Runtime: I saw the 102 minute unrated version
Directed by: Ryuhei Kitamura
Starring: Bradley Cooper, Vinnie Jones, Leslie Bibb, Roger Bart, Brooke Shields
From: Lionsgate
The only time I saw this, it was a year before I started writing here in August of 2009. I was happy to see this again, as I explain below:
As sometimes happens, a recent messageboard discussion inspired me to watch this film again. I hadn't seen it since it played in the second-run “dollar theatres” when Lionsgate did the gross thing of putting it there rather than giving it a proper release. It was not the only time Lionsgate has done something this insulting to filmmakers, so even though they release a lot of genre films-some of them pretty awesome-I have thought of them as massive A-holes for years and I'll always feel that way about them.
Anyway, I finally got to see this movie in unrated form-Netflix Instant has it-and for you gorehouds, this is a must see as at times it's quite graphic. Bradley Cooper is a photographer (Leon) who slowly gets enveloped in a bizarre world involving the subway system of Los Angeles, where several people have gone missing. As he discovers that Vinnie Jones is behind it, Leon becomes more and more dangerously obsessed, much to the consternation of his girlfriend Maya (Leslie Bibb).
The first thing I noticed about this (it's based on a short story from Clive Barker, and as the movie got the gist of the story, the film is pretty damn weird and outrageous) is how some of the CG doesn't look so good in 2017, I mean like not at all. Otherwise, I can't really complain about this. While it's not a beloved horror classic nor is it the best Barker adaptation-it's no Hellraiser-that doesn't mean I can't rate it as fine and something I was happy to see again. The only other Ryuhei Kitamura movie I've seen was Godzilla: Final Wars (many years ago; I am sadly meh about it), but I can say he did a fine job directing here. Such things as that and a nice score can really help a movie, as is proven here.
I also have to mention that the cast as a whole does a nice job. Vinnie Jones generally looks like an imposing figure-a guy you don't want to anger-but he especially is menacing here. It also is not a surprise to me that Bradley Cooper became a lot more famous after his starring role here. I thought he was quite good as an average vegan man who changes as he becomes enveloped with a terrifying situation. It is a shame that Lionsgate treated this like it did; at least both versions of the movie can easily be seen via the streaming services, and people can see a movie that has everything from Brooke Shields to MMA fighter Quentin “Rampage” Jackson.
No comments:
Post a Comment