Fall Down Dead

I saw this movie today and I am really shocked. this is one of those films that you can't understand how anybody didn't stand and say "hey wait a minute! this is crappy, we can't show this to people". maybe i'm a little bit exaggerating the situation, but maybe i'm not. the story is bad but not the worst. I can consider it OK. screenplay is really bad. acting is so poor that it is difficult for me to find the right word in English (which is not my native language) to describe it. even Udo Kier is bad in this one. during the whole movie, I was all like "what are they doing man? why would a cop do that?!". yep, the film doesn't make sense at all. and I have a few words about audio effects. it's not cool man, it sure is not cool. it is even unethical to use thrilling voices this much. two or three times in the movie, you hear increasing and disturbing voices and it turns out that there was no voice at all. it was just... not the killer. not a rat. not a machine. not the air floating through the corridors. it was just nothing. just an effect right there, occurring in the theater. I think there is a misunderstanding. producers of this film really misunderstood the thrillers they've seen so far.

p.s.: Hitchcock reference was annoying. i am offended as an admirer of Hitchcock's work.

Fall Down Dead (2007)

* 1/2 (out of 4)

Silly horror film about a young woman (Dominique Swain) who witnesses The Picasso Killer (Udo Kier) who has been stalking the city. She's able to get away and call police but there's a rolling blackout sweeping the city so she must stay inside a locked building with a group of other people and of course the killer gets in trying to get rid of them all. FALL DOWN DEAD is yet another in a seemingly endless string of slasher pictures where you get the feeling of deja vu from start to finish. I will say that director Jon Keeyes manages to make the film look very professional and I thought he handled the opening sequence quite well but when you're dealing with a routine screenplay that gives you everything you'd expect and in the order that you'd expect it, there's really nothing anyone could do. The screenplay pretty much goes from A to Z just like you'd expect it to. You know who's going to live. You know who's going to die. You know various twists that's going to happen in the story. You know pretty much everything including how a victim is going to escape the killer and reach her car only to have it not start. It's really too bad that the screenplay goes for the routine and cliché moments from start to finish because I think a rewrite could have made for a better result. Another problem is the story itself, which never really makes too much sense. The police inside this building want to protect the Swain character because she can identify the killer. However, instead of leaving the building and taking her somewhere they decide to just wait around inside the building with the killer instead of leaving and getting her to safety. The excuse given is that the cops want to call a police squad in but after the first two or three people get slaughtered it looks like they'd just leave. Another annoying thing is various scenes that just make you want to jump through the screen and punch the characters. Everyone is fighting for their lives yet it seems each one of them has time to stop what they're doing, talk about marriage, their past and their plans for the future. These moments are just so annoying that you really wonder why no one in the production stood up and asked what was going on. Performances are decent at best with Swain certainly doing the best work here. Kier is also effective in his part as that great voice does wonders. David Carradine appears in one of his many 15-minute cameos that he got after KILL BILL. Even he is featured in a rather stupid sequence where Swain in banging on the office door and screaming for her life. They have her playing terror, the music is that pure thriller mode and yet they have Carradine playing the scene for laughs. It just doesn't add up but then again not much does in this film.

A metropolitan city is in the grip of fear when rolling blackouts bring out a serial killer dubbed The Picasso Killer (Udo Kier).

The only thing that makes this film worth watching is Udo Kier, who is always a treat for horror fans. Besides that, you might enjoy the sex scene or a quick shower scene, but the story itself is completely lame.

At no point does the film explain why he is called the Picasso Killer. Now, you might say, "Well, duh, look at the artwork he creates." But we as the audience know that he is an artist. Do the police know that? If so, it is never established. He carves up his victims, but that hardly makes him unique.

Although this film was made in 2007, it did not receive a DVD release until June 2011. The reason, most likely, is because it is a bit of a stinker. They were lucky to get Image to pick it up. It is nice to see David Carradine again (since he has been dead a few years) but this role is one of his absolute worst. A deaf, forgetful old man? Really? What a waste of an iconic screen legend.

Why does it take place on Christmas Eve? This never ties in the story and I do not even recall seeing so much as a snowflake. Making this a Christmas movie makes even less sense than making "Die Hard" a Christmas movie. And why is it called "Fall Down Dead"? Did anyone fall down dead? No.

Check this out if you need a fix of Udo Kier, otherwise just run for the hills if someone tries to slip this in your DVD player.

In a big American city, the serial killer The Picasso Killer (Udo Kier) is terrorizing the dwellers and the police department does not have lead to find him. The bartender Christie Wallace (Dominique Swain) dreams on moving to the countryside with her six year-old daughter Zoe to have a peaceful life far from the violence of the city.

Late night of Christmas Eve, Christie leaves the Tides Bar where she works and walks back home. In an alley, she sees a woman dying covered on blood and The Picasso Killer sees Christie and chases her. She runs to a commercial building where the night watchman Wade (David Carradine) is reluctant to open the door and does not give credit to Christie. She calls the police and Detectives Stefan Kerchek (Mehmet Günsür) and Lawrence Kellog (R. Keith Harris) attend the call. When Christie tells that she can recognize the infamous serial-killer, there is a blackout, the phones are dead and the detectives cannot call the precinct. They lock the building waiting for reinforcement but sooner they find that The Picasso Killer has broken in the building and their lives are in danger.

The dull and lame "Fall Down Dead" has one of the worst screenplays I have ever seen. The plot begins with the free nudity of the character Marie, performed by Jennifer Alden and that does exist only to show her naked body in the bathroom. Then two experienced detectives and a security guard, all of them armed, are easily subdued by the serial-killer that is unarmed. The self-proclaimed The Picasso Killer tells that Christie would be his Mona Lisa; wouldn't be more appropriate the nickname The Leonardo da Vinci Killer? Last but not the least, Stefan Kerchek is shot three times, stabbed, falls from a significant height and is almost dying; out of the blue, he starts walking as if he would be healed in a laughable situation. My vote is one (awful).

Title (Brazil): "Isolados" ("Isolated")

I just saw it in the premiere here in Istanbul. The movie will come out in Turkey and Romania, it will probably go directly to the video in other countries. It's about a killer who is inspired by paintings and killing for art! Two cops and a few other people are trapped in a building to help him perform his art. The movie has a great cast and they are doing their best to keep the movie watchable, it has an OK story but it has very poor directing. The special effects and the sound effects are awful. The music also doesn't do any good. It worths a rent just for the great cast. If you don't like any of the actors in it, give it a miss.