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Route 66: Ein amerikanischer Albtraum (2004)
Germany's first "Open Source" film
"Route 66 - ein amerikanischer albTraum" is Germany's first open source film. Which means it is free for download from the web. Copying and modification are not only allowed but in fact encouraged. It's also available on DVD (as well as both the book and the soundtrack) for a small fee.
The film was made with almost no budget. In account to this both photography and music are surprisingly good. It shows in a remarkable way what you can achieve if you just want to. The camera-work is quite shaky from time to time and they let themselves get carried away with cheesy alienating effects, though.
The really big problem with this film is, it's somewhat lengthy, almost boring. There are endless sequences of (admittedly nicely photographed) sceneries with relaxing background music. But nothing happens. Obviously they didn't have enough exciting incidents on their trip to make it more interesting. The story of three guys making their way across America in a car fit for the scrap heap, dragging themselves from one break-down to another isn't too thrilling. In the end it's just an extravagant vacation video. If they only had managed to get someone who's voice is actually suitable to do the narration it would have helped a lot.
Jigoku no banken: kerubersu (1991)
Disappointing
If I had to describe this movie in one word I'd say: boring. STRAY DOGS develops some plot at the beginning and shows some action at the end. But in-between happens almost absolutely nothing. Don't get me wrong, I'm not one of those people who need lots of action, blood and explosions to enjoy a movie. In fact I also like movies that make you think. But I somehow must have missed the message of this movie, because I didn't find anything to think about. I don't find it very inspiring to watch the camera go down some back alleys for several minutes, with absolutely no dialogue and nothing else happening at all.
I also didn't find it visually very impressive. Apart from a hand full of interesting images it's photographed in a very plain way, with very ordinary sceneries. The camera-work is sometimes very shaky, it almost made me sick.
Compared with Oshii's other works, namely RED SPECTACLES and AVALON, STRAY DOGS is even more quiet, almost dreamy. But all other movies by Oshii which I have seen so far are also clearly superior to STRAY DOGS.
Shock Waves (1977)
Where's the horror?
If this is supposed to be a horror movie, where's the horror? I didn't find any. This movie absolutely fails at creating suspense. The score which is obviously supposed to be eerie just gets on my nerves. As pooped as the concept is, I don't have anything against Nazis as movie villains. They make good movie villains. But a bunch of mute tall blonde men with pale faces, wearing diving goggles and Third Reich uniforms aren't scary at all.
If you've read the plot summary for "Shock Waves" here at the IMDb you know almost everything there is to tell about the story. There are no twists and turns. The final outcome (who survives and who doesn't) is already spoiled by the movie itself at the very beginning.
The only two persons in this movie that can actually be called "actors" are Peter Cushing (SS commander) and John Carradine (Captain Ben) and their screen time is rather limited. The other characters are about as three dimensional as a sheet of paper. The most noticeable thing about this movie is Cushings fake German accent, which is actually quite good.
Settings, props and costumes are as cheap as it can get. Well, not everyone has a multi million dollar budget, but you can make better movies with less money. If you want to see good low budget horror, watch Blair Witch Project or the early works of Sam Raimi and Peter Jackson.
There may be people who enjoy this kind of trash. I for sure didn't. Wasted another 90 minutes of my life.