Tooth and Nail

Trademark After Dark Films

Not bad.  Plus it has some familiar faces.  I get the feeling they spent most of their money on recognizable actors, and went somewhat scant on other aspects.  The cast includes people such as Vinnie Jones (X-men 3), Michael Madsen (Sin City), Robert Carradine (Revenge of the Nerds), Rider Strong (Cabin Fever), Michael Kelly (Dawn of the Dead 2004), and if you saw first set of Horrorfest movies you may recognize Rachel Miner (Penny Dreadful).

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I’m not sure if the social commentary is supposed to be apparent throughout the movie, but the premise does lend itself to a deeper meaning.  In this world, oil has been completely depleted.  Governments fell, and societies were forced into tribal structures.  We see a portion of the lives of a small group of people who have taken up sanctuary in a hospital.  The conflict comes when a tribe of hunters come through with a different idea of what hunting is.

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This movie is easily predictable.  But just because it’s easy to see what’s coming doesn’t make it any less fun.  Horror fans will get a kick out of this one.  The premise is different enough to grab an audience’s interest, and I think people who really want to will stop to argue about the validity of it.  The villains are intense and frightening.  With the inclusion of Michael Madsen and Vinnie Jones, how can they not be?  Intense is Jones’s middle name, and for Madsen intimidating seems to cover it.  There’s plenty of running-for-your-life, enough murder, and plenty of pretty red colors to keep you entertained.  The only problem with this scenario is you’ll find yourself pointing out classic mistakes the characters make for hiding spots.

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Like most movies that include a group of people cooped up in any given place, the characters have a reasonable amount of drama.  The friction between them isn’t forced into the story, but is a little stereotyped.

I enjoyed it, but the chances of me watching it again are pretty slim.

The Verdict:  Rent it.  It’s a good watch.  There’s plenty for the audience to chew on, but more than one watch will result in boredom.

Unearthed

Tademark After Dark Films

An alien creature trapped on earth for nine hundred years is released in an archaeological dig and decides to killify the human race because all aliens want that.  It’s like an extra food group to them:  Bread, meat, snarflack, and a penchant for earthling destruction.

It’s not unlike a Sci-fi channel movie.  Creature + reasonably isolated town + a healthy diet of people = a movie.  I kind of like Sci-fi channel movies.  They make me laugh.  They’re rarely intentionally funny, but that doesn’t stop a chuckle or two.

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The best part about this flick is Charlie Murphy.  That’s right.  Darkness himself acts in this movie.  He plays a street-savvy city man who runs out of gas in a New Mexican town.  Yeah I know, nothing unexpected, but hey, it’s Charlie Murphy, what more can you ask for?

There’s more than just running from a alien beastie.  The sheriff is an alcoholic hot chick with inner demons, the townspeople are marginally prepared minus petrol, and if I remember correctly, there’s even some superstitions to make the creature scarier.

The Verdict:  If you’ve seen any Sci-fi Channel flicks you’ve basically already seen Unearthed, but who couldn’t use a little more Charlie Murphy in their diet?  It’s a solid rental.

-Vince

Tags: Charlie Murphy, Horror, Horrorfest, Michael Kelly, Michael Madsen, Rachel Miner, Rider Strong, Robert Carradine, Tooth and Nail, Unearthed, Vinnie Jones

This entry was posted on Monday, May 19th, 2008 at 10:23 pm and is filed under Horror, Movies, Vincent. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.