2000's British Horror Part Six

SHAUN OF THE DEAD

(2004)

Dir - Edgar Wright

Overall: GREAT

 

Easily the best zombie comedy since Peter Jackson's gore benchmark Brain Dead, Shaun of the Dead arrived smack during the sub-genre's resurgence, supplying a much needed breather from all of the typical tropes that were once again being played out to death.  Co-writer/director Edgar Wright and co-writer/star Simon Pegg conceived of the idea while working on Spaced and several of their own personal anecdotes were tapped into for inspiration along with various nods to George Romero's works, the Resident Evil game series, Queen, and plenty of other stuff.  While perhaps the "easier" route could have been making a straight parody of zombie films, Wright's stylized, energetic direction, the incredibly tight script, and the overarching theme of reclaiming one's priorities after a devastating misfortune, (like a walking corpse apocalypse), elevate this far above mere spoof territory.  The performances are not only hilarious yet genuinely moving when they are supposed to be with Pegg in the lead being particularly multi-layered and terrific.  It is a movie that reveals far more depth and intricacy in its details upon further viewings, all after the initial, memorable hi-jinks have properly done their part.

DREAD

(2009)

Dir - Anthony DiBlasi

Overall: WOOF

 

An adaptation of Clive Barker's short story of the same name, Dread adheres to the basic theme of overcoming one's fears, yet as far as the plot is concerned, it diverges rather significantly and detrimentally.  While the narrative elaboration is acceptable on paper, the jacked-up psychopath re-working of the Quaid character breaks any potential plausibility rather quickly in such a context.  In Barker's initial story, Quaid's warped sadism was gradually explored via a single, prolonged incident and the author pulled it off without an unnecessary build-up, something that made it work in such a context.  Here though, the addition of several characters and turning the source material's plot into a mere vignette at the tail end of the film inadvertently causes things to collapse.  Said antagonist exhibits such alarmingly unlikable behavior from the get go that his inevitable, villainous turn is blatantly obvious and therefor why anyone on screen chooses to have anything at all to do with him in the first place is quite preposterous.  Worse yet, the tone becomes pure torture porn, ending on a miserably pointless note that is likely to please absolutely no one while madding absolutely everyone.  Maybe that was the point but if so, no thank you.

 

WAKE WOOD

(2009)

Dir - David Keating

Overall: MEH

The first theatrical release from Hammer Film Production's relaunch, Wake Wood is a halfway decent Pet Sematary via folk horror hybrid that stumbles a bit too much along the way.  A British/Irish co-production that was shot in both Ireland and Scottland, writer/director David Keating goes for an grounded mood, with handheld camerawork, unassuming cinematography, and a plentiful amount of filthy/squishy blood, guts, and other things.  It all looks a bit on the low-budget, digital camera end though which is something that cuts into the atmospherics.  Script-wise, not enough plausibility is established to make Aidan Gillen and Eva Birthistle both going along with the bizarre pagan rituals of the locals seem anything but rushed at best, borderline ridiculous at worst.  The supernatural specifics are fine for such a story, yet the plot unfolds rather predictably with lost potential along the way to make its more sincere themes and creepy backdrop work effectively together.  A noble attempt yes from all parties involved that does not allow for any schlocky insults to muck everything up, (plus the throwback elements are respectfully done), so it is a mediocre if forgivable entry to be sure.