Showing posts with label Jim Mickle. Show all posts

Sunday, October 6, 2013

Mulberry Street

Mulberry Street (2006)

R - 84 min - Horror, Sci-Fi, Thriller - 27 April 2007
Big Blue Sky Rating : 5.6/10

Director : Jim Mickle
Writers : Nick Damici, Jim Mickle
Stars : Nick Damici, Kim Blair, Ron Brice, Bo Corre. A deadly infection breaks out in Manhattan, causing humans to devolve into blood-thirsty rat creatures. Six recently evicted tenants must survive the night and protect their downtown apartment building as the city quickly spirals out of control." />

A deadly infection breaks out in Manhattan, causing humans to devolve into blood-thirsty rat creatures. Six recently evicted tenants must survive the night and protect their downtown apartment building as the city quickly spirals out of control.

They Say New Yorkers Are Rude?

Who ever said that New Yorkers were rude or not funny, I sure as hell didn't. I want to say a few things about this movie I loved it. I absolutely loved this movie, it was one of the best apocalyptic movies since 28 Week Later, and furthermore, it was more of an isolated incident than a major epidemic. I was beautifully done, the acting was beyond superb, very tense and horrorfic and funny. This movie had the look and feel of something much more mesmerizing and sedated than just your typical outbreak story, it had family values, emotional battles, REAL looking people rather than beautiful young teens and some very sad and unexpected moments. This movie would probably be the best Horror Fest movie I have seen. It brought me back to the day when apocalypse movies were abundant and new. Even for a very restricted budget, as the film displays, this film was dynamite.

First off, the acting was equivalent to 28 Days and Weeks, the remake of Dawn of the Dead and Land of the Dead. Unlike its predecessors, Mulberry Street is an isolated outbreak strictly in the Manhattan and New York region. This outbreak was not cause by a virus, or at least confirmed that it was virus, or a zombie outbreak or even a gas, it was simply caused by underground sewer rats. When bitten, people turn into "rat people." They become deformed, grow long front teeth and pointy ears and eat other people. What made this movie scary was that they weren't zombies or enraged people but mutations of the human body running around and viciously attack people. They jump out of nowhere, they puke blood, eat other people and violent manner that all of this is happening. It's scary, when you see these people faces and the way they act before they turn into rat people. Something about this particular apocalypse movie was different from Days, Weeks, Dawn of Dead or Land of Dead, it was pretty scary and very well done for a low budgeter. One of the scarier moments was when the building super, who got bit, started crawling up the inside of the walls and ceilings.

The characters in this movie were not you typical drunken, sex-craved, beautiful teens, but were you typical lower class, medium income New York tenants. That's what I also loved about this movie was it had real people who acted like real people in such situations and with outstanding performances by Nick Damici, Kim Blair, Ron Brice, Antone Pagan and Lou Torres. Another great element that drives this movie is the emotional feel and the chemistry between those characters. A father, along with his flamboyant friend wait for the arrival of his long seen daughter, and just the respect and love they had for each was powerful. The relationship that one of the older tenants has with a bedridden old man who breaths through an oxygen tank is hysterically powerful and the love between that father and a barmaid, whom he has trouble confronting. All of these aspects and more made this film emotionally driven and powerful. There are points were it's almost sad and a good amount of laughs.

Another great and unexpected aspect of this film was the humor. The old guy with the breather is hysterical even the most hectic and horrible situations. There was plenty of humor in this film that lightened the mood including the bar's owner who found a great way to defend himself from the rat people, with none other than a frying pan. Great humor portrayed by one of the more flamboyant tenants who also found a great way for defense involving a lighter and an aerosol can. The humor was abundant and I enjoyed this ingredient.

The visual of the film was hand-held, like a camcorder and when the action heightened it got shakier and more intense. Not quite as motion sickness as Bourne Ultimatum was, but the camera did try to stabilize and keep a hand-held style going. A great attempt and it worked. I enjoyed the camera-work the natural lighting inside the dimly lit apartment and the darkened red lights of the outside streets.

Overall, this movie had great scares, some very emotional moments, sad moments, hysterical moments and a great horror film that would fit greatly in the apocalypse line up of films. If you haven't seen this, I would strongly recommend it and give it a chance. A lot of people found it stupid but it was very well done, unlike some b-movies were the director doesn't push his actors and actresses to go above and beyond. For this movie, there is no need for Arsenic, just a chance.

Watch Mulberry Street Trailer :

OR

Stake Land

Stake Land (2010)

R - 98 min - Drama, Horror, Sci-Fi - 17 June 2011
Big Blue Sky Rating : 6.5/10

Director : Jim Mickle
Writers : Nick Damici, Jim Mickle
Stars : Connor Paolo, Nick Damici, Kelly McGillis, Gregory Jones. Martin was a normal teenage boy before the country collapsed in an empty pit of economic and political disaster. A vampire epidemic has swept across what is left of the nation's abandoned towns and cities, and it's up to Mister, a death dealing, rogue vampire hunter, to get Martin safely north to Canada, the continent's New Eden." />

Martin was a normal teenage boy before the country collapsed in an empty pit of economic and political disaster. A vampire epidemic has swept across what is left of the nation's abandoned towns and cities, and it's up to Mister, a death dealing, rogue vampire hunter, to get Martin safely north to Canada, the continent's New Eden.

A good vamp/survival Movie

After reading some of these reviews, i thought they were a bit harsh. But with that said, i respect there opinions about this movie.

I enjoyed this movie, from start to finish i was well entertain, sure it's gloomy, the story is simple, the action was good, and so was the script, there might not have been many words spoken in the movie, but it fits in well to make you feel like immerse in there gloomy Vamp filled world.

Everyone in the movie acted well yes, there is no big name actors, and i'm happy about that. You don't need big name actors to make a good movie.

Not sure what other people expected from Stake Land, but i got what i expected, survivors trying to survive, not just trying to survive against vamps, but also against human desperation and cruelness.

Decent acting, decent script, great movie, 9 out of 10

Watch Stake Land Trailer :

OR

Saturday, October 5, 2013

We Are What We Are

We Are What We Are (2013)

R - 105 min - Drama, Horror, Thriller - 25 October 2013
Big Blue Sky Rating : 6.1/10

Director : Jim Mickle
Writers : Nick Damici, Jorge Michel Grau
Stars : Bill Sage, Ambyr Childers, Julia Garner, Wyatt Russell

A seemingly wholesome and benevolent family, the Parkers have always kept to themselves, and for good reason. Behind closed doors, patriarch Frank rules his family with a rigorous fervor, determined to keep his ancestral customs intact at any cost. As a torrential rainstorm moves into the area, tragedy strikes and his daughters Iris and Rose are forced to assume responsibilities that extend beyond those of a typical family. As the unrelenting downpour continues to flood their small town, the local authorities begin to uncover clues that bring them closer to the secret that the Parkers have held closely for so many years.

Sypnosis

A middle-aged man dies in the street, leaving his widow and three children destitute. The devastated family is confronted not only with his loss but with a terrible challenge - how to survive. For they are cannibals. They have always existed on a diet of human flesh consumed in bloody ritual ceremonies... and the victims have always been provided by the father. Now that he is gone, who will hunt? Who will lead them? How will they slake their horrific hunger? The task falls to the eldest son, Alfredo, a teenage misfit who seems far from ready to accept the challenge... But without human meat the family will die.

Shocking, blood and deeply moving, WE ARE WHAT WE ARE is a remarkable re-invention of the horror genre

Watch We Are What We Are Trailer :

OR

Monday, September 23, 2013

Stake Land

Stake Land (2010)

R - 98 min - Drama, Horror, Sci-Fi - 17 June 2011
Big Blue Sky Rating : 6.5/10

Watch Stake Land Trailer :

OR

Sunday, September 22, 2013

We Are What We Are

We Are What We Are (2013)

R - 105 min - Drama, Horror, Thriller - 25 October 2013
Big Blue Sky Rating : 6.1/10

Director : Jim Mickle
Writers : Nick Damici, Jorge Michel Grau
Stars : Bill Sage, Ambyr Childers, Julia Garner, Wyatt Russell

Remake of the Spanish film,But it's a different beast all together.

We Are What We Are is an English language remake of the Spanish film Somos Lo Que Hay. The word remake is sometimes looked upon as a dirty word amongst film geeks. Trepidation regarding the quality of remakes will always exist, it's only natural.

Both films are entirely different from one another despite sharing the same premise. Somos Lo Que Hay was (in my opinion) a pessimistic film rife with social commentary in regards to Capitalism and Poverty. We Are What We Are deliberately ignores that commentary and instead focuses in on the religious fundamentalism of the ritualistic family as its central theme. We Are What We Are is not just a mere shot for shot remake; it's a different beast all together.

Director and Co-Screenwriter Jim Mickle lift's the premise of the original film and relocates it from the Inner City of Mexico to the back end of Sleepy Rural Southern America. The film follows the reclusive Parker family and the bizarre rituals they practice.

It all begins when the Matriarch of the family unexpectedly passes away. Devastated and unable to cope with the sudden loss, the Patriarch (Bill Sage) of the family regresses into an emotional collapse. Leaving his two teenage daughters, Iris (Ambyr Childers) and Rose (Julia Garner), to ponder over who will step up to the plate and continue the cannibalistic rituals that the family practice every other Sunday.

The Parker's do what they do under the guise of believing that it is a penance that must be performed in order to be saved in the eyes of the lord. They follow the writings of a diary kept by an ancient patriot relative who suffered through a harsh winter with very little in the way of food supplies, thus resorting to cannibalism out of desperation.

They treat this diary as if it were their equivalent of the holy words of scripture. Thus the diary has been passed down from generation to generation and is seen as a rite of passage into adulthood – in this case the eldest daughter Rose is next in line to inherit its 'teachings'.

The family is kept under the strict ruling hand of the Patriarch -- played with unnerving intimidation by Bill Sage. He is a domineering force as he preaches his beliefs and traditions to the family in order to keep them together and to push forward with the annual ritual. Much like the film as a whole, he has a simmering rage boiling underneath his controlled exterior demeanor that threatens to erupt at any given moment; making him all the more frightening and intimidating.

His dominance makes life all the more difficult for his two teenage daughters who, with the recent death of their mother, are starting to question the ritualistic ways of their existence. They yearn for something else in life and struggle to come to grips with what it is they are. Much like the original film, denial plays an important factor for the siblings as it does for almost everyone else in the film – be it the savages or even the town sheriff denying suspicious foul play in his town. The siblings hide in denial of facing who they truly are until they are forced by cruel fate to face the beast that resides within.

Ambyr Childers and Julia Garner are excellent finds for these roles as they both deliver subdued and nuanced performances. They fit the mold perfectly as the somewhat reclusive children who can't quite fit in with the outside world. They have the frail and pale physical complexity that compliments the dreary and rain soaked atmospheric mood that the film radiates.

While the family prepare for their next ritual, a flood hits the sleepy town washing up evidence of human remains to the surface. This attracts the curiosity of the local town Doctor, played by the always wonderful Michael Parks, who is still haunted by the mysterious disappearance of his daughter. Parks serves as a replacement to the bumbling and fame hungry detectives from the original film. This is actually a wise decision as Parks bring a measure of soul and humanity to the grisly proceedings and is a more then suitable change.

Much like its spiritual predecessor, it isn't a film that relies on an overabundance of plot turns or 'gotcha' moments. It's a very slow and deliberately paced film spanning over the course of four days. This is reflected with its use of stilted yet beautifully composed cinematography made up of a dreary, rain-soaked and moody palette of rustic greys. It shows a surprising amount of restraint and has patience in taking its time building its tension whilst shining the spotlight on its characters and themes.

It's a very unassuming film where the tension is always simmering underneath just waiting to erupt. When it erupts, it grabs you by the throat unexpectedly and bites in hard. Unlike most Cannibal films that focus on gore for gore hound sake, it keeps the gruesome stuff to a minimum. But it is all the more effective for doing so. It is most surprising as the norm for most American remakes is to usually dial the volume way up to eleven. Yet this one is surprisingly restrained, maybe even more so than the original.

As far as remakes go, We Are What We Are is a fascinating case study of a remake done rather well.There is no familiarity between both the movies, despite a few casual sly nods of referencing here and there to the original film, it stands apart as a drastically different film that has something else on its mind and as is, it does stand very well next to its original counterpart. 7/10

Watch We Are What We Are Trailer :

OR

Mulberry Street

Mulberry Street (2006)

R - 84 min - Horror, Sci-Fi, Thriller - 27 April 2007
Big Blue Sky Rating : 5.6/10

A pleasantly surprising horror film. Very enjoyable.

This is a story idea that could've gone very wrong. I was pleasantly surprised by how well this film was done.

It was very Indie-looking from the beginning, with gritty film stock and no-name actors, but after worrying for the first few minutes that this could mean "cheesy", I realized that the film felt authentic instead. I was made to feel a part of the community of Mulberry Street, so when things start to go wrong, I felt as anxious as the characters.

I like films that make me forget that I am watching a film. I like it when I get lost in the world I am watching, no matter how fantastical the situation may be. The writers / director kept a story very grounded in "reality", that could've been silly or unbelievable. They didn't over-explain or show too much of the horror / gore of it all. I think the best horror stories are the ones where the audience feels as though they are secretly peeping into other peoples' worlds. We get to sit in our comfy chairs and watch their safe little lives fall apart in a horrific and disturbing way. This film pushes it just far enough without breaking that line where "suspension of disbelief" becomes "that would NEVER happen".

If you like all things horror, old school style, I think you will like this film. It is clearly made by people who love the genre and care a great deal for the underground art of move-making. I hope to see more from these writers and director. They have a new fan.