Night of the Living 3D Dead - 3D Dead Diaries

Promoting this for my pal David Taylor, this is the third official production diary for the feature film "Night of the Living 3D Dead", a remake of the 1968 Romero classic, directed by Samuel Victor & starring Gemma Atkinson as Barbara. Get the word out for these guys! Thanks!

Children of the Corn (2009)

So, let me start this review by saying I truly LOVE the original 80's version of this Stephen King adaptation (most people say Shawshank is the best, I'd choose CotC any day!!), so when I spotted this on a movie channel the other night, I HAD to watch it!

Children of the Corn relies on the terror of the children, plus the strength of the 2 leading adults, to make the film work. From the first minute I was introduced to Burt and Vicky, I hated everything about them and things only got worse. Within 10 minutes, I was praying for the eponymous Children to do away with them both quickly to spare me the torment of having to listen to them bitch, moan and bicker. Sadly, this didn't happen and I was forced to watch the next 80-odd minutes of this poor remake. The Children had also lost almost everything about them that made them terrifying. The Isaac character is scary in the original as he is clearly a man-child, possessed by He Who Walks Behind the Rows. The Isaac in this version is simply an annoying brat who looks like he could easily be swatted aside by anyone who could actually be bothered to stand up to him.

Obviously, as this film is called Children of the Corn - you expect some of the scenes to be set *in the corn*, however, after what felt like an eternity of point-of-view shots of characters running head-long through the corn rows, it became mind-numbingly dull and I just wanted it to end.

This SK adaptation is definately one for the King purists and for those who enjoy watching small children get their necks broken, otherwise, I say stick with the 80's version and see how it should be done.

Thoughts go out to all ...

Happy Friday 13th!!

Well ... it'd be rude not to wouldn't it! Have a great Friday 13th and a great weekend folks!

The Doberman Gang

This brilliantly bonkers 70's flick revolves around the exploits of a group of fairly inept bank robbers who, after their last failed attempt in which they accidentally locked their ill-gotten gains in the boot ('trunk' for my American cousins) of the wrong car during their getaway, decide a new plan is needed. That plan is the creation of 'The Doberman Gang'.

The dogs are the real stars of this movie, and are brilliantly trained and look cute and cuddly one minute, vicious and violent the next. On a few occasions some fairly bloody scenes are included, into what is essentially a family film.

The acting is pretty appalling, the script is patchy at best and the music is a crazy mix of half decent 70's tunes, bizarre nonsensical songs and annoying elevator music, yet somehow, in some strange way, it actually works. There are some genuinely (although unintentionally) funny moments and the actual robbery is entertaining and great fun to watch. Sure, this film was never going to win any awards, but for a pure throwback to the heady days of bad films, long hair and tight trousers, you could do much worse than settle down with a hotdog and a 'hair of the dog' and watch this odd little B-Movie caper.

New Blog Twitter Account

Hi fellow alternative film lovers

I have now set up a dedicated Twitter account - @CarlSykesFilm - which is linked directly to this blog, so if you want to get in touch and tell me how much you like the blog, suggest a film, tell me you thought my review was a steaming pile of shite or generally just follow me and get updates as they appear on here, please feel free to follow, follow, follow ... and of course, tell all your friends, re-tweet etc etc. Fanks!

@CarlSykesFilm

Snowtown

This bleak, depressing, violent and disturbing Australian Independent film is based upon a series of real life murders. Snowtown is raw and chilling in equal measures and took this reviewer quite by surprise. Not since the frankly downright repulsive A Serbian Film have I been left so shocked by a movie, to the point where a drink was the only cure.

An abused, downtrodden and dejected Jamie seeks an escape from every day life, and father-figure John appears to offer just what he needs. John, a vigilante with a taste for cruelty soon shows Jamie that smearing ice-cream on the windows of the local paedophile's house is the tamest of his actions and things rapidly spiral out of control, leaving Jamie's world more shattered than he could ever have imagined.

As a viewer, you do not, and cannot, enjoy Snowtown, you experience it, you are repulsed by it, but you are mesmerised by what unfolds before you. This expertly crafted film will tear at your senses and stun you into submission with its bleak portrayal of life and death. A must watch.