I wasn't intending on writing anything tonight, but, hey, the Browns are on television right now, and I don't need to pay that much attention to them.
So, Messiah of Evil. I'd never heard of this film before Friday night. After watching it, I understand why. It's not a bad film by any means, but for a movie about a town full of zombies, it's monstrously (heh) slow paced. The plot is pretty simple - a young woman heads to a small seaside town to check in on her father, who's gone missing. While there, she meets a guy and his two female traveling companions. Then you find out that the entire town is made up of zombies.
The problem with the movie, is that the people who made it had no money to spend. So in order to be effective it had to rely on acting and atmosphere. And, to be fair, there are two solid set pieces where people are attacked by the zombies. The first is in a grocery store, and it's effective because the store is well-lit, and there's still no escape for the victim. The second is in a movie theater. And it builds just like the scene in The Birds, as moviegoers slowly enter the theater surrounding their unsuspecting prey. But that's all you get. The rest of the movie moves at a glacial pace. Scenes extend for no real reason. The dialogue is uninvolving. And most of the actors are uninspiring.
Except for Michael Greer. He plays the guy with the two companions. I can't really explain it, but every time he talks, he commands the screen. Yet, every time he's just on screen, with no dialogue, he's just a lump. I've never seen anything like it.
So, let's just call this an interesting failure. I'm happy to have seen it, because my early seventies horror knowledge is sorely lacking. But once is easily enough.
**
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