If you've ever wished that zombie movies would give a better explanation as to WHY the dead have risen, you should check out this week's movie; there's a good chance it'll change your mind.
What we have here, is an average, run of the mill zombie movie; neither bad enough to offend the senses, nor good enough to get excited about. In fact, the only things that stood out to me we're the asshattedness of the male lead, and the 'science' of the zombies.
Actually, since I come to mention him, the male lead is arrogant, pushy, sexist, loud, and may or may not be involved in a dodgy antique deal; but he's not the 'evil human' character that's a popular trope in zombie movies - he's not the type to trip you up to save himself from the zombies, in-fact he does help a couple of people out. In a way, he's a perfect allegory for the movie as a whole, being neither likeable enough to get behind, nor loathsome enough that you wish the zombies would finish him off.
And so, to the 'science':
It seems that DEFRA are testing a new form of pest control; they are using 'Ultrasonic Radiation' (so 'sound' then) to interfere with the nervous systems of insects to make them attack each other. Unfortunately, it also makes the babies in a local maternity ward aggressive, and raises the dead. You see, we are told, babies have undeveloped nervous systems, which are therefore simple enough to be affected by the sound and (our hero hypotheses) the nervous systems of the dead live on for a short time, like how when you pic a flower it doesn't instantly die, and these slow nervous systems are also susceptible to the anger inducing noise...
Okkkkkaaayy.
Problem 1: even if the system works as advertised, all you are doing is setting up conditions to build super insects in a few generations time.
Problem 2. If it creates murderous babies (which, by the way, would have made a more interesting focus for the film) I presume it would affect other mammals, birds and so forth.
Problem 3. If the nervous systems of the dead ARE already running, it certainly isn't enough to make them move around, so pissing them of with magic sound rays would turn the inanimate benevolent corpses in to inanimate angry corpses. Which I think we can agree isn't much different in real terms, and certainly doesn't pose much of a threat.
Problem 4. None of this would explain how zombies could create other zombies by anointing corpses' eyelids with the blood of the living. Which (i shit you not) they can.
In future, I recommend that all zombie movies which feel the need to use fake science NOT use dead people (i.e.. 28 Days Later's 'rage virus') or else stick to the time honored babble like magic, voodoo, the wrath of god, passing comets, or a plain old ' fucked if we know'.
Body Count: 12
Boob Count: 1 pair
Animal body count: Some stock-footage of fighting ants, maybe 3 on screen deaths?
Most Memorable Kill: Clubbing with the good doctor,
Please use the comments bellow only to comment on this post - to write your own review, please comment on the main post for this movie.
Showing posts with label Scientist. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Scientist. Show all posts
11 Feb 2012
Flesh for Frankentein - Lisa's Review
*** SPOILERS ***
For starters, I don't think Flesh for Frankenstein is to be taken very seriously. Although there are some very dark and disturbing scenes within the movie (copulation with a ladies innards being one), everything seems to be very tongue in cheek.
Our premis here is the basic Frankenstein idea of a mad scientist who creates a life. In this case, our scientist (who for the record is married to his nympho sister and has 2 kids, none of which he seems to have very much time for) is attempting to create the perfect male and female beings to start a master race with him as the führer. (see what I did there?...)
He is played by a new crush of mine, Udo Kier. We have seen him before in Exposé. Its a shame he's old now, but hey he's well worth a watch in this. The eyes are hypnotic! Hell, he even made humping his female creations innards seem somewhat appealing.
So where was I? In our movie, we arrive as the female has been fully created (we could have done with bigger boobs in my humble opinion, but hey ho). Our male is just missing a head. The scientist dictates that the owner must be a bit of a perv (kind of a Quagmire if you will) and he seems a bit obsessed with it having the perfect nose? Unfortunately as he sets out to aquire this head with his faithful assistant (everything about the assistant is hilarious, from his facial expressions, to the way he moves, to the lines he delivers), they mistake a young man who seems to have no interest in sex whatsoever (and in fact wants to be a monk) for a sexual pervert as he is seen coming out of a brothel. In fact he is only in there as his best friend (who just so happens to be a sexual pervert) is desperate to convince him that a religious, sex free life is not the way to go. He convinces him to try sex just once.
The actual beheading scene is well worth a belly laugh, as is the severed head when it has left his body... it is well deserving of a place in the crap 'chamber of horrors' I visited in Blackpool as a kid. Another belly laugh was had when the 2 of them put the completed male and female together later in the movie and on constant demands of her to kiss her male counterpart, they stare at his genitals, wondering why there is no movement. Poor bugger.
The story in this movie is just plain weird. The scientists horny wife hires the friend of our frigid wannabe monk as her 'man servant' - I'll let you guess what she uses him for. He sees his friend (or should I say his friends head) behaving rather oddly and starts an investigation into whats happening.
After more weird happenings, the sex with a surgical wound scene and lots of really crap sex scenes (that horny guy REALLY needs to learn how to kiss) we culminate in the female creation being destroyed after the assistant tries to replicate his masters sexual prowess, The male creation strangles the assistant and then impales the mad scientist on a spear-like implement, lancing his liver on the end in the process (you can see the bits made for 3D). Our male creation ignores his friends pleas and feels he is better off dead and so kills himself.
We end the movie with the man servant being the only one left hanging above this whole mess. The scientists children walk into the room and pick up a scalpel each and start to turn the winch he's attached to. You're left to make your own mind up as to whether they are going to cut him down and rescue him or continue their dads work. Given the opening credits of the movie where they cut the heads off their toys and sew them onto different toys, I go with continue their fathers work.
Wierd movie, funny movie but one I have to admit I did enjoy. Will deffo seek out the movie where Udo plays the count!
Please use the comments bellow only to comment on this post - to write your own review, please comment on the main post for this movie.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)