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Sorry, Aldomovar. This one is way too contrived, too convenient--and not quite clever enough to hide its deus ex machinations. The tragedy is too sudden, too obvious. The narrative set in motion by said tragedy doesn't live up to its heavy impetus. Good cast, and beautiful sets; lots of hot chicks, transvestites, and blowjob jokes can't save this sucker, however.



Again with the Pete Jackson! This is more to my taste (my bad taste?)--a film aesthetically indebted to Basket Case and It's Alive, but with a mordant sense of humor. Not the biting (ahem) social satire of George Romero, mind you, but the goofy horror slapstick of (pre-Spiderman) Sam Raimi a la Evil Dead 2. Obviously a student of the genre, Jackson provides les petits hommages to Tom Savini's machete-wielding whackjob in Dawn of the Dead, the loveable cannibal hitchhiker in The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (Jackson himself mimics this creature--he wasn't always so portly!) and a variety of other classic gorefest moments. Not the crowning achievement his Dead Alive came to be, but certainly on the road toward developing the requisite skills for said production.

I've read interviews with Pete; he claims he wants to make another zombie movie after King Kong. Please do! The Orcs in LOTR were certainly close.