From the mind of writer and director Giulio De Santi, this Italian film comes under the production company Necrostorm who are well know for their over the top splatter horror. This is certainly no exception. This gore filled B-movie is very uniquely filmed from start to finish in first person perspective, through the eyes of anti-hero Frank Zimosa. It took me a while to get into the jarring perspective but I soon settled in for the ride. Clearly taking its inspiration from the likes of ‘Doom’, this plays out exactly how you would expect a first person shooter video game to, with everything feeling like its building through a multiple level progression to reach the ultimate boss at the end. This is broken up with sections of exposition that feel very much like a video game cut scene would, providing a well crafted pace and flow to the film. Given that this is all filmed in first person perspective really does amplify that feeling of a gaming experience. The practical work in this film is outstanding and is very reminiscent of Peter Jackson's ‘Braindead’. There is a scene early on in a bathroom when our lead removes a knife from his hand, the same hand is then later beaten beyond recognition with a hammer and in both of these scenes I found myself rewinding due to how convincing it was in a film of this level. The blood and gore is certainly plentiful and all looks great, for such a low budget production I was blown away by the standard of quality this film puts on display with its gore. It is over the top and wildly exaggerated, but it is a Splatter film after all. The gore hounds will love it and anyone else will certainly be able to appreciate the creativity gone into producing some genuinely impressive practical work. There is the odd use of CGI blood that does feel slightly out of place in a film like this but it never pulled me out of the experience like obvious CGI can in some films. One of this films biggest downfalls is the voice acting. It is quite possibly some of the worst I think I have heard, the biggest culprit being the lead voiced by Rayner Bourton. Thankfully, he doesn't do much talking after the first 10 minutes so it's easy to ignore. I will say that the voice of the main antagonist, Jorge, by Michael Howe does a great job with his role. He has a very charismatic charm about him. The purpose of his role fits nicely into the film, keeping the plot moving forward and explaining the progression nicely without feeling forced. Given this films very weak and unconvincing opening ten minutes I was unsure whether to continue with it or cut my losses early on. This is the perfect example of why I am a completionist when It comes to films, had I turned this off early on I would have never returned to this film again. I strongly recommend you persevere with because if you do, you will find it really is something worth your time. At only 80 minutes long, just to see the level of creativity that is on display here is enough of a reason to give this film some attention. I have seen the trailer for both sequels and I can see the quality seems to increase in each installment, I’m excited to continue with this franchise and see which direction they choose to take it given how this first film ended.
💀💀💀1/2
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