REC 3: GENESIS (2012) Review

Directed by: Paco Plaza

Starring: Leticia Dolera, Diego Martin, Javier Botet

One thing you need to know before you decide to watch REC 3 is that it is very, very different from the previous two films. I don't consider this a spoiler, I consider it important information because you need to realize that what you're going to see isn't a simple rehash of the first two movies. I've kept myself from reading any reviews so far but I have heard a lot of people complaining about this movie, and most of those complaints seem to be about how different it is. If you really want to watch a franchise where the same movie is rewritten over and over there are plenty of them out there. 

Clara (Dolera) and Koldo (Martin) are celebrating their wedding day. Surrounded by friends and family it will be the happiest day of their lives. Or will it? Of course not, the movie would be pointless if things didn't go horribly wrong. After character introductions, the swapping of vows, some singing, dancing and drunken relatives, the action begins. The outbreak first seen in REC's apartment building is brought out of the dark and into the daylight. During the chaos Clara and Koldo are separated and find themselves fighting for their lives. Will they find each other before it's too late?

Being a wedding, this is the perfect setting for some handheld camera action. But in stark contrast to the previous entries the POV angle is soon discarded and replaced with a more normal style of filming which makes up the majority of the movie. The setting is for the most part the polar opposite of the dark, claustrophobic apartment building seen in the first two REC films. Here we are treated to brightly lit, open spaces with loads of people before darkness eventually falls and we find ourselves in familiar territory.

There's so much more I want to say but I don't want to spoil things for anybody. One thing I will say however is that GENESIS is a slower paced, more emotionally and even humorously charged kind of horror film. Which is not a bad thing by any means. The acting is good and the two leads do a great job. Leticia Dolera definitely stole the show though. Of course the movie does have its negative points too. The main one of these I thought was the loss of some seemingly key characters early on with little explanation.

Another thing you need to keep in mind is that REC 3 takes place before and during the events of the first film, so don't expect a continuation of the original story so much as a fresh perspective on the outbreak. A lot of people are going to hate this movie and a lot are going to love it, I don't see there being any middle ground. Personally I fall into the latter category. I fucking loved it.
If you are interested in seeing the progression of the original story then you'll have to wait until REC 4: APOCALYPSE is released.

FATHER'S DAY (2012) Review

Directed by: Astron-6

Starring: Adam Brooks, Matthew Kennedy, Conor Sweeney

I’d been looking forward to watching FATHER’S DAY ever since I saw the kickass poster art. I’ll admit I was a little worried when I saw the Troma name attached to it but I decided to give it a chance anyway. Turns out that was the right choice because not only is FATHER’S DAY an awesome movie, but I’d even go a step further and say that it is one of the best films I’ve seen, period. The guys at Astron-6 have done an amazing job with this film and I’m definitely looking forward to seeing more from them soon.

Chris Fuchman (or just simply ‘the Fuchman as he’s known) was a prolific rapist, murder and cannibal who preyed exclusively on fathers. His reign of terror was thought to be over but it seems that the Fuchman is back and no father is safe. Twink (Sweeney) is a young male whore who has experienced the terror of the Fuchman when he watched his own father being burned alive in front of him. He’s a person of interest to the police because of his past but he is out to prove his innocence. He runs into a priest (Kennedy) who tries to help Twink via God, but instead they end up trying to find The Fuchman. Father Sullivan is told he needs to seek out a mysterious man named Ahab (Brooks) who is their only chance to defeat the Fuchman for good. Ahab's own father was killed by The Fuchman many years ago and during the attack he himself lost an eye. Father Sullivan finally recruits a reluctant Ahab and then this trio decide to work together to rid the world of the terrible Fuchman. Ahab’s estranged sister Chelsea becomes involved and eventually things just get weirder as they discover that the Fuchman is no ordinary man.

Make no mistake, FATHER’S DAY is no slick big-budget Hollywood production, but it is one hell of a ride and one of the most entertaining pieces of cinema I have seen in years. It has a bit of everything, murder, rape, torture, incest, suicide, buckets of blood all blended with some fantastic humor. This movie is hilarious. It is absolutely absurd but somehow it works because FATHER’S DAY embraces this absurdity and runs with it. To give you an idea there is one scene where Ahab and friends need to sneak past a police detective, so they dress up in women’s clothes and wigs and just stroll right past him. Not only is Ahab sporting a nice thick beard but he also has a picture of an eye taped to his eye-patch. It might sound ridiculous and it is, but somehow it just works. Oh and keep an eye out for the random clip of a bear just thrown in there for seemingly no reason.

Astron-6 has done such a great job with such a small budget and they've thrown in something for everybody. Enough gore for any gorehound out there, plenty of action and humor and also a kickass retro synth soundtrack. The acting won't win any awards but it really doesn't matter. The way the characters play off each other is perfect. And FATHER'S DAY is one of the few modern movies which has successfully pulled off that old school grindhouse style. Very highly recommended.

HELLACIOUS ACRES: THE CASE OF JOHN GLASS (2011) Review

Directed by: Pat Tremblay

Starring: Navin Pratap, Jamie Abrams, Paula Davis

So far most of the Bloody Disgusting Selects films have been pretty decent and so far they have been a bit of a mixed bag. However, HELLACIOUS ACRES is by far the most bizarre release to date. It’s a low-budget (VERY low budget), post-apocalyptic tale which centers around John Glass as he embarks on a mission to fix the Earth’s ruined atmosphere. It involves a lot of walking and a lot of talking and not much else.

John Glass awakens from a long, deep slumber and finds himself in a world which has gone through not only a third world war but also an alien invasion. Consequently the atmosphere is not breathable but luckily John has a special fully-enclosed Power Ranger outfit which allows him to get around just fine. After getting the low-down from the computer-voice in his suit, John discovers that he has been awakened so that he can located certain installations to find codes which will help clear up the atmosphere. He barely remembers anything about his past and has no idea why he has been chosen but nonetheless he puts on his walking shoes and gets going. What follows is a lot (and I mean a LOT) of talking and explaining as he consults his super-suit about how to eat without taking off his suit and other mundane things like that. Along the way he meets other people both hostile and friendly and suffers from an unfortunate run of bad luck all to the soundtrack of some kind of amateur sludge metal. He is pursued by aliens and armed lunatics and it seems that anything that can go wrong does go wrong.

Even though John seems to have a bad case of terrible luck I found it pretty hard to feel sorry for him. I think it’s because he seems to complain about absolutely everything, in fact that’s one of the things that really got on my nerves with this movie. The other thing was the seemingly huge amount of time where nothing happens. And in fact by the time the credits rolled I still felt like nothing important had happened during the whole film. The running time of around an hour and 40 minutes could have been reduced quite a bit to make this a more smooth film but as it is there are a lot of times where it just drags.

And the entire film is shot with this grainy, washed out look which I assume is meant to add to the atmosphere but was probably chosen to help cover the low quality of everything. It's nice that the filmmakers have tried something different but in the end I don't think it quite worked out.

BATTLESHIP (2012) Review

Directed by: Peter Berg

Starring: Taylor Kitsch, Brooklyn Decker, Liam Neeson

Amongst all the many things movies have taught me one is that when it comes to aliens they definitely are out there and we should probably leave them alone because they don't seem to like us at all. INDEPENDENCE DAY, WAR OF THE WORLDS, MARS ATTACKS and many more show advanced intergalactic races to be violent, aggressive and bent on wiping out the human race. BATTLESHIP takes this overused premise and tries to use it quite overtly as a recruiting tool for the US Navy.

Buried in amongst all of the big, sweeping helicopter shots, crisp navy uniforms and shiny destroyers is something you could barely call a plot. Basically us smart humans send a signal out to a so called 'Goldilocks planet' in the hope of finding intelligent life. But what we get back is a small fleet of alien ships which construct an impenetrable dome over a section of ocean off the coast of Hawaii and begin blasting apart ships involved in Naval war games. Obviously somebody has to do something about all this, and that somebody is Alex Hopper (Kitsch), a dropkick who was forced to enrol in the Navy by his brother. Cue a lot of big explosions, gunfire and so on.

Oh and for some reason somebody decided popstar Rihanna would make a great addition to the film. And Liam Neeson (pretty much the only reason I watched this film) only has about 10 minutes of screen time.

I can kind of understand the logic in creating a film based on a classic strategy/boardgame, after all PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN was adapted from a fucking theme park ride and a lot of people seemed to like that. Unfortunately the execution here is terrible and requires you to suspend all logic as a lot of crazy, over the top shit happens on screen. Did you know that you can use a Battleship's anchor to swing it around like it's a car or a bike? Did you know that a decommissioned Battleship which has been turned into a museum can be up and running in about 10 minutes with only a handful of senior citizens at the controls? Or that aliens with advanced enough technology to travel light years can't avoid an orbiting satellite?

There is so much completely illogical and ridiculous crap in this movie that to list it would take days. But the worst is probably the forced tie-in to the classic boardgame itself. Seriously, there is a scene where they have to use a grid to try and work out where the alien ships are and just take pot shots and hope that they hit them. Oh well at least nobody utters the line "you sunk my Battleship!".

And even the recruitment angle is a failure. I would absolutely hate to join the Navy if it means that I have to hang around a group of people as stupid as these. As boring as the boardgame is, I would rather play it for two hours than watch this crap again.

EXIT HUMANITY (2012) Review

Directed by: John Geddes

Starring: Mark Gibson, Adam Seybold, Bill Moseley, Dee Wallace

The zombie film is probably the one subgenre of horror movies which is the most oversaturated and has been done to death (pun intended). Every year zombie films come out and I'd say that around 95% of them are absolute crap. It's nice to see people taking a different approach whether it's comedy (SHAUN OF THE DEAD) or the transition to television (THE WALKING DEAD) but unless you bring something entirely new to the zombie film it will be quickly forgotten and thrown on top of the ever growing pile of shit.

To be honest there has only been one zombie movie in the last decade or so which I have actually enjoyed and that was the Ford brothers' THE DEAD from last year. Fortunately however I can now add EXIT HUMANITY to that very short list because it is fantastic.

Towards the end of the American Civil War there is a zombie outbreak which ravages the human population and two of its victims are the wife and son of Edward Young (Gibson). To fulfil a promise made before his son died, Edward starts on a journey to deliver his ashes to a place which holds special meaning to him. Along his way he meets up with a survivor Isaac (Seybold) who ropes him in to save his sister from the evil General Williams (Moseley) who is experimenting with humans to try and discover a cure for the zombie plague. After rescuing her, Isaac and Edward find a woman named Eve (Wallace) who holds a terrible secret. Edward finally delivers his son's ashes but comes back to find his friends kidnapped by Williams and so he formulates a plan to rescue them.

EXIT HUMANITY is told in the form of a journal which is narrated by Edward's descendant Malcolm Young (voiced by Brian Cox). Brian's voice is perfectly suited for this role and the narration is a nice accompaniment to the visuals. The movie is divided into chapters and interspersed within these chapters is another interesting addition in the form of short animations. 

The cinematography is good and the period setting is really well done, I can imagine only true Civil War enthusiasts would find problems with it. The acting is good with an exceptionally great performance by Mark Gibson in his first lead role. And when taking the small budget into consideration everything is better than you might expect, even the practical effects look nice.

EXIT HUMANITY might not be quite what you'd expect from a zombie film, and as a matter of fact the zombies take a back seat for most of the movie. They act more as a catalyst for the characters' actions rather than being the main focus. The pace is fairly slow but thankfully the running time is short enough for this to be too much of a problem. A nice fresh take on the zombie genre and well worth checking out.

THEY LIVE Hits Blu-ray This November - Pre-order Now!

John Carpenter's classic film is finally getting a well deserved Blu-ray release. Check out the press release below as well as info on how you can pre-order.

Press Release:

“The truth is more than meets the eye. You’ve been listening to their speeches and watching them on TV. They influence our decisions without us knowing it. Think again and the choice is yours! On November 6, 2012, SCREAM FACTORY™ presents John Carpenter’s politically-charged science fiction thriller THEY LIVE Collector’s Edition Blu-ray and DVD. Featuring anamorphic widescreen presentation of this cult classic movie, this special collector’s edition home entertainment release of THEY LIVE boasts a bounty of special bonus content, a collectible cover featuring newly rendered retro-style artwork, a reversible wrap with original theatrical key art and much more! THEY LIVE Collector’s Edition Blu-ray has a suggested retail price of $29.93 and $16.50 for the DVD. Fans and collector’s can pre-order now at ShoutFactory.com and Amazon.com.

Production now underway for extensive and insightful bonus features that include all-new interviews, an audio commentary and archival material. Shout! Factory will announce in-depth bonus features and additional news in next couple months.

Avid John Carpenter fans, movie enthusiasts and collectors please take note: Order this collector’s edition Blu-ray or DVD directly from ShoutFactory.com and receive an exclusive 18”x24” poster featuring the newly commissioned artwork! Less than 500 have been made, so these are only available while supplies last.

Horror master John Carpenter (Halloween, The Thing) directs this heart-pounding thriller in which aliens are systematically gaining control of the Earth by masquerading as humans and lulling the public into submission. Humanity’s last chance lies with a lone drifter who stumbles upon a harrowing discovery — a unique pair of sunglasses that reveals the terrifying and deadly truth.”

Pre-order the DVD or Blu-ray at Shout Factory and pick up an exclusive poster for free!

407 DARK FLIGHT 3D (2012) Review

Directed by: Isara Nadee

Starring: Marsha Wattanapanich, Peter Knight, Patcharee Tubthong

DARK FLIGHT is a horror film from Thailand, something which I haven't experienced much of before. It also happens to be Thailand's first movie to be filmed in stereoscopic 3D. The question I had before viewing was "are they going to exploit the 3D label by having those cheap 'shit flying towards the screen just because it can' scenes? Or are they going to utilize the 3D to add an extra layer of depth? Well it turns out that they decided to do neither. Apart from a couple of short scenes I didn't really see any need for the 3D at all.

DARK FLIGHT follows a rather small group of people travelling on a flight out of Thailand. The group are a varied bunch and include a handful of flight attendants, a dreadlocked backpacker, a clueless girl from Hong Kong, an elderly woman with a fear of flying, a Buddhist monk, a maintenence man and a small family consisting of a bitchy mother, her submissive husband and their daughter - a girl who 'just so happens' to enjoy playing a flight simulator game on her iPad (you can already work out what's going to happen can't you?). There are a few other less important characters as well.

The flight takes off and everything is going fine until a couple of the passengers start seeing strange things. One man has a sudden EXORCIST moment and soon everybody on board realizes that shit just ain't right.

Between the ghosts, hallucinations, possessions and other strange phenomena we don't really get a clear idea of why all of this crap is happening. Then about an hour into the movie one of the flight attendants New (Wattanapanich) escorts us through a brief flashback scene which explains that she was once on a flight where the passengers went berserk and she was the only survivor. Could this be the same plane? Well of course it is! So as shit goes from bad to worse and people start dropping like flies it's up to New, Bank (Knight), Gift (Tubthong) and friends to try and save the day.

DARK FLIGHT follows a fairly simple story but it suffers from some bad pacing and it's not until more than halfway through that we get a clear sense of exactly what's going on. The characters are a bunch of clichés (a super effeminate male flight attendant etc) who spend most of their time whining or screaming or running.
Thankfully the movie at least looks good (well for the most part). The practical effects and ghost designs range from badass to average while the CGI is kind of cheap and nasty. The atmosphere is suitably dark and panicky but alas these positives were not enough to outweigh all of the negatives and so DARK FLIGHT ends up being pretty mediocre indeed.

OUTPOST: BLACK SUN (2012) Review

Directed by: Steve Barker

Starring: Catherine Steadman, Richard Coyle, Clive Russell

I was more than a little disappointed with the first OUTPOST, mainly due to a lot of inconsistencies regarding the Nazi ghost/zombie/super soldiers. I was hoping these problems would be addressed in this sequel but unfortunately they weren't.

Helena (Steadman) is a Nazi hunter to put it simply. She has made it her duty to track down and kill elderly Nazi war criminals who have run and hidden under assumed names. While on a mission to track down a particularly elusive target named Klausener she becomes caught up in a much larger situation. She runs into an acquaintance named Wallace (Coyle) who is looking for a machine built by Klausener. If you've seen the first film then you'll know exactly which machine I'm talking about. If you haven't however then all you need to know is that this machine has the power to create an unstoppable army of Nazi supersoldiers. In other words it's not a very nice machine. Helena and Wallace travel to a bunker where the machine is supposed to be located and run into a group of soldiers who coincidentally are also looking for said machine. Soon they find themselves under attack from these Nazi supersoldiers and desperately need to find the machine and put a stop to it once and for all.

As I mentioned, my biggest gripe with the original OUTPOST was the inconsistencies regarding the enemies. At the beginning they were super stealthy and could teleport through locked doors etc. Then they started for some reason to get really sloppy, setting off tripwires etc. In this sequel I actually found them to be even worse. Instead of being the silent supersoldiers they started off as, they now shamble around making the cliche zombie noises and they don't really try to be stealthy at all. Also they seem to be much easier to kill in this sequel.

On a much more pleasant note, the movie at least does a good job of creating a nice dark, unsettling and claustrophobic atmosphere within the underground bunker. The acting is decent as well but when it comes to the writing I was once again disappointed. It seems that there are too many sub-plots which are merely mentioned and never followed up on. It's as though they tried to cram too much into the movie instead of just focusing on what's important. The tension which the first film had has not been successfully carried over into this sequel and there were only really a few exciting moments. If you loved the original then this is worth a watch but don't expect too much from it.

Lady Gaga Joins MACHETE KILLS Cast

One thing you can't deny about the upcoming MACHETE KILLS is that the cast is very interesting to say the least. And possibly the most interesting addition so far is that of Lady Gaga. Her character 'La Chameleon' has been introduced via this bizarre looking promo pic which you can check out below.

Starring alongside Lady Gaga are Danny Trejo, Alexa Vega, Jessica Alba, Charlie Sheen, Mel Gibson, Sofia Vergara, Edward James Olmos, Michelle Rodriguez, Amber Heard, Zoe Saldana and Demian Bichir.

MACHETE KILLS follows Machete (Danny Trejo), “who’s recruited by the U.S. government to take down a cartel leader and stop an arms dealer (Mel Gibson) from launching a deadly missile. Pic co-stars Demian Bichir and Charlie Sheen as the U.S. president”

SILENT HILL: REVELATION 3D Official Trailer

For those of you looking forward to some more SILENT HILL action on the big screen, it's time to rejoice because the official trailer is finally here! Personally I wasn't a huge fan of the first film however it did have some interesting creature designs so I'll probably give this a go. Are you ready for another trip to SILENT HILL?

SILENT HILL: REVELATION 3D stars Radha Mitchell, Sean Bean, Malcolm McDowell, Carrie-Ann Moss, Adelaide Clemens, Kit Harington, Deborah Kara Unger, Martin Donovan and Heather Marks.
Look for it in theatres October 26th.

Synopsis: “Heather Mason and her father have been on the run, always one step ahead of dangerous forces that she doesn’t fully understand, Now on the eve of her 18th birthday, plagued by horrific nightmares and the disappearance of her father, Heather discovers she’s not who she thinks she is. The revelation leads her deeper into a demonic world that threatens to trap her forever”

ASYLUM BLACKOUT (2012) Review

Directed by: Alexandre Courtes

Starring: Rupert Evans, Dave Legeno, Richard Brake

George (Evans) and his friends are wannabe rockstars. They work in the kitchen of an asylum to scrape together enough money to buy themselves some studio time. Unfortunately while working at said asylum one night, a storm rolls in and knocks out the power. Along with a few orderlies they find themselves in the dark and surrounded by patients who need to be taken back to their rooms until the power is up and running. While escorting the patients to their rooms some major shit goes down and they soon find themselves trapped in an asylum with a horde of violent patients. Not good.

I've always found movies involving crazy people to be a bit lazy. Ridiculous plot points which seemingly happen for no reason can simply be explained by saying "well they're crazy, so anything can happen"

There are a few such moments in ASYLUM BLACKOUT but for the most part it is actually not too bad a film. The first half hour or so helps us to get to know George and his aspiring musician friends as they work their day jobs in the kitchen as well as spending time in the studio and playing gigs. Personally I really couldn't give a single fuck about George and his struggling musical career and I thought this half hour was too long and unnecessary. But when the lights go out and the crazies take over things get much more interesting indeed.
And unfortunately for our musician friends this movie is set in the 80s. No cell phones here.

With the asylum blackout underway and the patients running free, there is plenty of tension, claustrophobia and terror as George and friends try to keep themselves safe. Unfortunately all of this gathered tension is basically flushed right down the toilet once the movie degenerates into gore and torture. Don't get me wrong, I love me some gore but I just don't think this movie should have gone down that path. But even the gore and death scenes are pretty tame compared to a lot of other movies so even gorehounds will likely be disappointed here. Basically the film had two choices; either keep up with the tension or ramp up the gore, but it did neither.

The good news is that ASYLUM BLACKOUT looks great and creates a chilling atmosphere. The darkened corridors lined with half open cell doors are super creepy and the insane screaming and laughing from the patients is downright disturbing. The acting is also solid but the writing is unfortunately not so good.
There is no doubt that you can easily sit down and enjoy ASYLUM BLACKOUT, but it's just disappointing because it could have been so much more.

Ruschelle Dillon BONE SAI Book Review

Today at work I got a paper-cut on my finger, then when I decided I'd rather not get blood all over my keyboard I went to find a band-aid and in the process I banged my leg into the corner of my desk. On my lunch break I spilled coffee on my pants. Under normal circumstances I'd probably consider this a lousy day and I would probably go home and tell my fiancé how terrible it had all been. But after reading BONE SAI, I have decided that I probably need to re-evaluate my view of what a bad day is and also be thankful that nothing bad happened to my genitals...

BONE SAI follows an American on vacation in Japan. The purpose of this vacation however isn't to take advantage of the sights, to sample the local cuisine or to soak up the country's ancient culture but rather because (and I quote) "Asian women are banging hot!"
Unfortunately for our antagonist things don't start off quite the way he hoped. An incident involving a large Japanese woman, hot green tea and a crotch may sound bad enough but what comes next would eclipse even the most seriously scalded nut-sack.
An earthquake rips through the country and a tidal wave follows. A derailed train forces our unlucky American to join a group of people as they make their way on foot towards the closest city. Unfortunately the nearest city happens to be Fukushima where a nuclear meltdown is underway. And somehow, things get worse.
While taking a piss he is bitten on the dick by a zombified ant. But this is not your ordinary, run of the mill zombified ant, this ant has also been irradiated thanks to the nearby reactor meltdown. Soon his penis mutates and takes on a violent life of its own. Can he find a way to stop the flesh eating monster in his trousers before it's too late?

As soon as I read the synopsis for BONE SAI, I was pretty much sold. Anything which combines the words 'zombified', 'mutated', 'flesh eating' and 'penis' is bound to be an enjoyable read. The story is as crude, obscene and ridiculous (and I mean that in a good way) as I expected, but what I didn't expect is just how fucking funny it would be. This was the first time in a long while that a book has made me laugh out loud.
At around 30 or so pages BONE SAI is quite short but it is easy to read and very enjoyable. It's also well worth the modest price tag. I can't wait to see what Ruschelle comes out with next. Highly recommended.

BONE SAI is available only as an eBook. You can purchase it at Black Bed Sheet.

Teaser Poster For GODZILLA

One of the big surprises at Comic-Con was the big GODZILLA reveal. Legendary Pictures stated years ago their intent to do a new GODZILLA film, but since then no real solid info has come out. But that all changed when the audience at Comic-Con was treated not only to this poster but also a juicy teaser clip showing a crumbling metropolis accompanied by a voiceover from J. Robert Oppenheimer and a final quick flash of the creature itself. Unfortunately you can't watch the clip but you can check out the poster below.
Stay tuned for more info regarding synopsis, release date etc.

Official Posters For HERE COMES THE DEVIL

HERE COMES THE DEVIL is the latest offering from director Adrian Garcia Bogliano (COLD SWEAT, PENUMBRA) and is set to be released next year. Check out the two official posters below and for more info don't forget to go to the Dark Skies official Facebook page.

Synopsis: “A married couple loses their children while on a family trip near some caves in Tijuana. The kids eventually reappear without explanation, but it becomes clear that they are not who they used to be, that something terrifying has changed them”

BETWEEN DAYS - BEFORE I SAY GOODBYE Album Review

Last week I reviewed the latest EP from Philadelphia-based band CAPA and now I'm pleased to bring you a review of another EP from another Pennsylvania band. This time it's BETWEEN DAYS, an indie/ambient/rock project from Doylestown headed by Kenny Miller. After two years writing and recording material BETWEEN DAYS released their debut album ALL THE WATER; IT FLOWS OUT TO SEA on Lillian Records.
On June 5th after three months of recording, their second offering BEFORE I SAY GOODBYE was released.

The EP consists of three tracks titled Birth, Life and Death with a total running time of around 15 minutes.
Although there are three separate tracks, the way the run effortlessly into each other without pause makes it seem more like a single song with three distinct phases.
Birth begins softly, introducing muted drums and a nice simple guitar line accompanied by soft piano, synth and most interestingly a spoken word track which seems to consist of some nostalgic conversation. The drums cut out for the beginning of Life before starting back in a little more vigorously followed by some distraught vocals which fall back as the spoken word settles back in.
While not being particularly loud or fast, Death is the most aggressive of the three tracks and also the longest and consists of more vocals, faster drums, synths and is in my opinion the most effective track on this EP.

BEFORE I SAY GOOBDYE is a beautifully crafted piece of ambient rock. I have a feeling the spoken word track has a some deep personal meaning which may be lost on most listeners but still proves how good a medium music can be for conveying emotion. The combination of simple but effective guitar, delicate drums, piano, synth and bass accompanied by the spoken word and vocals makes this a very comfortable and easy to listen to piece of music. The way the three tracks run seamlessly into each other while still remaining individually distinct gives the EP a very definite beginning, middle and end with all three parts working together perfectly. I can easily recommend this if you're into ambient rock, instrumental and other similar genres.

BEFORE I SAY GOODBYE is available to download free via the following links.

http://betweendays.bandcamp.com/

http://soundcloud.com/between-days-pa

01. Birth

02. Life

03. Death

PIRANHA 3DD (2012) Review

Directed by: John Gulager

Starring: Danielle Panabaker, Matt Bush, David Koechner

PIRANHA 3D was quite simply a bad movie but at least it was entertaining and had some semblance of plot. This sequel however is not just bad but terrible, it has the thinnest of plots and unlikeable characters.
Obviously PIRANHA 3DD is not supposed to be some high class horror movie and I understand that, but this movie was completely unnecessary and brought nothing new to the table.

In the aftermath of the Lake Victoria incident in the first film, the once hot tourist destination is now a ghost town. But at least the piranha are gone right? Well no, it seems that they're back and this time they are out to terrorise the newly opened water park The Big Wet. The Big Wet is an adult oriented water park with sleazy tag lines and lots of nude females. Even the lifeguards are strippers! Entrepreneur Chet (Koechner) has poured all of his money into creating this park and he has big plans for its opening day. Unfortunately his stepdaughter Maddy has discovered that there is a real threat that piranhas could get into the water park and create a bloodbath. Chet isn't put off by this though and so goes on with the grand opening. Obviously the piranhas enter the park and everything goes horribly wrong.

PIRANHA 3DD promises 'twice the terror, double the D's' and it certainly delivers on the latter. There are enough wet, bouncing breasts here to make any 14 year old boy jizz in his pants. When it comes to terror however, the movie is seriously lacking and the blood and death scenes are actually a step down from the previous film. Another thing PIRANHA 3DD has tried to add is humor, from Ving Rhames' shotgun prosthetic leg to David Hasselhoff's cameo. Unfortunately all of this is just cheap laughs and quite frankly I didn't find it funny at all. I also fail to see the reason for the movie being presented in 3D, other than to lure teenage boys with the promise of big breasts bouncing around in three dimensions. There were only a couple of real 3D moments and they just seemed cheap and tacked on.