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biohazard12589
Reviews
Dark Town (2004)
Horrid, absolutely horrid
I rented this, expecting what should be expected from a b- movie, but all that thought preparation couldn't do enough.
The best description I could use for this...thing is excess.
Almost everything is done in excess. The gore went way too far. I can deal with vampire-blood-sucking, but cannibalism is pretty much where I draw the line. The constant violation of physiological laws kind of bothered me too. In any other movie, someone will rip out someone's heart at most 1 or 2 times. I think anyone will agree with me in saying that stabbing a pocket knife repeatedly into someone's sternum will not cause all of the ventricles, aortas and chambers to remain intact, AND have all of the veins and arteries removed very meticulously.
The lesbianism, was gratuitous and offered no character/ plot development, but it didn't really bother me.
The acting...whoa. It helped us further the stereotypes of how black people (gangstas specifically) talk. Everybody either over-acted or obviously put forth no effort. Vampires are extremely difficult to act and write I guess. Making them poetic, articulate, and realistic seems like a bit much for many writers/actors, as this film shows.
Character development was very weak, especially in reference to the father character, whom we were led to believe change because of the vampirism, but we couldn't understand who he was before.
The whore of the movie had a very inconsistent french/transylvanian(Count Chocula rip-off) and English accent that kept changing.
The baby... the baby reminded me of that...thing on the short lived TV show "That's My Bush" Cinematography was excessive and an obvious attempt at something original, but the director deserves a little recognition for that.
Horrible, don't waste your money, if you plan on spending your money on this, you might as well give it to a bum, so he can go buy some vodka.
Chin gei bin (2003)
It had Potential
I rented this movie without any real knowledge of what it is about. I had no expectations about a kung-fu vampire movie, so there was pretty much no bias at all.
The very beginning is pretty cool. It has a very serious, dark, well thought out intro. It can be compared to Blade in the sense of intense action against vampires early on. There wasn't the excessive gore factor, which I believe ruins some films.
For most of the film, through the middle, it slacks off quite a bit. It is written into too much as a love story, and the jokes fall pretty flat.
At one point in the film (after the ambulance scene) I became excessively frustrated with trying to take this seriously.
The last twenty minutes or so really pick it up. The fighting is well choreographed, and the CGI was used well, not to an excess.
The beginning and end really assist the film. A rewrite of the middle could create a very strong movie that could set its place near Blade.
Still, it's better than Vampire in Brooklyn.
Darkness (2002)
Extremely Frustrating
Wow...this was the most frustrating film I have ever seen.
In this movie, the one thing that I cannot emphasize a bigger problem with is the character development and personality.
First off, the characters have no identity to them and you can't really enjoy a film unless you know who the characters are.
Each character is a name, and a basic personality trait.
Reggie (Paquin) was a very simple logical, but outspoken person who just can't get out what needs to be said.
Paul, the younger brother was a big problem for me. He is put into situations that warrant something to be done. Why didn't he call for somebody, or explain what was happening? Just too much for me.
The father was a quasi-complex character. He had a few different layers to himself. Whether it was a clinically insane persona or an innocent man who just needed help, this was by far the smallest issue.
The mother however just pushed me over the edge. The complete sense of apathy totally bothered me and the fact that she was totally ignorant to all of what was going on around her. She was just completely irrational.
Other than the characters, the story and plot were actually quite impressive. The story was original enough to not be considered a cliché. The plot did take some turns that would throw you off track, yet still keep you set on the same track.
Worth checking out.
It's something different.