whipsers from another cell: News From Within The Asylum

2010 MOBY DICK Drops on DVD in T-Minus 12 Days!!!

In just a dozen short days the next Asylum production hits DVD stores nationwide. 2010 Moby Dick (for an explanation on why the 2010, check here) is an update on the classic book by Herman Melville, considered by many (present company included) to be the greatest novel ever penned by an American. In The Asylum's take, the setting has been shifted from a clipper ship in the Nineteenth Century to a "high tech submarine" in the modern era. Our captain is still Ahab, played here by Barry Bostwick, and he's still in maniacal pursuit of the vicious leviathan which maimed him. Ishmael in this version, however, has been transformed into the lovely vision that is Renee O'Connor - you know, Xena's babe - here named "Michelle Herman," a nice nod to both Ishmael and the original author. From all early looks, this one should be pretty awesome; the whale's been aggro-ed out, and Bostwick looks as though he's firing on all cylinders. Head over the the site, linked above, and check out the trailer, then get your place in line at your local, independent video store. This one's gonna move!

American Film Market Reveals Upcoming Asylum Projects

In case you missed my earlier post, the American Film Market recently held their annual conference in which three new Asylum titles and posters were revealed. Okay, so, two are brand new, one is the first poster there on the left for the upcoming Mega Python vs Gatoroid, which I mention pretty frequently. The other two, however, are totally new and as yet have no names of any sort publicly attached to them.

The first is an obvious tie-in to the upcoming Kenneth Branaugh Marvel Comic flick Thor, and is called The Almighty Thor. No IMDB page or mention of this one on The Asylum's site, and I can't tell who the fella in the poster is, so there's still a lot to learn about this one, but you can bet there's gonna be a lot of smashin' based on the looks of that hammer. Check out a brief synopsis: When the demon god Loki destroys the fortress of Valhalla and steals the Hammer of Invincibility, only the young hero Thor can protect earth from Armageddon. Mmm-hmm; smashin'.

 

Then there's 2012: Ice Age (see Numbers explanation above), which nothing at all is known about except the plot: The eruption of Mt Fuji--a “Supervolcano”--covers the earth in choking clouds. Humanity hurtles toward extinction as a group of scientists fight to break the grip of the new ice age. For my money, I'd like to see either Eric Forsberg (Mega Piranha) or Griff Furst (100 Million B.C.) helm this one. Both have worked in creature disasters, but it would be nice to see either take on a sweeping environmental epic. That said, I'm also envisioning David Michael Latt's work on Megafault and wondering if he isn't considering it for himself. Time will tell.



Another title, Born Bad, has appeared under the coming soon section in the bottom right hand corner of The Asylum's homepage, but there's absolutely no info on this one other than the title. I can only hope, though, given that title, it's being written by Geoff Meed for himself, or Paul Logan, or, god please, both. 

And we're still waiting on a poster for 1st Furry Valentine as well as a trailer for Mega Shark vs. Crocosaurus, the latter of which should hopefully debut in the next week or so, as the release is almost a month away, and once Moby Dick drops, they're going to need a new trailer to run on the site. As soon as either of these things are released, rest assured I'm on 'em. 

observation notes: The 9/11 Commission Report

This one's a doozy. Based on the events and theories published in the official 9/11 Commission Report, writer/director/Asylum mainstay Leigh Scott crafted this multi-plot political thriller featuring virtually every star in the Asylum's universe. The names have been changed (looooooosely) to protect the, well, I'm not sure, but the names are a little different, probably a legal thing.


The film begins 28 days before the attacks with an obviously militant foreign man seeking 747 flight simulator training. He pays the six-grand fee in cash, American for "no questions asked," and, naturally, for that price they're willing to show him everything. But he's interested in "just flying." Uh-huh. They even let him pick a specific flight plan. 

Jump now to the District, fall of '98, with the handing down of an indictment for our Bin Laden character. This scene serves to inform us of something that - however we know or think of it - we already know, that our government knew about Bin Laden, knew what he was up to, knew what he was capable of and how he became capable of it, and knew his over-arcing plans. But now that there was this indictment, all we had to do was get him to trial. He's still years from being able to orchestrate terrorist plots of a catastrophic magnitude, so there's plenty of time, should be a piece of cake. Umm-hmm.

Jump even further back to Manila in 1995, where the Philippines' government is "interrogating" a suspected Middle Eastern terrorist. An American shows up to lend a hand - to the Philippine side of things - and pretso!, the fella's no longer suspected, he's a full-on terrorist, with secrets hinting at some sort of broad attack in-planning.

Jump yet again back to '98, but Pakistan now (where I got 47 hits the other week! thanks guys!), where members of a terrorist cell roll with the punches and think on their suspected feet.

2001 again (whew), flight training, our foreign guy has started to raise eyebrows with his line of rather blatant questioning about fuel payloads, geography, specific landmarks, and by only flying simulated routes to DC and New York, and even worrying aloud about how accurate the simulator is. At long last the FBI is called in, but things almost get further inept from there, as the best the agent can determine in an opening conversation with the foreign man is that he's from "the Middle East." "Where?" the agent follows up. "The Middle East," the man repeats - conversation over. Niiiiice.

Onward, or backward, I guess, to Israel in '98 where the special agent working to locate Bin Laden seeks out a reporter/lover with info on a man who has info on the location of Bin Laden. We follow the agent to Afghanistan and the meeting with this man. Dude's willing to take Bin Laden out for us, all the wetwork himself, he's practically begging to do it, dropping lines like, "New York, that's where they're going to strike next." It literally doesn't get any more literal than that. And this is the one issue I had with an otherwise interesting script, that it's a little too literal in spots with how obvious the signs may have been, but, admittedly, for all my ignorant ass knows, it was this obvious and I'm just being an uninformed, nit-picky jerk who should read his own links; the possibility exists.

These separate cogs continue to spin back and forth through time, closer and closer to the inevitable, tragic ending. There are no spoilers here, ultimately, but how the film arrives at its conclusion is intriguing enough - no matter how familiar you are with the facts/"facts" - to cause me invoke my ever-present "no spoilers" statute.

I've already called the film interesting and intriguing, and it is, both in and of itself, and for its position in the greater Asylum catalog. This film is not what I was expecting, I'll be honest; I was expecting some sensational, disaster-ridden, conspiracy-rich action-fest, and it's none of those things, and this is a good thing. Leigh Scott truly has crafted something unique here, something intimate and exhilarating, intense and thought-provoking. The timeline, disjointed as I've probably made it sound, was not disjointing to watch, and moved at a pace that kept every scene fresh and important, thanks primarily to the fact that this film's based on acting, not action, and for this one, as mentioned, everybody came out. 


Dig this lineup: Rhett Giles (Way of the Vampire, Frankenstein Reborn, War of the Worlds), Marat Glazer (Shapeshifter, Supercroc, Dracula's Curse), Sarah Lieving (Monster, The Beast of Bray Road, King of the Lost World), Jeff Denton (The Beast of Bray Road, King of the Lost World, The Hitchhiker), Griff Furst (Transmorphers, Alien Abduction, Exorcism: The Possession of Gail Bowers), Eliza Swenson (Transmorphers, Frankenstein Reborn, Dragon), AJ Castro (Snakes on a Train, The Da Vinci Treasure), Christina Rosenberg (The Beast of Bray Road, Dracula's Curse, King of the Lost World), Kim Little (Killers, Killers 2, War of the Worlds 2, Supercroc), Michael Tower (Invasion of the Pod People, The Apocalypse, 30,000 Leagues Under the Sea), Jason S. Gray (Universal Soldiers, AVH, The Da Vinci Treasure) and a delightful but brief cameo from Erica Roby (Invasion of the Pod People, The Hitchhiker, Exorcism: The Possession of Gail Bowers.) 

Whew. 


And everybody - I mean everybody - is acting above the bar, turning it on and delivering rock-solid performances. Jeff Denton? Awesome. Kim Little? Awesome. Sarah Lieving? Awesome. Rhett Giles? Awesome. Are you noticing a pattern here? Fuck yes you are, because they're all awesome. This is Leigh Scott's doing, weaving like directing greats Stanley Kramer and Robert Altman a complex, multi-layered and -perspective drama that never lags, never snags, and never gives in to the tempting pitfall of sensationalism, residing instead in the terse, stark and enthralling realm of historical thrillers.

Now, I realize this is a highly-charged and polarizing topic, so I won't dare wax philosophic one way or the other, but wherever you land in this debate - who knew what when, who could have stopped what, who actually did what - you have to give The Asylum credit for the balls it took to make this one. While Hollywood was kowtowing to vox populi rallying films like United 93, and the conspiracy "enthusiasts" were flooding the market with makeshift documentaries out to undermine anything official, The Asylum threaded the needle and dared to blend these perspectives and make a serious film about the serious doubts that exist in this most horrific of events. The result is a sweeping, epic film that becomes the most ambitious and serious production undertaken by The Asylum to date. It's a hardcore thriller and a globe-hopping adventure that's engaging, though-provoking, and proof positive that The Asylum knows the rules and knows how to play by them; most of the time, they just don't care. No "mock" or "tie-in" anything here, this film is the real deal, and a real winner.

977's Unsolicited Yet Copyrighted Pitch #5: THE PEOPLE THAT TIME FORGOT

So when last we saw C. Thomas Howell, he had valiantly sacrificed his own escape for the sake of others', and remained on the mysterious island out-of-time populated with prehistoric terrors and most inhospitable natives. He had his wife with him, and she was pregnant. You just knew there was a sequel in this, and sure enough, there is. And it's already plotted!

Edgar Rice Burroughs, who wrote the original novel "The Land That Time Forgot," also conceived a sequel, "The People That Time Forgot" (should be "who," I think) that has actually been filmed once before, as a sequel to the Doug McClure-starrer filmed in the 70's by American International Pictures. The story of the sequel concerns a rescue mission staged years later by friends of he who was left behind. That's the story I'd steal for The Asylum's sequel.


In my envisioning, twenty years have passed since C. Thomas and his budding family were left on the island. Back in the real world, Timothy Bottoms' character has dedicated his life to trying to get back, but when our film starts, he's dead, recently, and his son has taken up the mantle, desperate to make his father's life not have been in vain. On his team he has his girlfriend - a ethnologist/anthropologist/photographer - as well as a mercenary unit of three lead by a former Special Forces operative (if I have my druthers, the incomparable Geoff Meed). Together they're working the last clues Bottoms left before dying, and sure enough, it finds/triggers the wormhole and through time they go, only to come to offshore of the same said mysterious island.

Their initial assessment of the island is pretty much the same as everybody else's - holy shit, those are dinosaurs! After a couple close scrapes with the thunder lizards, the team begins making its way into the interior, searching for clues of CTH & Family's existence. On this hunt they stumble upon a lurid scene: a scantily-clad native girl about to be summarily executed for some unknown crime by a few men of her tribe. The mercenaries easily dispose of this crew, and the grateful native girl agrees to help them find their friend, as she knows of him.

Seems after everyone else left, C. Tom figured the only way to survive was to make peace with the natives. In exchange for teaching them agricultural, recreational and political skills, they let he and his wife live, let their baby - a daughter - come into this strange world. All was well for a period. Then the island brought others, another, more hostile tribal force, who discovered the power of the island to move people through time, and the peace was shattered, conflict broke out, and in the end it was this newer tribe who won, killing all the native men and taking all the women and children as brides and slaves. As for C. Tom, rumor has it that he escaped, disappeared into the jungle, and has not been seen since. What of his wife? She was killed refusing to be taken from him, murdered before his helpless eyes. The child? The native girl looks away uncomfortably, says that child is dead too. Why did the tribesmen want to kill her (the native girl)? Because she cannot have children, and is therefore worthless to them, just another mouth to feed.

She leads them deeper into the interior where they face more tribulations in the form of dinosaurs on land, sea and air, and increasing contact with the hostile natives who are desperate to locate and usurp the island's power for their own. As they get closer to an answer, stranger things begin to happen, people begin to appear and disappear, Nazis, Huns, WWI soldiers, Crusaders - distressed, aggressive, out-of-time passengers plucked here one second then whisked away the next. One of their own steps through a hidden wormhole and is never seen again. 

At a climactic point our team finds themselves in a certain-death situation, which is when an aged and haggard but alive C. Tom reveals himself and saves the day then leads them to his secret, the island's secret, the source of it's power (I realize I'm borrowing from LOST here, if anyone was actually wondering.).


I've decided to go full-spoiler here, because, you know, nobody's actually reading these things, right?

The gist of it is this: this lair of CTH's, it's all light and portals to different places, different times. It's the island that controls time, or rather, this island is the nexus of all times, under its own control, and CTH has taken on the role of guardian, seeking to keep this place from falling into the wrong hands, like the hostiles', who he loathes beyond description for killing his wife. It's true that he could have left the island, this time, whenever he wanted, ridden the time-waves through the centuries, going whenever he wanted, but his daughter was here (she's now revealed to be the native girl; he tried to rescue her but it was impossible), and besides, without his wife, the love of his life, where (when) was he going to go? Nothing in the world was going to make him happy again, so he opted to stick around, hermit it up here, watching all time at once but never interfering, never trying to go back to before they were here, because time, once altered, ripples, and who knows what would have happened? Chaos effect, butterflies and tsunamis, all that. He can, however, send our team home with everything they need: Bottoms' boy with his promise to dad fulfilled, the anthro-gf with incredible evidence, the mercenary captain with a new lady-love - the native girl/CTH's daughter. She wants to go back to the world with them, and CTH wants her to go. But he will stay behind, as, like he said, there's nothing out there in the world for him anymore. Couple of sappy goodbyes and presto, the team is back in the future, their present, and that's that.

Could be, though, at some distant point in the future, like say when medical advances make it so that the native girl and the mercenary can conceive, and give birth to a child, that they publicly christen, it could be that in the back of the church an old man in the shadows smiles in a familiar fashion before blinking out of sight in a wink of light. 

You always leave room for another sequel...


I'm just sayin'.

observation notes: The Land That Time Forgot

Though there are some that it would tell you this is a tie-in to the Will Ferrell debacle Land of the Lost, in truth it's another stand-alone literary adaptation, based on the novel of the same name by "Tarzan" creator Edgar Rice Burroughs, who The Asylum has adapted before for their Avatar tie-in, Princess of Mars. This novel has also been adapted before, but that was thirty-five years ago, and in that time there's been a significant development in the world of film directing that significantly changes the game and makes it unfair, even rude, to attempt to compare the two; because as good as the Samuel Z. Arkoff-original was, The Asylum has something Arkoff did not - C. Thomas Howell, acting and directing.

The story starts pretty much like "Gilligan's Island:" a small party on a brief ocean tour gets caught up in foul weather that somehow turns them around and strands them on an uncharted island on the other side of a time-rift (this last bit isn't like "Gilligan's Island"). Ashore, however, it's more dangerous than dead-adrift at sea, thanks to the island's prehistoric reptilian inhabitants - a.k.a. dinosaurs - who seem especially eager for the fresh food supply. Some cast members freak out, some are lost as a result, and ultimately, once given a moment to put the pieces together, those who remain of our party figure out that they're quite literally out-of-time. As though this inconceivable threat wasn't enough, C. Tom's trophy wife, who was too chicken to leave the boat so stayed to watch the boat, is gone when the others return to the beach. So is the boat. Thus their mission becomes two-part, survival and recovery, though admittedly most cast members seem far more concerned with the former than the latter.


A day or so into this and our party comes across - rather, he comes across them - a pilot with an unfortunate accessory who's also been stranded on the island, but for a year, and not one that coincides with their years (it's tricky, I'll admit, and kind of confusing, but only depending on how much you've had to drink.). In conversation it comes up that this bloke has seen a boat in the last day or so, and by his description, it's their boat, the boat they've been looking for, the boat C. Tom's arm-candy was last seen lallygagging about. On the way they stop over at the pilot's place, a rather lovely little cave stocked with artifacts and remnants from centuries' worth of stranded sailors, including Conrad, an elderly man claiming to be the skipper of a well-known vessel that disappeared 55 years ago, though Conrad's only been stranded three years (duh-duh-dummmmmmmmm).

As the plot thickens, the journey toward our party's boat continues, as does the terrorizing and killing by prehistoria. It's not a spoiler to say they find their boat, but fuck that, they find something better: a Russian sub. Only problem is, it comes with a lot of fit Russian soldiers, who also happen to have custody of C. Tom's sheets-treat. The rest, however, is spoilers, so I'll stop.


C. Thomas Howell the actor (War of the Worlds, The Da Vinci Treasure), as the elder vacationer, is frenetically in charge once the shit hits the fan, panicked but powerful, an unsteady stalwart a.k.a. a normal hero, not a scientist or a soldier or anything that especially equips him to handle this trauma; he's just a guy trying to stop himself from losing his shit after becoming shipwrecked on the other side of a time-rift on an uncharted island populated by ravenous dinosaurs and Nazis, who have custody of his wife. All this considered, I'd say he holds it together pretty good. As a director (War of the Worlds 2, The Day The Earth Stopped), he's at the top of his game, crafting a slick, concise sci-fi thriller.

Timothy Bottoms (non-Asylum film The Last Picture Show and "That's My Bush") is the grizzled sea captain, a burnt-out Jimmy Buffet, totally bummed to be stranded but, you know, dealing with it. It's this slavish concern, this borderline dementia that gives him a childlike wonder in the face of such horror, dangerously aloof, which makes him the film's most lovable character. 

And then there's Lindsey McKeon (Airline Disaster) as the lady-friend in the other couple, young and tightly-clad but stronger than your usual hottie-in-distress, fiercely sexy and brashly independent, real, palpable, the kind of girl you want with you in a crisis, or, you know, really anywhere: cute, capable, skeptically concerned and charismatic. Oh, and did I mention she's drop dead gorgeous? That helps. My only complaint is that her role should have been bigger.

Other acting standouts include Darren Dalton (The Day the Earth Stopped, War of the Worlds 2 [he must be a buddy of C. Tom's, because besides these films, which, like this one, Dalton wrote, he's also in a movie with C. Tom called The Jailhouse, which also coincidentally, or not, co-stars Lindsey McKeon. I'll be watching that soon and getting back to you with more.]), David Stevens, who plays the Simon Pegg-esque pilot and Patrick Gorman in the role of "Conrad."

I had a lot of fun with this one: the FX are bitchin' from dinos to insects, not drop-dead authentic but playfully believable. The story takes a couple nice turns in keeping with The Asylum's inventive narrative blending, and best of all, let's its action rely not on bloodletting, but on the tension of survival, a plot rich with highs and lows, peril and excitement. Bottom line? Incredible action, a great script, reserved, poignant performances and awesome FX make this one of the most thrilling films The Asylum has produced yet, and easily one of their most enjoyable.

Now if only I can convince them on my pitch for a sequel, The People That Time Forgot...

creature feature: POD PEOPLE PLANTS

Not since Little Shop of Horrors has one, innocuous plant wrought so much evil. 

I am speaking, of course, of the seemingly harmless potted plant from The Asylum's Invasion of the Pod People, a tie-in to the most recent Body Snatchers remake, Invasion starring Nicole Kidman and Daniel Craig. 

So the gist is this: alien life has come to Earth with the intent of taking over Earthling bodies, thus controlling the planet. Well how the heck are they going to do that?, you might be asking yourself (or maybe not, either way...). Via plants, of course, the most harmless and therefore unsuspected of our planet's biological inhabitants. All the aliens gotta do then is transform themselves into some regular old plant, like, say, a ginger root, then the Earthlings, with their love of feng shui, will place said plant somewhere in close proximity to themselves, like perhaps their desk at work, or a bedside table. Who doesn't like plants, after all? Who wouldn't want to punch up their living or working space with a little natural decor? Fortunately for the alien race in question here, not a single Earthling they can find.

 Once the plant is close enough to the Earthling it wants to take over, for example, a nubile young girl, then it works its alien magic to produce some kind of spore or other such smelly hoodoo that worms its way into our biology and slowly assumes control, walking around as us unbeknown to us, making us act all the fool, sinister-like, and what's worse, sometimes making us engage in lesbian threesomes with co-workers we don't even remember the next morning; it's kinda like "Red Shoe Diaries" meets Lost Highway, a sexy, malevolent fugue state. And of course, don't forget all this is merely a precursor to a complete and total takeover of the human race and this mudball we call home. 

There are loads of alien-invasion stories in cinema; this particular one has been made five times to date. When pondering how they might make their version unique, The Asylum decided to sex it up, a good move, and then involve a common houseplant, a questionable but thoroughly entertaining move.

Bottom line: don't trust gingerbread men, you don't know who that could be.

observation notes: Alien v. Hunter

Along with Transmorphers, Terminators and The Day The Earth Stopped, this particular Asylum film is one of the more obvious tie-ins (if you don't know the film this ties into, honestly, why are you here?).

The film opens in familiar fashion, with an unknown object streaking through the sky over an out-of-the-way California town, attracting the attention of the locals, including a reluctant journalist (William Katt)(he isn't reluctant about being a journalist, he's reluctant to chase down a story he believes will turn out to be nothing. but he's wrong.) When the object crashes, it is discovered to be a spacecraft, whose pilot is an unharmed, man-eating alien, itself a tie-in of sorts, as it looks like a Predator's torso with an Alien head, all served up on a spider's legs.

A couple of quick kills on the alien's end of things and people are pretty much up to speed. Katt joins with the daughter (Wittly Jourdan) of a woman gone missing in the mini-invasion, and the two of them bolt right for the staff of the local newspaper, including the lovely and talented DeeDee Pfeiffer. On their way to the office, however, Katt and Jourdan had chanced to see the pred-alien spider-thing attack the sheriff's car, and so convince the newspaper staff - some seven or eight people - to leave the relative safety of their office for the absolutely unsafe outdoors. Interesting choice, this. Because it's not just the aliens they need to worry about; just when the carnage is about to begin at the...what? Claws? Tentacles? Hooks? of the pred-alien, the titular Hunter makes his first appearance (his appearance being a combination of Golden Age Iron Man, the Tin Man, and Gort from the original The Day The Earth Stood Still.) At his arrival, the greater story of the film becomes known: the aliens are, in fact, the prey of this hunter, and Earth plays no role whatsoever in this skirmish aside from coincidental settling, making all its inhabitants, especially our heroes, mere fodder for the crossfire. And once our protagonists are aware of the greater plot, it does nothing to lessen the danger or assuage their fears - quite the opposite, in fact, in both regards. Panic is a greater enemy than any other force.

So stuck now in the open, DeeDee suggests they go see this capable fella lives across the way - the open way. They need another route, a secret, safer route. Naturally, they go with the requisite underground sewer/waterway pipes/tunnels. Also naturally, they are not the first species to have discovered said pipes/tunnels. Those of our party that manage to survive make it to the capable fella's place, who just happens to be DeeDee's ex (Randy Mulkey) and daughter (Jennifer Couch); he's a crackshot bear hunter, and she remembers her lines well. The usual attempts to communicate with the outside world are made, but the ship or the aliens or something related to either or both is fucking with all reception, leaving our heroes truly and utterly on their own. 


From here it's just a question of which of our heroes are going to get picked off by the alien before said heroes can find a way to kill said alien, and how exactly they're supposed to accomplish this latter task. The film at this point becomes a tad reminiscent of others like Surviving the Game and Night of the Living Dead, but these aren't bad things.


Overall, I found Alien vs. Hunter to be a tense action-thriller, rural sci-fi, meaning light on the techno-speak and scientific explanations and heavy on the shotguns and non-army-issue camouflage. The result of this is that it makes any tragedies or victories our heroes incur that much more empathetic, because these aren't soldiers or government scientists or other sorts whose lives come with acceptable risks; these are people, regular people, like you and me, caught up in a crisis they could never be expected to negotiate, but somehow manage. I'm pretty sure I've mentioned this before, but one of the (minor, nitpicky) problems I have with Asylum flciks is the abundance of technical speak. Some amount of explanation and scientific backstory is necessary, even interesting, but occasionally the narrative emphasis of these films can get a little wrapped up in the "how" and "why," thus leaving less emphasis for the "who." I like the "who." Especially when the who is everyman. This film standouts among certain others in the Asylum catalog for its focus on people and not the source of the problem. In this regard, I enjoyed this film quite a bit.


William Katt is looking...okay. A little ridden-wet, but his chops are still intact, or at least as intact as they ever were. But honestly, in the triumvirate of curly blond dudes with a penchant for movies that air first on SyFy, Katt comes in a secure third, in my book, behind John Schneider and Christopher Atkins.


As for leading lady Ms. Pfeiffer, she isn't fucking around in this one. Her usual playful demeanor is replaced with one all-business, stern and concerned, strong, refusing to break or even show a bend. In truth, she becomes the practical center of the film, the coolest head, but still retaining a touch of sass, albeit in an authoritative, condescending way. Another good show for the better Pfeiffer as far as I'm concerned.


Asylum regular Wittly Jourdan - who's been mentioned here before for her work in Allan Quatermain... - proves herself an emotional tornado, oscillating between terrified, enraged, hopeful and despondent; all-in-all a good bit of acting. Other notables include John Murphy Jr. (30,000 Leagues Under the Sea, Universal Soldiers) as "Figgus" the stoner, and the aforementioned Mr. Mulkey (Universal Soldiers, upcoming, non-Asylum flick Super Shark), who with a mustache looks a lot like Danny Trejo.


The FX are all right, I know I was ribbing on the Hunter above, but the aliens are icky and kinda scary, no matter how boldly they wear their influences, and the score, though weird, was also weirdly appropriate. The leads get a little lost in the sea of strong supporting actors, but that makes for a more level playing field, dead-pool-wise, and a more unilateral investment on our end. 

Bottom line, this film isn't too far from it's source, Alien vs. Predator, so if you liked that one, there should be plenty you can find to like about this one. Plus, you know, Deedee!

Check Out This Interview With Sarah Lieving (not mine)

Examiner.com has this great, exclusive interview with Asylum scream-queen and upcoming star of Mega Shark vs. Crocosaurus Sarah Lieving. In it she talks about MSvC, Supershark, Dunwich Horror and a couple of other upcoming roles. 2011 is poised to be an awesome year for COMMITTED's favorite actress, so do her - and yourself - a favor and pop over to the interview.

Mega Shark Rip-off SUPERSHARK Gets Poster & a Trailer

Those in-the-know folks over at the awesome site killerfilm.com today revealed the new poster and trailer for Supershark (or Super Shark Attack, depending on where you read it), the competing giant-shark pic against Mega Shark vs. Crocosaurus:

Maybe it's just me, but I think the shark looks like it's carved out of a potato, some bizarre artifact of a long-lost whittling art movement popularized in one mountain chain or another during the long, slow days of Prohibition. But again, maybe just me.

If there was ever a time to use the line, "This time, it's personal," this would be the time: Supershark is directed by noted filmmaker Fred Olen Ray; Mega Shark vs. Crocosaurus is directed by his son, Christopher Ray. No release date yet for this one, but check out the trailer over at Killerfilm, and note the gratuitous use of Sarah Lieving!

This stuff comes to Killerfilm courtesy of the ongoing American Film Market in Santa Monica; hopefully before it wraps up we'll get our first MSvC trailer. Less than two months to go!

inmate profile: David Michael Latt

This is the first time COMMITTED has slung an inmate profile the partners' way (I wanted to hone myself a little), and I think the perfect partner to start with is producer/ director/writer/editor/Asylum co-founder David Michael Latt.

A California native, Latt's first job in Hollywood - or at least the first job that seems studio-oriented as reported by his IMDB bio - was as an Art Director for Absolute Production, which, if my googling skills are accurate, is an events management company. From there he moved on to a position as Vice President, Production, for Chimera Multimedia. But despite this success, it wasn't until 1997 that Latt found his true calling and, along with former Village Roadshow executives David Rimawi and Sherri Strain, he strode out down his own road and formed The Asylum. 

Latt's present role at The Asylum is to oversee production and marketing, placing him in charge of a small crew that produces 10-15 feature-length motion pictures a year, each with an average of three- to four-week shoots. In a nutshell, this means every single Asylum production is steered by the practiced hands of Mr. Latt; think of him as the James M. Nicholson to Rimawi's Samuel Z. Arkoff, or the other way around - one of 'em's one of 'em and the other's the other, I know that much. 

Furthermore, not only is Latt an ace behind the scenes, he's darn good at creating them as well, as he's an accomplished and award-winning filmmaker in his own right. For The Asylum, Mr. Latt has directed eight titles, three of which he wrote. Another 16 Asylum-scripts bear his name. 

A look at Latt's Asylum filmography:

WRITER: Jane White is Sick & Twisted, Scarecrow Slayer, War of the Worlds, King of the Lost World, Da Vinci Treasure, Pirates of Treasure Island, Halloween Night, Supercroc, The Apocalypse, Universal Soldiers, Alien vs. Hunter, Monster, War of the Worlds 2, Allan Quatermain and the Temple of Skulls, Countdown: Jerusalem, The Terminators

DIRECTOR: Rock and Roll Fantasy, Killers, Jane White is Sick & Twisted, Killers 2, Scarecrow Slayer, War of the Worlds, MegaFault.

Also worth noting, Latt is married to Asylum staple Kim Little, and together the two have made seven films together.


And there you have it, a look at one of the founding partners of The Asylum, writer/director/filmmaker extraordinaire and the head of production, David Michael Latt. Call me a sycophant (and some have), but this guy's pretty much got the coolest job in the universe, and - like the other partners and indeed anyone working in the arts - he carved it out for himself. Where I from, that's worth saluting.


So, Mr. Latt, consider yourself saluted.
 

observation notes: When A Killer Calls

This one's gonna be brief. I'll be the first to admit I have questionable taste, at best, and truly do enjoy reveling in the films others deem "B" or "crap," but there's some stuff even I won't watch. Japanese Horror movies give me the deep-down, soul-resounding heebie-jeebies; melodramatic cancer films make me shiver like a newborn; Dane Cook causes me to spontaneously projectile vomit. But if there's one thing I just really can't watch, it's torture porn. That shit just freaks me out. It's sensational - not in a good way - and glorifies things that, well, are fucking weird and creepy, especially when you throw in the "porn" label, as though people get off on it. "Torture porn;" it's just ick to me (that's not a typo; i meant "ick," not "sick"). And though it might be a harsh term to apply here, the majority of this film is about as close to torture porn as you get, I imagine. I wouldn't know, honestly, I don't watch torture porn. Have I made that clear enough?

Thing is, I'm already a paranoid, skeptical, mentally unbalanced hypochondriac; I am fully aware that our world is overrun with perverts, maniacs, delusional, desperate and morally bankrupt cretins who mean me harm. I get it, I really do. So when I sit down for a good scare, I want the emphasis, in the end, on good and not scare. If I want to experience a horror that lingers, I'll watch the news. Because I like my horror fantastic - made-up, implausible, with the good kind of nudity - not brutally realistic. I have enough trouble sleeping.

So, whether this movie is good or not, I'm admitting I can't give you a complete review because I couldn't finish it. Not a commentary on the filmmaking or performances - I want to make that clear - this is purely a topic thing. I can tell you that lead Rebekah Kochan (Pirates of Treasure Island, Halloween Night, Freakshow) is ridiculously and uncomfortably convincing as the babysitting target, and madman Mark Irvingsen (Scarecrow Slayer) is more than an appropriate choice for the role. But honestly, this is such a hackneyed and often-visited idea to begin with; even the beauty of Camilla Belle couldn't make a big-budget remake palatable. So what was the hope here? Well, apparently the hope was to lure in those who thought the Hollywood version could have done with a touch more bondage. And by "a touch," I mean "a shitload."

To each his own, but this wasn't mine. However, to the film's credit, from what I saw, if you do go in for this sort of thing, you probably won't be disappointed with When a Killer Calls. From Peter Mervis, director of Snakes on a Train, another film I had trouble watching, again, not because of the film, but because of the topic; I'm ophidiophobic as a motherfucker.

outside the walls: Non-Asylum Inkings

So I'll admit it, there are films not produced by The Asylum. There always have been, always will be. These glasses I wear are not rose-colored. They are clear, and occasionally smudged with fingerprints. A sampling of non-Asylum films due soon and news that might spark the interest of Asylum fans. Just remember, Sweet 'n Low ain't Sugar.


Walking Dead Drops to Huuuuuuge Numbers

So the most-anticipated television event of the year (for me at least) went down Sunday night on AMC with the premiere of "The Walking Dead," a new dramatic zombie series based on the graphic series of the same name written by Robert Kirkman and published by Image Comics. Any doubter can rightly shut their trap, because the premiere pulled in 5.3 million viewers, not only the highest premiere ratings ever for AMC, but also the highest premiere ratings of any show on any channel thus far this year. And richly deserved: executive producer and developer Frank Darabont took some major character liberties, expanding scenes and relationships that all add up to an even more intense empathy than the comic generates. And anyone who was worried AMC might not have the stones to pull off a zombie series, man oh man do they have the stones. Gore, guts, blood and little kids getting iced, and that's all just the first episode. WD continues for five more episodes this season and has already been picked up for a second, 13-episode season. So go on, give in and start watching, because this is the next show everyone around your water cooler will be all abuzz about.


SyFy Premieres New Reality Show

Another show I've been psyched for is the SyFy reality program that aired last week, "Hollywood Treasure," which tells of the adventures of Joe Maddalena, owner of Profiles of History Auction House, which specializes in Movie Memorabilia. Now, I might be a little biased as the video-store/movie museum I work for has worked with Mr. Maddalena for 20 years now, procuring everything from the Psycho knife to the baby carriage in The Untouchables to a head from Aliens. Bottom line, the guy does great work, has a true passion for film and its history and should provide for some damn enthralling TV. Check your local listings, then check it out.

Upcoming SyFy Originals

November 13: The Lost Future
November 20: Post Impact
November 27: SyFy Original Movie Marathon

newly committed: Asylum Release Dates

2010: Moby Dick - November 23, 2010

               Mega Shark vs. Crocosaurus - December 21, 2010

1st Furry Valentine - January 25, 2011 (poster coming)

                            Battle of Los Angeles - February 22, 2011

Ballistica - May 17, 2011

observation notes: 2012 Doomsday

The Asylum has done a few apocalypse films at this point; they've even done a couple of films with 2012 in the title. But this particular film, distributed by The Asylum's Christian off-shoot Faith Films ("wait..." you're thinking, "Christian off-shoot? WTF?" Marketplace people, you've got to know the marketplace, and currently it's filled with 250,000,000 Christians, so...), so you know in addition to action, intrigue and chaotic destruction, you're also going to be getting a healthy dose of sermonizin'. I mean, for Chr- for Pete's sake, the marker on the title menu is a cross. No veils here, people, just sayin'.

Anywho, this film's another take on the popular Mayan prophecy that ends with, well, the world ending, kind of like Roland Emmerich's 2012, but released two years prior, so this one isn't exactly a tie-in as much as it is a stand-alone, action-packed, fanatic and fundamentalist sci-fi epic. The film opens in Mexico, naturally, with only "36 hours before Doomsday," as text reveals. Foreshadowing. There, volcanic eruptions are freaking out American seismologists (including Dale Midkiff and Caroline Amiguet) who can't figure why the Earth is being torn apart. The answer, pieced together by them and us, has something to do with a crucifix found buried in a Mayan temple. Jump to a team of scientists back in the states (lead by Cliff De Young) who puts this conundrum into words by hypothesizing the destruction is being caused by the slowing rotation of the planet due to an alignment with a black hole at the center of our galaxy (that's verbatim, so if it doesn't make sense, don't shoot the messenger), the bottom line being: how the fuck do you stop that?

This premise laid out, the various characters and storylines begin to settle into place: the team of scientists, the seismologists, a dashing photojournalist and a missionary (who happens to be Cliff De Young's character's daughter, played by the always delightful Danae Nason), and a precognitive holy image scribbler/EMT and her very zealous mother. Together this cast forms the five points of a star at the center of this film's universe, their connections slowly coming to light (sorry, all the religious rhetoric has me feeling a little elegiac).

Anyway, the scientists learn that whatever's happening, it will continue to happen until, well, until shit's just gone. Along the path to utter destruction, we're presented with all angles of human perspective on religion: the fervent, the logical, the skeptical, the outright disbelieving, et cetera. As such, there's a lot of talking for a supposed action film, and it's all pretty pointed. If you're one of those sorts who can't hear any religious conversation without getting worked up one way or the other, maybe skip this; but if you can (not) believe and let (not) believe, it's a pretty entertaining film, especially as it's not as fatalistic as Emmerich's 2012, where shit's going down no matter what - there's a chance to save the world here, somewhat literal, this savior, but it can cosmically cease the planetary destruction, taking a little of the edge off.

The above-mentioned perspectives are played out through the various characters' various and interwoven stories, much like Deep Impact or Independence Day, and as each progresses, attitudes are validated or changed by the global, unimaginable destruction, mounting towards a blissfully uplifting and faith-affirming ending.

2012 Doomsday was written and directed by Nick Everhart, and shot by the ever-present Mark Atkins. Stars De Young and Midkiff (both from something called the "Love" series, a few TV movies starring Katherine Heigl before we had to like her) are "stars" here the way Bruce Davison and Brooke Burns are "stars" of Titanic II: they're names, so they get the billing, when it's really the smaller names, the lesser-knowns, who carry the film. Notable among these lesser-knowns (only to some - the "lesser-known" part, not the "notable" part) is, as mentioned, Ms. Nason as the missionary, who in a reversal from the slutty office-mate she played in Pod People proves just how good an actress she is, such range, and Ami Dolenz (She's Out of Control, Ticks, Monkee Mickey Dolenz' loins), who it was nice to see again. I think the last time I saw her she was in some Witchboard shit. She's aged really well, still cute as a button, which makes her hardships that much more empathetic even though the drama is kind of out of her reach. Who cares, right? Cute blond girls do no wrong. Truthfully, however, things might have worked better with Ms. Dolenz as the wide-eyed missionary and Ms. Nason as the hardened, atheistic EMT. And Caroline Amiguet, she just looks like a French Kristin Wiig.

Overall, the FX were okay, reminiscent - loosely - of the other 2012. The script is a little heavy-handed from a secular point of view, but the secular point of view isn't the intended perspective at all. Maybe too many characters and stories for an 85 minute film, as not all were as fleshed out as I would have liked, but this one's all about the message, not the messengers. Neat but not great, I'd say, acknowledging, again, that I'm not at all the intended audience. From what I've seen of other such films, however, this one's above par. Bottom line, if you ain't in the fold, bring a big ole grain of salt with you to this one; either way, you'll be entertained, and isn't that the point?

WICKED COOL: an overview of Asylum horror

this is a re-post of a guest spot I did back at the beginning of the month for attackfromplanetb.com, on Asylum horror. in the spirit of the holiday, i thought i'd show it here.

___________________________________________________________ 

If there’s one constant in the ever-shifting marketing focus of The Asylum, it’s that people love a good scare, whether it comes by sci-fi, creature flicks or straight-up horror. And though The Asylum is best-known at present for its work in the realm of mockbusters, the genre it has been delivering with the most consistency – and originality – for nearly fifteen years, is good, old-fashioned horror.

First a bit of backstory: The Asylum was formed by David Michael Latt, David Rimawi and Sherri Strain in 1997. Rimawi and Strain had been executives at Village Roadshow, and upon leaving teamed with writer/director Latt to start a genre distribution and production company. In the early days Asylum was mainly a distributor, and the films were all over the place – thrillers, comedies, dramas, horror films, etc. – but it was horror The Asylum execs first set their production eye upon. Killers, a hallucinogenic, bloody thriller directed by David Michael Latt, was the first film produced by The Asylum in their first year together. Five years later it would spawn a sequel that would also mark the beginning of The Asylum’s rigorous production routine that would soon make them one of the most prolific independent studios in Hollywood.

For the purposes of closer examination, I’ve broken the horror films of The Asylum into three distinct eras: 1997-2005 – the genre era; 2006-2008 – the mockbuster era; and 2009-present – the (mega) modern era.

THE GENRE ERA (1997-2005)

Approximately fifteen horror films were released by The Asylum between 1997 and 2005, making them the company’s primary production focus until the mockbuster came along. Of these films, the overwhelming majority were based upon some variation of legend or myth, the very basis of genre horror: angered spirits (Scarecrow, Intermedio), vampires (Way of the Vampire), mummies (Legion of the Dead), pirates (Jolly Roger: Massacre at Cutter’s Cove), Frankenstein’s monster (Frankenstein Reborn), werewolves (The Beast of Bray Road), zombies (Death Valley: the Revenge of Bloody Bill) and, of course, demons (Shapeshifter).

No matter how broad their appeal, however, these films got lost – along with so many others from so many other small production companies, many of which are now long-defunct - in a sea of direct-to-DVD horror that choked the marketplace in the wake of the genre’s popular revival in the late-90’s thanks to films like the Scream franchise and The Blair Witch Project. But while other companies reacted to the problem by pushing out even more films in the same vein, The Asylum took a gamble and shifted their marketing strategy, as well as their place in film history.

THE MOCKBUSTER ERA (2006-2008)

In 1995, Asylum executives had a game-changing idea. That was the year Steven Spielberg was set to deliver his long-awaited version of H. G. Wells’ classic novel of alien invasion, War of the Worlds. As the story wasn’t original to Spielberg, there was nothing to stop anyone else from making a competitive version but the revered filmmaker’s own clout and ego. And who cares about that? The Asylum rushed a version into production starring former Hollywood heavy-hitters C. Thomas Howell and Judd Nelson, two fine actors who’d had doors shut on them The Asylum was only too eager to open. The result? 100,000 copies ordered by Blockbuster, blowing all other orders on all previous Asylum titles clear out of the water. The rest is history.

On the horror front, The Asylum continued to produce a large number of films in the genre during this era – eleven, depending on how you define the genre – but as with The Asylum’s sci-fi output, across the board these were mockbusters, or tie-ins:

                    THE ASYLUM                                                        HOLLYWOOD

Exorcism: The Possession of Gail Bowers        The Exorcism of Emily Rose

When a Killer Calls                                              When a Stranger Calls

Hillside Cannibals                                                The Hills Have Eyes

666: The Child                                                     The Omen

Snakes on a Train                                               Snakes on a Plane

Halloween Night                                                Halloween

Freakshow                                                           Tod Browning’s Freaks

The Hitchhiker                                                    The Hitcher

Supercroc                                                            Rogue, Primeval, Croc, Black Water

Invasion of the Pod People                              Invasion, Invasion of the Body Snatchers

666: The Beast (sequel to 666: The Child)    The Omen

With the exception of Snakes on a Train, most of these films flew under the radar in terms of cultural awareness, the flashier sci-fi tie-ins like Transmorphers, Terminators, and King of the Lost World garnering the most media attention. But as the mockbuster era continued to flourish throughout ’07 and ‘08 in the arena of sci-fi, The Asylum cut back on the number of horror films it produced. 666: The Beast, arguably the last horror film of this era, would see two years pass and twelve more films made before there was another horror title in the Asylum’s filmography. But this would turn out to be just a trimming of fat, so to speak, a sacrifice in the quantity of years past for the quality to come.

THE (MEGA) MODERN ERA (2009-Present)

In late 2009 when The Asylum released Mega Shark vs. Giant Octopus, yet again the wheels in their marketing minds began to turn. Mega Shark, as we all know, went on to become the most notable film in The Asylum’s catalogue and was the eighth-most Googled trailer of the year thanks to a now-infamously-classic certain plane-chewing scene, an astounding accomplishment for an independent studio in arguably one of the most spectacular years in Hollywood history, visually-speaking (Avatar, District 9, Star Trek, Transformers 2, 2012, Terminator Salvation, etc.). As a result of this success, The Asylum began pushing out other similarly-conceived films, including MegaFault, Mega Piranha, the upcoming Mega Shark vs. Crocosaurus (out 12/21/10!!!) and Mega Python vs. Gatoroid. In an interview aired October 2^nd of this year on “Last Call with Carson Daly,” Asylum honchos Latt, Rimawi and Paul Bales seemed to indicate this was a direction production would continue to head in. So what does this mean for Asylum horror? Will creature flicks absorb both sci-fi and horror productions, meld them into some composite terror? Not likely.

Though The Asylum has only released four horror films since 2009 – The Haunting of Winchester House, Paranormal Entity, 100 Feet and 8213 Gacy House – three of the four have been completely original (Paranormal Entity was just begging to be made), and coincidentally, perhaps, or perhaps not, all four have been ghost stories. Doubtful this is a specific trend – the ghosts – but what it does seem to be is The Asylum’s return to stand-alone horror, so to speak; original stories that don’t need to draft off of a studio release to find an audience.

Trying to predict the future of the Asylum is like trying to predict what number a many-sided die will land on when rolled; one can only guess. But horror has always been the backbone of The Asylum’s productions – however manifested – and in fact, it’s where they’ve been the most original and most daring. In an era where every half-baked scary story or gore-fest is slapped onscreen, The Asylum, in this modern era, at least, seems to be doing something popular media’s conception of them would find contrary: they’re discriminating. And for us, the committed, this may not mean a horror flick every few months, but it means when we do get them, we’re guaranteed that good scare.

observation notes: 100 Million B.C.

Another stand alone sci-fi epic from The Asylum, with slight ties to Godzilla, the Matthew Broderick version, and Cloverfield, though the latter film was still a year away, and would be later mockbusted by Monster. So then this one's neither here nor there, merely a time-traveling action flick with ties to the Philadelphia Experiment - electromagnetic tinkering undertaken by US scientists during WWII in which a wormhole through time was ripped open. 

The film opens with a Navy Search and Rescue team being briefed by a theoretical physicist (Michael Gross) and a Naval superior (Greg Evigan) on a quite unusual mission: rescue a team sent back in time in 1949 - a team that includes the physicist's brother (Christopher Atkins) - to the Cretaceous Period some 70 million years in the past. (that's the number they reference several times. i guess the title's just rounding up.) The obvious response from the (present) team is, well, if they were sent 70 million years back into the past 70 years ago, how they fuck are we even sure they're still alive? Cave paintings, that's how, recently discovered by amateur spelunkers that irrefutably come from a Twentieth Century hand, though carbon-dating says otherwise. How irrefutably? "Rita Hayworth as Gilda," and "Frank It Wasn't Your Fault." In English. Pretty, pretty, pretty, pretty irrefutable.

To attempt this rescue, of course, the present team will have to undertake the same risk as the past team by traveling through the wormhole. They won't be alone however, as the physicist, racked with seventy years worth of guilt, refuses to let them go alone and insists on joining them. So back in time they go, via a stargate - not a stargate-looking thing, this is just a stargate, unapologetically - and arrive where, rather, when they wanted, smack dab in the middle of the Cretaceous Period, where they immediately begin their search for the past team.

It isn't long before acid-spooging plants, looming brontosauruses and carnivorous marine life make their going a little tougher. They get some help, improbably, when 70 fucking million years in the past, a past where none of the geography resembles that of our era, somehow the present team stumbles upon the physicist's brother and his past team within an hour or two of arriving, and just in the nick of time to get their asses saved from raptors. I studied abroad one summer in England, and over the course of the 4th of July weekend I took an impromptu trip to Amsterdam with a friend. I wasn't twenty feet outside the train station when I bumped into a girl I dated in high school. That's coincidence. When I was 16, on a cross country road trip, I walked into a mall in Salt Lake City and bumped into the man who baptized me, sitting outside the food court McDonald's. That's coincidence. Bumping into your brother who you haven't seen in 70 years because you sent him 70 million back in the past? That's fucking providence, or incredibly accurate mathematics, at least. I digress.

So reunited and somewhat safe, the mission now becomes to get everybody back to the wormhole so they can return to the present (the present team's present, but the past team's future.) It's a short trip, relatively easy but for, you know, the dinosaurs, but just when you think getting everybody home is the solution, it turns out to be...you guessed it...an even bigger problem. Problem 1: someone has to stay behind in the past to close the wormhole, otherwise anything could just come trouncing through, and they don't want that. Problem 2: it has to be the physicist as he's the only one who knows how, and, racked with guilt even now, he's willing to sacrifice himself to get the past team home. Problem 3: he totally fucks it up, and not only bites it (the present version of himself, that is) but allows a quite large, already-pissed and now really-discombobulated dinosaur to enter the 21st Century. And we are surprisingly unprepared for it. 


"The threat is biological in nature, it is bipedal, and it is carnivorous...I repeat, it is bipedal and carnivorous...it's a dinosaur...I shit you not."

The above pretty much sums up the human response: humorously disbelieving, overwhelmed and clueless.The rest is spoilers but to say the third act is entirely metropolitan, and the ending is a mindbender, in terms of who's where, temporally.

100 Million B.C.was written by Asylum producer Paul Bales, who also wrote a score of other Asylum flicks including 2010 Moby Dick, Sherlock Holmes, Megafault and Killers 2, and directed by Louie Myman, which is really just a pseudonym for Griff Furst, the actor/director who's been mentioned here a few times for his work behind the camera on Lake Placid 3 and the upcoming Swamp Shark (as well as Asylum films I Am Omega and Universal Soldiers) and in front of it also in The Dunwich Horror (as well as Transmorphers and The Hitchhiker). Asylum regulars Mark Atkins and Nick Everhart edited the film, alongside David Michael Latt. Together, these men managed to craft an enjoyable, engaging sci-fi film, that if reminiscent of other films, intentionally or not, stands on it's own thanks to a spry script and strong performances.

Michael Gross ("Family Ties," the Tremors franchise) balances his performance with shades of brilliance, concern and guilt, though he's not at all believable as the age he's supposed to be (that's a compliment). It is his convictions and inner-turmoil that form the emotional center of the film and make him the most empathetic of our characters. Greg Evigan (6 Guns, Journey to the Center of the Earth) is largely contained to good-natured imperatives and salutes for the first 2/3rds of the film - though authoritatively charming as always - but in the third act his role really widens and he takes control with the ease of a seasoned wingman. But my favorite was Christopher Atkins (The Blue Lagoon, Shakma), who's essentially a younger, more awesome John Schneider (sorry, John) and here fills each scene with a  larger-than-life spirit; he plays the role as a pure adventurer - he could be a time-traveler or an astronaut, a pirate or explorer; his restrained zeal, his tempered (by peril) passion for the moment, is nothing less than infectious.

Other cast standouts include Geoff Meed as present team chief, Marie Westbrook as one of the female soldiers of the past, and Dean Kreyling as the chief of team past.

The FX are okay so long as they're not onscreen with actual people, in which case they look totally fake (a few shots are used a few times, pretty obviously). The main dino looks like some sort of zombie dino: it's hide is red with refined musculature as though it's been skinned. Gross (And not Michael). Even the Mega Shark moment - you'll know it when you kinda see it - relies more on your imagination than any actual FX. The city scenes are okay, though too deserted; as long as your CGI-ing the shit out of things, toss in some dying crowds.

Overall, it's a neat adventure story, although a little too reminiscent - for me - of Journey to the Center of the Earth but with less hot chicks (not less-hot, the women here are comparably hot, there are just fewer of them, I mean) and The Land That Time Forgot, but maybe that's a compliment, because if it had popped up that this story was based on another by the likes of Jules Verne or H.R. Haggard, I would have totally bought it. So definitely worth a watch if you enjoy films of that ilk.


One thing got me, however: where, in the Cretaceous Period, did 1940's female soldiers find form-fitting halter-tops? Another mystery for the ages, I suppose