Godzilla vs. Hedorah

Look, its a bird! Its a plane! Its...Godzilla?

A brief time-line of Godzilla's various incarnations and personalities up intil this film:

Gojira - The horrors of nuclear testing and abuse made flesh. Not necessarily evil, but instead an animal struggling to understand the world it has been rudely born into; all while leaving a massive trail of bodies in its wake.

Godzilla Raids Again: Little rhyme or reason this time around. Replacing the nuclear context is a hot-blooded, animal savagery.

Mothra vs. Godzilla - Simply put, evil and cruelty incarnate.

Ghidorah the Three-Headed Monster all the way to Destroy all Monsters - While not really out to protect humanity, the big guy was nontheless hanging up his city-stomping shoes and wrestling with other, ill-meaning monsters.

At this rate, Godzilla was on the very brink of becoming a full on superhero, and this brings us to Godzilla vs. Hedorah.

Ken Yano (Hiroyuki Kawase) really likes Godzilla. I mean, REALLY likes him. He has a collection of toys that would make any collector drool, he dreams of him, hallucinates him, and even presents a poem to this class dedicated to the lizard.

Meanwhile, authorities are perplexed by a series of attacks in the shipping lanes that seen to be perpetrated by a monstrous tadpole. An expedition headed by Ken and his father, Dr. Yano (Akira Yamauchi) to find the beast goes awry, leaving Yano with a horribly burned face. The creature is dubbed Hedorah, and Yano surmises that the beast is comprised of various chemical solutions, among them being sulfuric acid.

Hedorah evolves into a quadrupedal land form and attacks a refinery, getting bloated (and high?) off the smokestack fumes. Godzilla finally shows up, and after much monster posturing, Hedorah attempts to smother him. The battle is short lived, with the battle ending as Hedorah is split into various pieces and cast into the sea. But that ain't the last that'll be seen of the muck beast...

Yanno comes to the conclusion that Hedorah is feeding on our pollution, and is in turn emitting fumes powerful enough to corrode buildings and kill anyone unlucky enough to be close to the creature within seconds. As Hedorah continues to evolve and gain power, and as the death toll reaches astronomical proportions, it becomes clear that only a certain mutated dinosaur will be able to save the day...

The synopsis may sound like standard monster-vs-monster fare, but this movie is hardly close to being what we could consider normal. In fact, its easily the most unusual entry in the entire series. Some have praised it as being a masterpiece of surreal, post-modern cinema. Others have labeled it as being among the very worst of the series. Me, I just think its mighty strange, but the pleasure to be gained from this film is undeniable.

To put it bluntly, the movie's tone is wildly uneven. Massively uneven, in fact. The environmentalist theme, while somewhat effective and being relevant even today, comes off as very heavy-handed. Yanno pretty much says, multiple times, that it is because of our polluting and other abuse of the environment that has lead to the birth of Hedorah, and that humanity has pretty much dug a mass grave for itself. Subtle, it ain't. However, director Yoshimitsu Banno very successfully paints Japan as a nation that seems to be struggling to stay afloat in a sea of filth; the credits play out over a series of shots of muck-encrusted waterways, including a surprisingly unsettling shot that seems to be a sexless mannequin that's been slashed and dismembered. Never explained, but it certainly is attention grabbing. Also, this is easily the ugliest Japan has ever looked in any kaiju flick , with constant establishing shots of belching smokestacks, fog-hazed industrial parks, etc. Again, far from subtle, but like a blow to the head with a hammer, they are effective at making one sit up and pay attention. Even Godzilla, in a dream sequence, seems unable to turn back the tide of pollution, as he blasts away at floating heaps of garbage, (suggesting just how overpowering and unstoppable the threat of pollution can be, perhaps?).

This is the first Godzilla film since the original to show the human casualties, and stuff gets very grim. A screaming baby nearly up to its head in Hedorah's muck. Dozens of people clawing at their throat's as Hedorah flies overhead, followed by grotesque facial lesions. A construction worker who falls screaming from a tower at the sight of the smog monster, and is reduced to bones by the time he hits the pavement. Ken running home to his father as air-raid sirens blare in the background, stumbling upon corpses in various stages of decay. This could have easily been one of the most viscerally horrifying and disturbing entry in the series, if not for the outright bizarre sequences that occur. Ken's hippie uncle is listening to his girlfriend preform in a nightclub (the girlfriend sings the title theme "Save the Earth"; which in Japanese sounds eerily like "God is Dead". Go figure...), and suddenly he starts hallucinating and imagines that everyone has the ehad of an exotic fish.

The weirdness doesn't stop here, as the film also employs a series of crude animations to help explain Hedorah's physiology and effect on the city; though initially childish, there is an increasingly sinister undercurrent as the cartoons progress (such as a sentient factory growing in size as it greedily snaps up organic material with huge pincer arms). There's even a brief science lesson on galaxies as Yanno explains to Ken where he thinks Hedorah may have come from. Hippies play go to the foot of Mount Fuji and play on their electric instruments, with nowhere to plug into(!). Said hippies are watched by a motley group of old people crouched in the long grass, who seem to have wandered off the set of a zombie or backwoods slasher film. Interestingly enough, the constant juxtaposition of the grim and horrific with the high-spirited and childish doesn't really hurt the film, but creates a sense of free-wheeling lunacy that will either have you grinning to ear or snorting in disgust as you snap the disc into pieces.

The characters are among the film's weakest points. While Ken manages to avoid irritable-little-boy syndrome, him and the rest of his family are extremely under-developed, with Yanno showing up only to form more theories on Hedorah. Ken likes Godzilla, his uncle likes weed, and the girlfriend likes wearing weird wigs and body suits while singing about the death of God. All we ever know.

On to the monsters. Godzilla has become even more humanized as he mockingly gestures and taunts Hedorah, even scratching his nose before battle. This is the first time that Godzilla has been portrayed as unambiguously heroic, and personally, I've never really liked my Godzilla as a do-gooder. I like him lean, mean, and giving humanity a thrashing without ever breaking a sweat. Though he is akin to a super-hero, he still thankfully avoids catering to children, unlike a certain giant turtle from a rival studio. Even though he never accepts Ken's advances, he is dealt a severe blow to his ego when he flies after an escaping Hedorah at the end of the film. Yes, that's right. Flies. I...I can't talk anymore about that. It certainly is something that you'll never see ever again in terms of sheer, reality-bending oddness.

Hedorah is the real star of the show, and is a most unusual and formidable opponent. Not only does he possess powerful lasers and projectile, acidic sludge and choking fumes, his blood is an even more concentrated form of acid, powerful enough to strip the flesh off Godzilla's hand until the bone is showing. Combine that with a body that merely sparks when hit with Godzilla's ray, as well as a final form that outright towers over the monster king, he always manages to hold his own in the protracted final brawl. In one effectively disgusting scene, he comes close to smothering Godzilla with bodily slime, until the Big G (somehow, never explained) manages to escape, and the battle carries on. According to some sources, Hedorah's eyes were modeled after vaginas, which makes the moment where Godzilla rams his fist through the flesh right beside one of his eyes all the more peculiar (could the immediate damage done to Godzilla's hand be a cautionary statement warning of the dangers of strange sexual practices?). The Hedorah suit is effectively slimy and gross, with perhaps its most memorable features being its gigantic, bloodshot eyes and freakish, gurgling screech. The final fight with the two titans is well-staged, even though it is a tad unnecessarily dragged out towards the end (gah, the flying part).

The director was later told by the series producer that "he had ruined Godzilla", and was presumably black-listed. A wee bit harsh, I think. This really is a hard movie to recommend, as its surreal, almost nonsensical imagery and plot will either have the viewer loving or hating it. I love it, and also know others who hate it. So really, in the end it all comes down to personal taste. Either way, it isn't a movie you'll end up forgetting soon.

Dogora

Gojira, Mothra, and Rodan are rightfully considered some of Toho's best films. All of them, even though they wildly differ in terms of tone and subject matter, are exceptionally well made, hugely entertaining, and introduced to the world some of the most iconic giant monsters ever created. Then came Dogora, and its an absolute shame that this guy isn't mentioned in the same breath as the other three. Why is that? The title kaiju, a monstrously huge, beautifully animated entity that descends from the heavens to satisfy its desire for carbon based products (coal, diamonds, etc) ranks up as one of the most daring and innovative monsters that special effects master Eiji Tsuburaya ever dreamed up. The story itself, with equally hapless crooks and cops caught up in a "who-can-be-more-of-a-knucklehead" competition, while at the same time trying to understand and defeat Dogora, moves briskly and is entertaining. So, whats the problem? Well, its really quite simple. Despite having its name be first in the opening credits, Dogora never really feels like the star of the movie. In fact, greater emphasis is placed on the human story, while the tentacled beast shows up at intermittently to wreak havoc.

We learn at the very beginning that just outside Earth's atmosphere, an enormous, mutated cell resides. One that destroys pesky satellites when they get too close. Meanwhile, a group of diamond thieves are foiled at their latest planned heist when a tiny, blob-like creature melts through the safe and devours the contents within. Inspector Komai trails the thieves and ends up on the receiving end of a major ass-kicking by a Mr. Mark Jackson: a smooth talking, judo-flipping, charismatic American who speaks fluent Japanese. Mark Jackson, the most American sounding name the screenwriter, Shinichi Sekizawa (writer of many of the early Godzilla entries) could think of, I'm sure... Soon, a startling number of diamond thefts pop up all over the world: the police think the diamond thieves, known as the International Diamond Robbery Ring, are behind the crimes. However, the gangsters are equally dumbfounded.

Mark Jackson reveals himself to be a wily insurance investigator ("Diamond G-Man"), and admits that he's been following the individual(s) behind the latest series of world-wide thefts. Then, things get stranger. Vast amounts of coal is sucked upwards by an unseen force in the clouds. Trucks carrying diamonds are attacked at night. Komai begins to consider the possibility of the agent responsible for the attacks being something inhuman (only in Japanese monster movies will you have police calmly discussing the possibilities of monsters being prime suspects). The diamond thief is identified as a gigantic cellular organism that was mutated by pockets of radiation in Earth's atmosphere. Dubbed "Dogora", the creature requires carbon to live, and the possibility of it moving on to carbon-based lifeforms (i.e. people), the people of Earth desperately plan a counter-offensive. Soon, the monster descends upon the city of Kyushu, and the battle for survival begins...

This is not a movie that one should use to initiate people into the kaiju sub-genre. Indeed, anyone going in expecting large-scale destruction of model buildings and constant monster action will quickly become fidgety and bored. A movie that announces itself as being a combination of crime thriller and giant monster drama is most intriguing, and this movie could have been, wait, should have been one of Toho's classics.

Unfortunately, and this is the film's largest weakness, is there is never a truly successful merging of the two sub-genres. The monster set-pieces are extremely well-handled and nice to look at. The cops-and-robbers storyline, though entertaining in its own right, takes up far too much of the film's running time. Furthermore, as the end of the movie approaches, Dogora's story and the crime story are tied together with the thinnest of plot points (without giving too much away, the gangster plot is resolved by a simple "wrong place, wrong time" bit of happenstance), and it becomes increasingly clear that this movie simply doesn't need to have such wildly differing story lines. The filmmakers could have easily made a feature-length movie that was centered solely on Dogora, and fleshed out the creature's characteristics and personality a bit more.

Because the title monster has lack of screen time, it isn't as well-defined as it should have been. As I see it, there is only the one monster, even though posters and publicity are depict multiple giant creatures terrorizing the populace. If that's the case, whats the deal with the baseball sized blobs that carry out some of the thefts? Are they separate creatures, or are they part of the main monster, and simply detach to carry out various tasks. The very ending of the film throws in further confusion as to the nature of the beast with a single, throw away line, and one gets the impression that Sekizawa was more interested in the various human shenanigans than creating a well-fleshed out monster. However, the means with which they dispatch Dogora is certainly original, and depending on your point of view, is either extremely half-assed or very well thought out.

I don't mean to give off the impression that I don't like this film: in fact, I quite enjoy it. The leads are engaging, and Robert Dunham (last seen as the epically hairy chested Seatopian leader in Godzilla vs. Megalon) is clearly having fun with the character of Mark Jackson, and constantly forces the viewer to question the true extent of his motives, as he spends a good deal seemingly flip-flopping between the sides of law enforcement and criminals. Also, the struggle between the diamond thieves and the police is interesting in and of itself, and does generate a few laughs. Apparently, the movie is actually considered a spoof of yakuza movies, and has even been labeled a satire. Huh? Maybe I'm missing something by not being Japanese; there are some amusing moments, but its more of a broad humor and nothing I would really peg as sharp satire.

On to what you're most interested in: the monster action. The scenes of the creature levitating and absorbing heaps of coal are fairly well done, even though the scenes of people and objects like buildings and trucks being levitated and thrown are very obviously done via wires, they accomplish what they set out to do: entertain. More impressive are the wonderful use of colors during the attack scenes, with the clouds taking on all sorts of unearthly hues. There is an awkward transition where Dogora, and part of the city, becomes a very obvious piece of straight animation, but this is forgivable as its immediately followed by the spectacular destruction of a major landmark. The set-piece attack on Kyushu, as Dogora is seen in its entirety for the first time, and the entire sky turns different shades of green and red, is easily one of the most beautiful moments I've ever seen in a kaiju film. If Dario Argento were ever to do a monster movie, this is what it would have looked like. As fun to watch as these sequences are, they are made frustrating simply because they don't happen too often, and one immediately wants more as soon as they end.

Dogora itself is fairly simplistic in design, resembling a gigantic jellyfish. However, this simplicity doesn't hurt it in the least. It is simple and sleek, yet at the same time completely unknowable. Even though Toho introduced more elaborate alien creatures, such as King Ghidorah, Dogora more successfully comes across as something truly alien. It is intimidating through sheer size alone, as it easily dwarfs every other Toho creation. Even though I earlier said that it suffers from lack of definition, this vagueness, in a sense, also helps it. We never truly know if it is just a mindless behemoth, wanting to feed and nothing else, or if there is perhaps a cruel intelligence: it systematically dismantles a suspension bridge, almost in mockery of the feeble artillery assault against it.

This is not a movie for the kaiju initiate, as the eclectic blending of gangsters and monsters is definitely not for everyone. Also, not for those who watch these movies solely for the monsters, and fast-forward through the talkie bits. But, for those seeking something a little different, definitely check this out. Even if you don't care for the human portion, the monster segments are undeniably gripping. Just give it a chance; who knows, you may end up loving it.

Negadon: The Monster from Mars

The year is 2025. Mankind has begun to turn its gaze towards the stars due to Earth's gradually depleting resources. The answer? Terra-forming. Mars is chosen for future colonization, likely because its the closest planet that wouldn't immediately kill any prospective colonists extreme shifts of temperature or greenhouse gas retaining atmospheres. Or maybe people just like Mars...

On a mineral gathering expedition, the spaceship "Izanami" unearths a strange, cocoon like object under the red sands. Being ignorant Earthlings who clearly have never, ever seen at least ONE science-fiction/horror film in their life, they bring the object back to Tokyo for further study. Slap your forehead and groan in exasperation whenever you feel like.

Meanwhile, a government representative, Seiji Yoshizawa is having a meeting in the smoke filled den of Professor Ryuichi Narasaki. Yoshizawa is imploring Narasaki to allow the army to use his experimental machine, the Miroku, to be used as a weapon of war; the good doctor abandoned the project after Miroku malfunctioned 10 years ago and killed his young daughter, leaving him with a bionic eye as a keepsake. Narasaki all but kicks the young man out, and returns to be alone with his cigarettes and bitter memories.

At the same time, in the space-faring Ship of Fools, the mysterious object causes the vessel to overheat and explode, sending the object hurtling towards Tokyo. It quickly reveals itself to be a gigantic, many-limbed space monster called Negadon (note, the creature is never named by any of the human characters. Besides, why would they?) and immediately goes on a rampage, as all good kaiju do. Making short work of the military, Narasaki realizes that only he can stop the carnage. He activates Miroku, and the battle is on...

Before approaching this movie, there is one thing that you should know: it isn't a feature film. It is a short, and runs approximately 25 minutes. Given the film's brevity, there isn't much time for extended character development or plot-lines. The monster is established, the scientist is given back story, the robot and the monster battle, and its over. That being said, director Jun Awazu works wonders with the short running time, exquisitely crafting a love-letter to the kaiju films of the 1960's, with homages that never come off as heavy-handed, as well as a great protagonist and title monster. Oh, and its entirely computer-generated.

First off, the film looks absolutely beautiful. Though taking place in the not too distant future, Tokyo looks as if never left the 1960's, with the general look of the city as well as the military weaponry called out to combat Negadon. True to classic Toho space operas such as Battle in Space, outer-space is presented as being a dark, rich blue as opposed to the more realistic black. Interestingly, some of the vehicles, such as the Izanami, are shot as if they actually were miniatures (at least, that's how it looked to me), and only adds to the charm Negadon has to offer. Finally, the character models, especially Dr. Narasaki, look, in a word, fantastic. Come the battle with Negadon, and sweat creeps down his brow as the cockpit is shaken by Negadon's energy attacks, it is all too easy to forget that its a computer image, and not a real person. The film also sports a faint layer of grain and scratches on the frame, adding to the illusion that it is a film that comes from the time period that it homages.

If the film were to have more than one central character, the film would be an absolute mess. Luckily, Awazu avoids a problem that has tanked 2 hour films, and its all too easy imagine what the result could have been for a 25 minute short feature. If Dr. Serizawa from Gojira had avoided committing suicide after activating the Oxygen Destroyer, only to enter old age and lapse into a crippling depression, it would likely have looked something like Narasaki. Both are men who created a weapon capable of changing the course of human history, and both are tormented by the potential effects such a weapon could have if deployed. Narasaki has the added baggage of having had his creation accidentally kill his daughter, the person dearest to him. His having to rely on the same robot for the final showdown more interesting than the standard kaiju-wrasslin' fest we're used to. The relation to Serizawa is the most direct tie-in to kaiju movies of old, and though it definitely doesn't reach the nightmarish darkness seen in Gojira, its still a downbeat film in its own right. This isn't a film that celebrates the human spirit in the face of adversity; it is morose until the very end, even though Narasaki's ultimate fate brings a genuinely touching denouement to the proceedings.

On to what you're really interested about, the monsters; and rest assured, both Negadon and Miroku are very welcome additions to the kaiju family. With Negadon, Awazu perfectly captures the essence of something that is co completely alien, and unknowable, without becoming too outlandish and excessive (looks long and hard at Gigan). Best described as the bastard child of King Ghidorah and Dogora (the monster that robbed banks and made people cry in the 1964 film of the same name), with the lightning-spewing abilities of the former and a vaguely similar body shape of the latter, Negadon stands as one of the most original kaiju to come down the pike in a long, long time. While Miroku retains a more standard, quasi-humanoid shape, its sleek, silvery look and simple, yet effective weaponry (loving that giant drill) is often awe-inspiring. The battle between the two giants is fairly short, but genuinely exciting, and puts most of the similarly short clashes in Godzilla: Final Wars to shame.

This is a movie that would probably hold little to no interest in initiates or dismissers of the kaiju sub-genre, but to those who grew up watching Godzilla and friends rampage across the silver screen, there is absolutely no reason not to experience this minor classic.

Splinter

As anyone knows me will attest, I LOVE monster movies. From rampaging behemoths such as Godzilla to the sublimely twisted fusion of flesh and metal that is Alien, creature featutures have been able to effortlessly capture my imagination since the tender age of 5, when I was given my first dose of Godzilla. Besides, time for you to face some facts about yourself. What would rather you see: someone struggling to find their way in life, wading through a sea of catty social encounters, AND dealing with some traumatic event from their past that rears its head at inoppurtune moments; OR a seriously badass monster inflicting all manner of extreme mayhem on poor, helpless peeps as they scramble to stay alive AND avoid tripping on their rapidly unspooling intestines? If you prefer the former, I advise you stop reading right now, and go enjoy your copy of Closer. Unfortunately, my quest to find a good monster romp has led me to be burned a good number of times; often by the lurid and colorful cover art of the B-movies populating the video store near my house at the time. Being young and impressionable, it was hard not being seduced by thr cover art, which if nothing else, promised a fun time. Sigh... what I would get instead would be complete shoozefests that consisted of people wandering through poorly lit environments, with bland young people trundling long waxing poetic about...sex and drugs, of all things. And when the monster(s) would finally show up, it would either be a CGI fabrication of equal, or less, quality then Playstation 1 cinematics, or a suit of such low quality that somewhere, somehow, 1960's era Daiei Studios was shaking their heads in pity (created Gamera in the 60's in order to compete with Godzilla. Long story short...it didn't work, until the 90's revival. Look them up to get the full meaning of the joke.)

Outside of these digital pieces of excrement, there was no real way to satisfy my monster fix, what with any critter centered flick, let alone a good one, being released sporadically. Oh, to live in the golden era of the B-movie, where you could hardly walk down the street without confronting some new nightmarish beast (usually created by mishandled science, and then solved by the most rugged scientists you'd ever lay eyes on. Ironic...). Then, along came the little film that could, Splinter. A film that offers up a simple, people-putting-aside-their-differences-to-fight-a-common-enemy siege story, it accomplishes exactly what it sets out do to; entertain you. It disregards any opportunity to throw any postmodern winks at the audience and instead acts as a sort of love letter to past B-monster movies; indeed, it snuggles most comfortably with John Carpenter's The Thing, especially regarding the nature of its beast. And friends, what a beast it is.

I am of the belief that anyone wearing a hat proclaiming "I Heart Bikinis" is someone who deserves to be immediately removed from the gene pool. Luckily, the black spined...thing lurking in the woods happens to agree, and promptly kills the lone gas station attendant in possession of said hat. We are then introduced to young couple Seth and Polly during their anniversary. He's the bookish, shy type, with a Ph.d in Biology (he's NOT a doctor, y'know), and she's the vibrant, outdoorsy type. One look at them easily brings to mind questions along the lines of "how'd he get a looker like her...?"; luckily, the actors share such a natural chemistry that any disbelieving is quickly thrown to the wind. Hoping to spend their anniversary under the stars, their plans are mucked up by Seth in the most spectacularly inept way. Their plans for a secondary retreat at a motel are foiled when escaped convict Dennis and his detoxing (and completely loopy) girlfriend take them as hostages (seeing as he has an entire state of pissed off police officers bearing down on him). After some verbal abusing of Seth (he can't even drive a stick-shift), the group's car breaks down after running over the creature that killed the gas station attendant. Luckily, they're able to get to a nearby gas station. The same one from the opening credits. With no means of communication. With a hideous, parasitical monster wanting very badly to get in. People, place your bets.

This is a film that, as the plot synopsis would indicate, is hardly original. And as is the case with many lower-budget films, the problems are slightly more obvious than higher budget, mainstream fare. That being said, while hardly perfect, Splinter is easily one of the more entertaining films I've sat down for the last little while. Hearkening back to the creature-feature flicks of the 80's, the newbie director takes a simple premise and delivers a lean (barely clocking over 80 minutes) and mean debut feature. However, as with previous films I've talked about, being unoriginal doesn't mean something should instantly dismissed. It only takes a director's enthusiasm and commitment to tired material to make it interesting. Toby Wilkins delivers this in spades.

One of the more refreshing aspects of the film are the way the characters are handled. They aren't treated as disposable monster fodder, and even though they are to a degree recognizable archetypes, there are actual personalities built around them, and as a result we actually begin to care about these people. There are no groan-worthy moves carried out by our protagonists, and surprisingly, their plans to escape and fight back actually involve forsight and planning. Wow, someone call Guiness. Dennis is one of the more interesting characters, and despite engaging in the 'hardened badass' cliches, he morphs from a completely unlikeable, despicable human being into a surprisingly layered, sympathetic character. Polly is extremely fun to watch as well, and given her kick-ass attitude constant standing up to Dennis in the initial early moments, one gets the impression that she could very easily have become a Ripley for the new millennium. Almost a shame then that she didn't have as much to do when things got truly hairy. Seth is the weakest character, for several reasons. For one, one gets the distinct impression that he could be due for a new backbone transplant. I don't know about you, but if someone smashed my girlfriend on the back of her head and called her a "fucking idiot", I wouldn't just take that standing and do absolutely nothing. Also, his knowledge of all things biological comes off as a bit too convenient when it comes down to understanding the nature of the creature; the snap deductions he makes regarding its physical makeup come off as a bit contrived. Finally, there's a reaction from him that came damn near to taking me entirely out of the movie. Upon his first direct with the concert, he speaks so matter-of-factly it comes to the point of him sounding more bored than anything else, while a more appropriate reaction would be along the lines of "JESUSFUCKINGCHRISTFUCKINGMONSTERAAAAAAAAAAAAAH."

Now, regarding the monster, if one imagined the lovechild of the title creature from The Thing and the sentient vine from The Ruins, you might get an idea as to what exactly this thing is. I'm not going to go into much specifics, as I think the monster is one of the coolest to come down the pike for the last couple of years, but here goes. Essentially, its a needle organism that burrows into the flesh of its host, and proceeds to take it over. Then things get nasty. It doesn't need the whole body to function, just parts of it. Also, its a creature obviously unfamiliar with the workings of the human body, and contorts the bodies of its host in absolutely hideous ways in order move around. Seeing this thing in motion...there's really no adequate way to do it justice. Needless to say, you won't be able to look away. Unfortunately, likely for budgetary reasons, Wilkins employs shaky-cam for most of the creature attacks. While not really as irritating as most have made it out to be, it still renders the creature slightly hard to make out, and is still frustrating. Despite this, the final form of the monster is a masterwork of twisted flesh that would be proud to call Silent Hill its home. Besides, its done with old school, prosthetic effects. What more incentive do you need?

Given the brevity of the film, there is no obvious explanation for the creature. There are several throw away clues that may or may not have to do with anything, but aside from those, nothing else is given. It is simply introduced, the rules laid out, and the blood spilled. Simple, and to the point.

I'll admit, for the first 15 minutes or so, I wasn't entirely won over. The crime-thriller aspect felt weak, and the language almost felt like a Tarantino impersonator. But when the beastie came out to play, and the siege fully kicked in, along with some absolutely hideous acts of violence doled out by the creature, I was absolutely hooked. My advice? Kick off your shoes, get some friends over, and go on a trip down Memory Lane. You won't be disappointed.