters immediately and often, therefore eliminating any attempts at suspense. Now the characters aren?t running away from what they can?t see; they?re running away from lame CGI rat/alligator creatures. The monsters look laughable and should have staid in the shadows for as long as possible. It?s hard to spook an audience once they see what they?re supposed to be afraid of. Boll?s impatience for suspense and his love of cheesy special effects cripple [i]Alone in the Dark[/i].[/color][/font]
[color=darkred][font=Arial][i]Alone in the Dark[/i] has no pulse when it comes to action. Boll stages his action sequences like different stations on a gameshow. Characters (contestants) run from station to station, picking up weapons and shooting at whatever, and then advancing to another stage with a different weapon. Much of the action just comes out of nowhere and ends in its own confused way. Boll likes to season his poorly choreographed action sequences by cranking up loud rock music and mixing in excessive, gimmicky special effects. For no reason, Camby and Aline and the soldiers will be shooting and Boll just all of sudden decides this scene should be in a strobe light. Or he?ll shove in a cheap slow-mo follow-the-bullet effect. Boll likes testing out different effects that serve little purpose other than to call attention to itself. Boll has confused this with style.[/font][/color]
[font=Arial][color=darkred]Speaking of action coming out of nowhere, Boll manages to squeeze in an out-of-the-blue sex scene. Aline visits Camby in the morning, sees him sleeping, and decides on the spot to crawl into bed and have sex with him. I?m sure this is well within Reid?s character, but would she really keep her bra on the whole time? I don?t think so. Reid and Slater have no chemistry whatsoever. It?s like watching water buffalos go at it. Then the sex is never referred to again. This is just another pristine example of how carelessly Uwe Boll handles plot and characters. Rarely does Boll even bother with a transition scene to explain how a character got from Point A to Point B.[/color][/font]
[font=Arial][color=darkred]Boll?s direction is lazy and derivative. There are scenes that openly ape superior movies, like [i]Alien[/i], [i]Raiders of the Lost Ark[/i], [i]Starship Troopers[/i], and even Boll?s own [i]House of the Dead[/i] for crissakes. The plot is a cut-and-paste job of the series finale of TV?s [i]Buffy the Vampire Slayer[/i]. Both deal with an army of creatures living under an everyday school building and involve a special key to unlock the gateway. And like in [i]Buffy[/i], some noble individual sacrifices himself to destroy the gateway?s underground entrance. No, scratch that. The plot itself is virtually a copy of [i]Super Mario Brothers[/i], the first video game based movie. Both films involve some magical key needed to unlock two alternate dimensions of creatures. No, scratch that. This is one big rip-off of [i]Darkness[/i][i]Falls[/i], since both involve crazy creatures that can only attack from the dark. Whatever it is, [i]Alone in the Dark[/i] is Boll?s opportunity to showcase his unoriginality. That is, if you can pry him away from inserting more pointless slow-mo bullet effects.[/color][/font]
[font=Arial][color=darkred]The acting is wildly all over the map. I wonder if Boll will ever be able to direct actors. The line delivery is terrible all around. Slater is subdued and permanently cranky. Maybe somewhere inside that Jack Nicholson grin he?s realized he?s slumming it. Reid acts like an irritable child playing dress-up. Dorff seems to be the only actor having any fun, though I don?t know how intimidating this diminutive actor comes across as a military man. The actors of [i]Alone in the Dark[/i] confuse loud with emotional.[/color][/font]
[font=Arial][color=darkred]Let?s take some time out to spotlight Reid and her character. The way [i]Alone in the Dark[/i] convinces us that Reid (and her black hole of eyeliner) is a scientist is by giving her some black rimmed glasses and putting her hair in a pony tail. Reid with hair down and no glasses? Trashy party girl. Reid with hair up and glasses? Respected member of the scientific community. It?s just that easy, folks. For a scientist, Reid has an awful lot of halter-tops. Maybe she?s that lone scientist that likes to go out for Mai tais after getting her hands dirty with the scientific method. Apparently being a scientist didn?t help Reid with her geography; she pronounces Newfoundland ?New-[i]FOUND[/i]-land? (the correct pronunciation is ?New-fin-lan?). Reid is no more believable as a scientist than a porn star. In fact, a porn star would be more believable and give a better performance.[/color][/font]
[color=darkred][font=Arial]The dialogue reeks of poorly concealed exposition. A chatty security guard serves as the writer?s sloppy conduit to establish back story: ?You don?t know about the Indians? Let me explain,? ?You don?t know who Aline Cedrac is? Let me explain,? ?How?s your [i]boooooy[/i]friend, Aline Cedrac?? [i]Alone in the Dark[/i] relies on gobs of thick exposition to cover up its insurmountable plot holes. The movie thinks it?s like a cool detective noir. It?s not. You never heard Sam Spade say, ?Fear is what protects you from the things you don?t believe in.? Huh? Does that make any sense?[/font][/color]
[color=darkred][font=Arial][i]Alone in the Dark[/i] is symptomatic of all of Boll?s directorial flaws. He has no feel for tone, he has no control over actors, he makes bad stylistic decisions that detract from the film, and he has no time for subtlety. Boll spoils all of his surprise by showing the monsters up and front instead of letting the human mind fill in the blanks for terror. This is a brain-dead action film that doesn?t even trust its audience to read. [i]Alone in the Dark[/i] is a film so incompetent, so ridiculous, so convoluted, and so moronic that it must bend the laws of space and time simply to exist. This makes [i]House of the Dead[/i] look well thought out. If this is indicative of what Boll has in store for his video game adaptations, then you can expect many duds yet to come on Boll?s path to eventual audience oblivion. If anyone dared venture to a theater to see this movie, they?d find themselves alone in the dark all right. And shamed. Deeply, deeply shamed.[/font][/color]
[font=Times New Roman][font=Arial][size=2][color=darkred][b]Nate?s Grade: F[/b][/color][/size][/font][/font]