New Documentary on Stephen King's Pet Sematary Being Made

I think most horror fans may agree that the film, Pet Sematary, is still one of the most successful adaptations of one of Stephen King's novels ever. Directed by Mary Lambert and released in 1989, this film arguably captures the essence of King's work pretty accurately (the fact that King wrote the screenplay and actually demanded the film to be shot in Maine certainly helped) and to this day remains an effective and enjoyable piece of cinema.

I don't know about you, but that scene where Zelda runs across the room still haunts me! Or when Fred Gwynne's character Jud says, "Sometimes dead is bettah." Or when little Gage says menacingly, "Now I want to play with youuuuuu...." There are so many memorable scenes in this film!

And now, thanks to John Campopiano and Justin White, a full-blown documentary is being made about the film. John and Justin have somehow wrangled almost everybody involved with making the film for on camera interviews. Check out this list!

I don't know about you, but I can't wait to see this. If you want to learn more about the film or follow its progress, I encourage you to check out the documentary's official Facebook page.

In the words of wise old Jud Crandall, "The soil of a man's heart is stonier, Louis. A man grows what he can, and tends it. 'Cause what you buy, is what you own. And what you own...always comes home to you."

Audiobook Review: Ex-Heroes by Peter Clines

The world is changing fast. Some people have developed special abilities that turn them into superheroes almost overnight. But all in all, that's not too bad, right? These new heroes are helping to fight crime and generally, they're making the world a safer place. Unfortunately, there are other changes also taking place.

Continue reading my review of Ex-Heroes over at my book review blog, Words From the Vein, by clicking HERE.

Book Review: The Five by Robert McCammon

I've been a huge fan of Robert McCammon's work for a long, long time, so when his novel The Five was released back in May of 2011, I was quick to order it. I also quickly devoured it, savoring every chapter, every word. It's been a while since I finished it, and I'm finally getting around to reviewing it, so Mr. McCammon, I apologize for the delay.

Let me start by saying The Five is unlike any other story written by Mr. McCammon. This novel is largely grounded in reality, with a slight supernatural angle, if it can even be called that. The events that occur are eye-opening, world-shattering, and oddly-enough at times, touching.

Continue reading my review of The Five over at my book blog, Words From the Vein, by clicking HERE.

Book Review: Niceville by Carsten Stroud

Niceville by Carsten Stroud is an odd little book. Part crime story and part supernatural mystery, Niceville is not your average friendly read - and like Martha Stewart says, that's a good thing.

Continue reading my review of Niceville over at my book blog, Words From the Vein, by clicking HERE.

DVD Review: Barricade

Barricade is a supernatural horror story from WWE Studios, the movie-making portion of World Wrestling Entertainment, but unlike previous films from the studio, this one does not star one of the company's wrestling superstars. Instead of Hornswaggle, Barricade stars Eric McCormack, Jody Thompson, Conner Dwelly, and Ryan Grantham.

Not too shabby of a cabin.

The story focuses on McCormack as the father of two children, who a year after the unexpected death of his wife, decides to take the children to their mother's family's cabin in the woods for a Christmas vacation. On their way there, they stop at the town's gas station where they are supposed to pick up the keys to the cabin from Battlestar Galactica alum, Donnelly Rhodes. Poor old Donnelly Rhodes also happens to be the town's sheriff and as usual, he has a heck of a cough. Through his hackings, he warns McCormack that they are expecting a bitch of a snow storm.

When the family finally gets to the old cabin, it's not too long before they start coughing too. But, they take it in stride; they take a quick look around the house, fire up the Christmas tree, and settle in for a restless night of sleep (in which McCormack thinks he sees his wife's ghost staring through the windows at him). As the movie progresses, everybody starts getting sicker and sicker while becoming more and more afraid of the house. They keep hearing strange noises inside the house and they keep seeing weird shapes outside of it. At one point McCormack has enough and he decides it's time to leave. Sadly, when he ventures outside, he finds his SUV is completely covered with snow and once he gets the driver's door open, he finds it won't start either.

It's cold as a ma-fa out there!

Finally, to protect his children from who-knows-what, McCormack barricades his family inside the home. Strange happenings continue to occur, the children continue getting sicker, and McCormack continues his spiral as he relives his wife's passing through a series of flashbacks.

Old Donnelly Rhodes comes up to the cabin to check on the family and after McCormack opens the door, Old Donnelly Rhodes suffers an accident that is revealed later on. Meanwhile, Rhodes' dependable Chevy is still running outside, but instead of taking his sick children out of the house, McCormack closes the door and proceeds to have more hallucinations. After a time spent running around from room to room, McCormack finds the old man's car keys (even though the car was RUNNING when the old man came to the door) and decides that now he can save his children! Unfortunately, McCormack's character is a moron and as he's driving 65 mph on a snow and ice covered road, he looses control and lands in a snow bank. So, it's back to the house they go.

After this happens, all is revealed and we discover what's been going on and what happened to old man cough-a-lot Donnelly Rhodes. As the credits roll, I give a "meh," and suddenly find myself wanting to clear my throat. Barricade has its moments but they are way too few and far in between. It was well-shot, from a cinematic stance, but the characters were what really brought the movie down. Not the actors, mind you, but the characters. Ultimately, Barricade wasn't that scary and it felt like I was already down this snowy road before. I give it ** out of *****.

Check out the trailer for Barricade below:

Book Review: Rot & Ruin by Jonathan Maberry

My review of Jonathan Maberry's award-winning novel, Rot & Ruin is up over at my book review blog -- Words From the Vein. Check it out by clicking HERE!

Movie Review: Rudyard Kipling's Mark of the Beast

The name Rudyard Kipling has long been connected to a little jungle boy, dancing apes and a big blue bear, but for those who haven't delved into this writings beyond Jungle Book, they might be surprised to discover that old Rudy had a warped mind that he used to write several fantastic horror stories over the course of his life. One of his most popular was Mark of the Beast, and finally, Bloodbath Pictures and Hale Manor bring this tale to life.

Starring Debbie Rochon, Dick Boland, Ellen Muth and a host of Bloodbath regulars, like Phil Hall, Sheri Lynn, Matt Ford and Margaret Rose Champagne, Mark of the Beast is a departure from Bloodbath's previous films as it is played largely straight. The movie follows two people (Rochon and Boland) as they try to deal with saving a friend (Hall) who after defacing a religious shrine becomes cursed by the silver leper who lives in the forest that surrounds their homes. Their fight to survive becomes a life and death struggle for all involved, including the faceless silver leper, and the lengths at which they go to save their friend will not be without its repercussions.

With fantastic creature design and an outstanding, bombastic score, Rudyard Kipling's Mark of the Beast is Bloodbath's most inspired effort to date. Adapted for the screen by Thomas Edward Seymour (who also directed with Jonathan Gorman) and Sheri Lynn, Mark of the Beast effectively combines 70s-style horror with deep-running religious, political and moral themes -- and hey, it has Debbie Rochon in it!

While I'll always love Bloodbath's "Bikini Bloodbath" movies, I am glad to see that the troupe is spreading its wings and embracing tougher, more serious films. Seymour and the rest have a ton of talent to share with us and each film represents significant growth in their film making process, and Mark of the Beast is no different. I give Mark of the Beast ****1/2 out of *****.

Check out the trailer for Rudyard Kipling's Mark of the Beast below:

Movie Review: I Saw The Devil

With the Oscars just a few days away, I have to say that I am very disappointed with this year's top movie considerations. I mean, Moneyball...really? No movie starring Jonah Hill should EVER be in consideration for a top film, let alone him get a nomination. Talk about Hollywood politics! Anyway, since the Academy is a bunch of old blowhard fools with a penchant for stagnant movies, I figured I'd introduce you to THE TRUE BEST FILM of 2011 - I Saw The Devil. This movie is so good, it makes every American-made film from the past year look like crap.

 
I Saw The Devil gets inside your head, burrows deep into your guts and guess what? It lives there for a long time after you've seen it. You'll find yourself thinking about this movie over and over again. You'll have long conversations with your friends about how far someone would go for revenge, whether revenge makes a difference and who's really the one affected by it all.

I Saw The Devil, directed by Kim Ji-woon, follows a young special agent named Soo-hyun who is out for revenge against the psychopath who kidnapped and murdered his pregnant fiancée. As Soo-hyun's obsession and determination grow in intensity, he finds himself getting closer and closer to the edge of the abyss. What develops is a cat and mouse of extremes that doesn't slow up until the credits roll.



Absolutely everything about I Saw The Devil is perfect. Watch it, feel it, experience it and I think you'll agree that it blows away any American-made film of the last five years. I highly recommend I Saw The Devil and give it ***** out of *****!

Book Review: The Devil Stood Up by Christine Dougherty

Hey guys, check out my review of the new book by Christine Dougherty, The Devil Stood Up, over at my book review site Words From The Vein. CLICK HERE!!

Book Review: Seed by Ania Ahlborn

Check out my review of SEED by Ania Ahlborn over at Words From the Vein, Dave's Horror's other site strictly for book reviews. Here's the link:

http://wordsfromthevein.blogspot.com/2011/10/book-review-seed-by-ania-ahlborn.html

Movie Review: Creature

ARGGGHHH!!! Will somebody tell me right now just how this movie made it into theaters?! After seeing the trailer for Creature, I thought, OK, might be a little cheesy but it could be fun. Holy hell, I couldn't have been more wrong!

Terror has teeth?! TERROR HAS TEETH?! ARGGGHHHH! It took so long to see these so-called teeth I stopped caring by the time I did! This movie is an hour and a half of pure crapola. The monster is THE worst thing I've ever seen and the characters just can't die quickly enough for my tastes. Man, everything about this movie sucked, with the exception of Sid Haig, of course. In fact, the three hillbillies, of which Haig is one, are the ONLY things about this move that are half-decent. The twenty-something soon-to-be victims are so cardboard it's ridiculous.

This movie should have been titled, "Creature... That Slowly Stands from a Squat." Because that's ALL this creature does! Every time they show him, he's slowly rising from a squat. Sometimes he has some kind of turtle shell or something on top of him and sometimes he doesn't. What, does he carry that thing around like a cape or something? And that's not even the worst of it. When the creature growls or makes one of its other imposing noises, it does so without moving its mouth! Instead of killing swamp people, this mo-fo could have had a great career as a ventriloquist.

Creature is so bad, it shouldn't even be considered for one of Syfy's Saturday Night movies! In fact, this thing makes some of Syfy's offerings look like freaking Lord of the Rings! It doesn't even fit in the "it's so bad it's good" category. I'm telling you, I haven't been this pissed off after seeing a movie in ages. What a terrible waste of time this movie is. If you have a hankering to see an old back-Bayou killer movie, try Hatchet, or even Venom, as they are far superior to this swampy turd (and that's saying something!).

I give Creature a big fat alligator egg, 0 out of *****.

Check out the trailer for Creature below.

Movie Review: Chawz

If there's one thing I can't get enough of, it's monster movies, but more in particular, Asian monster movies. In recent years, Korean filmmakers have reintroduced us to the beauty of mutant monster movies, something that we here in the U.S. haven't produced successfully since the 50s and 60s. These movies are supposed to be light on scares and big on fun. Case in point, Chawz!

The story follows a young police officer from Seoul who gets transferred to a small rural community, much to his chagrin. After his arrival, the body parts start piling up and the previously peaceful village has now become a haven for death and dismemberment conducted by a renegade mutant boar with a voracious appetite -- for human flesh! Eventually a world-famous hunter is called in, and along with the crazy police force, they set out to kill the beast. The only bad thing is they're completely unprepared for the job.

Written and directed by Shin Jung-Won, Chawz knows not to take itself too seriously and that's a good thing. All throughout the movie, there are laugh-out-loud moments and Korean cinema's trademark crazy characters, like the bumbling police force, the boastful hunter and the wacky female villager, that balance out the film perfectly. And, as you can see in the pic below, the cannibalistic boar doesn't look too bad either.

Is Chawz perfect? No. But it is funny, exciting and a lot of fun to watch. And while it is a monster movie, the allure of Chawz has more to do with the human characters rather than the spectacle of the beast, which also kicks ass by the way. I give Chawz **** out of *****.

Movie Review: Bereavement

Being a lover of director Stevan Mena's Malevolence, I was excited to see his latest film, Bereavement. This film is actually a prequel to Malevolence, which came out back in 2004, which is quite a lengthy span between the films, hence the fact that very little is mentioned about the first film in this one's promotions. While Bereavement works as a stand alone slasher movie for those unfamiliar with Malevolence, having seen it does add to the world in which this one takes place and we get to see how the killer in Malevolence becomes so, well, malevolent.

Bereavement is a very slow burn of a movie and for me, it never really caught fire. It does have plenty of things going for it, however. For starters, the movie has stunning cinematography and aptly creepy music which adds to the thick, heavy atmosphere that permeates the movie. This is a serious horror movie in which the consequences are very real. There are no stupid jokes here to help lighten the mood, folks, this is old school torture horror. There's even violence to children in this film, it's so doggone dark. But, like I said, the consequences are real and the violence is no joke.

My biggest problem with Bereavement is that I just didn't care for any of the characters. Michael Biehn and his entire family just didn't do it for me. I don't know why, but that's the truth of it. So, when things turn from bad to worse, I didn't find myself caring much. I was thinking, "Man, this is a really long movie!"

So, that said, Bereavement is not a completely bad movie, just like it is not a really good movie. It has its good points and its bad. In fact, it's the most middle-of-the-road movie I've seen in a long time. In the end, I give Bereavement **1/2 out of *****.

Movie Review: Spiderhole

Let's start this review off by taking a look at the quote offered on Spiderhole's promo, "If you liked Hostel and Saw, you'll like Spiderhole." Oh those crazy editors, it's supposed to read, "If you like Hostel and Saw's grimy environments, then you MIGHT like Spiderhole."

Spiderhole is about four Brit thirty-something teenagers who are looking for a nice cozy and abandoned place to call home for a while. In other words, they're squatters. They happen upon this one place that seemingly looks perfect, but alas, is anything but. One by one, they're targeted and set upon by some behind-the-scenes madman.

So, these clowns, oh, I mean kids, start looking around the place that's going to be home. For some reason the greasy-haired leader doesn't want to search the place top to bottom, he says he scoped out the joint previously. Then, somebody opens a cabinet and blood-covered clothes and shoes fall out. Queue the "everybody freakout, we gotta get outta here, the leader convinces everybody to chill out and go to sleep" scene. Yeah, I mean, what's so bad about some blood covered clothing, right? Goodnight, see you in the morning. From this point on, Spiderhole starts slipping down the spiderhole.

As they wake up, they discover that somebody barred the door and now, they're trapped inside the building. Nevermind that when the one kid hits a window filled up with bricks that the bricks totally MOVE; he gives up and kicks the wall. Nevermind one girl gets a massive cut on her leg and you have no idea how or when she got it except when she tells the others she got it when looking in some other room she somehow explored while she never left our sight. Then, there's a horrible sequence that looks like segments of film got put together in the wrong sequence during editing. You're literally left asking, "is the killer in front of her or not? No, wait, now she's in a chair, no, now she's removing balusters, wait, wasn't the killer right in front of her a minute ago?"

Spiderhole is a film that had tremendous promise if it was done right, but sadly, it falls flat on its face. The trailer for this thing makes it look awesome, but sadly, it sucks big time. I hope this thing puts the final nail in the sadistic surgeon coffin bit, because it's starting to reek.


Spiderhole only gets * out of *****. Check out the preview below, but don't get caught in its web, this movie is pretty, pretty bad.

Short Film Review: The Water's Edge

If you please, I'm going to ask you to take out a piece of paper and a pencil or some other writing instrument. Now I want you to write down this name - Chris Thomas. Why am I asking you to do this? Because his short film, The Water's Edge, is so frickin' fantastic I have no doubt in the world that you're going to be seeing this kid's name on the big screen very, very soon. In fact, everybody that worked on this thing will have a very successful future in film if I have anything to say about it.

Chris contacted me the other day and asked if I would watch his film and give him a review and man, am I glad he did. The Water's Edge is stark, rife with tension and mesmerizing. The fact that he's just out of film school and this is what he came up with blows me away. Everything about this movie is on target, from the sparse but ever-so-effective sound design to the main character's emotional performance to the cinematography to the editing, everything works beautifully.

According to Chris, The Water's Edge is "set in an alternate vision of the future. Robert Stenuit struggles to survive alone in a dark barren environment while seeking human contact. However, he must avoid the threats that surround him. A visual interpretation of German literary romanticism, with elements of melancholy and the sublime. Influenced by the early sci-fi and horror films."

I can't begin to express just how powerful this short film is. It's a tale of one man's lonesome journey through a land of isolation and hopeful wanting. You see it on Robert's face, you feel it in the slate rock that covers the barren landscape where the only sounds he hears are the blowing wind and the crunching of the slate under his tattered shoes and you know it by sight because it's a feeling we've all felt at one time or another in our lives. 

The Water's Edge is currently playing in select film festivals so if you see it listed, GO SEE IT!! I give The Water's Edge an enthusiastic ***** out of *****. I just can't say how much I loved this film and if there's any justice in the world, we'll see a feature length version of this thing in the near future. Check out the trailer below.





The Water's Edge. Teaser Trailer (2011) from Chris Thomas (CT) on Vimeo.

A Lot of Catching Up to Do

I know I have a lot of catching up to do in terms of recent reviews, so to help save time for the time being, here's a quick run down of a few books and movies that I have recently read or seen, in no particular order:

Books

First, I'm completely hooked on Shana Hammaker's short story series, Twelve Terrifying Tales for 2011. There's not a month that goes by that I'm not waiting patiently for her next tale. Here's where we're at thus far with Shana's work:

Charlie - *****
Border Crossing - *****
North of Forks - *****
Metamorphosis - *****
Souls, Inc. - *****
Teeth: A Fable - *****

Next, here are a few other novels I've recently read:

Dark Fiction by David Kempf - ** - Kempf has a really good premise in this book but the sheer number of seven word sentences tends to make this a laborious read that make sit feel like he's dictating the story rather than letting it flow smoothly.

Ancient Awakening and Ancient Enemies (Volume 2) by Matthew Bryan Laube - ***1/2 and ***1/2 - I love Laube's Ancient series. His stories are fast paced, fun and exciting. They each could have easily gotten four stars if they had been edited a little better. Even still, I can't wait for the next chapter in this exciting tale.

Dead Sea by Brian Keene - **** - What more can I say about Brian Keene? He's awesome and Dead Sea doesn't disappoint on its promise of nasty zombie action.

Abominable by William Meikle - **1/2 - I loved the thought behind Meikle's short story, Abominable, but I really didn't like the narrator of this yarn.

Mister Slaughter by Robert McCammon - ***** - Another brilliant book from Mr. McCammon! In my opinion, one of the best writers working today.

Serial by Jack Kilborn and Jake Crouch - ****1/2 - What a fun, nasty little tale this one is!

Monster by A. Lee Martinez - ***1/2 - This was one of the funniest books I've read since Good Omens. The ending left me a little wanting but it was one heck of a fun ride getting there.

Star Wars: Death Troopers by Joe Schreiber - **** - Zombies in outer space, in the Star Wars universe... what else could an 80s-era teen ask for?

Movies

True Grit (2010) - ****
Paranormal Entity - **
House of Fears - ***
8213: Gacy House - **
Night of the Demons - ***
Suspect Zero - ***
Deadfall Trail - *
Blood Creek - *
Crimson Rivers - ****
Drive Angry - ****
Black Death - ****
Skyline - ***
Prowl - **
Monsters - ****
Pandorum - ***

CD Review: Sins of the Past by The Young Werewolves

First, I want to apologize to The Young Werewolves because they sent me this CD for review a while ago but due to some issues in my life I wasn't able to get the review up until now. Sins of the Past is the third album by the Philadelphia trio and like their previous effort, Cheat the Devil, they have churned out another excellent disc filled with rock-n-rollicking tunes.

To put it simply, Sins of the Past is fast, fun and the ideal CD for any horror-themed party. With songs like Zombie Prom, Twelve Steps to Rock N Roll, Midnight Monster Hop and their own rendition of Rock Lobster, there's no way to stop yourself from hitting the dance floor. They also stay true to their 50's rock inspiration on this album, especially in tunes like In the Shadows, The Dreamtime, Damned if You Dare and Hot Rod Burnin'. But without a doubt, their song Generation Breakdown is the star of this disc.


Sins of the Past sees The Young Werewolves musically maturing and evolving naturally into their prime. The disc is expertly produced, the songs are well written and brilliantly performed. Wolfman Nick Falcon, Jonny Wolf and the lovely Shewolf Dana Kain have produced one fine sounding CD and one of the best rockabilly records in the past year and a half. Great job guys!

Sins of the Past gets the full complement -- ***** out of *****. I just love this record! Pick up a copy and start dancing to the ghoulishly groovy sounds of THE YOUNG WEREWOLVES! AAAROOOOOOOOO!

Book Review: Luminous and Ominous by Noah K. Mullette-Gillman

When I originally read the synopsis of Luminous and Ominous by Noah K. Mullette-Gillman, I must admit I had my doubts. I mean, beautifully colored plants overtaking the planet and bringing on an extinction-level event? It doesn't exactly sound like it would work. But, for a number of reasons, it does!

Luminous and Ominous is a story about a group of friends and the decisions they have to make when it becomes evident that the world is ending. Who do they save when there's only a limited amount of time and space? What items do they take with them? What do they do when the people and the world around them change? Noah K. Mullette-Gillman brings us a very realistic look at these grim realities and that's what sets this story apart and what makes it so special. While the circumstances might be fantastic, the reactions are realistic and that's why this book works so well. You see, Noah never lies to us.

Noah fills his story with believable characters, strong and realistic dialogue (a little heavy on the exclamation points early on in the story, but that's me just picking) and a most interesting alien infestation. From his vivid descriptions of the plant-like invader to its strange and wonderful insects and animal-like hybrids, Luminous and Ominous is a fun read that plays in your mind just like a movie, sort of like a technicolor version of The Road, except this story made a better movie in my mind than film version of The Road actually was.

If you're a fan of horror survival fiction and you're looking for something new and different, you're going to want to read this book. It's unique, refreshing and pretty damn good. I give Luminous and Ominous **** out of *****.

And thanks Noah, here I thought I was the only one who has this sorta weird belief that the end of the world wouldn't be that bad of a thing. Maybe it comes from living in New Jersey. Pick up Luminous and Ominous for your Kindle and read it for yourself.

Short Story Review: Charlie by Shana Hammaker

Charlie is the first short story in Shana Hammaker's short thriller series, Twelve Terrifying Tales for 2011 and let me tell you, you're going to be hearing a lot from Ms. Hammaker if I have anything to do with it because this is one fantastic read! You know, writing a short story is a specific art form all its own and not many writers can accomplish this feat successfully, but so far (and I've read three of Ms. Hammaker's stories thus far) I can tell you that she has it down pat.

First off, I want to thank Ms. Hammaker for writing such a well crafted and thrilling story, but perhaps even more importantly, this thing sparkled off the page with such clarity I was almost caught off guard. Allow me to explain. A few months ago, I bought my first Kindle, and to be honest, I'm addicted to the thing. However, there's one thing that drives me absolutely crazy about the e-book craze -- so many authors are rushing to get their stories out to the public that a little thing called editing is getting thrown to the wayside. Misspelled words, absent periods and terrible grammar have plagued many of the e-books I've read. That is, until I read Shana Hammaker. Shana's stories are professionally written and error-free which is truly refreshing to me. I just wanted to mention this because it tells me she really puts a lot into her work and I, for one, appreciate that.

Anyway, back to Charlie. Charlie focuses on a woman named Alex who finds a corpse in the basement of her newly purchased home. He wasn't there when she closed on the house, but the poor dead guy got there somehow. Now, as if finding the dead guy in your home isn't bad enough, it gets worse when "Charlie," as she eventually names him, starts popping up again and again. Who is Charlie and why does he keep coming back? The answer is going to surprise you.

Shana Hammaker fills her debut story with expertly-crafted characters, gorgeously realistic dialogue and a flurry of fine details other writers wish they were able to create. The fact that she does this in a short story is all the more impressive.

Take my advice and start reading Shana Hammaker's short stories. They're beautifully written, fun and fast, and yeah, a little disturbing, but that's the way I like it! I give Charlie ***** out of *****. Order it from Amazon today, it's under a buck for crying out loud!

Movie Review: Sucker Punch

Has there been a movie with more anticipation than Zak Snyder's Sucker Punch? I mean this movie is going to be like every fanboy's wet dream, right? You've seen the eye catching stills, you've watched the incredible looking trailer dozens of times and now the movie finally arrives and... well, hmmm.

This review is going to be a little different than my usual because I really don't know what to think about this film. I want to like it, I really do, and sometimes I do, but there is so much wrong with the movie that I find myself leaning the other way as well.

For starters, I thought the special effects were a little less special than I was expecting. Zak Snyder is sorta known for his visual prowess and all that but there's nothing here we haven't seen before and to be honest, a lot of these effects look pretty poorly done. The dragon, for one thing, looks far, far worse than say the dragon in Reign of Fire which was made nine frickin' years ago! The three giant Japanese warriors in the film's first battle sequence were also terribly animated. On the other hand, the part with the German steam soldiers was absolutely fantastic.

In the end, this film suffers from too much animation done way too poorly for my tastes. Now don't get me wrong, I like animation to a degree but it should not leave you thinking, "That's lousy CGI," while you're watching it.

As far as the story goes, there's a good premise here but I felt no connection with characters whatsoever. Sure, they were nice to look at, but at the end of the day I wasn't emotionally involved in Sucker Punch at all. It felt like I was just sitting there watching it. I hate to say it, but that's pretty much what I was expecting anyway, after all, Zak Snyder movies are more style than substance and by now we should all know that going in. What I was excited about was that this was going to be an audio and visual assault on the senses and ultimately while it was a spectacle, it was a poorly executed one.

Sadly, Sucker Punch gets **1/2 out of *****.