Horrorvision

It started off on the right foot. Full Moon movies are notoriously bad but this 'lunar edition' dvd had an interesting plot, solid direction and some good performances. But just when you thought the movie was really taking off it ended. It's like they decided not to spend anymore money and that was that. Or maybe they figured that because of all of the extra features which can now be dumped on the dvd format you only need a little over 70 minutes for the actual movie. This saves money and to cover it up you can add a lot of cheap slop under the guise that you're giving the collector more for his buck. Whatever. Wait until Horrorvision 2 comes out and maybe coupled with the first one you'll be able to see an entire movie.

When I got my copy of Horrorvision, I was suspecting that no movie can be this bad. Covers were pretty nice, but I had read here and elsewhere, that the movie is just awful. I was wrong. Even though, Horrorvision isn't a masterpiece, and it's pretty cheaply made, it has some atmosphere, especially at the ending, that turned out to be very apocalyptic. And I think that's the whole point of the movie, like one of the main characters say at the ending, "Future is now." Still I have seen much better movies that deals with same kind of things. So, not among best apocalyptic movies, but certainly not among the worst ones either. I would give this Full Moon -flick 2½ out of 5

I thought this looked interesting from the first time I saw it at Hollywood Video, although I have no idea why. I mean, if you just look at it, it looks like any other direct-to-video release and one with a pretty cheesy title at that. But, for better or worse, it kept tugging on my "check this out" senses, so when I was at the Horrorfind convention and not only had a chance to get it, but also had a chance to get it signed by Brinke Stevens herself, I couldn't resist. So now that I've seen it what do I think? Well, it was okay, but it could have been a lot better.

The story started out pretty predictably. In fact, the whole movie was pretty predictable. Another thing was that there was no sense of closure. It was left hanging wide open for a sequel. And if no sequel gets made, then "Horrorvision" will turn out to be a pretty pointless movie, you know, like the new "Planet of the Apes". It did have a nice 'end of the world' feel to it, which was cool (kinda like "Maximum Overdrive" in a way). Other than that, there weren't really any highlights in the story. Except for a few "Star Wars" references near the end. Must love those "Star Wars" references.

The acting was decent for a low budget, Full Moon production. There were a couple Full Moon regulars, a few total newbies, and, of course, Brinke Stevens. Brinke had a pretty cool part, but she wasn't around very long (that's what happens when you have 'Special Appearance by' in front of your name). The lead, Jake Leonard, was a little bit of an over-actor, but he did pretty well considering this was his first flick. Another relative newcomer that I liked was Maggie Rose Fleck, but, like Brinke, her part wasn't that big.

The make-up was done pretty well. There was one creepy-looking guy with a bunch of computer stuff on him. The other forms of special effects were pretty cheesy. Little puppet thingies on strings and quite a lot of really bad computer graphic effects. But, hey, this is Full Moon, king of the really bad computer graphic effects. One thing in the flick that I thought was pretty cool was the music. It was some weird 'electro-rock' type stuff and it fit with the movie pretty well.

Do I regret buying or watching this flick? Nope. Will I watch it again? Maybe. Anytime soon? Probably not. If you're a fan of cheesy Full Moon direct-to-video flicks with no closure or a die-hard Brinke Stevens fanatic, check it out.

Actually, it's the Matrix without the budget, the actors, the script, the music, the special effects, the choreography...well, you get the idea. It's also a little bit of Videodrome-style evolutionary musings and S&M thrown in for good measure.

That's not to say it's a total waste of money. On the contrary, this really is one of the better Full Moon Films out there. The creatures are fairly well-done, especially the cyborg-moderator Wetwire, although the puppet-animations are hilarious...sometimes creatures seem to be thrown at the actors and the final monster looks like a costume I used to wear during Halloween promotions at the local costume shop.

Still, there are worse movies to rip off than the Matrix--and this movie is pretty blatant about it. Bradbury is an intimidating-looking black guy in shades wearing a leather trench-coat (his is sleeveless so we won't forget we're watching HorrorVision) who teaches awkward young white hacker Dez that he is the promised one--um, make that seven--who the machines fear will end their reign on Earth. I kept waiting for everybody to start popping red and blue pills...

Still, the ideas are clever, if vague, and the apocalyptic feel of a world slowly going mad somehow manages to work, despite being shown almost no images of the chaos we're told is erupting around the country. The Wetwire sequence alone is almost creepy enough to warrent a rental, and there are some other nice touches in the film.

But, as has been pointed out before, the movie ends just when the plot really starts to pick up. Furthermore, the pacing in this movie is bizarre--twenty minutes are spent on dramatic character development, then Bradbury appears and the heroes suddenly find themselves in a scene that should have been the film's climax, and then they spend the rest of the movie driving through a desert to a battle that seems to have little consequence to the plot, and isn't nearly as impressive as some of the things seen earlier.

It's still worth seeing, mainly for the Wetwire sequence--you'll see what I mean when you watch it, and some self-aware humor that lets us know that the movie-makers aren't taking all this too seriously either. It really is one of the best Full Moon movies out there: it's just that, as of yet, that's not saying much...

A science fiction film is often one of the most expensive types of films to make, especially as the science in our own era gets more and more advanced. No longer are viewers impressed by cardboard and plastic cutouts with shining buttons. Now, audiences desire heart-stopping slow motion effects, intricate designs, and costly CGI (computer graphics). Perhaps even more difficult than a science fiction film is a science fiction/horror film, because not only must the technology be conceived and impressive, it also must be believable as frightening, deadly, and evil or aiding an evil force. Can Full Moon's 2000 release "Horrorvision", a science fiction/horror film made for "the Matrix's coffee budget", be believable without a big budget and a lot of special effects? Although it has a strong story, and (as usual) wrings an amazing amount of effects from its low budget, "Horrovision" is unfortunately just too ambitious for Full Moon.

"Horrorvision" definitely has a strong story and plot. Instead of featuring a true physical entity as its technological nemesis, the film features a techno-spiritual being, a god-like manifestation of all the hate that is allowed to be spread over the internet (known, fittingly, as Manifesto). Though Manifesto has physical outlets, it is essentially indestructible because it can live and act within any piece of computer technology. The story also benefits greatly from being set in an urban, underground "geek is chic" type circle, with uber-cool, leather-clad programmers/hackers as its lead roles. Despite sharing general appearance and character types with contemporaries in films such as "Hackers" and "The Matrix", the leads in "Horrorvision" act and relate to each other like real people (e.g. Dazzy constantly tries to encourage Dez to follow his aspirations of writing a screenplay, but he'd rather make porn sites because it pays the rent). Though sometimes the plot moves a bit fast, it's well paced until the last 10 minutes where, because of the short length, it becomes extremely rushed. As soon as Dez and his mysterious ally Bradbury get their first leads, the film kicks into high gear, with a series of short, anti-climactic confrontations with the "main villains" Wetwall and Manifesto (the Manifesto one, being the film's climax, immensely disappointing) as the film just ends. Interestingly enough, there were several unnecessary music video sequences in the movie that could've been easily cut to save time and fix the pace problems near the end (combined the sequences must have eaten up around 10 minutes of screen time in an 80 minute movie), and it's a wonder why they were left in.

Although "Horrorvision" doesn't have a ton of awe-inspiring effects like its bigger-budget contemporaries, coming from a label as accustomed to low budgets as Full Moon, there is a lot wrung out of the budget. Particularly impressive are the cyber-bug creatures and the Wetwall machine/man (that whole set is amazing). The full-body suit of Manifesto is well-detailed, but the design looks just as goofy as it does sleek. Unlike the practical effects and costumes, the computer effects still aren't up to par. CGI has just not advanced to the point where it can be used effectively by low-budget film-makers yet (although for a neat little flashback of how far it has advanced, check out the footage from the 1994 Full Moon release "Arcade" that Dez watches on a hotel TV).

On the whole, "Horrorvision" is just too much for a Full Moon picture. The story is involving, and definitely requires much more than the hour and a half length that a Full Moon picture is limited by budget to be, not to mention the super-expensive CGI and other special effects it requires and can never get; Danny Draven definitely shows his talents as an up-and-coming director on this one, unfortunately he has too great of a vision for the low budget. The plot and concept are just too involved, and by the end too rushed (of course, this can be blamed on the time lost on the useless music video sequences previously mentioned), such that it seems like a work-in-progress that will never be finished.