Movies
The Raid: Redemption
“‘The Raid’ [is] a powerhouse of action cinema that transcends into something much, much more – it’s easily one of the most violent and bloody films in history, yes, EVER. In fact, I’d go as far as to say it’s one of the best action movies ever assembled.“
The Midnight Madness portion of the Toronto International Film Festival is best described as a “kick to the face,” a collection of ten genre films that work their way from horror to traditional martial arts, and everything in between. The fest kicked off (pun intended) last night with Gareth Huw Evans’ Indonesian The Raid, a powerhouse of action cinema that transcends into something much, much more.
Raise your hand if you’ve seen a horror or action flick that drove you crazy simply because they never took it “all the way.” It happens all too often, in fact, pretty much all the time. The Raid takes a super simple plot and focuses on making an engaging and entertaining film, rather than a thought-provoking one. It’s an action movie, so why the hell is a deep story even necessary? The plot: A team of police raid a building complex taken over by a powerful drug lord.
Similar to [REC] 2, the pic opens inside the police van where Evans builds the mythology of the criminals, and puts their own fear on display. We see police trembling, while others challenge the mission, in general. They’re scared shitless. It all builds from here, as Evans truly understands action cinema and how to build characters. Rule #1: your protagonist must be fallible. Many films make the mistake of turning their hero into Superman; a boring, indestructible machine that just yawns their way through one faceless villain after another (example: see pretty much every single action movie ever made). Evans reteams with the badass, Iko Uwais, who takes one beating after another and can only be described as “John McClane-ish”. Imagine Die Hard, only 100 times more violent and 1,000 times more bloody. Another comparison would be to Rocky IV as Ivan Drago is built up to be this unstoppable machine, and Rocky must use all of his heart to defeat the Russian anomaly. As the police work their way, floor by floor, so do the villains and their abilities. To say that Rocky bumps gloves with Drago is an understatement as the battle is beyond epic…
Speaking of battles…
Brilliantly, The Raid logically works its way through fight choreography that begins with automatic weapons and ends with hand to hand combat (once all the ammo and weapons are gone; and imagine that anything can be used as a weapon). Evans shows that he’s a master of action filmmaking as nearly every sequence is wholly visible – no shaky camera, tight shots or editing – and lets the viewer actually see what the hell is going on. Even more impressive were the on screen SFX work which range from multiple stabbings (chest, legs, eyes, etc.) to poles being jammed into people’s necks and faces being planted onto broken pieces of wood. The Raid is by no means a horror movie, but it plays out like the most epic zombie movie ever created – it’s easily one of the most violent and bloody films in history, yes, EVER. In fact, I’d go as far as to say it’s one of the best action movies ever assembled.
The Raid does everything right, and is so incredibly self-aware in its awesomeness that I envision the filmmakers jacking off to their own movie (I would too). If you’re expecting a kick to the head, instead you should probably expect 42 kicks to the teeth, a roundhouse, 362 punches to the ribs and then two broken legs. The Raid is ultra-cinema, the highest octane of energy you’ll ever see on the big screen. It’s a rush that’s only side effect is withdrawal – and the only fix is to see it again.
A contemporary reimagining of H.P. Lovecraft’s short story Herbert West: Reanimator is on the way, and Deadline has unveiled the first look at the new Herbert West and the pathologist drawn to his orbit.
Adam Simon (The Haunting in Connecticut, “Salem”) and Tim Metcalfe (The Haunting in Connecticut, Kalifornia) penned the script. The original screenplay and storyline come from Jade Sandberg Wallace.
Michael Grossman (“The Originals”, “Pretty Little Liars”) directs.
The new images introduce star Joseph Morgan (“Vampire Diaries“), who plays “brilliant surgeon and scientist Herbert West, who is obsessed with creating a serum to reanimate the dead.” Katie Cassidy (Speed Demon) stars opposite as the pathologist with a troubled past who joins his efforts.
Together, they prove that conquering death may be the ultimate sin against life itself.
The film’s official synopsis: “As a child, Herbert West watches his father Peter reanimate his dead mother Judith in a secret basement lab — only for Judith to mortally wound Peter and nearly kill Herbert before Peter shoots her. The trauma leaves its mark on Herbert, but so does one final image: his mother’s finger, twitching after death. Thirty years later, Herbert West is a brilliant, secretive surgeon still chasing his father’s obsession.
“Pathologist Kate Locke arrives in town and is drawn into his orbit — first through a spark at a hospital fundraiser, then through his secret lab, where he reveals a serum capable of reanimating severed tissue. Kate, hiding a dark past of her own, is thrilled rather than horrified, and moves into West’s mansion to work alongside him. Their early experiments on a cadaver succeed only briefly. West concludes that dead tissue is the problem — they need something fresher.”
Supporting cast includes Scott Aiello, Ira J Amyx, Randall Newsome, Emma Reinagal, James D. Bryce, Kathryn A Bentley, Jack Lancaster, Amy Holland Pennell, John Pierson, Mindy Shaw, Eric Dean White, Tristan Wilder Hallet, Adrienne Lamping, Aaron Crippen, and Drew Patterson.
Makeup artist Jeff Lewis (“Star Trek: Voyager,” “Star Trek: Enterprise”) and cousin Roger Lewis are heading the production via their newly established Woodlake Entertainment.
Lovecraft’s short story, first serialized in Home Brew magazine in 1922, is the first among his works to mention the fictional Miskatonic University. It was most famously adapted into a 1985 horror movie from Stuart Gordon, starring Jeffrey Combs as Herbert West.
Herbert West: Reanimator is set in Alton, Illinois, where production is now underway.
Herbert West: Reanimator. Photo credit: Matt Lief Anderson
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