Résurrection

The plot is a common one: a serial killer obsessed with Christ commits murders to fulfill an unknown fantasy. An unlikeable cop dealing with tragedy struggles through personal issue to try to catch the bad guy. There are several plot twists throughout, not all of which are predictable, the acting is okay, nothing egregiously bad, and the gore was well done and believable. I was enjoying it well enough, glad to have found this film, but a couple of director's decisions at the end really irritated me as they were clumsy and ridiculously improbable. If you can overlook that, it's a solid one-time watch.

We all him as the original Highlander and as Rayden in the first Mortal Kombat film, but Christopher Lambert has been around for awhile and has made a pretty impressive number of films (however the quality of many of them is not that impressive). Though many of his films lack something to be desired he has made some classics and he always brings in a solid "Lambert" performance and every now and then he brings in a performance that even surpasses that. Resurrection happens to be one of those performances.

The film itself is actually quite good and it is a bit of a shame that it did not get a wide release in theaters, but unfortunately Lambert just can't bring 'em in anymore (however he is a staple in the straight to video market). The film is a gritty detective story (so NO SWORDS guys) in the style of SEVEN and re-teams Lambert with his Highlander director, Russell Mulcahy. What is interesting here is that the film is co-written and conceived by Lambert, which I think is a first for him (though I'm not sure). What makes this significant is that, Lambert gets to branch out a little and play a character with a little more depth. Which I'm sure is something he's been longing to do since GREYSTOKE. Another interesting thing about the film is that it has genius/director David Cronenberg acting in a small part as a priest(That's what I'm waiting for, the Crononberg/Lambert, Director/Actor team-up).

The film is well shot and acted. It is suspenseful and even a little more thought provoking than the average suspense/mystery. It has a twist that I believe works pretty well.

Well in other words, the film is good. See it if you can.

This is the type that is made for people who love to see blood and gore.

Similar to "Seven", this film takes place in Chicago as John Prudhomme is on the trail of a serial killer along with his partner, Andy Hollingsworth, who is killing men for their body parts.

I enjoyed the way that the story was told. For example, the killer is killing to resurrect the body of Christ, which I found very interesting because I have not seen it done in film before.

I am not a huge fan of Christopher Lambert; however, this film has proven that I should take a look at more of his movies because he can be a dramatic actor as well as an action star.

I'm glad I saw this movie

I put off watching this movie for a long time, seeing how director Russell Mulcahy has made a number of stinkers over the years, and that actor Christopher Lambert hasn't exactly impressed me with his acting over the same period of time. (The fact that he co-wrote the story of this movie didn't exactly give me much hope.) To be sure, this movie is not perfect. The visual look of the movie is too dark at times, and there is a mysterious fog in many scenes (even indoors) that looks out of place. Some of the clues that Lambert's character uncovers come out of nowhere, seemingly because the screenwriters couldn't figure out how the hero would uncover them at the same time as the audience. The subplot about the hero's loss of his son is eventually forgotten and never brought up again. And Lambert, except for one crying sequence, is pretty stiff and unemotional.

Despite those things, and a few other nitpicks, I still found enough to enjoy in this movie. The atmosphere of the movie is very good, bleak, dark, and horrifying. Murder is shown to be definitely not very pleasant. The progression of the investigation is very easy to follow, unlike some other murder investigation movies. The actor playing the killer is really creepy. And I can't say that at any point I was bored. So if you come across this on cable, give it a try.

Excitable camerawork, snappy editing, unnecessary shots, and musical cues employed for melodramatic effect. A hard-boiled detective who has a troubled personal life and no social skills, paired with a high-strung, wise-cracking partner. A precise and perfect series of clues left behind, leading to incredible sudden realizations on the part of the former detective. Grainy picture quality, employed alongside dark interior lighting with very artistically minded lighting. Director Russell Mulcahy has some very particular ideas about film-making, and alongside some of the scraps in Brad Mirman's screenplay, there are inclusions in 'Resurrection' that rather made me laugh for the effect. Still, it's a suitably enjoyable thriller, flavored with tinges of horror, and does a good job of keeping us watching.

While some of the plot development is simply too neat and tidy for its own good, and some of the choices herein generally are a tad too on the nose, at large there's a lot to like about this. For whatever aspects of this are overdone - there's some sharp intelligence in the narrative and scene writing, building a story that's decidedly grisly and dark. Especially given the biblical implications, one could make definite comparisons to 1995 thriller 'Se7en,' and the same could be said of some of Mulcahy's stylization, too. 'Resurrection' does a great job of building earnest tension and suspense, alongside no small amount of revulsion. I really quite like James McGrath's score, bearing genuine variety and lending atmosphere at many points. The fundamentals of film-making and storytelling, that to an extent come across as just a smidgen Too Much, are reined in and tightened as the runtime advances, actually helping the picture to maintain engagement.

Christopher Lambert is arguably typecast as protagonist John Prudhomme, but he nevertheless gives a fine performance as the determined detective. Leland Orser and Robert Joy, meanwhile, are consistently underappreciated, and both demonstrate it here with charged, spirited performances that make the most of the time they're given on-screen. Even those in still smaller parts do a swell job of helping to move the feature forward, and it's an especial small joy to see David Cronenberg make a brief appearance as Father Rousell. Mulcahy's direction is rather enthusiastic, but not sloppy, and he achieves some fetching shot composition; Mirman's writing occasionally goes a half-step too far, but he nonetheless successfully crafts a gripping, gnarly tableau. The blood and gore look fantastic, as does the set design and decoration generally, and the basic orchestration of every scene is wonderfully well done, including the climax not least of all.

The violence and grim tone certainly means this won't appeal to everyone, and there's maybe nothing so essential about 'Resurrection' so as to demand viewership. Still, despite its flaws, this is much more well made than not, and if I had my doubts at first blush, I was hooked well before the ending rolled around. Recommended especially for fans of the cast or of similar crime thrillers, you don't necessarily need to go out of your way to watch it, but if you come across 'Resurrection,' it's suitably engrossing to deserve two hours of your time.