Blu-ray Review: DARK ANGEL (1990) aka I COME IN PEACE

DARK ANGEL (1990) 

aka I COME IN PEACE 

Label: Shout! Factory / Scream Factory
Release Date: August 27th 2013

Region Code: A

Rating: R

Duration: 91 Minutes
Video: 1080p Widescreen (1.78:1)
Audio: English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1, 2.0 with Optional English Subtitles 

Cast: Brian Benben, Dolph Lundgren, Betsy Brantley

Director: Craig R. Baxley

Tagline: It's Not a Close Encounter... It's the Last!

I thought for sure I had watched this 1990 sci-fi actioner before but quickly realized just a few minutes in that this was simply not the case, I would have remembered Brian Benben (HBO's Dream On) for sure. What it all boils down to an 80's buddy-cop film with some fun sci-fi featuring street tough Houston officer Jack Caine (Lundgren, Red Scorpion) whose partner dies during an undercover drug deal with the White Boys drug cartel when Caine is distracted by robbery in progress. The White Boys henchmen are wiped by a 7 ft  white-eyed weirdo who arrives on scene and makes short work of the baddies with CD-slinging weaponry before running-off with the cache of dope. if you loved that goofy Cenobite from Hellraiser III: Hell on Earth (1992) that similarly fancied the digital compact disc as a weapon you will love this.

After the botched deal leaves his partner dead Caine's captain is furious with the officer's loose-cannon methods and relieves him from case but when the White Boys steal a shipment of heroin from police lock-up facility and blow it up he's put back on the case and assigned a new partner, the straight-laced FBI agent Larry Smith (Benben) and the two set out to sleuth the murder/heroin cases while exchanging comedic barbs with each other. Lundgren's tough-guy cop persona and Benben's sycophant FBI agent characters play well of each other, it's a great buddy-cop schtick and while it's not quite Lethal Weapon it's fun stuff.

Turns out that the 7 ft weirdo whom massacred the White Boys crew is an drug dealer from outer-space, no shit! His name is Talec (Matthius Hues) and he comes across as part Highlander (1986) and part Predator (1987), he's arrived on Earth to harvest human endorphins which he plans to synthesize into a drug and peddle throughout the galaxy. To this end Talec injects his victims with the smack via a sharp-tipped cable that penetrates their chest, then harvesting the endorphins by thrusting a spike, which pops out of his gloved-hand, straight into their forehead and siphoning off the smack-fueled endorphins. Trailing the extraterrestrial drug-peddler to Earth is a alien cop named Azeck (Jay Bilas) who makes contact with his earthly counterparts enlisting their aid in apprehending Talec. 

The performances are what you might expect from a 80's buddy-cop sci-fi actioner, maybe even a little bit better. I really enjoyed Benben here as the comic foil to Lundgren, who doesn't come off quite as stoic as he has in some of his other film roles, tossing off a few good Schwarzenegger-esque one liners, good corny stuff, very 80's. You're probably not watching this film for the performances though, what you wanna see shit blow-up real nice and the film delivers non-stop action from start to finish.

Director Craig R. Baxley worked second unit for directors Walter Hill (The Long Riders) and Don Siegal (Dirty Harry) and the man knows a thing or two about shooting action sequences  additionally he was a stunt coordinator on The Warriors (1979) and Predator (1987) so we get some great in-camera stunt work thrown up on the screen, you get pretty much everything you could want from an 80's sci-fi actioner minus some gore, which is pretty absent throughout. If you don't think about it too much there's not a lot to complain about here, the one things that irked me was the unnecessary love interest who's just squeezed into the story with very little to do, otherwise it's a pretty painless watch.

Blu-ray: Dark Sky (1990) was previously only available in the U.S. as a manufacture-on-demand DVD only from MGM so it's great to see this sci-fi action film get a nice Blu-ray release from Shout!Factory imprint Scream Factory. Presented in 1080p widescreen (1.78:1) the film gets a MPEG-4 AVC encode and is sourced from a very nice print, there are some minor imperfections visible from time to time but overall we get a very solid presentation with strong colors, a very decent hi-def presentation from Scream Factory, yet again. 

The English language DTS-HD Master Audio comes with choice of 2.0 stereo or 5.1 surround mix and it sounds quite nice even if there are no surprises, the 5.1 has more of a presence that the 2.0 with some use of the surrounds but it's pretty tame.Dialogue and effects sound are balanced nicely plus Jan Hammer's synth-heavy 80's rock soundtrack is just awful but in an awesome retro-Miami Vice sort of way, it wouldn't sound out of place on an Astron-6 film. 

Onto the special features we get a A Look Back at Dark Angel (24:17) with interviews from director Craig R. Baxley and actors Dolph Lundgren and Brian Benben. The director reflects on the David Kopepp penned script, meeting Dolph and casting the film while Benben seems to mostly remember being physically hurt by Lundgren on set. Dolph himself speaks fondly of the film, recalling the work of the director and the great in-camera stunt work. We also get a reversible sleeve of artwork featuring the alternate title of "I" Come in Peace, a trailer and an image gallery, it's not the most robust set of features from Scream factory but I'm pretty jazzed just to have it on Blu-ray, a fun film.

Special Features: 

- A Look Back at "Dark Angel" Interviews With Director Craig R. Baxley And Actors Dolph Lundgren And Brian Benben (27:14)
- Theatrical Trailer (1:14) 
- Photo Gallery (4:06)

Verdict: Dark Angel (1990) is a pretty brainless sci-fi actioner and that's alright by me, an entertaining romp with some fun buddy-cop comedy and enough fiery action to stop you from thinking about what's going on, released at the start of the 90's the film is certainly entrenched in the 80's style of action and sci-fi, a trashy slice of fun with some decent carnage. 3 Outta 5 

Blu-ray Review: OUR MAN FLINT (1965)

OUR MAN FLINT (1965)

Label: Twilight Time DVD
Region Code: Region FREE
Rating: Not Rated 
Duration: 108 Minutes
Video: 1080p Anamorphic Wiescreen (2.35:1)
Audio: English 1.0 DTS-HD MA with Optional English SDH Subtitles
Director: Daniel Mann
Cast: James Coburn, Lee J. Cobb, Jean Hale, Andrew Duggan, Anna Lee, Steve Ihnat

Synopsis: Derek Flint (James Coburn)—super-spy, man of multifarious skills, playboy extraordinaire—has his hands full in Our Man Flint (1965), the Bond spoof to end all Bond spoofs. With a team of mad scientists plotting to rule the world by controlling the weather, Flint is called into action by the chief (Lee J. Cobb) of Z.O.W.I.E.—Zonal Organization for World Intelligence and Espionage. Now he must contend with a seductive counter-agent (Gila Golan) and her evil cohort (Edward Mulhare), in a race against time to save the swinging world as we know it. 

James Coburn is the star in this whimsical Bond-spoof actioner from director Daniel Mann (BUtterfield 8), in it we're treated to equal parts homage and anti-007 shenanigans. It's got everything one could hope for from a Bond film plus some wonderfully irreverent humor, too. It's not quite as over-the-top as the Austin Powers films but it's pretty damned funny just the same, and it's interesting to note just how much Austin Powers copped from this film, from the particular tone of a phone to the idea of fem-bots - it's all right here. We get the nifty gadgets, the chics, garish fashions, the shag carpeted bachelor pad, not one, but three villains set on word domination, some hot pleasure unit action plus an awesome volcano lair plus it's all wrapped up in candy-colored 1960's technicolor.

Our super-spy is Derek Flint (Coburn), the character is pretty anti-Bond, the man is just not Sean Connery in any way, shape or form but is instead a lanky fellow with a toothy smile - not what one has come to expect from the super-spy genre but he brings his A-game with charisma to spare and an ultra-cool detachment, it makes for a great performance and he really makes it his own, which is something given how easy it would have been to just give what Coburn himself called a "Bond-age" performance.  

Flint is a former operative of the spy agency Z.O.W.I.E.  and is reluctantly brought back in by the spy chief (J. Cobb) to help stop a trio of scientist bent on controlling the world through means of weather manipulation, these weather manipulation scenes are a mixed bag of awful looking stock footage and dated (but awesome) miniature sets, some far worse than others. Shot relatively cheap the film definitely has it's share of schlocky moments, some o the sets visibly shake at times, but I sort of love that sense of underlying cheapness, it's part of the fun. 

Our Man Flint is fun stuff, there's so much to enjoy here for fans of the spy and spy-spoof genre, this one really holds up, there's some great super-spy riffing to be had and I would find it hard to believe that if you are a fan of the 007 series you won't love this spy spoof on the genre, I prefer it to many of the Roger Moore entries myself, this is great stuff. 

Blu-ray: Twilight Time presents Our Man Flint in a 1080p AVC encoded transfer in the original 2.35:1 CinemaScope aspect ratio. The print used for the transfer is in fantastic shape with few if any instances of dirt, scratches or specks and it has a healthy amount of natural film grain too, which is wonderful. The image doesn't exactly pop with 1080p brilliance like you would get from a new title and the fine detail while decent for a film of this age is not all one would hope for but overall this is a very nice image, aside from the truly awful stock footage elements.

The English language DTS-HD Master Audio Mono sounds quite nice, dialogue, score and effects all sound quite good and are presented with wonderful clarity, it's a lively audio track and the Jerry Goldsmith score sounds fantastic, even more so is the DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 isolated score track that brings the Jerry Goldsmith score to life when broken free of it's mono theatrical track.  

We get quite a few more extra features on this disc that I am accustomed to seeing from Twilight Time, it's a pleasant surprise. First we get Jerry Goldsmith's isolated music score for the film, a fantastic score with a few nods to John Barry's iconic themes. 

The Audio Commentary with Film Historians Lee Pfeiffer and Eddy Friedfeld is a nice listen, pleasantly conversational and not at all academic or dry, good stuff.  There's an extended Theatrical Trailer (6:42)  for the film presented in 2.35:1 - it's a great trailer, too. 

The first of several featurettes begins with Spy Style (6:48) a brief and fun look back at the film with film critic Chris Gore and set designer Perry Blake that puts the film in context of the spy craze of the 1960's following the box office phenom that was Dr. No (1962)

Up next is Spy-er-Rama (9:14) features Pfeiffer, Friedfeld and screenwriter Ben Starr discussing the film's origins beginning with 20th Century Fox's reluctance to finance any more epic films after the fiasco that was Cleopatra (1963) which nearly bankrupted the studio, plus them wanting to cash-in on the Bond zeitgeist with a mainstream hit. 

Perfect Bouillabaisse (1:30) is a fun recipe laden goof paying tribute to one of the film's tastier subplots. A Gentleman's Game (4:13) is a fond appreciation of James Coburn from cast and crew, remembered as a one of a kind gentleman by all accounts. 

Derek Flint: A Spy is Born (24:29) is the longest of all the other featurettes and also puts the film into context with the 60's and the spy craze, it talks about film's like The House on 92nd Street (1945) and it's gritty docudrama style and the evolution of the spy spoof which aped similar spoofs like The Pink Panther (1963) which were big box office successes. There's some talk about a nutty first draft of the script which involved an alien angle, really weird stuff. eventually screenwriter Ben Starr was brought onto the project and he speaks a bit about his own life's experiences finding their way into the script. James Coburn's daughter Lisa makes an appearance and offers an appreciation of her father's character and sense of style. 

Directing Flint: Daniel Mann (11:09) is a look back at the film's director with fond remembrances from son-in-law Harold Ramis (Ghostbusters) and his son who speaks of ruining the final shot of the Judith (1966) when he inadvertently walked onto camera during an impossible to re-shoot explosive finale. 

My favorite segment was Flint vs Kael (6:07) in which we learn how the legendary film critic loathed the film and the controversy her scathing review stirred up, even ending in her firing from McColl's magazine.

The special features are rounded out by three storyboard to film comparisons totaling about 10 minutes in length  featuring Jerry Goldsmith's score. Lastly but not least are two screen tests featuring James Colburn and Gina Golan in black and white plus another with Coburn opposite a very lovely Raquel Welch who was up for the role of the seductive counter-agent but who instead went on to feature in The Fantastic Voyage (1966) instead. Last but certainly not least is an full-color 8pg. booklet with writings from regular Twilight Time writer Julie Kirgo offering the always insightful liner notes, this time pitting the film's inherent sexism up against the delightful whimsy of the spy spoof.

The disc is jam-packed with extra goodies, a fantastic edition from Twilight Time and surely one of their most well-stocked with extras so far. As with all Twilight Time DVD Blu-ray release this title is limited to just 3,000 editions and is available exclusively from www.screenarchives.com  so snap it up quick if it's appealing to you. 

Special Features: 
- Isolated Score Track 
- Audio Commentary with Film Historians Lee Pfeiffer and Eddy Friedfeld
- Derek Flint: A Spy is Born (24:29) 
- Directing Flint: Daniel Mann (11:09) 
- Spy-er-ama (9:14) 
- Spy Style (6:48) 
- Flint vs Kael (6:07) 
- A Gentleman's Game (4:13) 
- Perfect Bouillabaisse (1:30)
- Screen Test - James Coburn and Gila Golan (4:40)
- Screen Test - Raquel welch and James Coburn (1:54) 
- Storyboard Sequence 1 - Arrival at Galaxy Island (3:46)
- Storyboard Sequence 2 - Control Room Battle (4:31)
- Storyboard Sequence 3 - Escape from Armageddon (1:23)  
- Original Theatrical Trailer (6:26) 

Verdict: This was a first time watch for me and it was quite a romp, James Coburn at first seemed an odd choice to me but he completely owns this film. Our Man Flint is a quite a romp, chock full of jokes, gadgets, lavish sets, volcano lairs and world threatening baddies all wrapped up in garish 60's technicolor awesomeness, this gets a high recommend. 4 Outta 5  

DVD Review: MCBAIN (1991)

MCBAIN (1991)

Label: ArrowDrome
Release Date: September 19th 2011
Region Code: 0 PAL
Rating: 15 Certificate
Duration: 99 mins
Video: 16:9 Widescreen (1.85:1)
Audio: English Dolby Digital Stereo
Director: James Glickenhaus
Cast: Christopher Walken, Michael Ironside, Maria Conchita Alonso, Victor Argo
Tagline: War is Addictive!

I've said it a few times on the blog that action films were never really my thing. I've always been more of a horror, comedy, thriller and arthouse kinda guy at heart but occasionally a sweaty testosterone fueled action flick would find it's way to my TV screen. More often that not in the guise of an cop-action-comedy or a sci-fi-actioner along the lines of DIE HARD, STARSHIP TROOPERS or THE MATRIX. This may sound slightly pretentious coming from someone who thoroughly enjoys a silly slasher but the action genre always seemed kind of big and dumb to me which is kind of exactly why I dig this early 90's action flick from James Glickenhaus, the director of the revenge-actioner THE EXTERMINATOR. It's an absurdly action-packed flick that's low on brains but chock full o' testosterone and explosions galore.

Much like THE EXTERMINATOR the film opens with a sweet 'Nam sequence. The war in Vietnam has quite literally just ceased and a helicopter of soldiers are being withdrawn from the jungle when they spot a bamboo dome structure they believe to be holding American POW's. Landing nearby they assault the camp in a flurry of knifings, gunfire and explosions and sure enough the dome is a MAD BEYOND BEYOND THUNDERDOME style death arena pitting American POW's against their Viet Cong captors in a fight to the death. As the soldiers move in POW Robert McBain (Christopher Walken, DEAD ZONE) faces off against a brick wall sized VC soldier when his life is saved by US soldier Robertro Santo (Chick Vennera, NIGHT EYES). Santo tears a $100 dollar bill in half and a vow is made that should the two halves of the torn currency ever be reunited that McBain will repay his debt to Santo.

Eighteen years later McBain is a steelworker living in NYC and while throwing back a beer in the neighborhood bar witnesses the now Colombian rebel Santo executed on live television after a failed attempt to overthrow 'El Presidente', a despot Colombian general played by venerable character actor Victor Argo (BAD LIEUTENANT). A few days later Santo's sister Christina (Maria Conchita Alonso, THE RUNNING MAN) makes the pilrimage from Colombia to NYC tracking McBain to the very top of the Brooklyn Bridge where he's welding. Offering him the torn $100 bill she enlists him to help liberate Central America from it's corrupt drug trade fueled dictatorship.

McBain brings his 'Nam aging buds back together to assist with the coup. We have an embittered Detective Gil (T.G. Waites, THE THING), Eastland (Steve James, THE EXTERMINATOR), Dr. Carl Dalton (Jay Patterson, DEATH OF A PRESIDENT) and a reluctant Frank Bruce (Michael Ironside, VISITING HOURS) who has apparently struck it rich post-'Nam offering "What, you miss the smell of napalm in the morning?" to which McBain counters "When I come to see you.. you're sitting in a chair like an old man, staring at the ocean, you having fun yet?".

Bruce refuses to join the coup (though he later joins the fun, of course) but offers the use of a plane which comes with a hefty pricetag. In an attempt to raise the cash the mercs decimate the crew of a low-level narcotics peddler named Papo (Luis Guzman, BOOGIE NIGHTS) who indignantly tells them after they wipe the floor with his gang in a shit-storm of gunfire that "if you guys want money why don't you go after whats his face, John Gambotti, he's got the money, all I got is table drippings" and so they do. They ambush Gambotti (Dick Boccecelli, THE EXTERMINATOR) outside the the Old Homestead restaurant which will be familiar to those who've seen Glickdenhaus's THE EXTERMINATOR as Dick Boccelli again appears as a mafioso suspended from chains, this time from a skyscraper instead of a meat grinder and squeezed for millions to be wired into the mercs account who pose as Israeli agents.

With the cash wired to their account they charter Bruce's turbo-prop private plane and head to Columbia to free the poor and repressed people of that country. At this point all logic and sanity are abandoned as the twin-prop tries to evades two Colombian jet fighters with the help of Bruce's SAT-link briefcase computer. When one of the jet pilots orders the plane to land McBain fires a single shot from a handgun through the cockpit window killing the pilot and crashing the jet. Mind you there's no decompression, the window doesn't shatter and no one is stricken deaf from the close proximity shot. It's outrageously implausible but highly entertaining and so it goes for the remainder of the film as we see one of the most casual rebel coups ever slapped on the silver screen. The Hawaiian shirted mercenaries land unscathed in Bogata during a raging ground war, pose for vacational photos and walk through a hornets nests of gunfire only to walk away unscathed and victorious, 'natch.

It's a nutty, non-sensical action film featuring Christopher Walken is at his most badass Walken-ish delivering deliciously awful dialogue with nuanced pregnant pauses as only he (and William Shatner) can, it's whacky stuff. As where THE EXTERMINATOR took a few narrative shortcuts leaving your mind to fill in the gaps this Glickenhaus action-fest numbs the brain to such a degree that it would prove detrimental should your brain enter into the fray. That said the final third of the film definitely loses some steam despite it's explosive arsenal of badassery.

Sweat 80's Action lady

Glickenhaus and crew filmed the Colombian scenes in the Philippines which I guess would qualify this as a late-era Filipino exploitation film. It was fun to see Walken strut his stuff. Sadly, the usually badass Michael Ironside is atypically subdued, definitely a missed opportunity. The film's worst performance must be from the consummate 80's action-lady Maria Conchita Alonso who really hams it up in an overly dramatic performance as Santo's rebel sister Christina, pure 80's awfulness. MCBAIN is an early 90's film but the cheese is vintage 80's no doubt about it.

DVD: This is one of the first titles from Arrow Video's fledgling ArrowDrome imprint, a budget line of cult horror and exploitation films for the cinema fromage connoisseur. It's presented in anamoprhic 1.85:1 widescreen and the transfer is very good with few instances of print damage, there's good color saturation and decent black levels. The stereo audio track is clear and balanced with the dialogue, score and effects coming through nice and clean, it's not the most dynamic track but handles the film without distortion.   

The ArrowDrome titles are  budget-minded so don't expect a ton of bonus content, the lone extra feature here is Blast 'Em Up: The Making of McBain (13:56) a video interview with director James Glickenhaus who discusses the film's origins, the futility of the war on drugs, working with Walken and how he considers all his films to be comedies of the absurd despite a few moments during the interview when he seems to take the film a bit more seriously that one might expect. The High Rising Productions produced featurette is short but appreciated with clips of the film intercut with the video interview. The ArrowDrome screener I received was a check disc and did not include final the artwork with reversible sleeve or the booklet with writings from Calum Waddell. Nice presentation and a short but sweet feature, not too shabby.  

Special Features:
- Introduction by Director James Glickenhaus
- Reagan Flexes Some Muscle: McBain and the Golden Age of the American Action Film Collector's Booklet by Calum Waddell
- Blast 'Em Up - The Making of McBain (13:56) 16:9


Verdict: I won't lie to you McBAIN is just not a good film, in fact it's pretty bad cinema, a guilty pleasure of an absurd actioner overflowing with nonsensical machismo mayhem. My advice to you is to turn off your brain and board this testosterone fueled twin-prop plane to a napalm fueled fever dream of non-stop action and unintentional hilarity. **1/2 (2.5 outta 5)  

Say CHEESE!

THEATRICAL REVIEW: Battle: Los Angeles (2011)

BATTLE: LOS ANGELES ( 2011)

STUDIO: Sony Pictures
DURATION: 116 mins

RATING: PG-13
DIRECTOR: Jonathan Liebesman
CAST: Arrron Eckhart, Michelle Rodriguez, Will Rothhaar, Bridget Moynahan, Nzinga Blake,

On Thursday night my 10 year-old son Zachary and I attended an early screening of BATTLE: LOS ANGELES.  Zachary was very anxious to see it, the TV spots had definitely peaked his curiosity and mine as well. My initial thoughts on the trailer were ID4 meets BLACK HAWK DOWN. Zachary's first impression was RESISTANCE: THE FALL OF MAN video game he plays on his dearly beloved PS3 gaming system.

The film  throws you into the action pretty quickly following some news reports of meteorite clusters entering the Earth's atmosphere rather unexpectedly catching the scientific world with their pants down. The media of course is all over this and we see news reports from around the world indicating that meteors are landing just off the coast of pretty much every country in the world.  It's a great visual as the meteors rain from the sky and plummet into the ocean sending up plumes of water and smoke hundreds of feet in the air, it's a good apocalyptic visual on par with anything in ID4 or 2012. A news crew covering the situation amidst the commotion on the coast catches video of a meteor striking and destroying a Coast Guard cutter off the coast in Santa Monica and then suddenly creatures begin emerging from water.  In an even worse turn of events they turn out to be heavily armed aliens and they immediately begin blazing a trail of  death and despair from coastline working their way inland. Enter Staff Sgt. Michael Nantz (Aaron Eckhart), the guy just signed his retirement papers but when the shit hits the fan he's assigned a young platoon of fresh faced Marines. The platoon is briefed rather quickly that the world is indeed under attack by an unknown alien threat. Their mission is to recover and evacuate civilians to a safe zone before the military forces starts a massive bombing campaign that will hopefully stop the alien menace in the L.A. area. Once on the streets they are pretty much ambushed right away and the non-stop action begins and nearly never ends throughout the entire run time of the film. There's not much in the way of back story or character development  aside from Eckhart's hero-character Sgt. Nantz. Everyone else are one dimensional and pretty thinly developed caricatures of soldier-types.  I must say that the action is quite well rendered but it's a case of too much too fast. The film is shot handheld and shaky as shit, it's hard to latch onto what's going on and the alien menace is never fully appreciated as they are caught in brief snatches of shaky cam and even when one is taken alive and dissected in an effort to determine it's weakness the creature remains mighty ambiguous. Call me simple, but I wanted to see 'em up close and see the nitty gritty underneath their armaments, didn't happen.

Battle: Los Angeles is a chaotic, action-packed ground war view of a massive alien invasion. It's thrilling at times, it's played for realism and the action is gritty but the beats are very familiar, particularly ID4. While the shaky-cam aesthetic is not a make or break for me it was a bit much as every scene is an amped up mess of frantic editing and dizzying third-person perspective. Perhaps my favorite aspect of the film were the large-scale scenes of mass destruction as L.A. is laid waste to, great visual effects throughout the film. Leaving the theatre I didn't dislike the film but I wasn't satisfied either. Perhaps I was expecting some DISTRICT 9 level genius but whatever the reason I walked away from the film with a sense detachment and no emotional investment. There's no emotional center to the film. On the other hand my son Zachary was quite enamored with the film and kept saying "wow, that was a LOT of action" and for some I'm sure that will be more than enough, it's a popcorn flick at it's heart. It's got great visual effects, tons of carnage but no gore - it's PG-13 afterall - and while it never commits the ultimate sin of being a bore the characters just didn't strike a chord with me enough to care. That said, my son has already informed that we'll need to buy the Blu-ray as soon as it streets, he loved it. 2.5 outta 5

DVD Review: The Dark Lurking (2009)

THE DARK LURKING(2009)
"In Space, Terror Knows No Bounds"
Cinema Epoch

RATED: R
RUNNING TIME: 96 Min.
DIRECTOR: Greg Connors
CAST: Tonia Renee (Lena), Ozzie Devrish (Kirkland), Roslyn Van Doorn Yutant), Dirk Foulger (Konieg), Anthony Edwards (Dare), Bret Kennedy (Michaels)

SUMMARY:  Outpost 320 is a secret research facility located one mile beneath the Earth. Researchers make a critical mistake and an ancient evil is unleashed. Eight survivors including two former research patients, three mercenaries, two researchers and a medic fight for survival against a horde of creatures. They're only escape is through 13 levels of terror that will lead them to the surface. However, one of them is not what they appear.

FILM: The Dark Lurking is the feature-length debut from writer/director Greg Connors. This is an action-packed film that wears its influences on it's sleeve, just check out the box art which unlike Cinema Epoch's Psycho Shark delivers what the box art promises - an adrenaline fueled homage to James Cameron's Aliens that mixes in a healthy dose of Resident Evil type creatures that makes for a potent combination of sci-fi and action-gore.

The Dark Lurking is set in the underground research facility Outpost 320, it's a dark labyrinth of narrow, claustrophobic corridors and rooms complete with strobing red lights, misty atmosphere and ravenous creatures running amuck. The researchers have accidentally unleashed an ancient evil that mutates the majority of the crew into ravenous creatures. Our eight survivors make their way through research facility in an effort to escape to the surface while avoiding the vicious horde of creatures. There's a good mix of familiar iconic characters. You have the roughneck mercenaries, the suspect researchers, a few research patients, and a medic. The acting is decent, not fantastic, but the actors suit the characters and play there parts sufficiently.

What sets The Dark Lurking apart from other low-budget sci-fi/horror knock-offs is that the cinematography and editing are top notch. Great use of interesting angles, movement of camera and well edited action sequences provide a visually interesting film. I also enjoyed the pulsing filmscore, which is also heavily influenced by the films of Cameron. A criticism I have of the film would be that there may be too much action. The rarely slows down and I would have appreciated a few more character moments because you don't get a great feel for the characters. That aside, this film is all about relentless action and killing mutated creatures and to that end this film delivers in spades.

On par with the cinematography and editing are the outstanding creature SFX.  Grotesque, clawed mutations rendered using old school practical latex and rubbber suits and they look great. While more an sci-fi actioner than a horror flick The Dark Lurking  has more than enough blood, guts and splatter to satisfy most gorehouds.  The film just feels old school in regards to it's action and creature effects, it's an appealing combination.

DVD: The Dark Lurking is presented in anamorphic 2.35:1 widescreen with a 5.1 surround sound mix. It's a good looking , not stunning, but better than your average micro-budget sci-fi action film. A decent amount of extras including Trailer, Behind-the-Scenes Featurette, the short film "Netherworld" and a still gallery.

VERDICT: The Dark Lurking was a ton o' fun. A high recommend to fans of bloody action-packed sci-fi horror, particularly if you dig Aliens, Predator, or Resident Evil. I look forward to the next project from director Greg Connors, a promising debut from a new talent. The Dark Lurking is set to be released October 12th 2010 from Cinema Epoch.
***(3 Out of Five Stars)


- McBASTARD