Serial Killer

I sat and watched this film a few nights ago with my family; every time the female police officer spoke, we couldn't stop laughing - her accent was terrible! This film made us really embarrassed to BE Scottish, the fact that we were represented like this; I think we're capable of solving murder mysteries without the help of Charlie Sheen (and his very poor performance). The dialogue is doctored for an American audience and it ruins any effect for the audience. To quote my dad - "Its just as bad as 'Plan 9 from Outer Space', except its not even funny".

Having watched numerous Charlie Sheen movies, and seen more or less the same type of performances from him in each one, I was not expecting this. Charlie Sheen manages to pull off quite a watchable performance as James Magregor, a weary but hardened cop, who goes to Glasgow for some light relief from his lifestyle...?....The film itself was quite slow, but the choice of location and the addition of a few smaller actors who are barely recognisable from other films, made the look of the film quite arthouse and cult-like compared with most of Sheen's other film work. There is a lot of use of the steady-cam, which at times becomes an annoyance,but it doesn't detract from the film The director really seems to capture the tension and fear in the film, and for a film that was shot entirely in twelve days with a mostly unknown cast, that aint bad. Overall, good thriller with some great support from the excellently cast unknowns! A must see for Sheen fans!

Director Albert Pyun had a long career in dtv b-movies. Reading his bio you see words like "award winning" and a bunch of flowery praise being heaped upon the man. All the "big names" he worked with. The reality is most of the movies he did are cheap & quite bad, but for years the consensus was you had to watch 'Mean Guns' or 'Postmortem' to see the best from him. So here I am.

I guess when the bar is set so low ... when your previous efforts have been so poor there's nowhere to go but up. This is a fairly average hunt for a serial killer flick. The only thing it does to distinguish itself from its genre peers is being set in Scotland. Oh plus and a throwback to Charlie Sheen before his problems blew up in a very public manner playing a guy who's a wreck. Hindsight being 20/20 and such.

McGregor (Sheen) is a divorced American ex-cop, profiler and author laying low in Scotland after seeing too much death. He soaks his days away in booze, advil, cigarettes and takeout food. He's been living there six months and he's estranged from his son. When a dead body turns up outside his house he goes from suspect to helping the local police as the bodies continue to pile up.

There's nothing wrong with 'Postmortem' on a deep level, but it's also lacking in real suspense or solid thrills. Going through the usual story motions in low budget fashion. Ivana Milicevic (Casino Royale) and Pyun regular Michael Halsey play police Inspectors.

Albert Pyun's directing seems to be improving with age. This is a perfectly respectable thriller, a movie that you would hesitate to call "inept" in any way - unless of course you're a personal enemy of Pyun's. However, it's also a bit too long and sluggish, and not as exciting as it should be. It jumps to life only occasionally (mainly in the chase scenes). Charlie Sheen is not very convincing as a boozing, worn-out, depressed yet brilliant writer/ex-detective; he's both too young and too clean-cut for such a role. (*1/2)

If this isn't a warning against substance abuse...Mr. Sheen, who, last time I checked, was officially a movie star, suddenly appears in an Albert Pyun film! Pyun, my new favorite director, seemed to be realizing he might almost have the opportunity to make a "real" film, and directed on his best behavior, ignoring his usual aesthetic choices of incoherent editing and mumbled dialogue for a relatively straightforward (and blah) style. Basically a dull rip-off of silence of the lambs & manhunter & such, although Sheen certainly isn't bad and possesses a star quality that does compel you to watch. The Scottish locations are different, but the film is slow and doesn't capitalize on certain intriguing plot strands. Sheen needs to take a juicy supporting role in a good film and work his way back up. As for Mr. Pyun, a little less steadicam, please!