Umbrage

Flashy, sexy (bloody) vampire picture. The stylish visuals can't cover for the low substance (and ultra low budget). I'm finding it hard to remember even after a few days of viewing but the ultra-sexy vamp is easy enough to watch though. With a bit more money behind the project it could have been a worthy western, horror.

This film had no point, no real story & rubbish characters. I was unable to watch the whole film due to the fact i fell asleep through lack of anything to keep me awake. How anybody can rate this film any good is beyond me, i rated it 1 because that is the lowest. I am a fan of Vampire films (Blade films, 30 Days of Night) because of the suspense & Vampires but Umbrage was a big disappointment on both counts. I don't understand what genre this fits into Horror, NO, thriller, NO, comedy, NO, a bad joke, YES. DO NOT WASTE YOUR TIME ON A VERY BAD FILM. I really can not think of anything good to say about this film. Don't go down in the woods today because you could bump into some wooden actors disguised as trees & you would not even notice the difference. I hope there is a Umbrage 2, it will be perfect for insomniacs. zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

This was Drew Cullingham's first attempt for a feature. And I must say that he surely knows how to film everything. He did a great job as a director. But he also wrote this flick and that part was a big letdown for me.

It starts as a western were some cowboy is being bitten by a vampire. Then we move on to a family moving in for their first night in their new home. But they have some problems with the child, she's a youngster and things don't go as they should be. And the mother is pregnant again, go figure out the problems that occur. But from then on the movie get's going very slowly and all kind of weird things are happening, sadly not on screen but in the storyline. Suddenly there's a visit from Lilith and a vampire cowboy. Then we go back to the book genesis but in their own way with Lilith. There's just too much blah blah and nonsense filled with some blood here and there and Lilith showing her full blossom tits twice.

Of course I came across this flick due the name Doug Bradley. The name behind pinhead from Hellraiser. I must say that he acted excellent and was believable as did the others. They all performed well but what this flick was trying to be was a Lars Von Trier horror or a Lynch look-a-like. But it just didn't work out that way. And to be honest, in a flick were we don't have any special effects you guess the end credits would be over in a swiffy. It's normal that flicks like Transformers have credits running over 10 minutes but here the credits do run exactly 9 minutes.

I just don't know who i should recommend this blah blah flick. I guess pinhead would turn over in his grave must he be seeing this.

Gore 1/5 Nudity 2/5 Story 2/5 Effects 2/5 Comedy 0/5

If anything than the movie is pretty ambitious. With it's relatively small budget (around 100,000 pounds, according to IMDb) it does try to achieve too much. Unfortunately it's not the scope that makes this movie fail, but the small details.

Watching "Pinhead" (Doug Bradley) from the Hellraiser movies playing a real role is really a treat. Unfortunately though his lines aren't really good. Not that anyone else in the cast gets good lines, but it is even more apparent when you have such a recognizable face. Quite a few story ideas get watered down by that.

Another big disappointment is the fact, that the movie has too many flashbacks and or moments were it seems to stop entirely. There are quite a few ridiculous moments to, where audience members were laughing, although the scene wasn't intended to be funny. Still much effort has gone into this movie and it's the first feature length movie the director has brought out, so maybe we will see something better the next time around. Plus if you have a heart for low budget movies who try hard, but can't quite achieve their goals, then you might quite enjoy this one.

The version I saw, wasn't completely color corrected, but I didn't rate the quality of the colors, I did rate the film. The director and some cast members were at the Frightfest All Nighter in London and did answer quite a few questions. Like how they got Doug Bradley for the movie. Fairly simple, they did send him the script, simple as that.

First things first: this is not a 100 Million Dollar Movie, but that doesn't stop the viewer enjoying the hell out of it. For anyone who wants to see how to make a horror movie on a low budget, but with lashings of atmosphere, tension and style, UMBRAGE is a great place to start. Doug Bradley reveals a side to him we've never seen before (that he is in fact a human being and not a cenobite in real life as i had previously suspected) And for the haters: well, i'd LOVE to see them try and make a movie this effective in the current dire state of UK Film financing. It's much easier to criticise from the comfort of your basement internet den, surrounded by your pristine DVD collection and Forbidden Planet collectibles, than to get off your asses and produce a movie, isn't it? I lay down that challenge to you: GO AND MAKE A MOVIE!!! This film-making team have got all the right moves, and I can't wait to see what they make next...