Post by Mr.HoRrOr on Oct 15, 2005 23:09:33 GMT -5
Plot:A group of teenagers who, in an attempt to rescue their friend from an evil corporation, end up releasing a horde of blood thirsty zombies.
Cast:
Aimee-Lynn Chadwick
Peter Coyote
Cory Hardrict
John Keefe
Jana Kramer
My Thoughts:Better than "Return of the Living Dead 3".
Review:"Return of the Living Dead 4:Necropolis" follows the same basic storyline as part three which starred Mindy Clarke and was subsequently a zombie love story gone horribly wrong because of the sinister experiments of one of those pesky evil corporations that seem to be popping up alot in horror movies lately.
But what sets it apart from 3 is that it's the beginning of a two part story which ends with part 5 "Rave to the Grave".It's also much more entertaining,with more likeable characters.The film features your usual good looking bunch of teenagers who are into doing motorcycle stunts and other usual teenage stuff.The group breaks down in typical horror movie fashion.Black guy,smart girl with glasses and pigtails,guy who thinks hes bad ass,lead kid who is being crushed on by wanna be badass guys girlfriend,and foreign kid with a bad accent.Things take a turn for the worse when one of their friends gets injured in a motorcycle accident and ends up taking a one way trip to the hospital...or so he thinks.Rather than being sent to the hospital,hes sent to a secret laboratory to be subjected to the experiments of the lead guys shady uncle, whos not only a mad doctor,but also bent on world domination!Go figure eh? "ROTLD 4" isn't anything new when it comes to the zombie subgenre and it's characters.It follows all of the usual cliches,you can pretty much figure out when a character will bite it and in what order they will die.The plot is rail thin and pretty much seems Saturday morning cartoonish in it's cheesiness and everything is laid out in a way where it's just supposed to get from point A to point B without too much contrivity or backstory.But that doesn't mean the film isn't fun to watch,which it is.It's also extremely gory and very bloody which is a necessity in a zombie movie.We get alot of brutal zombie attacks with the walking dead taking chunks out of the backs of peoples skulls,guts ripped out,and other malicious maulings.The film does try and toss us a new wrinkle with the zombies themselves which comes off more as ridiculous rather than cool or inventive.These zombies along with saying "brains!" alot also throw punches and can be killed when a bullet pierces any part of their bodies.As opposed to the usual zombie disposal system where a bullet to the brain is the one and only method of eliminating them for good.As if this movie couldn't get cheesy enough some terminator like zombies with rapidfire machine guns for hands are thrown in at the end but are taken out with ease.Most likely because they were introed in very late in the movie and by then things were nearing their conclusion."ROTLD 4" is a fun zombie movie with a group of likeable kids in the teenager roles,but lacks the seriousness of the first two movies and even the third which stunk IMO but still didn't purposely shoot for slapstick antics.
Pros:Nasty Looking zombies,likeable characters,moderate/borderline high entertainment factor,oodles of blood,gore and mutilations.
Cons:Cheesy villain with an even cheesier motive.
Overall:Zombie fans should get a kick out of 'ROTLD 4" if they turn their brains (no pun intended) off a bit before watching it.