Tooth and Nail

Tooth and Nail is yet another film handling the idea of the majority of the population being killed off and the rest living in a barren wasteland. There are plenty of these films about, and most of them are better than this one as Mark Young's film adds nothing new to the concept and as such is really disappointing. The film does actually benefit from a very well done atmosphere - most of it takes place at night and the director constantly enforces the idea that the central characters are in a hopeless situation. However, the good things about it end there. As mentioned, the film takes place in the future and we focus on a group of people (lead by a college professor) that have holed up in an old abandoned hospital. Of course they plan to rebuild civilisation from the ground up; but their plan hits a stumbling block when they come across another gang of survivors. This gang calls themselves 'The Rovers' and just happen to be cannibals. Naturally, our group find themselves on the menu and have to fight to survive.

Mark Young's screenplay is really weak. The characters are all non-entities and many lines of dialogue are awful, which doesn't exactly help. The film does not feature even nearly enough tension or suspense and spends far too much time focusing on bickering within the central group; which is at times painful since none of the lead actors can act. Even when the film does start to feature a bit more action; it's not well filmed or exciting. Most of the cast is made up of unknown performers, but there are three exceptions, in the form of Robert Carradine, Vinnie Jones and Michael Madsen; who have small and rather ineffective roles. There are a few gory scenes in the film, but nothing to write home about. It's really a shame that the film turned out like this as while there are a lot of post-apocalyptic films about; this type of film can be really well done if handled correctly. The ending is fairly good and the little twist at the end is nice; but overall this is not good horror and represents yet another underwhelming entry in Afterdark's '8 Films to Die For' collection.

I went into this expecting something like Mad Max meets Land of the Dead. It was not as grim as I had hoped. Once you get past the obvious messages about gasoline reliance, it isn't that terrible at all.

While some of the acting isn't the most solid and sometimes stereotypical, overall they way the characters act and cope are done pretty well. There are a few pretty gory moments if that is your thing.

As I said in my summary, it is pretty predictable what will happen, who is the bad and good guys, surprise salvations, etc... However, the one thing that struck me watching it that is atypical for a "people being hunted by crazies" movie is that when someone was taken down, they don't get back up and seem invincible. No machete through the stomach and still kicking butt bad guys, which was a welcome change.

Michael Madsen is a fine actor, even though he's the same guy in every single role, but his association with this mega bomb may finally, have done him in. The dialog in Tooth and Nail is so poorly written, that I was laughing out loud at scenes that were supposed to invoke pathos. The premise of this movie is so stupid, that even an eight year old would find fault in its logic. It's kind of a pity to see guys like Madsen and Jones in a piece of crap like Tooth and Nail and makes you wonder who the hell talked them into it. The only redeeming aspect of this film was the DVD cover design, which was misleading at best. 8 Films to Die For, whose choices included some great, quirky horror in the past, has lost credibility in my book (of the undead of course).

When the world ran out gas, sooner the reserves of supply finished; without power to move machines, preserve and transport food and control the environment, came chaos and anarchy. In the post-apocalyptic Philadelphia, nine survivors led by Professor Darwin (Robert Carradine) live in an abandoned hospital sharing their supplies. When they find a young woman being attacked, they rescue her and bring her to their community. She introduces herself as Neon (Rachel Miner) and is welcomed by Darwin. But sooner they are attacked by violent strangers named Rovers; Darwin vanishes and Neon explains that they are cannibals. The survivors split and during the night, they have to fight to survive.

"Tooth & Nail" is a dark movie about a post-apocalyptic society where the stronger survive. The forgettable story is violent and entertains. My vote is five.

Title (Brazil): "Os Encurralados" ("The Trapped Ones")

In the barren landscape of a post-apocalyptic America, a small group of survivors (largely teenagers/young adults, conveniently) find themselves up against a group of cannibals who kill seemingly at random and who seem to only come out at night.

Good news: Robert Carradine is always watchable in his underused character, and character actors Vinnie Jones and Michael Madsen are fun if completely underutilized. Some nice, messy kills and a few scenes with passable suspense.

Bad News: So much potential, the film tries in it's final minutes to be more clever and intelligent than it is, forgetting the cardinal rule to horror movies in this category: Stay tongue in cheek, stop pretending like the audience hasn't seen this done before...and much better, too.