Post by Superheidi on Jan 5, 2004 18:01:27 GMT -5
Maplewoods
Maplewoods, the recent D.B. Stewart III horror pic may induce deja vu at first viewing. It drives the well-traveled road of the army thriller… think Resident Evil, 28 Days Later and Dog Soldiers. The film details the mission of a highly efficient, orderly, squad of soldiers. The question the movie poses: what happens when order turns to chaos? George Romero tackled a similar issue in his Living Dead series. However, in this case the zombies are the result of government experiments gone awry, rather than an act of God. The difference introduces the additional moral dilemma of human culpability, turning familiar scenes of terror into a horrifying morality play.
The title of the film refers to a military installation. More than sixty years ago, the facility housed a broad range of re-animation experiments, the sinister purpose of which, was to create an indestructible army of the un-dead to replace human soldiers on the battlefields of World War II. Unable to control their undead creations, officials from the US military abandoned the site and classified all information relating to these gruesome experiments. Since then, the complex has remained empty and dormant until a band of modern day soldiers are dispatched to destroy it, along with all evidence of the evil that was done there.
Coincidentally, the disillusioned son of the scientist who originally conducted the experiments, Major General John Gibb, played expertly by Thomas Reilly, leads this special operations force. Gibb and his squad believe their mission involves destroying secret documents and what is left of the zombie horde that defends them. Unbeknownst to them, they are in fact being sent on a suicide mission. The government, so intent on maintaining absolute secrecy in regard to these perversions of science, is committed to allowing no one who has seen the facility to escape with their lives. Military officials have planted a bomb that will destroy the complex, the land around it, along with every member of the special operations team.
Filmmakers might have considered a change, which would have spared many lives, along with a great deal of ketchup er blood, by considering a logical fallacy. Why is this hypothetical government so intent on introducing a whole new batch of witnesses to this clandestine site – just to blow them sky high? Why not forget the rag tag crew and simply explode the facility? Is it to erase any possibility of Major Gibb revealing what he has known about since he was a child? Are the other soldiers somehow involved and have knowledge of Maplewoods and its experiments? But we shall leave that question for another day.
The team discovers the bomb, but find themselves trapped in the complex surrounded by zombies on all sides. Now, as the clock (and the time bomb) tick, our heroes must find a way to complete their mission and escape with their lives.
The story is executed with the camera and stylistic quality of a BBC television production, which means in a professional and impressive way. It is filmed in wide screen and has the feeling of a feature calling on greater resources and a much bigger budget. The opening credits are spectacular, using animation and a wide variety of graphics – opening the film with historic images of war.
The direction is precise. The camera steady and the lens’ point of view changes frequently. As is always the case with a strong director, D.B. Stewart relies on his pictures to tell the story and unnecessary dialogue is kept to a minimum. You will not hear the cheesy one-liners so familiar to Bruce Willis and Arnold Schwartzenegger in this film.
The make up is relatively under-stated. This is quite a coup for a Zombie pic. No eye- balls are hanging from their heads and no rotting flesh is dropping to the ground. These zombies are quick and purposeful. As is so rarely the case, they appear truly capable of doing real damage.
The special effects are not tremendous, but they give Tom Savini’s early work (Dawn of the Dead) a run for its money. Rather than using blood and guts, the movie relies on shadows, lighting, slow motion and sound to provoke the fear we want.
The acting was very good. Sometimes that’s overlooked when bodies are being ripped apart. However, the human interaction between capable actors and heightens the terror, giving the audience someone real to root for.
Combined with a riveting score by Mr. Stewart himself, these elements create a film that is frightening, but more importantly, interesting and entertaining.
The acting was very good. Sometimes that’s overlooked when bodies are being ripped apart. However, the human interaction between capable actors heightens the terror and gives the audience someone real to root for.
Now the order vs. chaos question, which has been tackled before in the genre. Under the pressure of the zombie attack, the well-ordered hierarchy and command structure of the fighting group entirely disintegrates. Each soldier begins making life and death decisions on their own, destroying the effectiveness of the team. And when these battle-hardened warriors crack under the pressure, their actions become no more honorable, or reliable, than the monsters they are warring against.
For those of you enamored of true horror cliché’s… here is the fundamental question… who is the real enemy: zombies (innocent people murdered for the twisted aims of leaders with a God complex) or you and I? After all, aren’t we all monsters when left to our own design?
Maplewoods, the recent D.B. Stewart III horror pic may induce deja vu at first viewing. It drives the well-traveled road of the army thriller… think Resident Evil, 28 Days Later and Dog Soldiers. The film details the mission of a highly efficient, orderly, squad of soldiers. The question the movie poses: what happens when order turns to chaos? George Romero tackled a similar issue in his Living Dead series. However, in this case the zombies are the result of government experiments gone awry, rather than an act of God. The difference introduces the additional moral dilemma of human culpability, turning familiar scenes of terror into a horrifying morality play.
The title of the film refers to a military installation. More than sixty years ago, the facility housed a broad range of re-animation experiments, the sinister purpose of which, was to create an indestructible army of the un-dead to replace human soldiers on the battlefields of World War II. Unable to control their undead creations, officials from the US military abandoned the site and classified all information relating to these gruesome experiments. Since then, the complex has remained empty and dormant until a band of modern day soldiers are dispatched to destroy it, along with all evidence of the evil that was done there.
Coincidentally, the disillusioned son of the scientist who originally conducted the experiments, Major General John Gibb, played expertly by Thomas Reilly, leads this special operations force. Gibb and his squad believe their mission involves destroying secret documents and what is left of the zombie horde that defends them. Unbeknownst to them, they are in fact being sent on a suicide mission. The government, so intent on maintaining absolute secrecy in regard to these perversions of science, is committed to allowing no one who has seen the facility to escape with their lives. Military officials have planted a bomb that will destroy the complex, the land around it, along with every member of the special operations team.
Filmmakers might have considered a change, which would have spared many lives, along with a great deal of ketchup er blood, by considering a logical fallacy. Why is this hypothetical government so intent on introducing a whole new batch of witnesses to this clandestine site – just to blow them sky high? Why not forget the rag tag crew and simply explode the facility? Is it to erase any possibility of Major Gibb revealing what he has known about since he was a child? Are the other soldiers somehow involved and have knowledge of Maplewoods and its experiments? But we shall leave that question for another day.
The team discovers the bomb, but find themselves trapped in the complex surrounded by zombies on all sides. Now, as the clock (and the time bomb) tick, our heroes must find a way to complete their mission and escape with their lives.
The story is executed with the camera and stylistic quality of a BBC television production, which means in a professional and impressive way. It is filmed in wide screen and has the feeling of a feature calling on greater resources and a much bigger budget. The opening credits are spectacular, using animation and a wide variety of graphics – opening the film with historic images of war.
The direction is precise. The camera steady and the lens’ point of view changes frequently. As is always the case with a strong director, D.B. Stewart relies on his pictures to tell the story and unnecessary dialogue is kept to a minimum. You will not hear the cheesy one-liners so familiar to Bruce Willis and Arnold Schwartzenegger in this film.
The make up is relatively under-stated. This is quite a coup for a Zombie pic. No eye- balls are hanging from their heads and no rotting flesh is dropping to the ground. These zombies are quick and purposeful. As is so rarely the case, they appear truly capable of doing real damage.
The special effects are not tremendous, but they give Tom Savini’s early work (Dawn of the Dead) a run for its money. Rather than using blood and guts, the movie relies on shadows, lighting, slow motion and sound to provoke the fear we want.
The acting was very good. Sometimes that’s overlooked when bodies are being ripped apart. However, the human interaction between capable actors and heightens the terror, giving the audience someone real to root for.
Combined with a riveting score by Mr. Stewart himself, these elements create a film that is frightening, but more importantly, interesting and entertaining.
The acting was very good. Sometimes that’s overlooked when bodies are being ripped apart. However, the human interaction between capable actors heightens the terror and gives the audience someone real to root for.
Now the order vs. chaos question, which has been tackled before in the genre. Under the pressure of the zombie attack, the well-ordered hierarchy and command structure of the fighting group entirely disintegrates. Each soldier begins making life and death decisions on their own, destroying the effectiveness of the team. And when these battle-hardened warriors crack under the pressure, their actions become no more honorable, or reliable, than the monsters they are warring against.
For those of you enamored of true horror cliché’s… here is the fundamental question… who is the real enemy: zombies (innocent people murdered for the twisted aims of leaders with a God complex) or you and I? After all, aren’t we all monsters when left to our own design?