medusa-41 Reviews

Spacehunter: Adventures in the Forbidden Zone (1983)

Better than a lot of movies currently churned out by Hollywood...

[6/10 · 3 July 2008]

I saw this in July, 2008 for the first time and was surprised by the amount of mechanical devices and vehicles built for this one. And the attention to detail is higher than many modern productions.

A funny thing about making movies in 1983 is your choice of either using miniature models or constructing full scale behemoths. This movie goes for the latter option, which is one of its strengths, almost everything you see is right there and not some blue screened effect or shoddy computer graphics. This investment carries very well still today some 25 years later. It is like watching Road Warrior with all of the bikes, cars and trains and it all looks authentic because its actually there. Speaking of Road Warrior, it must be said that Spacehunter has an apparent look and feel of a post-apocalyptic desert world similar to that of the Mad Max films.

Striking are the interesting locations which are thrown at the viewer at a fast pace where new environments show up around every corner during their hunt in the forbidden zone. While short scenes in themselves, they come together nicely in creating the feel of a good adventure movie reminiscent of the Indiana Jones movies.

Not sure of the budget here, many things look really nice, some space scenes are awful but very, very short. I've mentioned two series of other films in this review, don't expect to find either one of them in Spacehunter, rather expect to find elements of all of them combined.

Dead and Gone (2008)

Different, but not necessarily in a good way...

[3/10 · 30 June 2008]

Watched it on DVD without knowing anything about it, there was no plot synopsis, no rating, nor any comments on IMDb as I inserted this disc on its release date.

Early on it is clear that it is very low budget, I later learned that it was approx. $500,000. The video is of sharp quality but without Hollywoodesque professional lighting. That part might actually please some viewers.

An interesting shamble of actors show up for this one, several B celebrities from various professions who may or may not be known to you. I particularly liked the female law enforcer, mainly because of her looks; but also because of something else in her character. The acting in this film, while unimpressive, is not the problem. The main story is thin and its background story alike, but this isn't the problem either. Many aspects of this movie are found lacking, such as the dialogue, but not lacking enough to make me dislike the film. No, the problems I perceived were about pacing, logic and the lack of ever coming close to being scary. Because that is how I like my horror movies - scary. This one isn't.

I cannot recommend it to anyone in particular, but horror fans like myself will watch this regardless of warnings. So I wish you pleasant viewing. :)