Condemned

I've seen some ridiculously bad movies in the past (some were so bad that they got me pretty angry,) but this isn't one of them. I'm not saying it's good either though.

First thing I'd like to mention: I hear a lot of people comparing this movie to 'REC' and its American remake 'Quarantine'. (One reviewer even went as far to say that it was almost as bad as 'The Sand'; a movie I felt was quite charming and at times admittedly nonsensical, but still good. I digress...) I feel 'Condemned' has more in common with David Cronenberg's deeply disturbing 1975 film, 'Shivers'; that and movies like 'The Driller Killer', 'Street Trash', and almost anything from Troma Entertainment.

The special effects and makeup weren't bad, and I found the bizarre residents and their eventual changes to be amusing (albeit gross). Other than that, the lighting wasn't that great at times, characters, dialogue and scenes needed some more development, and there needed to be some explanation for some of the stuff that happened.

If I could, I'd give this film a 5.5 out of 10. If you're easily squeamish, don't bother watching it. If not and you're into any of the movies I mentioned, you might enjoy seeing it just once.

This movie has a subtle message. Through the grimy pipes, spewing pus and cringing stomachs something stands out. It's not aloof or pretentious but still worthy. "Sapere Aude" says the crimson typeface splattered above the pee stained floor; naivety seeks the all knowing book. Words and thoughts of more than the gruesome torture of the mundane. The grimy existence of outcasts an appealing escape. Stories told through a network of interconnected pipes that echo with the ugliness shown behind closed doors. Teetering on the edge of insanity is the mind left to roam. Running only delays the inevitable. Isolation once sacred becomes helplessness anew. Is not entertainment without art?

Johnny Messner killed it. And that's the best thing i can say about the movie. I guess this movie is a vehicle for Sean Penn's daughter, Dylan Penn.

Shes a blond with a huge rack. And thats the second best thing i can say about the movie.

Dylan plays a spoiled brat from the suburbs that has had enough of her parents domestic arguments.

So she takes the train to NY to meet her loser boyfriend who squats with 3 friends in a condemned building that is occupied by 2 junkies, a Chinese meth cook. Johnny Messner (sexualy humiliating a gimp bodybuilder) a crazy black guy, a Jewish pimp and his black transsexual call girl/boy.

All of these people get exposed to some bad drugs and begin to get sick and from there everybody loses their minds and begin attacking each other

A rich girl, due to the stress of her parents fighting decides to move in with her boyfriend, of which himself, and many others live in this abandoned, condemned apartment building. There are very little things I can laud to, after giving this movie a look. I honestly question what the heck these people ( The entire movie crew ) were thinking when looking at the entire storyline, plot, script, etc. The plot of this movie just completely knocks off "Quarantine" if not, "REC" AS it features the exact same elements of which draws these characters together, but this time presenting it in a more mindless way. The just resolves nothing, and adds little, to no story buildup making the fact that it's completely pointless more obvious than ever. The characters in this film .. seriously? We could literally care less about these given characters. We're given a collection of characters that are either flat out pointlessly disgusting, complete drug addicts, or characters that are literally just thrown in for the scenes of featured gore. The cinematography is just one large mixed bag of offerings, ranging from good, to just plain bad. Some shots were slow, and collective which paid off for the small majority of shots featuring said action we got, on the other hand, straight after that, the cinematography just became atrocious, flailing all over the place, featuring some ugly looking shots, and some shots that were just flat out ridiculous, in all honesty.

To wrap things completely up in a conclusion, here. I honestly have no idea what to say about this movie. This film was almost as bad as another horror film that I honestly couldn't stand, that being "The Sand" and that's saying something. Pointless actions left, and right were made throughout this entire movie, from the film cast, to the actors, even to the fake characters. The characters given were just atrocious, and honestly weren't delivering the supposed comedy in this "Comedy horror". This entire idea of having these characters together was a painfully obvious clone of "REC" and "Quarantine"; It's as if this is one of those films, but in a more stupid way. The acting in this film was just over done, and honestly didn't succeed in keeping the situations they were given. The source of which caused this infection, honestly, was just as mindless as this overall film is. I can honestly only say that a small portion of the cinematography was laudable, same goes for some of the gore here. Although it looked cheap, the gore gave a B movie vibe. Too bad I can't say this was an enjoyable B movie, this film I honestly can't recommend, and honestly. I can say this is one of the worst of 2015.

I believe that Roger Ebert had it right. Evaluate the movie based on how well they made it fit the genre. As such, this one is okay. You need to see more than REC or Quarantine as progenitors. This one involved some New York type filmmakers/actors. They did a very good job on sets, costumes, lighting,etc. I don't look for total character coherence in a flick in which everyone is going mad. Even, before they went mad, they were marginally mad or disturbed to begin with. The movie was pretty well made for a low budget effort. The only thing that looked fake was some of the CGI blood spatter and one projectile vomiting scene. You can also see Johnny Messner playing against type. I didn't realize it was him until I realized that he had almost the same hairdo that he wore in Tears of the Sun.There were also a bunch of faces that look familiar but whose names always escape you.

This movie did not remind me of REC or Quarantine, as much as some say. They were also derivative. Yes, there were many similar elements that appeared in those films and Condemned.But if anything, this story was absolutely most like a New York based film that predated those two.

If you liked Condemned then see Mulberry Street (2006), a film with very close themes and development. This connection jumped to mind after the first few minutes or so of watching Condemned. The writer/star of Mulberry St. is Nick Damici who has a small cameo in Condemned. So see Mulberry St. and if you liked that then watch Stakeland, Damici's take on vampires. In it you will see scenes, sets, and situations that although not wholly original, look like they might be one of the proximate inspirations for The Walking Dead.