Dying God

Having just spent a mostly-happy evening watching it on my laptop, I'm forced to disagree with those who gave Final Spawn such a low rating. James Horan, as the corrupt policeman and protagonist, gave a convincing performance. Despite what one reviewer claimed. The minor players who portrayed leaders of Buenos Aires crime were adequate, and the gore was adequate, too. Sure, the plot was silly but it never lagged, and had this been a straight serial-killer detective movie instead of a horror one, it would have been a medium-fine one. So, generally I agree with Kittysafe's review.

Keeping in mind that this film was made in Argentina and reading lips as I listened, I was fascinated that most of the actors and actresses (except for the one who had been mute since childhood) spoke unaccented American English. Another reviewer referred to poor dubbing; again I beg to disagree. Nor did I find the use of hand-held cameras distracting.

My only real complaint? The poor green Dying God was so Skinny!

It looks like it was shot on a cheap handycam with no lighting talent whatsoever. The monster looked terrible too. The music was good and dialogue clear but otherwise totally uninspiring. Horrible acting and horrible direction. Misty Mundae was a happy bonus. What happened to Lance Henriksen? Not in the slightest bit scary or even interesting.

In a dark and decadent city, corrupt cop Sean Fallon will have to face his own demons to put an end to a series of brutal rapes and murders of the most weirdest kind. With the help of the local pimps, Fallon will go on the hunt for a serial killer...

We have B-movie celebrity Misty Mundae as Mary and genre favorite Lance Henriksen as a wheelchair-bound jerk. And that is about it.

Honestly, I felt like there was something to like about this. Dirty cops, a serial killer and prostitutes... that already makes a good story. The acting was good, as was the location scouting. But for some reason the production value just seemed bad, with the cameras coming across as cheap. And that brought it all down for me...

The monster idea was the best part of the film and what made it watchable.

The film has an interesting idea, but that's pretty much where it ends. The acting and oddity of listening to to a mix of English and French accented English in a South American industrial city is a bit too much. Sort of like watching it filmed in a French Canadian province for a story that's supposed to take place in Brazil. The lack of fit gave it that b-movie/TV quality despite a good soundtrack and believable FX.

The director and caster get responsibility for it. The stereotypical dirty cop, hookers, relationships, cigarettes, and drugs just didn't fit. It all seemed forced. Too many easy fixes that irritated me and took my focus away from the story.

It is extremely rare that I do not finish a movie that I start but this movie was awful. I tried to hang with it but this is not just an ordinary "B" movie. If there was a home for "B" movies, this one would be left out in the cold. The acting was as pitiful as I have ever seen. The male lead forced every word he spoke. If this gentleman had any acting classes it is my guess he did not do very well. I had absolutely no feeling towards his character, a good actor brings you into his role and makes you feel his sorrow and pain. In this case the only pain I felt was in my stomach which was made much better when I turned this waste of film media off.