Hi, everyone. "Moriarty" here with some Rumblings From The Lab...
So... my buddy Enrique from Cine-East, is also heavily involved in this year’s Pacific Media Expo, or PMX for short. He’s been working with distributors like Media Blasters and Tartan and Pathfinder and Lions Gate to set up a screening schedule during the event that should give you a real taste for all things Asian right now in the world of film. Many of the films have not had a Region 1 theatrical or DVD release yet, so this will be the first time some of you are exposed to them. He’s programmed the heck out of the three days he has to work with, and you should definitely check it out. I’ll have some details below. First, though, there’s a film he wants to tell you about:
First look at Tony Todd’s new martial arts / Zombie hybrid SHADOW DEAD RIOT.
SHADOW DEAD RIOT
The most amazing thing about this film is its pedigree. Let’s start with Tony Todd, who is back to immortalize another screen villain; Tony is a fan fave for his memorable characters in genre films, especially his turn as CANDYMAN. If you’re reading this you probably already know the man's work, so lets move forward. Here he plays Shadow, an evil bastard who would give Candyman a run for his money. Carla Greene, who is being touted as Fever Dreams top action star, plays the film’s heroine Solitaire, she certainly is up for the task and looks good kicking ass. Cinematographer Derek Wan, of Jet Li’s Fist Of Legend, in his US debut, takes a turn at directing the film. The action choreography is by another HK talent Tony Leung Siu-Hung, who choreographed parts of the amazing Drunken Master 2 AKA Legend Of Drunken Master. And Finally to finish this HK trinity we have editor Chan Ki Hop who last worked on the surreal horror of DUMPLINGS THREE EXTREMES turning it into one of the most eerie films in recent memory. With a script by Fangoria and LEECHES’s Michael Gingold, as I said, the pedigree of this film is impressive and I was totally worked up to see it. The story is your usual women in prison, zombie, action flick by way of Jess Franco and Ryuhei Kitamara, but unfortunately less inventive. An action packed thrill-ride this is not, but it is quite entertaining in a sort of sleazy, campy way. The film draws upon source material from Herschell Gordon Lewis, George Romero, Shaw Bothers, and Ilsa among others; even one of the characters is named Elsa and has similar character traits. It’s roots are also evident in many early exploitation/sexploitation cinema of the late 70’s and early 80’s. All of this referencing makes it fun to watch for every geeky cinefile who’ll recognize the obscure references.
The film opens with a flashback to Shadow’s execution; in his final moments Shadow has no fear and is one mean-mutha. He is electrocuted and blows up from the heat, his blood infects the prisons walls. At this moment, the other inmates go crazy and are murdered in cold fashion by the warden.
We then move forward 20 years to see prisoner Solitaire as she is transferred to a minimum-security women's rehabilitation facility. Not one to take any bull from even the meanest sister in the joint- who would be the menacing Mondo. In fact, Solitaire is up against a virtual peanut gallery of enforcers competing to run the place, a crazed bodybuilding inmate, a passive-aggressive warden, a perverted doctor and some scary lesbian enforcers. None the less, Solitaire quickly establishes her space and makes an equal amount of friends and enemies. She is befriended by the very pregnant, Preggers and lusted after by the young and victimized Crystal. As I’m sure you may imagine from my description thus far, this whole drama is well peppered with tits and full frontal nudity. Also, many of the girls in SDR are tattooed, which I didn’t mind one bit, and of course, it helps them look the part. As luck would have it Mondo bitch slaps Crystal in front of Solitaire and a battle ensues. The girls do their best, but the rhythm and the speed of the scene was off lessening the intended impact. This scene is definitely not a highlight, as the following fights have more bite to them. Solitaire is more than a match for Mondo and her crew and the fight quickly draws the attention of the warden.
Subdued and thrown into solitary confinement, Solitaire becomes spooked by her environment and she finds a seal on the floor. Upon touching the seal, she is taken into the memories of a madman, the late Shadow. She is haunted by images of her mother and Shadow together and wonders at their connection. By the time Shadow comes back from the dead and wakes the deceased inmates buried in the prison grounds, Solitaire has been further transformed into a mean killing machine. It seems that the evil doctor has been injecting Solitaire and the other inmates with Shadows blood. Some died, but Solitaire grew stronger making her ready to do battle with Shadow and his army of the dead.
The film’s gore effects are exactly what you would expect and deliver the goods. The last half of the film has some great over the top gore. I don’t ever want to see a woman’s bleeding nipple again, especially after she just nursed. I was grossed out (in a good way). Now, how about the fight scenes? One would think that considering the talent involved we would be witness to some amazing martial arts choreography, instead what we get is mediocre to decent. The overall feeling is that they did what they could with the budget they had. However, the fight scene at the end was fun, a step above your average Buffy episode, and was done with the style that I would expect from HK action choreographers. It looked good, if only the rest of it looked as slick. Tony and Carla have strong screen presence and they carry most of the film without a hitch. I would have liked to have seen a bit more of Tony, but once he shows up he makes Shadow imposing and seriously threatening. The film really doesn’t aspire to do more than entertain your sick ass, and this it does quite admirably. Taken on it’s on merits it merely succeeds, but looked at as a loving homage to the sicker side of cinema it fares much better. The intended audience, you know who you are, will eat this up entrails and all. If it does well I am sure we will see Shadow and Solitaire once again, hopefully with a little more financial muscle and a clearer vision.
Now, on to the details about PMX. The show is next weekend, September 3rd through the 5th. You can check out all the details at the official site, including the location and how to get tickets. It’s an amazing event for anime fans, obviously, but also for people who are into Asian music or live-action Asian cinema... basically, like the name says, this is about all media.
You can see the full screening schedule, and if you want details on the big titles, they’ve got those up, too.
Enrique does what he does because he believes in Asian cinema. He’s committed to getting it out there in front of the widest possible audience. I love the fact that this guy is more than just a retailer trying to make some coin off these movies. If you’re in LA and free next weekend, try to make it to some of these screenings. Johnnie To’s THROWDOWN, the fantastic A TALE OF TWO SISTERS, the trilogy of shorts THREE EXTREMES... these are just a few of the excellent pictures screening, and stuff like this is always better with an audience that’s as open to the experience as I’m sure this one will be.
"Moriarty" out.
