Post by Superheidi on Jan 5, 2004 17:58:11 GMT -5
Come get some
In the land of indie horror, where everyone reveres the Evil dead Trilogy, Tobe Hooper and George Romero as icons of a powerful horror pantheon, it’s easy to fall into the trap of emulation that prevents a filmmaker from ever discovering their own voice.
Recent films make hundreds of subtle, and blatant, references to these horror gods in various ways. Sometimes these allusions work, they create inside jokes between the viewer and the characters on the screen. Other times, they are embarrassing and cheap rip-offs.
Come Get Some, a foray into the zombie horror film by Fatal Sushi Productions, is drenched in blood, gore, hot chicks, and such references. Caught in the in the low budget trap, the special effects are not realistic. Good writing doesn’t cost as much, and it was excellent. The soundtrack is loud and hard core - maybe not my taste – but seems to fill the bill for this horror farce.
The story is simple. The Government has considered pulling funding from the Human Defense Organization (a group formed to defend humanity against attack from the undead) since there have been no zombie breakouts in a long while. My guess is that the department was formed when all those Living Dead started roaming the streets, shopping malls and army bases in the 60’s. In any case, the organizations picks a small town to unleash toxic waste upon corpses, which re-animates them, as we all know by now if we have been paying attention. By sending in the Last Resort Man (so named not because he is a vicious warrior, but because he is incompetent, arrogant, full of himself and, generally, the last person anyone would want on the job) they are assured that the zombies will overrun the town, and the Government will still look like they tried to prevent a zombie outbreak by sending in one of their own men. Or are they?
The bumbling Last Resort Man ends up being true hearted and valiant in his own moronic way. The four hardcore hotties (Summer, Ashlyn, Christa, and Skyler) that live in the town don’t put up with crap from men, let alone from zombies! Fighting alongside these babes, Last Resort man proves that he can defeat the undead, as well as uncover the evil schemes of the United States Government. (The REAL enemy).
The Last Resort Man, played by Steve Grainger, who co-wrote the script with director Jason Griscom, is a parody of Bruce Campbell’s character Ash from the Evil dead series. Only dumber. And Funnier. Grainger really knows how to deliver lines to make you laugh. His creation is a cross between Woody Harrelson and High school geek, while playing upon the gun-wielding, chainsaw-toting heroes of past indie films. A classic hero to the end, one never even hears his name (like Clint Eastwood in A Fistful of Dollars). Colleen Galeazzi plays Summer, the meanest and least trusting of the hotties, and she plays it well. She outshines any of the other girls in terms of acting and professionalism. She holds the movie together in some scenes that may otherwise have fallen apart due to lack of experience on the actor’s part. The comic relief of the Warner Brothers, four hicks who are helping the government in their scheme to infest the town with zombies, are so funny it nearly kills you. They add so much to a film in a genre that is usually hampered by excessive attempts at comedy. Two evil government agents played by Dennis Coburn and Darrick Wilson (named agent Romero as tribute to the famous film maker) have a sort of Men In Black feel to their black suits and dark sunglasses and play their parts with dark humor and fun.
All of the actors certainly do their part to make the film as funny as it is, but perhaps it is the writing that saves it from the beginning. The script is clever, to say the least. A witty, yet familiar plot makes horror lovers instantly recognize elements of their favorite horror movies rolled into one film. The Ash-esque main character, the Troma-ish ass-kicking hot girls and barrels of toxic waste, the Romero zombies walking around on sliding feet, and the evil government that is out to get all of us remind the viewer of why they got into horror in the first place. It’s nice to see the Evil dead poster in the living room hallway, or the chain link fence holding back a ravenous army of zombies and to think, “oh yeah!†without being made to feel that you are being taken advantage of. This film is not a rip-off. It is a dedication to these films, and it is the best kind of flattery: mockery. One of the great saving graces of this film is that it is shot in Black and white. From the opening scene in a graveyard, one is immediately reminded of the opening of Romero’s “Night of the Living Deadâ€. Whether it was to save money, or to make an artistic statement, doesn’t really matter. The Black and White works for this movie.
The special effects are not this film’s strong point. Done by Jason Griscom and Junior Webb, they consist of your standard fake blood and excessive intestinal shots. In fact, at times, too much intestine goes flying about from odd camera angles and gummy skin is chewed off of body parts like candy. Not very realistic, but necessary to any laugh-riot horror tribute, zombie bites, men being torn in half, and the extended death scenes are abundant. One good thing is that there are little or no Computer Generated Images. CGI’s never look good when you have a low budget.
The film has a rousing soundtrack. Bands like Antiseen, Dead Kings, Method 51, Hellstomper, Gideon Smith and the Dixie d**ned, and Cronic Disorder all provide very cool songs that make this a soundtrack I wouldn’t mind owning. Additional score done by James Goreman and Gina Stewart melts away behind these other tracks, but are appropriate for the film and still make the atmosphere creepy, funny, and sad at the suitable times.
This film is much fun to watch, especially if you are a Troma or Evil Dead fan, because this film was made for you. It includes everything from an Elvis zombie to sexy girls covered in zombie gore. This is the kind of film one would hope they make a sequel to; because the characters are so much fun and the possibilities are endless, especially if a higher budget were put in place.
Check out the web site for this film at www.comegetsomethefilm.com
In the land of indie horror, where everyone reveres the Evil dead Trilogy, Tobe Hooper and George Romero as icons of a powerful horror pantheon, it’s easy to fall into the trap of emulation that prevents a filmmaker from ever discovering their own voice.
Recent films make hundreds of subtle, and blatant, references to these horror gods in various ways. Sometimes these allusions work, they create inside jokes between the viewer and the characters on the screen. Other times, they are embarrassing and cheap rip-offs.
Come Get Some, a foray into the zombie horror film by Fatal Sushi Productions, is drenched in blood, gore, hot chicks, and such references. Caught in the in the low budget trap, the special effects are not realistic. Good writing doesn’t cost as much, and it was excellent. The soundtrack is loud and hard core - maybe not my taste – but seems to fill the bill for this horror farce.
The story is simple. The Government has considered pulling funding from the Human Defense Organization (a group formed to defend humanity against attack from the undead) since there have been no zombie breakouts in a long while. My guess is that the department was formed when all those Living Dead started roaming the streets, shopping malls and army bases in the 60’s. In any case, the organizations picks a small town to unleash toxic waste upon corpses, which re-animates them, as we all know by now if we have been paying attention. By sending in the Last Resort Man (so named not because he is a vicious warrior, but because he is incompetent, arrogant, full of himself and, generally, the last person anyone would want on the job) they are assured that the zombies will overrun the town, and the Government will still look like they tried to prevent a zombie outbreak by sending in one of their own men. Or are they?
The bumbling Last Resort Man ends up being true hearted and valiant in his own moronic way. The four hardcore hotties (Summer, Ashlyn, Christa, and Skyler) that live in the town don’t put up with crap from men, let alone from zombies! Fighting alongside these babes, Last Resort man proves that he can defeat the undead, as well as uncover the evil schemes of the United States Government. (The REAL enemy).
The Last Resort Man, played by Steve Grainger, who co-wrote the script with director Jason Griscom, is a parody of Bruce Campbell’s character Ash from the Evil dead series. Only dumber. And Funnier. Grainger really knows how to deliver lines to make you laugh. His creation is a cross between Woody Harrelson and High school geek, while playing upon the gun-wielding, chainsaw-toting heroes of past indie films. A classic hero to the end, one never even hears his name (like Clint Eastwood in A Fistful of Dollars). Colleen Galeazzi plays Summer, the meanest and least trusting of the hotties, and she plays it well. She outshines any of the other girls in terms of acting and professionalism. She holds the movie together in some scenes that may otherwise have fallen apart due to lack of experience on the actor’s part. The comic relief of the Warner Brothers, four hicks who are helping the government in their scheme to infest the town with zombies, are so funny it nearly kills you. They add so much to a film in a genre that is usually hampered by excessive attempts at comedy. Two evil government agents played by Dennis Coburn and Darrick Wilson (named agent Romero as tribute to the famous film maker) have a sort of Men In Black feel to their black suits and dark sunglasses and play their parts with dark humor and fun.
All of the actors certainly do their part to make the film as funny as it is, but perhaps it is the writing that saves it from the beginning. The script is clever, to say the least. A witty, yet familiar plot makes horror lovers instantly recognize elements of their favorite horror movies rolled into one film. The Ash-esque main character, the Troma-ish ass-kicking hot girls and barrels of toxic waste, the Romero zombies walking around on sliding feet, and the evil government that is out to get all of us remind the viewer of why they got into horror in the first place. It’s nice to see the Evil dead poster in the living room hallway, or the chain link fence holding back a ravenous army of zombies and to think, “oh yeah!†without being made to feel that you are being taken advantage of. This film is not a rip-off. It is a dedication to these films, and it is the best kind of flattery: mockery. One of the great saving graces of this film is that it is shot in Black and white. From the opening scene in a graveyard, one is immediately reminded of the opening of Romero’s “Night of the Living Deadâ€. Whether it was to save money, or to make an artistic statement, doesn’t really matter. The Black and White works for this movie.
The special effects are not this film’s strong point. Done by Jason Griscom and Junior Webb, they consist of your standard fake blood and excessive intestinal shots. In fact, at times, too much intestine goes flying about from odd camera angles and gummy skin is chewed off of body parts like candy. Not very realistic, but necessary to any laugh-riot horror tribute, zombie bites, men being torn in half, and the extended death scenes are abundant. One good thing is that there are little or no Computer Generated Images. CGI’s never look good when you have a low budget.
The film has a rousing soundtrack. Bands like Antiseen, Dead Kings, Method 51, Hellstomper, Gideon Smith and the Dixie d**ned, and Cronic Disorder all provide very cool songs that make this a soundtrack I wouldn’t mind owning. Additional score done by James Goreman and Gina Stewart melts away behind these other tracks, but are appropriate for the film and still make the atmosphere creepy, funny, and sad at the suitable times.
This film is much fun to watch, especially if you are a Troma or Evil Dead fan, because this film was made for you. It includes everything from an Elvis zombie to sexy girls covered in zombie gore. This is the kind of film one would hope they make a sequel to; because the characters are so much fun and the possibilities are endless, especially if a higher budget were put in place.
Check out the web site for this film at www.comegetsomethefilm.com
