Outrageous found footage creature flick that boasts some absolutely astounding CGI-free creature effects and creature design that's like a steampunk version of Hellraiser. About a Nazi doctor descended from Frankenstein who stitches human flesh to mechanical parts to create brutal killing machines. Fucking loved this movie! The last half hour has to be seen to be believed. It requires some suspension of disbelief, particularly with its found footage conceit, but if you're cool with that, buckle up for a gore-chocked thrill ride.
On Netflix?
Quote from: The Bandit on September 20, 2013, 03:36:41 PM
On Netflix?
No, but you can stream it on Amazon and Vudu for 3 or 4 bucks. I suspect it will end up on Netflix streaming eventually, though.
Whoah
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As stupid as this sounds, it looks awesome from the trailer.
Must.check.it.out.
Quote from: GodShifter on September 23, 2013, 11:42:44 PM
As stupid as this sounds, it looks awesome from the trailer.
Must.check.it.out.
It's both very very stupid and very very awesome!
Now streaming on Netflix, bitches!
So I checked this out on Netflix recently, understand that I avoid most modern movies as a rule, instead preferring 60s-70s European horror, but the concept and trailer intrigued me. There's several glaringly obvious problems that disbelief suspension cannot overcome, primarily everyone speaks English, even though it's "found footage"? The monsters keep assaulting the camera/cameraman, but he never seems to get hurt and he's still filming? Probably a few more problems, I kinda had a hard time following it at times. But! The monsters were great, worth the price of admission alone. In some ways, they reminded me of Bernie Wrightson's Un-men from his Swamp Thing days. Throw in the Nazi angle and you've got a great concept. Don't know why they went with the found footage angle, it's a one trick pony that's long played out. But the monsters were very creative, and at times, humorous(I'm thinking of the little boy). Lots of "holy shit, did I just see that" moments, plenty of gore, if that's your thing, and I admit, it had me glued to the tv once it got rolling. I give it a B-, mostly because of the two problems I mentioned, but the monsters really do raise this to must see status if you're curious about it at all. Again, I'm not a fan of modern horror, but I'm glad I watched this. Gonna recommend this to a couple friends.
Quote from: lftwng4 on April 03, 2014, 07:51:58 PM
So I checked this out on Netflix recently, understand that I avoid most modern movies as a rule, instead preferring 60s-70s European horror, but the concept and trailer intrigued me. There's several glaringly obvious problems that disbelief suspension cannot overcome, primarily everyone speaks English, even though it's "found footage"? The monsters keep assaulting the camera/cameraman, but he never seems to get hurt and he's still filming? Probably a few more problems, I kinda had a hard time following it at times. But! The monsters were great, worth the price of admission alone. In some ways, they reminded me of Bernie Wrightson's Un-men from his Swamp Thing days. Throw in the Nazi angle and you've got a great concept. Don't know why they went with the found footage angle, it's a one trick pony that's long played out. But the monsters were very creative, and at times, humorous(I'm thinking of the little boy). Lots of "holy shit, did I just see that" moments, plenty of gore, if that's your thing, and I admit, it had me glued to the tv once it got rolling. I give it a B-, mostly because of the two problems I mentioned, but the monsters really do raise this to must see status if you're curious about it at all. Again, I'm not a fan of modern horror, but I'm glad I watched this. Gonna recommend this to a couple friends.
Yeah, I agree with all this, with the caveat that I find it easy to suspend disbelief when it comes to this kind of genre entertainment. If the film delivers the thrills, I happily turn into a mindless drooling idiot comfortable with the dumbest of plot twists and concepts. I'm not sure found footage was the best style for this film, but it lends a haunted house immediacy to the final third that really worked for me.
There's an amazing AV Club review where the dude descends into a level of film nerd specificity about the absurdity of the film's concept that is very amusing:
"The soldiers' camera, seen several times, is a Paillard Bolex H16, whose finicky mechanism and delicate construction are unsuited for fieldwork. Furthermore, without an external power source, the camera can't be synchronized with a sound recorder or run for longer than 25 seconds at a time. Pointing out the unlikelihood of a Soviet detachment carrying a Swiss camera is nitpicky when compared to the fact that Frankenstein's Army is in color and widescreen (the former unlikely, the latter technologically impossible) and is set mostly in the dark at a time when film stocks were not very light sensitive, or that the cameraman announces that he's on his last 100-foot roll (about three and a half minutes) half an hour before the end of the movie."
http://www.avclub.com/review/frankensteins-army-100669 (http://www.avclub.com/review/frankensteins-army-100669)
Right. The found footage angle didn't add anything to the story. I can see how it might have been "something" had Dr. Frankenstein grafted the camera to the cameraman at the end of the movie like he said he would, that might have been cause for treating like it's found footage. I thought they went with that angle because it's cheaper to do it that way?
I can even live with everyone speaking English, I suppose, because the movie's strengths are that good that they overcome the weaknesses.
I know this movie was somewhat based on the director's failed attempt to make the movie "Worse Case Scenario" so maybe it was strictly a financial decision to go that route.
I'd love to see what this guy would do if he had a larger budget, if that was the reason for the film's shortcomings. He really did create an atmosphere of dread in the final act. Did not expect that out of something modern.
Everyone speaking English is fine, but for the love of god don't make them have foreign accents.
I think the found footage was a way to keep the viewer's focus away from the cameraman for that one plot twist that comes towards the end of the movie.
All in all an ok film. The monsters were the best part, but you kind of had the feeling they threw everything else together just to showcase the monsters.