(2001)
Dir - Albert Hughes/Allen Hughes
Overall: MEH
The Hughes brothers take a detour with the substantially-budgeted period piece From Hell; a gleefully violent yet bloated adaptation of Alan Moore and Eddie Campbell's sprawling graphic novel of the same name. Neither historically accurate nor a faithful interpretation of its source material, (as well as thematically singular from the director's contemporary crime films), it has a stylistic, glossy sheen that jives interestingly with its frequent bloodshed and dingy representation of late 19th century prostitute life. Nearly all of the characters are sensationalized variations of historical figures and the performances are admirable, with Johnny Depp utilizing yet another convincing British accent, as does Heather Graham. Depp's Cockney-adjacent, opium-indulging inspector named after and based on Frederick Abberline, (who famously tried to tackle the Jack the Ripper slayings of the era), comes off as more of a bystander than a Sherlock Holmes-level eccentric and the script's drama is too underplayed and underwritten, failing to capture the gritty flare of Moore and Campbell's initial material. Still, it is not without some nasty charm and is certainly no more or less forgettable than the vast array of other Ripper cinematic works that came before it.
(2008)
Dir - J.T. Petty
Overall: MEH
A period-set, "Tremors if it was a Western" genre offering from writer/director J.T. Petty, The Burrowers pulls no punches in its grit-covered depiction of the Old West's pioneer country. Riddled with Native American hostility and racism, the trek that the characters embark on is further complicated by underground monsters that paralyze their victims, bury them while still alive, and come back to feast on the mushy bits at a later convenience. Having previously fed off of buffalo for centuries, the white man's reckless slaughter of such livestock has given the creatures the taste for human meat out of necessity and the movie works as a metaphor for mother nature's non-bias agenda where any and all nationalities are on the menu, regardless of their petty squabbles. Some familiar faces are sprinkled through the cast, with character actor Doug Hutchison getting the most scenery-chewing in as another odious pipsqueak which he has made a career out of portraying. Sadly, the pacing is monotonous and the cinematography is of the dark, hand-held, shaky, "What the hell am I even looking at?" variety, which is not helped by Ritalin-fueled editing during the gruesome attack sequences. Elsewhere, the dialog is largely mumbled and the title monsters look awful in their CGI form at least, though the practical effects close-ups are appreciated.
(2009)
Dir - George A. Romero
Overall: MEH
Some low-level digital gore effects and an unshakable air of redundancy are the biggest grievances one can find with what would turn out to be George A. Romero's final film Survival of the Dead, which doubles as the closer to his second abysmal Dead Trilogy. In this respect, the movie's flaws can be seen as a breath of fresh air compared to the misguided mess that both Land of the Dead and especially Diary of the Dead were, the latter being a solid contender for the worst horror film ever made. Romero had run out of ideas, (or at least not embarrassingly stupid ideas), for his Dead movies long before he got to this one, but his attempts here manage to be silly and ugly without being insulting. Some of the on-screen means of disposing of zombies are humorous, even if they are also undermined by the aforementioned cartoony blood-splatter. The moral conundrum presented with focusing on a bitter feud between two families who have opposing views on how to handle the flesh-eating ghouls is just a variation of Captain Rhodes and Dr. Frankenstein's much more bombastic arc from Day of the Dead. The tongue is still in cheek here, but it lacks gusto as well as freshness, making it simply a competent note for Romero to go off on, which all things considered, is probably the best we could have hoped for after Diary of the Dead.
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