Amityville Uprising

 Good day Readers of Rotten, I was staying away from Horror until I was looking through IMDB and saw bombastic and snooty remarks made on Thomas Churchill's creation. Thomas Churchill as many of you may remember as a writer and director of the following: The Day of the Living Dead, Check Point, The Emerging Past Director's Cut, The Rack Pack, The Hard Way, Nation's Fire Xenophobia, and The Amityville Moon. So what's with the hatred? With the collective production companies of Action House, Church Hill Productions and Lions Gate Entertainment, we have an environment survival horror/action film. This is Amityville Uprising.

Seriously doc, crack a window in here. Phew.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Yes I know, folks are tired of the title Amityville usage but several Indie Horror films have managed some clever concoctions, so let's give it a chance before we have preconceived notions.

A small town adjacent to an existing military base is going on about its usual daily activities. Unbeknownst to the townies, the base was involved in a highly experimental conglomerate of chemicals that would have dire effects. "He tampered in God's domain." So with our plot device into effect, a massive explosion blasting the town of Amityville. The aerial shots covering this was quite impressive, as the facility has gone completely tits up, the military assigned find bodies strewn all about. With this assortment of chemicals released into the atmosphere, a pending bout of acid rain will happen, the people have been warned but you have seen how well Americans reacted to Covid, so expect mass stupidity.

Ox Hungry!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Attempting to keep the peace, civilians are running in droves as the acid rain produced something else. Walking corpses rising from the ground they dropped on and in the search of fresh meat.

With the cops being swarmed by civvies and the undead, our team are trying to keep their cool and smoke some Zed Heads.

With level headed Sgt. Dash (Scott C. Roe of Dollhouse, The Stalker Within, Transformers: Dark of the Moon, J. Edgar, Road to Marakesh, NCIS, General Hospital, Megalodon, Alien Warfare, The Dawn and Big Freaking Rat), Lt. Howie Stevenson (Tank Jones of The Devil's Tomb, The Broken Hearts Club, Dollhouse CSI: Miami, Breaking Bad, Easy Rider 2: The Ride Home, The Sparrows: Nesting and Union Bound), tattooed bad ass Detective Lance McQueen (Mike Ferguson of Axegrinder 2, Meathook Massacre Part VI: Bloodline, The Devils Heist, 5G Zombies, Angry Asian Murder Hornets, The Beast Beneath, Arachnado and A Cry in the Dark) and officers Malloy (Troy Fromin of Street Soldiers, The Perfect Weapon, Saved by the Bell, A Doggone Christmas, A Doggone Hollywood, Bikini Car Wash Massacre, Horndogs Beach Party, Killer Waves 2, The Stalker, High Rise and Amityville Uprising) and Rossi (Kelly Lynn Reiter of Holy Terror, The Z Virus, Harker: The Awakening, Halloween Pussy Trapp Kill! Kill!, Dead De La Creme,How to Get Over a Breakup and Nation's Fire) are all that can hold back the zombie onslaught.

Aw man, I got brains on my shoes! Damn.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Not enough crazy in this fustercluck? How about Dash and his son Jimmy(Kole Benfield of YA Campaign Ambition, The Rack Pack, Nation's Fire, Amityville Uprising and Devilreaux)having a strained relationship DURING A ZOMBIE OUTBREAK. Dammit boy, keep that crap down until the crazy is handled. It is an actual heartwarming performance between the two. I saw something similar in 30 Days and Night but that portrayal came up short compared to the Dash family. Emoting and having a rapport between a father and son in the course of virulent epidemic? How many films successfully pull that off?

 

The biggest complaint from critics of this movie has been the pacing. God forbid a bit of foreshadow and putting characters together showing strengths and weaknesses, right? The pace for me felt like how an 80s action drama was setting everyone, the plot and the major antagonists into play against our heroes. Personally? I am grateful of fleshing out the players and allows for more of a connection to these people, making you wonder who will survive and who will sacrifice themselves for the good of the others? That's how you build suspense.

I would like to take the time to point out Thomas Churchill has also acted. My favorite to date is his fixer/bar owner character from Syndicate Smasher. The team dropped a couple of keys on his table and we both screamed "What the F*ck?!" He was genius in that. His rant would have impressed Joe Pesci. Yes that last tidbit was really for me.

Back to his technical prowess, this aerial shots, low pans, looks like some handheld giving a near claustrophobic sensation as we get into the police station. Hell even the lighting set an eerie as Hell mood. Grab your Raccoon City green herbs, boomsticks and flashbang grenades lady and gents.

The vibe I got from this flick was a mixture of Romero's Dawn of the Dead and Lucio Fulci/Bruno Mattei/Claudio Fargasso's Zombi 3. With the outbreak, civilian mass panic and seeking aid from the cops alone, and yet they question why they aren't doing enough. Ugh. Poor cops.

So let's look at the overall. Plot device for the pandemic? Check. Likeable characters? Check. Replay-ability? Check. We got a solid zombie story with some gruesome gores, next to no lame ass jump scares and it does grip you. Really think Mike got some of the best one-liners in this. He delivered. Frankly, I felt the pace was at a good speed, allowed for a build-up by the 40 minute mark and then just balls out guns blazing, zombies getting smacked. So naysayers; if you feel you have to bash a film, give me something more tangible than it's so slow or this sucks. 

 If you haven't sat through a Jesus Franco movie, you don't get to tell me what sucked. 

 

Contortionist zombie! Run!

 

The Emerging Past: Director's Cut

Hey there readers! I'm back again. Well last week started off timid with a comic book movie then we got a hard hitting action flick, a POV zombie movie, so what can we do to embrace this week? How about a psychological thriller? Starring, written and directing by...Thomas J Churchill? Andy from Syndicate Smasher? Oh hell yeah. Okay I am stoked. Let's do this. This is The Emerging Past.

Yes folks, turns out Thomas J Churchill (A System Devoured, Lazarus: Apocalypse, Check Point,The Rack Pack, Birth of the Zombie and Nation's Fire) writes, directs, produces and acts so he is a Jack of all Trades. Move over, Bruce Campbell.

Hmm loving couple or Double Mint Gum ad?

Our opening credits sound like Harry Manfredini of the Friday the 13^th franchise and a news photographer Pam (Krista Grotte of The Rack Pack, The Lost, Check Point and Nation's Fire) describing some inherently messed up cult and a killing in graphic detail.  Jeez lady, the priest is used to masturbation confessions.   Father John (Edward X Young of Mega Man, The Green Monster, The Killer Clown Meets The Candy Man, The Gift and The Litch)is taking this all in stride as this crazy tale unfolds as Pam explains seeing a murder of a ritual sacrifice and the cops either didn't care or were in on it.

Father John kicks back with a whiskey and grabs a bath to Ave Maria playing in the background. I'm sure that was the soundtrack and not what he chooses to pipe in his room. Just before his appointment with Mr. Bubble, a POV killer gets to Father John, viciously attacking and gouging to death by a terrifying amount of strength, left looking like a cherry pie tossed at the wall.

Credits are interspersed with symbols of the church, Christ on the cross and the departed father now resembling stigmata and a crime scene. Within four minutes of our movie, the tone is clear. Evil's afoot.  Someone!  Call the Tick!!   A black clothed individual leaves the scene with a nice steady, and dare say carefree pace.   Guess it got the blood pumping as well as Father John's all over the walls.

Detective Vorheeses slashes through the red tape.

Detectives Vorheeses and D'mato (Rick Borgia of Ghost Source Zero, Proximity to Power, Tatalia, The Making of the Mob and My Father, The Don) are on the case. The moment I head D'Mato my brain went to exploitation/Italian mockbuster director Joe D'Mato of the Ator movies, Anthrophagous and Emanuelle flicks.

Cut to a hospital/mental ward holding Pam as she is cut up, been manhandled and no answers are good enough for the cops or the hospital staff. Yup she is being held for observation cuz she's talking crazy. Ugh, incomplete sentence structure there. Who am I? Frank Miller?

A quick stroll down flashback lane; we see Pam doing a little B & E and a fade to later cry in her bathrobe and hit the showers trying to make sense of the last 43 hours.  I normally cry in my PJs myself.

This film is shot and edited out of sequence to create an impact of events that have happened or ongoing. This isn't rocket science to figure out, people.

Is Pam having a nervous breakdown? Are there dark forces roaming the Earth? Did this black mass rituals bring about Trump's presidency?

And now trivia or things I noticed. Yes you didn't ask for it but you're getting it anyway.

Actor Mike Marino looked familiar and it hit me. Nikos, the Impaler. YuuuuuUUp, that Andreas Schnaas flick. Oh well, you got to start somewhere, right?

Funnier side note is Tony Moran. Any Carpenter buff would know him better as Michael Myers in the first Halloween. Okay, any obsessive fan would know this. Don't you judge me!

The orignal Jason potato sack and all of Friday the 13^th Part 2 fame, Steve Dash as Detective Vorheeses. Hmm might be a bit on the nose but hey I have done far cornier jokes in my Rotten Reelz Reviews Video Reviews on YouTube. It would also appear I am not above shameless plugs.

Okay I am actually confused on the hate poured onto this film. It's cut like a gruesome pulp fiction with supernatural themes, cult standings and visions that may or may not have happened to Pam. Maybe Pam is completely crackers. Maybe it is a huge cover up. Maybe you should watch it and draw your own conclusion like I did.

Ocu..pa..do..

With a smaller budget this was graphic, good camera work, subtle music hints and some quick and fast editing to offer a bizarre vision.  It offered good suspense and a solid cast bringing what they could to their roles.  I also didn't see half of the IMDB user complaints about every character had to be loved or deemed noteworthy.  The story is set, the characters are in play and I didn't see Churchill's focus that led me to believe you as the viewer, will remember every character. Secondaries get their time in front of the camera but it doesn't feel like favoritism.

Mind you, these are folks that buy an IMDB Pro account primarily to bitch and complain and offer no real constructive criticism. IMDB Trolls under these here bridges!

Little issue I had was how fast the pans were, photophobia didn't like that but nowhere near the BS of an Uwe Boll movie. That is Boll's filming without a stabilizer and puke worthy for anyone prone to migraines or seizures as we run through a forest with realism. Or lazy filming. Buy or build a unipod. Enough about Boll. No real bearing here.

I can't say I have any complaints about this film. Decent run time, good cast and compelling story. Of course the tragedy of the late Brooke McCarter (The Lost Boys, Thrashin', Double Switch, Wired, The Uh-Oh Show and Space Gila from the Deep) who passed away in 2015 as this was his last film.

With the theme of evil striking from the darkness with no mercy or quarter, I think it feels a bit similar to The First Power where madness and reason are just not going hand in hand. A touch of The Omen on the scale of oddity, this film is pretty good. I think some of the users at IMDB need to get a hobby. Try knitting a scarf, guys.

Pam's Vegas vacation gone off the rails.