Welcome to Trailer Friday. This week, we've decided to do something different. Instead of having the usual format, we bunched up all three trailers and packed them into a mini show through our playlist on youtube. Here's the movies on this edition.



Trailer courtesy of IFC Midnight

Jaime, Marta and their daughter Isabel, a well-off family, move to a luxurious new house. The parents are going through rough patch but have decided to give their relationship one last chance.

On the first evening in their new home, a group of three hooded men burst into the house. Their objective: To get as much money as possible from them in one night.

"Kidnapped" is available through your local on demand provider.



Trailer Courtesy of IFC Midnight.

After a young American backpacker goes missing in Europe, a group of journalists link his disappearance to a remote village in Poland. They travel there hoping to get the story, but as they unravel the secrets behind this mysterious village, they are suddenly pursued by hostile locals. Unable to escape, they soon become the next victims of ritualistic human sacrifice. Forced into the gruesome reality of true survival horror, the journalists will discover that this village hides a much darker secret than they could ever imagine.

Be sure to check out The Shrine when it debuts on demand from IFC Midnight, via Comcast, Cox, Cablevision, Time Warner, and Bright House starting July 15!



Trailer courtesy of IFC Midnight.

They did it! They made a documentary on a bunch of vampires!

A family of vampires, bored with immortality, lives in Belgium, eats illegal immigrants, children, handicapped folk, and takes every advantage they can suck out of the country's social system.

Samson, a seventies throwback, lives his 55th year like he's forever 20. Grace, an eternal teenager bent on being human again, keeps committing suicide. George, the patriarch, manages as best he can, heading the eccentric family and its on-going squabbles with the neighboring vampires.

It turns out vampires must keep to a strict code. They are, for example, prohibited from sleeping with their leader's wife. That's where Samson went too far... Now he and his whole family are exiled to Quebec, where even vampires have to work for a living!

A fresh, biting comedy from Vincent Lannoo!

"Vampires" is available now nationwide on demand from IFC Midnight, via Comcast, Cox, Cablevision, Time Warner, and Bright House.



Attention Independent Filmmakers. If you want your film's trailer featured on Film Arcade's youtube page and on an upcoming edition of Trailer Friday, send me an email with a synopsis of the film and trailer to anthonythurber@filmarcade.net.

Temptation

Year: 2010

Director: Catherine Taylor

Stars: Caroline Haines, Rachael Waters, Laura Evans

MPAA Rating: Not Rated

Studio: Vicious Circle Films

Running Time: 85 Mins

Lately there really hasn’t been any vampire films out there. With “Twilight” setting the subgenre back years and the “Underworld” being the guilty pleasure that it is, there really hasn’t been that great vampire film that combines the elements of gothic imagery with a dark story.

Temptation” is the debut feature film, from director Catherine Taylor. Isabel (Caroline Haines) is a beautiful young and professional woman, who is out on the town with her friends and had one too many to drink. She gets a ride from a stranger after wild night. Unknown to her, that person is serial rapist. She tries to out run him, but he catches up to her. Then Aurelie (Rachael Waters), a mysterious woman, save her from this person. Unbeknownst to her, she bites her and turns her into a vampire. Now, Isabel has 48 hours to decide to give in to the ecstasy and lustful cravings or end it all before its too late.

I’ve seen many foreign film for this site and on my own time. There’s always that foreign independent film that’s able to grab your attention It’s even more special, especially if it’s a vampire film because that‘s my most favorite horror subgenre. In age where vampire films rarely any bite to them, it was very nice to see a film that has a bite to it and then some.

“Temptation” is most gothic vampire film that I’ve seen in a very long time. Catherine Taylor’s direction was dead on. One of the things that makes this very different and very good, there is very dark and gothic atmosphere to the story. I liked how she a good job keeping that tone throughout the whole film. She does that through gothic imagery and eroticism. Those elements are done in a way that it doesn’t feel exploitive and delivers its purpose to bring a gloom and doom feeling, which is the film‘s tone. It’s something that’s been lacking in recent vampire films, since “Interview with A Vampire” came out sixteen years ago. Another thing that Taylor does very well, she is able to get the acting to fit the film’s tone, especially with her leads. I liked, how she was to get her main actresses to make their characters very dark. It really adds to the film’s tone.

The screenplay written by Julianne White does a very good job in making the everything that goes on, so dark and gloomy. One of the things that she does very well is creating a story that’s very gothic. I like how she spends the majority of the story focusing on the drastic changes that are happening to Isabel and Aurelie’s obsession that she maybe her long lost lover. It brings the darkness that’s needed to make this very gothic and gets you drawn into the dark atmosphere. Another thing that I liked about this screenplay was the fact it’s different from the “Underworld” and “Twilight’s” of the world. Instead of having the atmosphere either be chaotic and dull, White makes the atmosphere have very dark. That’s something that has been lacking in vampire films recently. By having that feel, it draws you into the dark world of the film and gets you caught up in all of depravity that takes place. I wished more horror films would go the same route.

In an age where glittering vampires rule the big screen, it’s nice to actually see a vampire film that doesn’t cave into the mainstream film mentality that the subgrene has been putting out as of lately. This film should be considered as the gold standard when it come to vampire films. “Temptation” is a gothic vampire horror film that has a lot bite.

Review Rating: Five Stars.

DIRECTED BY
Thunder Levin

STARRING
C. Thomas Howell - David
Tyshawn Bryant - G-Dog
Rachel Montez Collins - Latiffa
Gregory Allan Williams - Dr. Reginald Monte
Johanna Watts - Lisa
Robert Wu - Dragon
KeiKabou Holland - Larson
Maxie J. Santillan Jr. - Old Man

Genre - Horror/Comedy/Zombies

Running Time - 90 Minutes

Score - 3 Howls Outta 4


I spent quite some time in the 'hood, being from Brooklyn, New York. I've seen gang violence. I've seen drug dealing. I've seen some bad stuff go down. But never...and I do mean NEVER...have I've witnessed mutant vampire zombies in my 'hood.

Unless you count stoners. Then yes, I have seen MUTANT VAMPIRE ZOMBIES FROM THE 'HOOD. Anyway, read the review before I pop a cap in yo' ass, homey!

PLOT
In South Central, Los Angeles, a cop named David (C. Thomas Howell) and his partner hide out at the rafters of a warehouse where two rival gangs are meeting. The leader of the black gang, G-Dog (Tyshawn Bryant), wants to exchange drugs with the Asian gang leader, Dragon (Robert Wu), for his girl Latiffa (Rachel Montez Collins). The police bust goes bad, as David and his partner are outnumbered. While a shoot out occurs between the three groups, a huge solar flare hits Earth. Everyone in the warehouse is knocked unconscious because of it.

They all wake up hours later, only to find that the world has drastically changed. The solar flare seems to have mutated anyone in contact with it [meaning whoever was outdoors during the event] with its radiation, turning them into flesh-eating, blood-hungry zombies. The three rival gangs unite to take out this new species as they head to the safety of an astrophysicist (Gregory Allan Williams) and his really hot daughter (Johanna Watts), who seem to have the key to stopping these creatures and staying alive.

REVIEW
Now you may all be thinking: "With a title like MUTANT VAMPIRE ZOMBIES FROM THE 'HOOD, this film must really suck!", right? Fortunately, MVZFTH is actually a pretty good flick! It's funny. It's well-acted. And for a very low budget feature, it looks pretty damn cool! Who knew?

The screenplay for WVZFTH is surprisingly smart and well-written in general. Obviously, the film isn't original in its storytelling. If you've seen NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD or other popular zombie movies, you know how things supposed to go.

A: Some strange substance [gas, virus, solar flare] turns people into flesh-craving creatures.

B: A group of survivors who don't see eye-to-eye encounter these creatures, wondering what caused them and doing anything in their power to live.

C: They all group up in a safe place, disagreeing with how to do things to maintain their survival.

D: The creatures break into this safe place, putting the survivors' alliances to the test.

MVZFTH runs the same way, pretty much. It takes elements of NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD, mixed with NIGHT OF THE COMET, with an added sprinkle of 28 DAYS LATER to complete the stew. And it actually works for the most part. Not only are these films referenced, but so are NOSFERATU, ALIENS, and SNAKES ON A PLANE to various degrees of success. In fact, the Larson character [G-Dog's right hand man] is the Bill Paxton role from ALIENS, who's always terrified by the situation and rants about horror movies to express his points. These self-references shouldn't work as well as they do, but I found myself laughing at most of them. Color me surprised.

The dialogue is also pretty well written. The comedy is actually funny and there's hardly any exposition. When characters say something, the words actually move the story forward. There are also moments where stereotypes are thrown at certain characters, playing around with them to a great and comedic effect. The screenplay was really well-paced and I never felt all that bored once the zombies showed up within 20 minutes of the movie. I will say that the characters aren't all that developed and it would have been nice to know more about them so, as an audience, we could care about them and their fates. A little more depth would have been nice but it doesn't really hurt the film all that much at the end.

The special effects of MVZFTH are more than decent. The SFX and makeup were done by American Makeup and Effects, who have worked on all three PIRATE OF THE CARIBBEAN films and JARHEAD. The zombies look pretty good and the gore is pretty nice as well. We get a lot of gun shots and necks being bitten by zombies. Not too shabby at all. For a low budget movie, it was nice to see that the money was spent on the right things.

The direction by Thunder Levin was also nicely handled. The movie was well-paced with its tight editing. The cinematography was pretty nice. The fight sequences were nicely choreographed and pretty exciting. They weren't perfect but I enjoyed them. I really can't say anything negative about the visuals in this movie. The film looked really good and also sounded really good. Thunder Levin is no hack, that's for sure. Definitely thumbs up from me.

The acting was also decent for the most part. C. Thomas Howell does more than well here as the lead. I've always liked the guy since the 1980s and it's too bad he doesn't have a better career. He's a talented actor and I enjoyed him here. His moments where he would try and act black reminded me of SOUL MAN, which made me nostalgic. Tyshawn Bryant was more than capable as G-Dog. He was the stereotypical black gang member, but he put more depth into a thinly written character than what was needed. Good job. Robert Wu was also good as Dragon. He had certain emotional moments that he handled well. KeiKabou Holland was a highlight as Larson. His rants about NOSFERATU were very funny and he made the film more entertaining overall. Gregory Allan Williams, or Baywatch fame, brought class to his role. Johanna Watts as Lisa was extremely hot AND could act! That only made her sexier in my book. And Maxie J. Santillan Jr., as the old man who acted as the sage for the group, was entertaining as well. Just a really capable cast. Not one weak link here.

THINGS I'VE LEARNED WHILE BANGING A HOT DOCTOR IN FRONT OF THE UNDEAD

- David's partner criticized him for talking and acting "black". Obviously, he was one of the many people who was smart enough NOT to see SOUL MAN back in the 80s.

- David claims that his job as a cop is to know every criminal on the streets by their names. Yeah, if there are no donut shops or plungers around! However, if you like forceful entries in the rectum region, then please ignore this one.

- G-Dog said the zombies can do everything but "skull fuck" people "with their atomic dicks." I totally agree. Only Lois Lane has knowledge of this experience and it should stay that way.

- Lisa is a great marksman. Any chick who can master a gun goes on top of my list...and my lap.

- None of the survivors want to have sex with zombies, afraid their appendages might be mutiliated because of hunger. Although lesbians probably welcome their carpets being munched...

- Larson got his penis bit off by a zombie. I guess someone needed a penis transplant...

- Lisa has a thing for David and vice-versa. Hot chicks dig THE OUTSIDERS, even if their 15 minutes of fame have already run out and then some.

THE FINAL HOWL
While not a perfect film [the ending was way rushed, some plot holes, and a very slow and unoriginal beginning], MUTANT VAMPIRE ZOMBIES FROM THE 'HOOD is still a surprisingly fun time. If you are interested in seeing this film and want to see how a low budget zombie film should look like, check out their website at Seminal Films. Apparently there is another installment called NINJA PIRATE WEREWOLVES IN 'SPACE - a film I'm actually looking forward to. How can you not with a title like that? But in the meantime, take a look at MVZFTH. It may leave you starving for more.