MOVIES: In Brief (7th June 2014)

A quick round-up of a few movies which have recently come our way...

The Demented (2013) (Anchor Bay, Cert 15) sees fast moving zombies on the loose (again), this time in Louisiana as the result of a terrorist attack. In an already flooded market, this zombie flick doesn't really offer anything new which hasn't already been done better, and done many times. Advertising it as "from the co-producer of A Nightmare On Elm Street" sounds a bit desperate. It also suffers from that particularly jittery editing technique which leaves you wondering if your DVD player is on the blink. Still, it's all carried off proficiently if unspectacularly. If you're at a loose end on a wet afternoon it's a good enough time filler.

Somewhat more enjoyable is Detention Of The Dead (2012) (High Fliers, Cert 18), where the undead swarm on a high school. Its "Breakfast Club With Zombies" concept is a novel one, the cast play it with enthusiasm, there's some real belly laughs along the way and its brisk pace means it doesn't outstay its welcome. This would make a good starter if you're planning a double bill - just make sure you pop your brain into neutral beforehand.

The Hospital (2013) (Point Blank, Cert 18) recently caused a bit of a stir in the UK when complaints from customers caused national retailer Tesco to remove it from their shelves. Yes, it's a very grim tale of snuff movies being made at an abandoned hospital, but it truly never ceases to amaze me when people buy films which clearly contain words like "bloody", "violent", "sickest film", etc on the cover, only to express disgust when they actually watch the damn thing. Still, don't think I'm defending this exploitative piece of tripe or be tempted to think the fuss is any reason to buy it - my own theory is that most customers probably returned their copies because it's a cheek expecting anybody to pay good money for such poorly made rubbish. I suspect any remaining copies of this dreadful farrago went to the nearest landfill site. If not, they really should.

Not faring much better is The Cabin At Sorrow Creek (2007) (New Horizons, Cert 15). Aiming to tell the story of four friends stranded at a remote and haunted location, it doesn't make too much sense and defies logic at every turn. It's the kind of film which looks like a bunch of people went out with a camcorder and made a horror movie for fun. If they showed it to a bunch of friends, they would probably say "hey, that's pretty good considering". They wouldn't say "hey, that's so good you ought to find yourself a distributor and get it commercially released!" Unfortunately, it appears that someone did.