Postmortem

In "Postmortem", Sheen plays a burnt out ex homicide detective from San Francisco who, while hiding from his past in Scotland and booze, gets caught up in a serial killer mystery. The flick is okay artistically though at times so ponderously morose and dark as to have the appearance of an old Frankenstein flick. Sheen wears out the one serious expression in his repertoire of nuanced visages; taught lipped and frowning. The flick doesn't quite make it over the bar on major plot issues such as the spent cop dealing with demons; the investigation becomes a bit convoluted; and the ending is predictable, anticlimactic, and could have been better. Etc. Nonetheless, "Postmortem" makes for an okay watch for Sheen fans, serial killers, and the idle with an appetite for macabre stuff.

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!

If you don't expect too much from a serial killer thriller, this movie is nice entertainment. Directed by Albert Pyun, better known for trashy made science fiction/action/martial arts movies, it introduces a disillusioned and alcohol-addicted U.S. cop (played by ex-star Charlie Sheen) to a series of brutal girl murders in the Scottish countryside. The film is nothing special, just a cop losing his mind, being suspected of being the murderer, and finally tracking down the real killer and saving the last victim from its fate. The setting is outstanding, with the dark architecture of Scottish cities and the sinister atmosphere of Hammer-Horror-like countryside. Sit back and be thrilled for 105 minutes of nice serial killer entertainment!

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)