REC 4 – APOCALYPSE: A FITTING FINALE…PERHAPS

Never say a series of movies is ending even though they say this is the last one. Some have said that the REC series of films will continue while at the same time I once read that this was it. Only the future will tell. As long as they continue to be as entertaining as the first four I’d be happy to see them carry on.

If you’ve missed the earlier entries in the series then by all means rush out and buy them to add to your collection. While the third was kind of weak the first two offer some of the scariest moments to be found in horror films over the past decade or so. The original film began with a puff piece TV news reporter filming a segment on a local fire department. The crew get called out to help at a local apartment house and find themselves confronted by what they at first think of as a rabies type outbreak. In reality the victims are basically zombies come back to life with an insatiable appetite for the living. The movie ended with the team and the apartment dwellers sealed in the building by the government. By the end of the second film the reporter and who was left were tranquilized and woke to find themselves on an oiler far out to sea.

Bypassing the third installment for the most part, that’s where this one picks up. The reporter and the last two firemen who arrived to help are on board the ship as is the last living guest from the wedding party in part 3. Onboard the ship are doctors attempting to discover just what it was that infected everyone as well as a possible cure for the disease.

As the film progresses a sense of paranoia fills every member of both the crew and those who have been brought to this ship. The doctors continue to have a problem trying to discover just what it was that began this infection. In the past films everything from a virus to demonic possession was considered or offered as an explanation. Here though no common thread between those who were brought on board can be found. Not only that but where our heroine once displayed signs of the virus being in her now we find none.

The doctors are later shown to be experimenting with infected monkeys and when one escapes the film turns into something completely different. Now as crew members are infected it becomes a fight for survival. At the same time the question is posed as to just who can be trusted and who can’t? Which of these passengers brought on board actually had the infection incubating inside of them and who was just a person in the wrong place at the wrong time?

Still using the point of view of a camera for the most part here, the movie still offers some decent scares from start to finish. It also gives us an explanation that tells us why this has been happening before the film ends, one that also offers the possibility of more movies. Never leave a franchise with a closed ending folks.

The suspense in the film might not equal that of the first movie but it still keeps you on the edge of your seat here. The horror aspects are on display as well in full force. On top of that the film is well made, well written and well-acted. While watching it I found myself wanting to pull out the previous three films and start a home movie marathon of my own to watch them in order once again.

I know that this is one I’ll be adding to the shelf right next to the previous three. They will all be played again at one time or another. Perhaps when I find myself in need of a good scare. Or perhaps when a niece or nephew stays over and I want to provide nightmares for them that their parents will have to deal with. In any event, these movie offer the goods when it comes to new horror. Fans will want to make them part of their collection.

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THE THING WITH TWO HEADS: NICE COMBINATION OF 2 EXPLOITATION GENRES

When AIP was at its peak they were releasing all sorts of movies headed for drive ins and grindhouse theaters across the country. As things began to slow down they reached out to other genres like the Blaxploitation films of the seventies as well. So when you take the mad scientist sci-fi film and combine it with that genre what do you get? Of course, this movie.

Actor Ray Milland, who had seen better days and seemed to be in several AIP movies to make money as he aged, is Dr. Maxwell Kirshner, a scientist who no longer operates due to a degenerative disease he has acquired. The institute he founded is the leading location in the country for transplant surgery. But behind the doors of his mansion he has other experiments progressing. Of course the main one involves transplanting the head of one animal onto the body of another so that two heads are found, the replacement head sharing the body until it takes over. At that time the original head is removed, in theory.

Kirshner has performed this surgery on a gorilla and so far so good. He brings in Dr. Desmond (Roger Perry) to assist, informing him at that time that he doesn’t have long to live. With the surgery a success he’s hoping to find a donor body so that when he dies he can have Desmond transfer his head to a new body.

At the same time Kirshner welcomes a new staff member to the institute he runs. Perhaps welcome isn’t quite the word though. The new doctor, Dr. Fred Williams (Don Marshall), is black and Kirshner hem haws around at first but his prejudice against blacks is soon obvious. Williams takes the job for the time being with the intent of leaving as soon as possible.

Things escalate and Kirshner soon finds himself in dire need of a donor. Desmond reaches out to a few political friends and they set up offering the position to donate their bodies to science to the inmates on death row. One inmate, Jack Moss (Rosie Grier) takes the opportunity as he sits down in the electric chair. Transferred to the Kirshner mansion where Kirshner is already on life support, the surgery begins.

Needless to say this is where the humor kicks in. As Kirshner awakes while his “other head” is still sedated, he looks down to see his hand is black. With a disgusted look he asks Desmond if this is some kind of joke. Informed that this was the only donor available he learns to live with it for the moment with the hope of changing bodies once again at a later date.

But when Jack wakes up to discover what has happened his reaction is less favorable. His hope was to stay alive long enough to prove that he was framed. Now he finds that he may not only lose his life but his body as well. When the time is right, he sedates his nurse and escapes the mansion. From here it becomes a lengthy car chase that offers nearly as many car crashes and explosions as the hottest crash filled films of the time.

During his escape Jack took Dr. Williams hostage in the hope he could remedy the situation. Finding plenty to laugh at in Kirshner’s predicament, Williams agrees. What happens in the end offers a final commentary on race relations when it comes to exploitation films.

This is not Oscar material here folks but what it is is a funny movie that offers a great example of both genres that have been combined. It never goes too far into either and details be damned when it comes to surgery that can accomplish this feat in “less than 30 minutes”. Grier was never a thespian of the highest order but he handles himself well here. Milland had seen better days as an actor but his crotchety old man routine works well in this situation. The effects are actually quite good for a movie with this small of a budgeter. In the end all combine to make a movie that is actually better than could be expected and one that would make a great night of drive in style fun should you wish to schedule an evening of movies from that genre.

The Olive Films edition just released presents the movie in blu-ray format with a solid picture quality considering the source material. As with most Olive releases there are no extras involved, instead focusing on the blu-ray release itself.

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SOUL PLANE COLLECTOR'S EDITION: PARTICULARLY FUNNY PARODY

I remember when SOUL PLANE first came out in theaters and left fairly quickly. While I enjoyed the movie once I saw it on DVD I could also understand why it didn’t last that long. The movie offers tons of funny jokes that would make uptight, politically correct types cringe while watching the film rather than realize that it was all funny. Jerry Seinfeld’s recent comments concerning the lack of humor found among those who are politically correct would no doubt have problems with this film. Those who realize it is nothing more than a comedy will have more than their fair share of laughs.

The movie features Kevin Hart in an early starring role as Nashawn, a man whose trip on a major airline turns disastrous for him as his dog is hurtled from the cargo hold into the engine of the plane while he finds himself stuck to a toiler as an inept attendant tries to flush the system while he’s on it. The end result of this incident is having Nashawn awarded $10 million in a court case. What does he do with the money? He starts his OWN airline.

The jokes that some would find uncomfortable begin here. A number of black stereotype situations begin to show immediately, from two TSA type agents checking out those boarding the plane to businesses that cater to black shoppers in the waiting area, businesses like sports clothing and a basketball court to be used until the plane boards. What the easily offended might not see is that in using these racial stereotypes, much like BLAZING SADDLES did years earlier, it takes away the stigmatism attached to them. Instead we’re left with something to laugh at.

One running joke in the film is found in a white family who were bumped to this airline when their plane was rescheduled to fly out later. This family finds a fairly uptight father who is overprotective of his soon to turn 18 year old daughter, a wife who finds herself attracted to a well-endowed black sports figure and a son whose desire to be black finds him talking in slang and dressing in basketball attire. While it could have come off as offensive as presented among the many jokes here it actually plays well.

Various problems rise as Nashawn discovers that his cousin Muggsy (Method Man) who was supposed to help has recruited more employees based on their connections to him from the hood than from their ability to actually do their jobs. Of particular note is pilot Captain Mack (Snoop Dog) who’s logged all of his air time on a flight simulator while doing time in jail. Muggsy also has a number of get rich quick schemes on the plane as well from strippers to gambling.

None of this helps Nashawn as he discovers the girl of his dreams, a woman he left behind long ago, on the plane. While he tries to redeem himself in her eyes he always seems to be placed in a situation where she will misunderstand what is going on. He has the chance to do so towards the end of the film when in typical AIRPORT fashion he has to land the plane somehow.

The movie is not to be taken seriously folks. It is played for laughs from start to finish. I can tell you now that some will call this film racist (and have) but while I was watching all I found was humor on screen. Things like the fact that the airplane has spinning rims on the wheels and hydraulics to make it bounce up and down on the runway are images you won’t forget and should be able to laugh at.

While the move may not be an award winner or go down in history as starting a trend, it does offer some laughs and an early performance by Hart in a starring role, one that he’s grown into comfortably over the years and deservedly so. It also features an early performance by Sofia Vergara as a lusty airline attendant. The movie is well made and the transfer to blu-ray by Olive Films offers a clean, crisp picture. It also offers both the theatrical and unrated versions of the film as well as several featurettes, outtakes and deleted scenes among other things.

If you’re looking for a laugh and you’re not too uptight then this one will provide. If you’re looking for something to be offended by at every turn, well, you’ll find that here as well. Depending on whether or not you have a sense of humor will determine how you walk away from this film. For me I left laughing.

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