If there is a rule of thumb for reviewing a movie, or anything actually, it's to be sure to always compare apples to apples.
No sane person would ever compare dinner at a fast food restaurant to say, dinner at Morton's or Del Frisco's. There is just not enough common ground with which a fair comparison could possibly be made.
It's with that rule of thumb in mind that I write this review of the Bizjack Flemco production Atom The Amazing Zombie Killer. I watched this little gem Saturday night, and while it took quite a bit of self-discipline, I did manage to watch the entire movie and stay through the creator's panel too.
Atom The Amazing Zombie Killer falls into the category of Schlock Horror Comedy. Thus, it should be compared and contrasted with films such as Ivan Reitman's early effort, Cannibal Girls, Wayne Berwick's 1983 film Microwave Massacre, Matt Cunningham's Decampitated, and...hell, just about everything made or distributed by Troma.
So the short and sweet review of Atom The Amazing Zombie Killer is: If you loved any of those films or anything that can remotely be described as being of similar ..quality (*ahem* At this time I would like to formally apologize to the word "quality" for it's inclusion in that sentence), then you are going to love this film.
The long and painfully overwrought review of Atom The Amazing Zombie Killer: Four years is a long, long time to spend making a film. The majority of the movies you watch in the theater are filmed in 3, maybe 4 months - post-production might add another month or two depending on the CGI needed.
Atom The Amazing Zombie Killer was filmed over a four year period, and that right there is a testament to the commitment that the creators of this classically bad Horror/Comedy had to this movie.
This movie was obviously a result of a love for the genre that transcends all logic or reason - it's a love that defies definition and is beyond the comprehension of most normal people.
Psychologists of course have a name for it: Obsession.
The lack of production values, the wooden acting, the underwhelming special effects, the sophomoric bathroom humor, and especially the amateur sound and camera work are what make this movie...good.
Good in the context that has been established, that is. It holds it's own against Magma Head quite well, though it takes a beat down from Hollywood Chainsaw Hookers.
The actors in the film ham it up quite well - commendably, in fact. They are not reciting Shakespeare, but what they do with the material at hand is impressive. They play their roles as they should, and for many of the actors, they maintained the realization of their character's particular personality over a four year period - that is incredible, even if the characters are insipid parodies of police officers or used car salesmen.
Of course, with a film of this nature, inside references to the creative teams influences are expected, and this film does not disappoint - hell, Troma's Lloyd Kaufman himself makes a cameo appearance, which has to be the inside reference of all inside references.
Being a schlock Zombie film, graphic scenes featuring as much ridiculously cartoonish blood and gore as possible are shown - ad nauseam. Again, the creative team of Directors Zach Beins and Richard Taylor, along with co-writer Tim Johnson (who also provided incidental music and music supervision), do not disappoint.
Atom The Amazing Zombie Killer was clearly an attempt to not only pay homage to Troma Productions, but is also obviously an attempt to out-Troma Troma, with ludicrous decapitations and disembowlments (no, I did not misspell "disembowelments"...you'll have to watch the movie to understand) and of course superfluous nudity and graphic pantomimed sexual interactions between characters.
Nice try, but no cigar. Troma is still the uncontested champion of the genre. Anyone reading this who does not understand that should pay a visit to YouTube and watch a few of Troma's releases - there are a ton of 'em on YouTube for your viewing pleasure.
Atom The Amazing Zombie Killer does not break any new ground in it's particular genre. It's got all the cliches one expects to see and hear in one of these films - every one of them, right down to the protagonist staring at the camera with bugged out glazed over eyes in the last scene, immediately after his girlfriend makes the obligatory "I'm so glad you're not crazy" comment.
I'm paraphrasing - I don't think that was the exact dialogue, but it was something like it.
There is one fairly racist scene involving a Mexican landscaper, but it's Tarantino-level racism, which I think is now considered acceptable in context.
About the only real criticism I can level at the film or filmmakers is not about the actual film, and it probably is more the responsibility of the Denver Comic Con where the film was screened.
Slap an "R" rating on the film, guys, with an explanation as to why it is rated as such. I myself have zero problems with nudity, sexual content, representations of blood, guts, and brains begin tossed about nonchalantly...even the cartoonishly graphic depiction of a pregnant Zombie giving birth to a Zombie baby (it's in the film-within-the-film) was good for a laugh...but at that very scene was when the father with the pre-teen daughter sitting a row in front of me decided it was time to go...ratings are not censorship, they are a heads up to parents who want to be responsible parents.
Yeah, yeah, I understand your point is to try to gross people out, but having fun at the expense of a parent being responsible is just not fair to the parent. You can say that anybody who is sitting down to view this film should be well aware of what to expect, but no, they would not. You have to give fair warning.
Maybe the DCC should have an "Adult-content film room" that limits attendance to adults or children with a parent/guardian.
Back to the actual film!
On the Shoestring-Budget, Decidedly Amateur, Labors-of-Love Zombie Films scale, I'm going to give Atom The Amazing Zombie Killer a half-eaten thumbs up. It holds it's own as schlock, and does have a great sing-along title song by the Radioactive Chickenheads.
The trenchant enthusiasm of the people who put this film together is admirable. They had an idea, they found a friend with an HD camcorder they could borrow, and they followed through with it to completion - that's better than 99% of the people who ever come up with an idea for a film.
If they stick with film making they no doubt will improve. They'll figure out how to put together a good shooting script, they'll learn scene blocking, the importance of post-production ADR, and maybe gain access to professional equipment and the professionals who know how to use it.
And if film making doesn't pan out they will always be able to find work in marketing, because they have marketing down - any studio would be lucky to have these guys pushing their films.
*I deliberately did not name the actors/actresses who participated in this film - I would feel horrible if I damaged an aspiring thespian's career - sometimes, any publicity is good publicity is not true.
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