Comwayon
A Disappointing Continuation
Cleveronix
A different way of telling a story
Doomtomylo
a film so unique, intoxicating and bizarre that it not only demands another viewing, but is also forgivable as a satirical comedy where the jokes eventually take the back seat.
Alistair Olson
After playing with our expectations, this turns out to be a very different sort of film.
Realrockerhalloween
Necrophilis is a scifi original dealing with an evil factory who produces trioxine and now a new generation of teens must take them on before they poison the entire world.While I appreciate the effort to give us a resident evil knockoff, it has none of the charm or style and good acting that made it a block buster.The kids are all good looking twenty year olds who attend high school, use four wheelers and walkies talkies to break in as if it were a walk in the park.The rules set up for the last there films are forgotten as a head shot now kills them and the has leaking from containers doesn't turn you into a zombie. It undermines the foundation these sequels are created on and could've easily been rewritten without hurting the pacing.It even rehashed the poor of three to use them in chemical warfare without worrying they could swell their numbers and take over the world.Acting wise it was standard television movie quality with stone cold faces and monotone voices. The chemistry was there in a few sequences, but their acting chops hadn't developed to keep it flowing.With a few rewrites, a new caste and a punk or alternative soundtrack it would be a fine sequel. The way it stands a guilty pleasure.
GL84
After a motorcycle accident, a mysterious abduction leads a group of friends to break into a secure chemical complex that's experimenting with bringing the dead back to life and accidentally free them upon the facility forcing them to escape it's zombie-filled halls to get out.This was quite the fun and enjoyable effort that has a lot to like about it. One of the better features of this one is the rather enjoyable action here, which is incredibly fun for this one containing as much as it does. The entire second half here is practically built around action scenes which begins with the break-in here to their search of the facility grounds before the zombies are unleashed, which is the really enjoyable part of all this. Their initial release where they overwhelm the guards, the creatures overtaking the lobby and the swarming of the personnel makes for some highly exciting and thrilling scenes in here, and when combined with the action scenes against the group of friends makes this all the more fun. The fun here extends to a healthy amount of chasing through the building, shootouts attempting to escape and failing victim to traps laid out where the zombies get the drop on the gang trying to get out which make this all sorts of fun while also providing the kind of thrilling action needed to give this one the relentless pace this film features. Combined with the use of the deformed mutants and the police's containment efforts, these here are what work nicely in this section. Likewise, the fantastic make-up work on the zombies and the natural prosthetics used for the wounds and gore all make-up the film's good points which are enough to overcome he minor flaws here. The biggest flaw here is the incredibly contrived nature that sets this one in motion, which seems a bit too unrealistic to occur in this manner and seems far-fetched on the whole. The only other flaws to this one is the rather extended amount of time that occurs before anything stats as this one gets way too overlong with the shady experiments and the group hanging out beforehand which just slows this one down. The finale saves it, which is enough for this one to get a lot right about it.Rated R: Graphic Violence, Graphic Language, and children-in-jeopardy.
Phil Hubbs
Necropolis...a great name for film title but I'm afraid the franchise has lost its impetus with this next installation. Again naughty people are trying to use the deadly toxic gas to reanimate the dead and use for military weapons but once again it all goes wrong and the undead run amok...oh geez.We are now firmly in B-movie land with this one, the acting is quite terrible from all members including Peter Coyote and the plot is just a rehash against a different backdrop. The only thing going for this is the well done makeup effects which is just as good as the previous films and makes the film better than it deserves to be. These films are all about the cool hands on makeup effects lets be honest, and they all deliver consistently. This is the one thing these sequels manage to pull off despite the fact they rehash everything else. In that aspect they just about hold your attention if you're a monster/gore lover but the rest is usually pants.Nice idea and design for the undead Terminator style soldiers, a small plus point in a sinking film. One has to ask ones self how many more of these can they do? they are clearly trying to utilize every possible backdrop for the zombie outbreaks, I guess a desert setting will be next, haven't seen that yet.3/10
Roger Southgate
> More than 20 years have passed since John Russo's feud with George Romero finally spawned his uniquely comic take on the zombie genre; but whilst 1988's Part 2 kept the spirit of the original alive, and the third instalment took an unusual but welcome departure that in essence paved the way for smoulderingly sexy undead-anti-heroines in the early 90s (not least Resident Evil's Alice), the most recent additions to the franchise would well leave anybody that may have questioned the quality of Romero's work in light of Diary of the Dead feeling that their criticism was groundless when this is what's being produced as an alternative. > It's literally only minutes before we get our first glimpse at what we're all eagerly anticipating from a series that last got a sequel when plaid was still in fashion, and surely enough the characteristically B-Movie approach to horror storytelling is present and correct as those ill-fated barrels fall once more into the hands of a malevolent weapons developer whose intentions are for his paymasters world domination at any cost. The predictable narrative focuses around Julian (John Keefe), a High school student who in the company of his arson obsessed younger brother (Alexandru Geoana), have lost both their parents during their employ at Hybra Tech: a veritable Walmart meets the Soylent Corporation amalgamation whose unhealthy yet secretive interest in the undead inevitably leads to trouble for all concerned. Of course what nobody could have possibly seen from a mile away was that the same malevolent weapons developer just happens to be Uncle Charles (Peter Coyote), the primary care giver to the unfortunately doomed orphans who fall into his care. > However despite this perfectly acceptable, albeit far-fetched re-introduction to the series, the request for "brains" from cloudy eyed monsters begins to fade like a distant memory while we, the viewing audience, are pushed back from the edge of our seats and are forced to endure the monotonous antics of a predictably clichéd menagerie of practically indistinguishable teenagers as they attempt to sloppily lay down the building blocks of a decidedly familiar world permeated in all facets by the series unscrupulous answer to Resi's Umbrella Corporation. Queue one minor motorcycle accident later involving Julian's bestest bud (Elvin Dandel), and his reportedly suspicious death leads our hapless heroes to dig a little deeper, finding that he is in fact alive and well in the custody of Uncle Charles. Sure enough this leads them to discover the nature of his ungodly "research", and to Necropolis, as well as the realisation that the death of Julian's parents may not have been so accidental after all. > Of course what I have failed to mention thus far is that the story is excruciatingly slow to get started, and despite an initial offering, it feels like some considerable time before we really get another glimpse of any action; a tremendous downfall for a movie that has one primary responsibility in that it should be ready to deliver hordes of zombies from as early as feasibly possible. Even when the so-called action can be said to begin when the startling gravity of the situation first strikes our heroes, a moment that most films of the genre share, the resulting confrontation left a questionable taste in my mouth as what is usually a tense and horrifying moment as moral deliberation by usually peaceful everymen is quickly outweighed by the need to survive, was instead replaced by an eagerness to seemingly murder two eccentric hobos in a sewer without ascertaining the danger they posed. Even this moment was fairly lacklustre however with no member of the cast looking remotely fazed by exploding heads or the possibility of walking corpses. Their reactions here were largely indicative of their portrayal throughout the entire piece, and left me yearning for the over-the-top and cartoonish frolics offered by O'Bannon's original. > Even quicker than a reanimated body can suck out the innards of a skull, it became painfully clear very early in proceedings that everything that was so lovable about the original instalment has been entirely lost; replaced instead with a moodier and more serious atmosphere that not only feels artificial and ultimately prevents an audience from being drawn in, but that fans simply do not expect. However even this unsuccessful change in style and execution thereof does nothing to distract from rudimentary problems stemming from the bland and mediocre dialogue as the cast of forgettable no-names, with as much acting prowess on screen as your average High School drama class, go through the motions as they churn out their lines without an iota of impact. > Overall what we see on screen is dull and predictable, and what action there is on offer is largely samey and unimpressive. Attempts to cover up this failing and educe some tension with a heavy-metal soundtrack are laughable, and not unlike the amateurish offerings from 17 year olds found in almost any Media class. It is only fair to say that for what was clearly a low-budget production many of the special effects were passable if not a little underwhelming, and the zombie make-up was to a far greater standard than I had expected. I even managed to squeeze out an otherwise suppressed titter when an homage to the original reared its head when one of the ghouls used a radio to request that someone "send more security guards" as the outbreak finished snacking on the clerk at the front desk. In short however, Return of the Living Dead IV: Necropolis can be described as nothing more than a thoughtless by-the-numbers Resi knock-off executed by a director with limited experience and stunted vision as attempts are made to cash-in once more on a tired series. I get the distinct sense that the fifth instalment, filmed simultaneously as its numerical predecessor, will be just as disappointing. I dare say I will find out shortly enough as much like the waning zombie genre itself, I am a glutton for punishment