Outpost 1 was really good!
Right. I finally bought the disc of Frankenstein's Army. So... What's it like? Here are my two cents:
First, three words of warning:
a) This was definitely made for the horror/splatter crowd. I don't want to exaggerate; it's not the sickest or bloodiest stuff ever filmed, but with its substantial gross-out factor, is not for the squeamish, either. Luckily, as a veteran of a thousand zombie wars (of the cinematic/literary kind), I am a proud member of the target audience.
b) It's a "found footage" type of film: The story is presented as "period film material" captured by a cameraman accompanying a late-war Soviet recon unit coming to grief at the hands of the Frankensteinian creations. That gimmick may have been fresh and original when The Blair Witch Project came out, but it got old real fast and by now has been well and thoroughly beaten to (un)death. Anyway, the associated shakycam cinematography and artifical "aging/scratching" of the "film material" can be a bit annoying at times.
c) The basic idea is original, but otherwise, there's really not much substance to it. If you are looking for an intricate story, well-scripted mulit-faceted characters, sharp dialogue and a deeper meaning to it all... Well, forget it. (On the other hand, if you are looking for that, a film called Frankenstein's Army was not the best place to search, now was it?)
Having said that, is it still worth watching?
I'll say it is, for two reasons: The minor one being the location. Shot at an old disused mine in the Czech Republic enhanced by some effective set dressing and a very clever use of the existing architecture (like the miners' dressing room - you'll know what I mean when you watch the film), it is big on atmosphere.
The other, major, decisive reason is, of course, the monsters. Alright, I am admittedly a sucker for good creature FX: Give me a decent monster and I can forgive many weaknesses of a film. This one definitely delivers the goods. The film takes a while to get going, but once the creature action starts up in earnest, it just keeps getting better (i.e. sicker) and reaches new levels with almost every new reveal: Those endlessly diverse, truly bizarre Dieselpunk-Nazi-Zombie-Cyborg abominations defy description and truly have to be seen to be believed! (There are many more and much weirder ones than the specimens seen in the stills in post # 1.)
Last edited by HPL2008; 10-01-2013 at 09:10 PM.
I really enjoyed it, good fun, the monsters were fantastic........and the last segment with Dr Frankenstein was really good....
http://www.youtube.com/movie?v=ZmwNfR0W904
You can download it from youtube for £3.49!......
devils of war is another one only twenty times worse, terrible acting, uniform mistakes and just a spark when they fire there weapons which have 2000 round mags, but always cool to see ( cant remember the plot tho )
Well i've just watched Frankensteins army and all i can say is that's an hour and a half of my life i'll never get back, Iron Sky, Dead Snow and Outpost 1 and 2 are top notch films in comparison!...
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