We took a gander at the 2008 Tak Sakaguchi film Samurai Zombie. It's got a script by Ryuhei Kitamuri, the director of Versus. I liked that movie enough to buy it and you know I've not been that great a friend to modern Japanese cinema of the horror genre. Tak is a stuntman and actor that worked a lot with Kitamuri; playing the lead in Versus and parts in several of his films. He's got a part in SZ but I'm not sure which character he is. This is the second movie he's directed, and he did a good job in some scenes and not so good in others. It's kind of low-budget so the effects are a mixed bag, some CGI and some practical, some good and others not so good. They get the job done for the most part but there isn't anything mind blowing. The movie opens with an annoying family who are on a drive in the country. They hit a figure in white standing in the middle of the road. It's a pretty good stunt and they liked the stunt so much they showed it filmed from three angles, one right after another, just like Jackie Chan used to do. The figure in white rises, with a gun in hand, but before he can start shooting, he's hit by three bullets in the back. The man in white falls, the gun man and his moll take the family hostage, forcing them to drive further into the country. A flat tire forces them to stop. Oh, no, they're in an area of ancient evil. You can tell because their GPS doesn't work. For some reason the dad runs off into the woods and cuts off his own head. There's a sudden release of all the blood in his body in one huge fountain effect. Some samurai zombies are resurrected by the blood seeping into the ground. They shamble about seeking vengeance for a wrong done by some villagers long ago. The family, the gun man, the moll, and some cops fill in for the long dead villagers and they all get their heads stuck on sticks. Ow, huh. Well, everyone but the son, who goes off to join the zombie samurai. Even with all that it's none toogood. Often I am wondering what the script is on about and the poor subtitles don't help either. There's a bit of gore for those that like that and some of the stunts were pretty good. I especially liked the roof fall stunt. The ancient dead samurai zombies look pretty good. That wasn't enuff to keep us from yakkin' during the dull parts. There's nothing much special about it. I wouldn't buy a copy for me.
S.W.A.T. Firefight is the 2011 direct to video sequel to the 2003 Samuel Jackson movie. No one from the first movie is in the sequel. A good SWAT squad leader, Gabriel Macht, is sent to Detroit to certify the group there. He has some conflicts with the group but mostly they get along. They go on some missions and there's a lot of training. The police shrink becomes the romantic interest. Robert Patrick plays a CIA guy who's stalking Kristianna Loken, his ex-girlfriend. Things go wrong in her big scene and she blows out her brains. Robert gets out on bail and goes after the SWAT team. They don't stand much of a chance. Gab has to rescue the shrink from being blown up with the clock ticking down. All pretty much a cookie cutter type action movie with nothing much special going for it. It gets a 5.2 on the IMDb and it's about that average. See it if there isn't much else to watch. I figure I won't need to see it again but I would watch S.W.A.T. again.
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