Catching Up On Cinema

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A prolific action film and television director, Bassett's Deathwatch is unfortunately a dour and halfbaked war-horror film.

Headlined by a very young Jamie Bell, and featuring the prodigious talent of Andy Serkis at a pivotal moment in his career, the films' cast proves to one of it's few highlights.

Similarly, aside from heavy-handed and somewhat chintzy instrumentation in it's score, as well as questionable usage of CGI, the films' cinematography, and in particular it's production design, prove to be quite competent.

The real issue with Deathwatch proves to be in the execution and direction of its narrative.

Largely devoid of coherent internal logic, the film often feels incapable of, rather than unwilling to, explain itself.

Never truly boring, and with a capable cast of actors peforming before lovingly detailed and designed sets, the film is far from terrible, but unfortunately nowhere near the sum of its parts

A missed opportunity likely brought on by lack of financing, lack of time, or too great or too little ambition on the part of the director.

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This week, Trevor and Kyle review Paul W.S. Anderson's, Resident Evil (2002)!

Largely divorced from the then relatively nascent lore of the Capcom video game series from which it was adapted, Anderson's Resident Evil is a noisy nu metal nightmare that contains fleeting moments of brilliance.

Massively profitable, but critically maligned, the success of Anderson's Resident Evil would nevertheless result in a series of 6 films, most of which directed by Anderson himself, and all of which are headlined by his wife, actress Milla Jovovich.

Owing much of it's structure to Aliens (1986), Resident Evil suffers greatly from bearing a similar tension to release ratio to Cameron's sci-fi horror classic, while lacking the budget or creativity to deliver payoffs equivalent to the showstopping moments of James Cameon's film.

Lacking in both monsters and gore, like Anderson's own Mortal Kombat (1995), the film comes across as somewhat toothless, though in a manner that is irksome unlike in the case of the former, PG-13 rated film.

Shot with confidence, and with decent production values, Resident Evil bears the director's signature aesthetic flair, however it's hyper-kinetic editing and ultra-aggressive soundtrack often feel out of step with it's action choreography, resulting in a film that is all too obviously trying to be more entertaining than it actually is.

Possessed of a couple of memorable sequences, Resident Evil is not a total loss, however it's reputation in 2022 is largely that of being the first in a decade and a half's worth of Jovovich/Anderson productions, but more specifically, a passable video game adaptation from an era of truly horrendous video game adaptations

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This week, Kyle and his brother Nik review Guillermo Del Toro's, Blade II (2002)!

Trevor was unable to attend this week's recording, as he was unfortunately trapped in a Florida avalanche.

A sequel to the Wesley Snipes headlined Marvel comic adaptation, Blade (1998), Del Toro's chapter of the franchise sees the mythology expanded, and the action and production design greatly refined.

Written by frequent comic book adapter, David S. Goyer, the film continues the series' penchant for exploring the concept of vampirism through a more scientific lens, while at once providing ample opportunity for fight coordinator Donnie Yen to wow audiences with his flashy and innovative stylings.

Despite being a sequel, to a Marvel property no less, Blade II bears many of the hallmarks of a Del Toro film, not just in terms of thematic content, but also in the the presence of frequent collaborators, Ron Perlman and composer Marco Beltrami.

In spite of a false start in the form of Mimic (1997), Blade II would serve as the breakthrough film for Guillermo Del Toro's career in mainstream international cinema, resulting in a beautiful and varied body of work that has yielded both Oscar gold and boffo box office returns.

Easily an equal to, if not the better of the original, Blade II is a fantastic sequel that ups the emotionality, juices up the gore, and continues to make Wesley Snipes out to be the coolest hero in all of comic book cinema.

More Pacific Rim (2013) than The Devil's Backbone (2001), Blade II may not be highbrow Del Toro, but it's a Del Toro film through and through, and a damn fun one at that.

Highly recommended for action-horror fans, or anyone with a pulse.

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It's once again time for Catching Up On Cinema's monthly Catching Up On Blu-Ray episode!

Join Trevor and Brad from the Cinema Speak podcast as they take a look at the blu-ray releases for June 2022!

Check out Brad's podcast, Cinema Speak on Libsyn at Cinema Speak, or on Twitter and Instagram.

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It's once again time for Catching Up On Cinema's monthly, “Tales From the Shelf” episode!

Brad's Picks:

Children of the Corn (1984) - 4:00

The Cable Guy (1996) - 35:45

The Candy Snatchers (1973) - 57:45

Chopping Mall (1986) - 1:20:45

Crawl (2019) - 1:43:25

Trevor's Picks:

Close Range (2015), Criminal (2016) and Castle Falls (2021) - 23:00

A Cure for Wellness (2016) - 47:35

Cinderella Man (2004) and Chuck (2017) - 1:07:30

Camino (2015) - 1:31:55

Cyborg (1989) - 1:52:15

And make sure to stick around as the 2 wrap things up with a customary “Speed Round” (2:04:15) of runner up films that didn't quite make the cut.

Check out Brad's podcast, Cinema Speak on Libsyn at Cinema Speak, or on Twitter and Instagram.

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This June is “VHS Cover Art” month at Catching Up On Cinema!

Every week we'll be reviewing films with incredible cover art from the VHS era.

This week, Kyle and Trevor review Brian Trenchard-Smith's, Night of the Demons 2 (1994)!

A direct-to-video follow up to Kevin S. Tenney's, Night of the Demons (1988), the film is a raunchy and entertaining sequel to it's minor cult hit predecessor.

Like the original, Night of the Demons 2 is possessed of (heh) a host of clever and well engineered practical makeup effects and effects that largely serve to compensate for it's flimsy plotting and characterization.

While most of the fun and horror is confined to it's last act, the film is never truly boring, and very much seems to understand the expectations of its audience.

Juvenile and trashy, but undeniably fun, Night of the Demons 2 may not be able to match the production values of the original, however some of its effects and gags are implemented in more interesting ways than the first film, resulting in a rare direct-to-video sequel that matches and occasionally surpasses it's predecessor.

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This June is “VHS Cover Art” month at Catching Up On Cinema!

Every week we'll be reviewing films with incredible cover art from the VHS era.

This week, Trevor sits down for a solo review of George Pavlou's, Underworld (1985)!

Also known by the title “Transmutations,” Underworld served as famed horror novelist Clive Barker's first writing gig in the world of film.

Poorly regarded, and scarcely referenced among Barker's extensive body of work, the film has largely been discarded and forgotten by both it's author and the horror fandom alike.

Not lacking in obvious subtext and themes relevant to the author and his body of work, the film, with it's low budget and pedestrian production values, feels in retrospect to be an incomplete vision, one that would later be much better actualized on screen in the form of Barker's later film Nightbreed (1990).

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This June is “VHS Cover Art” month at Catching Up On Cinema!

Every week we'll be reviewing films with incredible cover art from the VHS era.

This week, Kyle and Trevor review Adam Marcus', Jason Goes to Hell: The Final Friday (1993)!

Oft regarded as the black sheep of the franchise, Jason Goes to Hell is the 9th installment of the Friday the 13thseries of slasher films.

Originally conceived by franchise shepherd Sean S. Cunningham as an opportunity to crossover his Friday the 13th series with A Nightmare on Elm Street in the form of a Freddy vs. Jason project (a decade before that film would actually be produced), Jason Goes to Hell would be the first Friday film to be distributed by “The House that Freddy Built," New Line Cinema.

Directed by 23 year old Adam Marcus, and apparently shot from a fragmented and indecipherable script, Jason Goes to Hell is a largely maligned chapter in the franchise that represents perhaps the most dramatic deviation from the standard narrative formulae and established tropes of the series.

Despite franchise favorite, Kane Hodder, donning the hockey mask and machete in the film, Jason Goes to Hell is a difficult pill to swallow for Jason fans, with the character being unceremoniously executed within the first 5 minutes of the film, and only returning (in proper) for it's closing moments.

While the film is commendable for trying something new, the clumsy pacing, baffling and overly complicated plot/mythology, and deeply unsatisfying body hopping gimmick that denies viewers the opportunity to see their favorite slasher in action, results in a clunky mess that completely fails to make it to the fireworks factory.

Produced by Sean S. Cunningham, and possessed of some solid effects from Greg Nicotero and KNB EFX, as well as a (sadly lackluster) score by franchise stalwart Harry Manfredini, Jason Goes to Hell had good people involved that were attempting to do good work, however every story has to have a lowest point, and Jason Goes to Hell may just be that for the Friday the 13th films.

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This June is “VHS Cover Art” month at Catching Up On Cinema!

Every week we'll be reviewing films with incredible cover art from the VHS era.

First up this month, Trevor and Kyle take a look at Douglas McKeown's, The Deadly Spawn (1983)!

Alternatively known as “Return of the Aliens: The Deadly Spawn,” and “The Return of the Alien's Deadly Spawn,” the cover art for The Deadly Spawn stands out as one of the more memorable video store discoveries of Trevor's youth.

Of particular note on the cover, is the prominently featured Deadly Spawn monster (created by John Dods), which while rendered via paint on the cover, proves to be every bit as impressive puppet in the actual film.

While far from an essential film, even for horror afficionados, the goopy and toothy visage of The Deadly Spawn has proven to have some legs in pop culture, at one point even being featured as one of the bosses in the Splatterhouse series of video games.

A pleasantly straightforward small town alien invasion film, The Deadly Spawn proudly bears it's influences on it's sleeves, even going so far as to directly reference numerous B-movie classics.

Though structured very similarly to a typical B-movie, the film is by no means a complete paint by numbers affair, offering several surprises in regards to who among the cast of players find themselves caught in the monster's maw.

Occasionally dull, and unfortunately not possessed of dialogue or characterizations that are eccentric or off-kilter to provide “good-bad” entertainment, the charm in viewing The Deadly Spawn springs entirely from it's creature and gore effects, all of which elevate the production and allow it (in fits and spurts) to punch significantly above the weight of it's minuscule budget.

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It's once again time for Catching Up On Cinema's monthly Catching Up On Blu-Ray episode!

Join Trevor for this solo episode wherein he takes a look at the blu-ray releases for May 2022!

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