ZOMBZANY AND THE UNDEAD DOC FREAK: PART FOUR -- DOC FREAK GETS STUMPED

 

 

In the fourth part of Zombzany and the Undead Doc Freak -- which I've titled "Doc Freak Gets Stumped" -- Zombzany impatiently waits for Doc Freak to return from the store with his coffee. When Freak returns empty handed, Freak explains to Zombzany why he took so long and that he’ll have a fresh cup brewed up in a jiffy. Freak hurries off, but inquires how Zombzany likes his coffee to be prepared and Zombzany replies that he likes it with “two lumps of arsenic and a finger of type-O.”

 

While Zombzany waits still longer for his caffeinated infusion, he begrudgingly introduces the second feature of the horror movie marathon. Finally Doc Freak returns with Zombzany’s coffee and he proffers the coffee by prostrating his newly undead form before his necromancer master. Zombzany takes one sip of the beverage and proceeds to spit it out. He then removes an entire hand from the coffee cup and tosses it back at the now one-handed Freak.

 

Freak desperately attempts to reattach the extracted extremity. He finally gives up and resorts to fleeing from the angry self-professed King of the Zombies!

 

Enjoy Zombzany and the Undead Doc Freak: Part Four -- Doc Freak Gets Stumped.

 

 

HAPPY HALLOWEEN
FROM DOC FREAK AND ALL THE GUARDIANS OF THE GENRE!

 

 

IRON SKY – 2012 – AN IRONCLAD SCI-FI SATIRE

 

“Iron Sky is not a film for everyone, but if you are able to appreciate a science fiction satire that delves into politics, Nazism and some other uncomfortable areas, than I recommend giving it a try.”

Science Fiction, Action and Satire

Julia Dietze as Renate Richter, Götz Otto as Klaus Adler, Christopher Kirby as James Washington, Tilo Prückner as Doktor Richter, Udo Kier as Wolfgang Kortzfleisch, Peta Sergeant as Vivian Wagner and Stephanie Paul as the President of the United States

Director: Timo Vuorensola

Writers: Johanna Sinisalo and Michael Kalesniko

Rated R for language and some violence

Runtime: 93 minutes

Satire is one of the most difficult of all genres to do well; even more so when combined with science fiction, horror or fantasy. Parody is another of my favorite sci-fi sub-genres and these are sometimes, but not always satirical in nature. Science Fiction has been the subject of satire for years now. Some of my favorites include: Dark Star (1974), Galaxina (1980), Night of the Comet (1984), Galaxy Quest (1999) and The Lost Skeleton of Cadavra (2004).Of all of these, Dark Star is the darkest in tone and I think Iron Sky falls nearly into this level of dark comedy as well.

 

Iron Sky starts out in the year 2018, with America’s return to a manned mission to the Moon. We find out that the mission is done only as a publicity stunt for the President of the United States' re-election campaign. The astronauts discover a hidden Moon base, but before they can radio back to Earth, they are shot down by Nazi soldiers. Only James Washington escapes into the hidden base, but eventually he is captured and taken to a scientist for interrogation. Doctor Richter finds Washington’s smart phone and he recognizes that it is a computer that can be used as a control unit for their Nazi space battleship Götterdämmerung. When Richter tries to demonstrate the cell phone’s power to the new Führer, Wolfgang Kortzfleisch, the battery runs dry. Nazi commander Klaus Adler, offers to go to Earth on a secret mission to collect more phones for the future invasion. Earth specialist Renate Richter, Doctor Richter's daughter, volunteers to go as well, but when she is not allowed to go, she sneaks on board anyway. Washington is experimented on by Richter and turned into the perfect Nazi, so that he will assist them on their mission to Earth.

 

Landing on Earth, Adler finds the president’s aid, Vivian Wagner, and forces her to take he and Richter to meet the President. Meanwhile, Washington escapes and attempts to warn NASA of the impending invasion of Nazi’s from the Moon, but they don't recognise him and thinks that he's crazy, so he ends up becoming homeless instead. Wagner uses Adler and Richter as faces for a revamp of the President's re-election campaign, which looks a lot like Nazism, but is disguised as benevolent socialism. Growing impatient after months of waiting, Kortzfleisch sends his armada to Earth orbit and begins the invasion without the Götterdämmerung.

Like much satire, Iron Sky isn’t a film that inspires large laugh-out-loud moments, but it more than makes up for it with clever satirical messages. While some of the satire is obvious, such as the Sarah Palin look-alike U.S. President, much of it breezes by so fast that even the jokes that don’t work are more than balanced by the ones that do. Some of my favorite moments are between Washington and Richter; especially after the African American Washington is transformed into a blond white Aryan, minus the Nazi idealism.

 

Where Iron Sky really excels is the amazing special effects and visualization of the retro Nazi technology. The Moon base, the space ships and even the costumes are all slightly modernized versions WWII era designs. The amount of detail that went into the look of Iron Sky is amazing and worth watching the film for this reason alone! Still, there is a fairly complex and compelling story here, so it’s not just ninety minutes of flashy CGI.

The acting for the film is also quite good. Julia Dietze as Renate Richter is both lovely and brilliant as the Nazi “Earth expert”, conveying a certain naiveté and courageous individualism both. Christopher Kirby as James Washington manages to pull off a black man as a white man, without insulting either race, but delicately satirizing the flaws of both. Udo Kier as Wolfgang Kortzfleisch is the most well-known actor of the cast and he grounds his character in a weird reality that manages to make the rest of cast seem even more outrageous by comparison. Stephanie Paul as the President of the United States is the weakest of the cast, as she plays her character too big to be either funny or satirical.

 

Iron Sky is produced by the makers of Star Wreck: In the Pirkinning. It was produced by Tero Kaukomaa of Blind Spot Pictures and Energia Productions, co-produced by New Holland Pictures and 27 Films, and co-financed by numerous individual supporters through their web site. Director Timo Vuorensola, who also directed Star Wreck: In the Pirkinning (2005), does an admiral job of keeping everything from getting too silly and causing Iron Sky to go from satire into over-the-top parody. Samuli Torssonen, who was responsible for the computer generated effects in Star Wreck: In the Pirkinning, gathered a young team of European CGI effects people, who stepped up the quality to the level of much more expensive Hollywood productions. The fantastic orchestral score of Iron Sky incorporates elements from the operatic cycle Der Ring des Nibelungen, music which was favored by the Nazi leaders and the Slovenian industrial music group Laibach also adds some cool futuristic music to the film.

 

Iron Sky is not a film for everyone, but if you are able to appreciate a science fiction satire that delves into politics, Nazism and some other uncomfortable areas, than I recommend giving it a try.

 

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

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

TOTAL - 90

 

 

PODCAST OF THE MONTH! SKULL-FACE ISLAND!

Podcast of the Month for October 2012 is:

Skull-Face Island!

Skull-Face Island is a podcast that reviews the latest movies and talks about some of the most recent television programs. However, the format of the podcast is very unique.

Every podcast opens with this imaginative narrative, setting up the basis for the podcast’s reason for broadcasting every week: “In the year 1991, US Flight 1313 soared unknowing into its death. As the vessel sank into the ocean’s depths, three boys washed ashore on Skull-Face Island. Near death, pursued by vicious creatures, the boys stumbled upon shelter. Who built it and for what purpose, none could say. But, to their shock and amazement, a fifty-five inch TV glowed within, streaming every movie ever made. After twenty years, struggling for survival, they managed to repair the shelter’s communication devise. Perhaps someday they’ll be rescued. But until then, they’ll watch and discuss movies. Hoping, praying, you’re listening.”



Adam Frazier



Adam Frazier is the unofficial moderator, David Allen is his right-hand man and constant co-commentator, and Tim Grant is the mostly silent, but sometimes loquacious producer of the podcast. These three open each week updating their latest adventures of survival on the island.

They usually start the podcast with movie news that they get from their “geek-o-matic news machine”, which sounds as if it is running off a 56k dial-up modem. They also have faithful robot servant Mar-10 that does menial tasks for them and even filled in reading the news when the printer for the news machine went down. There is a mysterious red phone in the island hut and when Adam dialed 666 on it, they were connected to Satan himself. They occasionally get news and inside Hollywood info from Satan, who explains why there are so many bad films made every year.

The bulk of the show is made up of their featured film movie reviews. They keep up with all of the latest theatrical films, which they are somehow able to watch on their mysterious 55-inch TV. For these reviews, they often get in their “jammers” and rant or rave about these films. Their reviews are very opinionated, but fair and full of irreverent humor

Quite often they end their podcasts with a deadly game of movie trivia of the Gods’ choosing in order to satiate the bloodlust of the mighty Tu’Challa, a savage beast whose love of pop culture knows no bounds.

If you are interested in an entertaining, funny, yet informative movie review podcast, check out Skull-Face Island!

To learn more about Skull-Face Island go to http://www.geeksofdoom.com/2012/10/19/skull-face-island-episode-13-sinister/

Or check out their Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/SkullFaceIsland

ZOMBZANY AND THE UNDEAD DOC FREAK: PART THREE -- A FREAKY COFFEE RUN

In the third part of Zombzany and the Undead Doc Freak: Part Three -- which I've titled "A Freaky Coffee Run" -- Zombzany reluctantly introduces the first film of the marathon with his new zombie slave, Doc Freak, standing by his side in rapt attention. As Zombzany describes some of the grizzly details of the modern horror film that he found particularly repellent, Doc Freak begins pantomiming some of these atrocities, but Zombzany quickly silences his servant with a vocal command.

Sensing Zombzany’s irritation, Freak volunteers to go to the local convenience store to purchase some coffee for his master. Freak is in such a hurry to leave that he forgets to ask Zombzany some money, so he returns and asks Zombzany for some “scratch.” After explaining his request in language that Zombzany can understand, Freak leaves Zombzany’s Tomb in his quest for coffee.

Enjoy Zombzany and the Undead Doc Freak: Part Three -- A Freaky Coffee Run.

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

ZOMBZANY AND THE UNDEAD DOC FREAK: PART TWO -- FREAK FAILS

In the second part of Zombzany and the Undead Doc Freak -- which I've titled "Freak Fails" -- Zombzany has fallen asleep sitting on his throne waiting for his new zombie slave, Doc Freak, to return with his coffee. Finally returning with a large cup, Doc Freak apologizes to Zombzany for serving him hot chocolate instead of coffee, explaining to the King of the Zombies that his stash is depleted. Zombzany is displeased with being served “this childish swill” and returns the hot chocolate to Doc Freak – sans mug.

Returning to business at hand, Zombzany reiterates that he will be showing clips of the horror host Zacherley during the horror movie marathon and giving the audience some insightful background into the history of this TV legend. Doc Freak once again begins hopping up and down with unbridled excitement and Zombzany is forced to use a minor spell of sedation on Freak to get him back under control. Zombzany then commands Doc Freak to produce the visual aids and begins regaling his viewers with the origin of Zacherley.

No sooner has Zombzany finished with the first part of his retrospective of Zacherley, than Doc Freak drops all the photos and other props to the ground, making a complete mess of Zombzany’s tomb.

Enjoy Zombzany and the Undead Doc Freak: Part Two -- Freak Fails.

ZOMBZANY AND THE UNDEAD DOC FREAK: PART ONE -- FREAK SEEKS TO BE DECEASED

In the first part of Zombzany and the Undead Doc Freak -- which I've titled "Freak Seeks to be Deceased" -- Zombzany is once again sitting on his throne. However, for some inexplicable reason, he is conscious well before his usual dusk waking hour. Zombzany has again had to demean himself and host another modern horror movie marathon and on top of that he has had to start it in broad daylight, which explains his even worse than usual bad mood. Zombzany admits that the only reason he has agreed to host this particular marathon is that he will able to talk about his favorite “living” horror movie host, Zacherley the cool ghoul.

Running up from somewhere close, Doc Freak (I admit it. I was eavesdropping nearby – D.F.) begins jumping up and down in front of Zombzany, shouting “wicked cool” over and over again. Doc Freak asks if he can be Zombzany’s new servant for this marathon, since he blew up and buried his old servant Bill E. Bones at the conclusion of last year’s horror movie marathon. Zombzany informs Freak that he does not retain the services of the living, as he can resurrect his own zombie slave through necromancy. Freak says that if Zombzany only hires the undead, then he should zap him dead so that he can serve him during the course of the marathon.

Zombzany is more than happy to make Doc Freak his zombie slave and puts a deadly spell of simultaneous death and resurrection on him. The new zombie Freak’s first task as Zombzany’s slave is to fetch the King of the Zombies a cup of coffee for the long horror movie marathon to come.

Enjoy Zombzany and the Undead Doc Freak: Part One -- Freak Seeks to be Deceased.

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.

ZOMBZANY’S SCARY CINEMATARY!

I still have many more dusty old video tapes that I stole from Zombzany’s videos archives tomb years ago and while trying to find the tape that has my second appearance on one of Zombzany’s horror hosting gigs, I lucked into this!

This is a very old title sequence from one of his late 50’s or early 60’s TV horror host programs. The name of the program was Scary Cinematary. This is the only tape with anything related to this show, so I have no idea when or where or if it ever actually aired on TV. If this looks familiar, it is because Zombzany reused it in one of his later horror hosting videos, which I titled Introducing Zombzany the Necromancer - Part One.

Forgive the grainy quality, as it looks like this is a second or even third generation dupe. Enjoy the introduction titles to Zombzany’s Scary Cinematary!

TRAILER TUESDAY! SUPERNATURAL SEASON 8 PREMIERS OCTOBER 3 ON NEW NIGHT - WEDNESDAY!

As I wrote in my post over a year ago, TRAILER TUESDAY!SUPERNATURAL SEASON SEVEN STARTS FRIDAY ON THE CW,  I have been a fan of the show since season one, episode one. It’s hard to believe that tomorrow night is the first episode of season eight and I’m just as excited to see what the Winchester boys are up to this year as the past seven! While season seven was far from my favorite, it still had plenty of fun exciting episodes "The Girl with the Dungeons and Dragons Tattoo" about a computer hacker named Charlie (guest-starring Felicia Day), and horrific, sad scary episodes "Death's Door", about the death of my favorite character Bobby Singer (Jim Beaver).

Season eight starts off a year after the end of season seven. Here is the official description of season eight:

Sam and dean are reunited after a year apart -- Dean (Jensen Ackles) re-emerges from Purgatory, but he isn't alone. He heads straight for Sam (Jared Padalecki), but the reunion isn't exactly what he thought it would be. Sam drops everything to join his brother, but leaving the life he had grown to enjoy turns out to be harder than he imagined. Dean and Sam look for Kevin (guest star Osric Chau) who has managed to escape Crowley's (guest star Mark Sheppard) grasp, but things come to a head quickly when Kevin tells them what it is that Crowley wants.

Supernatural has also had great guest spots and season eight is no exception! This year Amanda Tapping is set to play Naomi, who executive producer Jeremy Carver describes as "cool and mysterious, part of a new group of angels we've never seen before." She will make her first appearance in episode 8 titled "A Little Slice of Kevin” and it has been reported that she will make additional appearances beyond this episode. As any genre fan should know, Amanda Tapping is best known for her work in the Stargate franchise as Samantha Carter, and more recently she starred as Helen Magnus on Sanctuary.

Another interesting guest star will be Mike Farrell - best known for his work as Captain B.J. Hunnicutt on M.A.S.H., who will star in episode 8 as an aging mentalist with a slippery grasp on reality.

Season eight of Supernatural premiers tomorrow night on the CW network at 9:00 PM EST. Enjoy the trailer for season eight of Supernatural!

PLEASE VOTE ON THE “WHICH OF THESE FILMS DO YOU PLAN ON SEEING IN OCTOBER OF 2012?” POLL!

Thank you for voting in the - Which of these films do you plan on seeing in September of 2012 – poll! The results to this month’s poll were pretty lack luster as only seven of you voted. I’m not sure if this reflects the quality of the films or the fact that fewer people go to the theater once the summer is over. There was a tie for first place with 5 votes (71%) for Resident Evil: Retribution and 5 votes (71%) for Looper. In second place was Dredd with just 3 votes (42%) and just making last place was House at the End of the Street with 2 votes (28%).

I saw three of the four genre films in this month’s September poll. I liked Resident Evil: Retribution better than most, but I will admit that it was not as good as the third or fourth entries in this series.  Resident Evil: Retribution has grossed just $38 million in the US in three weeks, but has done considerably better worldwide grossing  $175 million, so I think it’s a safe bet that there will be a sixth and final film in the Resident Evil film series. I thought Looper was the overall best film of the three this month, as it worked well on many different levels, including – most importantly to me – as a science fiction film. Looper took in just under $21 million in its opening weekend and with a budget of only $30 million it should more than make a profit domestically – which the studios really like. This means Looper director Rian Johnson will be given even more money and creative freedom with his next film and I for one hope it is a genre film. Dredd was somewhat disappointing for me, as it had all the elements to make an excellent adaptation of the comic book, but the simplistic story just didn’t engage me. Despite generally good to excellent reviews, Dredd has made just under $11 million in this country in two weeks. It has performed slightly better worldwide making $21 million, but with a budget of $50 million, it looks uncertain if there will be a sequel – which I’d actually like to see.

Thank you all for voting on this month’s poll! There are now seven of you who may consider yourselves Genre Guardian Generals! Anyone who has seen Resident Evil: Retribution, Looper, Dredd or House at the End of the Street at the theater, please leave a quick comment here and let me know what you thought of it.

THE OCTOBER POLL!

Once again on the right column of this page, you will see at the top of the column the next poll that I've posted. As always, this poll includes the titles and release dates of all the major SF, Fantasy or Horror films that are being distributed to movie theaters in the month of October for 2012. They are: V/H/S (October 5), Sinister (October 12), Paranormal Activity 4 (October 19), and Silent Hill: Revelation 3D (October 26). I have left Cloud Atlas off the poll, because on the surface it appears to have the visual trappings of a science fiction film (aka: future setting and some sort of time travel). However, it is based on a 2004 book by British author David Mitchell, which is definitely not sci-fi, but a series of six stories interwoven by characters reading the tale that is revealed to be a story that is read (or observed) by the main character in the next story. Even though one of these stories takes place in a post-apocalyptic future, I don’t think Cloud Atlas is science fiction and could only be regarded as moderately genre – at least by my definition.

I think V/H/S looks like it could be a good scary movie, despite my dislike for the “found footage” format and a general dislike for anthology films. However, this is definitely a rental for me, as I’m the only one in my small group who is up for this type of terror trip. Sinister has an intriguing premise, a decent cast and an interesting look, but still seems like it is only worth a rental. I have only seen the first Paranormal Activity film and was bored to tears, so I won’t even waste my time with a rental of Paranormal Activity 4. I enjoyed the first Silent Hill film well enough - although I admired it more for its look than its less-than-frightening story - so I’ll also be renting Silent Hill: Revelation 3D.

As always, I’d appreciate anyone who reads GUARDIANS OF THE GENRE! to place a vote for any of these films that you plan on seeing at the theater.