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Reviews
The Resurrectionist (2002)
Nearly unwatchable
I wanted to like this movie. I really did. The concept is wonderful, and could have been a brilliant movie.
Alas, the execution left a little to be desired. The script really needed to be a bit more worked on; it was confusing as hell and I still don't really know what happened after watching it the second time through. The editing... well, I suspect that the movie that was originally shot was so heart-wrenchingly plagued by camera problems that they had to completely rewrite something from the footage that survived, and needed to record new dialog that doesn't even pretend to match what the actors are obviously saying. Characters appear, a point is made about their mysterious background and are never seen again, and the climax ending of the movie lust left me saying WTF just happened?
The images on the DVD aren't stunning. The lighting is sub-par, though I suspect that this is more from the one-light transfer from film (8mm) to video-- it looks as if somebody pointed a projector at a screen and shot the screen with a video camera-- which leaves most of the images muddy and incomprehensible. Add to that the film registration issues (i.e. broken camera)-- some of which were left in to make the film look "arty"-- and it ends up bad enough to make Ed Wood cry.
The best part of the DVD are the extra features with cast and crew interviews. It's really obvious that the cast and crew aren't professional at all, but a group of folks who decided to get together and make a movie, which is awesome: I love when a crew of people get together with the passion to make a movie because they love it.
I just wish that they had taken some time to actually learn how to make a movie first.
Ankle Biters (2002)
Well, it sounds kinda fun...
Dwarf vampires... an exploitation film at its finest. Or so you might think.
From the moment that you first see the bad camera work and can't identify what was just said with the horrid sound recording, you know that you're in for a ride that you will remember in your worst nightmares.
I love low-budget independents. They are almost always made with passion and love. This one looks to have been made on a couple cases of really cheap beer and a couple of hundred bucks. There is a story here. Kind of. Mostly there are dwarf alcoholics, motorcycles, and what I would call bad acting (except that acting usually requires a modicum of effort).
The music for the closing credits will haunt you long after you have tried to forget the rest of the movie. (THREE FEET TALL! TWO INCH FANGS!)
However, I must give props to the filmmakers for actually making a feature and getting it distributed. It sets the bar for the wannabe indie filmmaker and gives us hope that one day, we too will be famous.