Screener Review: Killing Ground (2017)

"No more camping for us. Ever."

Thanks to the lovely folks over at the company that handles promotion for IFC, we were able to get our hands on an early screener of Killing Ground.

Although we had to sit on the review until near release date (the Comic Con news pushed it past then), we've had a week to digest the movie, and sort our thoughts out on the matter... and we've come to the conclusion that even though it's overly-familiar and not a perfect film, Killing Ground is one hell of a wicked backwoods flick that is bound to stick with you well after it's over.

Because it sure did us.

Ian and Sam decide to spend a romantic New Years Eve camping at a remote lake at the end of a long, winding, desolate road... because they've obviously never seen a Horror movie before. They're puzzled by the empty tent they find when they arrive, and at the fact that their car has a flat tire, but hell, let's stay here anyway, because nothing bad happens to people when they camp in Australia.

"SCREAMS? LET'S JUST GO TO BED."

Margaret and Rob are also camping, but with their teen daughter and infant baby in tow. They break out the guitar, smoke with their daughter, and decide to go on a hike. Another family that clearly has watched very few, if any, Horror movies.

THAT BABY KNOWS SOMETHING ISN'T RIGHT!

The there's German and Chook; the skeevy, whiskey tango creepers who spend their time trying to pick up girls in bars, and looking for victims to rape and murder, because they obviously have seen some Horror movies, and they know how shit works.

The real fun begins when the three storylines intertwine, in a clever way, which spells disaster for every single one of them... well, most of them anyway.

"WELCOME TO AUSTRALIA, MATE."

Killing Ground is a movie that has been done before. The whole "A group of people head into the woods for a relaxing weekend, only to be terrorized by murderous locals" plot has been done to death, but here it's not only done very well, but dare we say in a clever way to boot.

The way that the timelines for each group of characters unfold may be obvious to most people form the beginning, but damn it if it didn't ratchet up the tension a few notches, and made the way everything played out far more engaging than it might have been. Of course with the film boasting a strong script and great performances to begin with, it probably would have worked either way.

Aaron Pedersen first caught our attention back in 2014 in the criminally underseen Mystery Road (review HERE.) He chewed up the screen in that excellent flick playing a quiet, tough guy who saves the day... which made his turn here as the scumbag who uses people's lives for twisted sport so compelling. The quiet menace that the guy can convey is insane, and he was a truly terrifying bad guy. If for no other reason, this movie is worth seeing to watch him work. The rest of the cast worked it out too, but he was the standout.

Of course Killing Ground is also wroth seeing because it's an effective, intense thriller that will most likely leave you shook. The target practice scene and the shot of the baby running through the woods... sweet Jesus.

THIS MAN NEEDS TO BE IN EVERYTHING.

If you travel to a remote location, find an abandoned tent, and then notice that one of your car tires is flat, can you please just get the hell out of there? Walk if you have to, but just leave?

And when a skeevy dude with a rifle slung over his shoulder shows up and asks you to take a hike into the woods with him, can you just tell him no?

Come on, people. Survival is little more than common sense!

"OI, IT'S PROBABLY NOTHING, LOVE. LET'S NOT LEAVE."

Can someone please tell us what happened to the baby? Is it still out there in the woods with Scraps? Nippy? Whatever the fuck the dog's name was?

OH WAIT, SHE'S GOT HIM...

Killing Ground is heavy on disturbing set pieces, but it's not quite a gorefest. Still, there are people being shot, and some convincing rock violence to be had.

THE LOVE SCENE.

Nope, and they even kept the rape scenes off-screen, which was a good move.

POOR GIRL DESERVED BETTER...

Yet another intense and brutal thriller from Australia, Killing Ground takes a familiar plot and does it great justice.It's not perfect (the last bit of the movie didn't feel as strong as what came before), but it's a hell of a nerve-jangling ride, and one well worth taking.

B+ 

Killing Ground is available on VOD now.

Harriet Dyer and Tiarnie Coupland; two of Australia's finest.

Shudder Review: Inner Demon (2017)

"Turns out the title of this one is quite literal."

And here goes Shudder again, bringing Horror fans another movie that was in release limbo, and giving it the exposure that it deserves.

Inner Demon is the 2nd part of a planned trilogy by writer/director Ursula Dabrowsky. We haven't seen the first one, the ultra low-budget Family Demons (the final installment, The Devil's Work, is apparently in production now), but if this middle installment is any indication, we definitely need to check it out.

Because the bottom line is that Inner Demon is a solid exercise in effective filmmaking on a budget.

Sam is babysitting her little sister, Maddy, as their Mom works the night shift. Maddy complains that something scary is under her bed, and Sam explains to her that it's The Babadook, and if she doesn't get her little ass back in bed, she's going to let the monster eat her. Then a skeevy couple shows up, throws Sam in their trunk, and drives away.

HER INNER DEMON IS BLEEDING DOWN HER SHIRT.

Sam escapes from the trunk, and runs like hell through the Australian woods to find help, and she happens on a farmhouse that ends up being no help at all, because it turns out to be where the creepy couple lives. She realizes this too late, and is forced to hide in the closet and pray that they don't find her... all while slowly bleeding out from a gash in her side, and wondering what happened to her little sister.

A young girl's best attempt at survival ensues.

SHOULDA KEPT RUNNING.

Inner Demon is just the kind of lower-budget flick that we like; it's intense and disturbing, boasts a competent cast, and it goes to places that we never expected it to. It didn't feel like we were watching a low-budget movie at all; from the direction, to the look of the film, it was all handled extremely well by writer/director Ursula Dabrowsky. It starts fast, and doesn't ever really slow down to catch its breath at all.

Sarah Jeavons made for a sympathetic heroine here, making us genuinely feel her plight, and doing so (for the most part) from the confines of a closet. Andreas Sobik made for a grimy and terrifyingly imposing killer too.

As for the way the movie ended, well, I'm not actually sure how I feel about it. On one hand, the twist in the third act was completely unexpected and I dig it, but it kinda killed the tension that had built up over the first two acts, and sent the movie into familiar trope territory. ***MILD ENDING SPOILERS*** Everything after Sam leaves the closet and finds her sister felt tacked on, and a bit confused. ***END SPOILERS***

DON'T BE SCARED, GIRLS, EVERYTHING WILL NOT BE FINE.

Inner Demon had some bloody moments and cringe-inducing scenes, including that nagging wound of Sam's (and how she deals with it), and a brutal beating.

HE LOVES THE WETWORK.

No nudity to be found here, but Sarah Jeavons looks moity foine in a tank top.

I HOPE THEY SURVIVE...

For its first two-thirds, Inner Demon is a taut little thriller that did a good job of maintaining a palpable amount of tension. Where the movie loses it a bit is in its third act, where suddenly it goes in a wildly different direction, and ended with a final shot that make us shake our heads.

It's a good flick overall, I'm just wondering how Horror fans are going to take that twist...

B

Inner Demon is available now on VOD (streaming for free on Amazon Prime)

Sarah Jeavons is alovely Aussie with a bright future.

Theatrical Review: Resident Evil: The Final Chapter (2017)

"It's better than RE: Apocalypse. There's that."

(aka It's Finally Over.)
Release Date: In Theaters now.
Rating: R
Country: USA, Canada, Germany.
Written and Directed by: Paul W.S. Anderson.
Starring: Milla Jovovich, Iain Glen, Ali Larter, Shawn Roberts, and Ruby Rose.

The Resident Evil Series has been an uneven one at very best. The first one (review HERE) was a fun zombie/action flick that could have been better, but entertained the hell out of us, even on repeat viewings.

The second movie sucked, and we like to pretend it doesn't exist.

Sequels like Extinction, Afterlife, and Retribution (Review HERE) got the series back on a good track and delivered all kinds of cool action, but little else, which became par for the course for the series. That's alright though, because we like big and stupid fun, and at times, we actually need it. 

The Resident Evil series exists to showcase Milla Jovovich kicking the ass of Zombie hordes, period. As movies, they're mostly kinda silly and there's basically no plot to them, but that's all by design; they've always played like Video Game levels to me, where you get some info at the start, work your way through a bunch of enemies, face the boss, and then prepare for the next level. 


And now we've arrived at The Final Chapter of the series, which we don't believe, because that's just not how Hollywood works, that the series closes out on a disappointing note.

Weeks after the events of RE: Retribution (which we honestly don't remember), Alice wakes up in the ruins of the White House (I see what they did there), and is attacked by a bat. Then, The Red Queen shows up on an old TV, and tells Alice that there's an airborne antivirus to the T-Virus in The Hive in Raccoon City that could save what's left of humanity, but she only has 48 hours to get there and release it, or all is lost. She also has a secret to tell Alice, but she's making her wait until the end of the movie to find out what it is.

ALRIGHT, MAYBE IT'S A DRAGON.

On the Post Apocalyptic road to Raccoon City, Alice discovers that Dr. Isaacs is still alive, and she runs into a gang of survivors ran by her old pal, Claire Redfield, who is also still alive. With Isaacs and his men, and three massive hordes of zombies on their tails, the gang enters the hive, where the antivirus, Wesker, and a stunning secret await them.

You've seen it all 5 times before this, so you know how it all plays out.

RUN, ALICE, RUN!

Sad as it is to say it, RE: TFC feels more like another typical entry in the series than it does any sort of finale. I mean, we weren't exactly expecting the world from this movie, because this series is what it is, but couldn't they have come up with something more... grand?

As it stands, there's a lot of action to be had here, with fights galore against evil humans and monsters alike, and if that's your thing, then it should please you. If nothing else, this movie is visually captivating.

This movie, and this series, has always been a showcase for Milla Jovovich and her sexy, crazy acrobatics, poses, and one-liners. That's a really cool thing, because she's awesome, and it's nice to see a girl of her talents be the focus of an action series like this. She's as good as she ever was in this one, and at almost 40 years old, she still looks and pulls off her stunts like she's in her 20's. With this series, she's given us one hell of a heroine in Alice, and she has easily earned her place in the hallowed halls of the Horror hall of fame by doing so.

Thanks, Milla, you rock. 

Iain Glen was his usual awesome self in this one, even though his character(s) aren't given anything of substance to work with. And of course we can't forget Ali Larter, who is still as hot as she always was, and she kicks her own brand of ass.

CAN WE TAKE A SECOND TO APPRECIATE HOW HOT ALI LARTER STILL IS?

The editing in this one is quick-cut and choppy, to the point where it confuses what we saw as it was happening. Given that this movie is packed full of action scenes, that made it a tough watch at times.

MILLA UNCHAINED.

What was with that twist at the end? Was it supposed to be shocking? This franchise has switched gears so much over six movies, that it had very little impact on us at all. Had they made this "reveal" in part three, and had it lead up to Alice's final mission in this one, it would have made it far more impactful.

YOU COULD HAVE TOLD HER EARLIER!

There's plenty of violence throughout this one, but it's not a very gory movie, per se. Standard fare for the RE series.

THAT'S NOT GOOD.

Nope. No one gets laid in a Post-Zombie world.

THE SHOWER SCENE THAT COULD HAVE BEEN... AND YOU KNOW THEY ALL NEED A SHOWER.

I know that the little wink that Alice gives the camera at the end of the movie means that she's still ready to kick some ass, but it's time to let this franchise rest. Also, Milla Jovovich has proven herself to be an ass-kicker of the highest order with the RE series, and we love her.

YEAH, WE'RE TIRED TOO, MILLA.

As a movie on its own, RE: TFC is not a very good one. It's not terrible, but they could have sent Milla out in better fashion than they did here. Resident Evil has been a fun, if hollow and imperfect, movie series, and as much as we've enjoyed its over the top craziness at times, we're glad that it's over.

Check it out in theaters if you must, but you should probably wait until it hits the VOD circuit, and go see something more worthy of your time and money.

D+

Resident Evil: The Final Chapter is in theaters now.

Milla, Ali, Ruby Rose, and Rola.