"31" Review by Anthony T

Rob Zombie has been an interesting direction. When I saw his first film “House of 1,000 Corpses”, it only latest 10 minutes as I thought the beginning was awful and it was going to stupid. It was so bad that I didn’t want to ever see a Rob Zombie film ever again. My opinion of him as a filmmaker changed when he came out with his version of the classic horror film “Halloween” back in 2007. Ever since then, I’ve have seen every one of his films including his best film “The Devil’s Rejects” and everything except 1,000 of House Corpses. This leads me to his latest film “31” which deals with a bunch of homicidal clowns and aristocrats.

The film is about five carnival workers who get kidnapped by a bunch of homicidal clowns and aristocrats. They are forced to play their game called 31 for the 12 hours. The object of the game to fight and survive against their captors. If they can, they may just walk out of there alive. The film stars Sheri Moon Zombie, Malcolm McDowell, Richard Brake, Elizabeth Daily, Meg Foster, Jeff Daniel Phillips and Lew Temple.

It seems like every Rob Zombie film is either one of those where you love it or you really hate it and wish he’d stop directing film. This film has same theory with all of the reviews for this film. But I’m going to go out on a limb and say that “31” is equal or better than “The Devil’s Rejects. One of the reasons that it very good was Zombie’s direction. He does a very good job with the way that he directs the action. The scenes were thought out very well as it had an intense 70’s throwback feel to them where it puts you on the edge of your seat. It also helped that the tone of film also added to the intense action. The other thing that makes it very good were the performances. Zombie does a very good job making sure the performances work with the film’s tone. Whether it’s the way that he directs his villains to the other characters in the film, he makes sure that they stand out in one way from other.

Speaking of standing out, I thought Richard Blake stood out from everyone in this film. I liked how he make his character Doom-Head very sinister through the way that he approaches the character from the way that he speaks to the way that he moves. It had a sinister tone that keeps you frightened. Hopefully this will get him more work in the genre, as he does a great job pulling off this character.

Zombie’s screenplay was also good. What I liked about it that he keeps the level of dread throughout very dark and intense. Whether it’s the film’s opening scene to the ending, it had that level of frightening moments that make a horror film stand out. It’s what makes this a shocking film for the entire time. The other thing that makes the screenplay good was the fact that the villains had a demented personality to them. Whether its characters like Doom-Head, Sex-Head and Sick-Head, they brought a level of the dread that makes the horror in the film feel horrifying. It adds to the film’s disturbing and bloody tone.

“31” is an intense and shocking film from start to finish. If you’re on the fence on getting Rob Zombie’s “31”, get it today as this is the most shocking and gory film that you’ll see this year.

Review Rating: Five Stars.

"Free Fall" Review - Written by Tim Hellman

Low-budget B action flick about the career driven employee of a corrupt L.A. business, who uncovers incriminating company secrets and is hunted by an assassin; in order to silence her. The chase becomes more interesting when she becomes trapped in a company elevator. The film stars Sarah Butler (of 'I SPIT ON YOUR GRAVE' fame), D.B. Sweeney, Ian Gomez and Malcolm McDowell. It was directed by veteran horror movie producer, turned first time feature film director, Malek Akkad and written by Dwayne Alexander Smith. I found the silly thriller to be slightly entertaining but mostly dull and forgettable.

Butler plays Jane Porter, an ambitious young employee of Gault Enterprises. Her boyfriend, Ray (Jayson Blair), wants her to spend less time at work and more time with him; but Jane is obsessed with her job. Her world is thrown upside down when a beloved coworker shows up dead, from an apparent suicide. Jane finds a thumb drive containing secret information about her boss, CEO Thaddeus Gault (McDowell), that most likely got her coworker killed. When another employee, Jane's supervisor Ronald Taft (Gomez), learns of her discovery, he calls in the company's hit-man, Frank (Sweeney), to clean up the mess. Things come to a standstill when Jane gets stuck on an elevator and Frank can't reach her.

The movie is pretty cheesy and filled with laughable suspense and bad acting. It's one saving grace is D.B. Sweeney; he's a delight to watch and he seems to be having a lot of fun playing this psycho killer. McDowell and Gomez are both good too but they're parts are too small. Butler is neither believable or likable, in her role. Most of all the film is just boring and uneventful; it completely lacks any originality or cleverness, at all. It's completely a waste of time; except for when Sweeney is on screen, of course.

Anthony T's #TBT: "Rob Zombie's Halloween"

Hello, this Anthony T. I’ve been writing for Film-Arcade.net since it first launched back in January 2008. Recently, we had to create a new site due to having problems keeping our original web address and our hosting provider ceasing operations.

Throwback Thursday on Film-Arcade.net came about after seeing endless throwback posts on various Facebook Pages. It gave me the idea to post my past reviews and interviews on the site. My earlier reviews weren’t great but I decided to go back and edit my past reviews here to give you a feel what the earlier days of Film-Arcade.net were like for me. I’m starting off with my first review “Rob Zombie’s Halloween”, which was apart my “Reviews from the Horror Chamber” column that I had at the way. Was I ever wrong to think that there would be a sequel to Ron Zombie’s “Halloween", but it happened in 2009.

Repost from January 9th, 2008 with changes from the original review.

For all the bitching I did on Myspace about this remake of John Carpenter’s “Halloween”, which is one of my 50 favorite films of all time. My inevitable review of Halloween (2007) is here. This is Rob Zombie’s revision of John Carpenter’s classic film.

The film focuses on a young kid named Michael Myers, who murders three people including his sister and his mother’s boyfriend (William Forsythe). Sixteen years later, Michael (Tyler Mane) is institutionalized and escapes from a mental hospital. He returns to the town of Haddonfield to stalk a shy teenager who is his younger sister (Scout Taylor-Compton) and her friends (Danielle Harris, Kristina Klebe). Soon his doctor (Malcolm McDowell) tracks him down and must stop his killing spree before he kills the only living family member left. Sherri Moon Zombie (The Devil’s Rejects), Brad Dourif (Child’s Play, The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers) and Danny Trejo (Grindhouse, From Dusk to Dawn), Dee Wallace Stone (The Howling), Richard Lynch (Bad Dreams), Clint Howard (Ice Cream Man), Udo Kier (Shadow of the Vampire) and Sid Haig (The Devil’s Rejects) all co-star in the film.

I sadly take back everything I said about this film pre-release because I really liked this film. Rob Zombie did a very good job with this film, especially the first part of the film where it was mostly a psychological horror film. His screenplay did deliver on the scares and suspense, while adding grindhouse elements that makes it shocking. Michael Myers is also made to be more human like unlike the original film, which helped the film be different from the original. Also I liked how the movie ended abruptly, as there is probably no room for sequel to this reincarnation, which is good.

The acting in this film was very good. Both Malcolm McDowell and Scout Taylor-Compton bought different things to the roles compared to the original. I thought McDowell brought a more sinister look to the Dr. Loomis while Taylor-Compton brought more of an innocent and scared look to Laurie Strode. Another person who surprised me in this project was Sherri Moon Zombie. Besides being the wife of Rob Zombie, who knew that she could act. She really nailed her role down, as Deborah Myers especially with her scenes with young Michael were great.

While this version of “Halloween” was different from the original version of John Carpenter’s “Halloween“(which I still think it’s better than this), Rob Zombie does deliver on the frighten aspects of Michael Myers and his screenplay. Rob Zombie’s “Halloween “will not be a disappointment to those fans that love the original.

Review Rating: Four Stars

Malek Akkard's Directorial Debut "Free Fall" Lands on DVD and Blu-Ray

Anchor Bay Entertainment recently send us over information for their upcoming release on "Free Fall". The upcoming film marks feature directorial debut of Malek Akkad (producer of the Halloween franchise)and stars D.B. Sweeney (Taken 2, Fire in the Sky, the upcoming “To Appomattox” miniseries), Sarah Butler (I Spit On Your Grave, The Demented, Treachery), Ian Gomez (“Cougar Town,” My Big Fat Greek Wedding) and screen legend Malcolm McDowell (A Clockwork Orange, The Artist).

Special features on the DVD and Blu-Ray includes a behind-the-scenes featurette. "Free Fall" hits stores on October 28th.

Just like people, corporations can hold secrets. And for those who uncover them, silence is not only golden, but sometimes it is the difference between life and death. On October 28th, Anchor Bay Entertainment will present the intense suspense thriller Free Fall on Blu-ray™ and DVD. The feature directorial debut of Malek Akkad (producer of the Halloween franchise), Free Fall is a nail-biting journey through the ruthless and potentially deadly corporate jungle. Boasting a stellar cast which includes D.B. Sweeney (Taken 2, Fire in the Sky, the upcoming “To Appomattox” miniseries), Sarah Butler (I Spit On Your Grave, The Demented, Treachery), Ian Gomez (“Cougar Town,” My Big Fat Greek Wedding) and screen legend Malcolm McDowell (A Clockwork Orange, The Artist), Free Fall will do for elevators what Alfred Hitchcock’s Psycho did for showers. The SRP is $26.99 for Blu Ray ™, $22.98 for DVD.

A top executive is killed in an apparent suicide leap from the skyscraper headquarters of Gault Capital. But when the dead man’s loyal protégé Jane Porter (Butler) uncovers some startling criminal evidence, the corporation calls in their “crisis manager” Frank (Sweeney) to silence her forever. Eluding her pursuer, Jane soon finds herself trapped in an elevator between floors on a holiday weekend in a very empty building.

With their cat and mouse game seemingly at check-mate, Jane must summon all her courage and wits to escape. But she soon discovers that surviving a cold-blooded killer may mean a very long drop to the ground floor.

Bonus features on Free Fall Blu-ray™ and DVD includes a behind-the-scenes featurette.