The Crazies

Release Date: February 26th, 2010

Genre: Action / Drama / Horror

Stars: Radha Mitchell, Timothy Olyphant, Danielle Panabaker, Joe Anderson

Synopsis: Something mysterious in a small Iowa town is causing some of the locals to lose their minds and become homicidal.  The local sheriff and his deputy head up the quest for answers.

AltAss Rating (On a scale of 1 to 5 asses)

Plot:                                

Delivers the framework nicely for this thrill ride.

Writing:                     

For the most part not noticably bad, but there were a few extremely hokie moments.

Acting:                         

Doesn't kill the picture by any means but it would have greatly enhanced the film greatly to get a lot more talent for the lead roles.

Originality:                 

This is a remake of a 1973 movie of the same name but any movie that boldly calls the morality of the U.S. government and military into question is going against the grain.

Overall:                       

Not a bad little flick.  It will make you jump a little and while the story is overtly dramatic the cause of the incidents in "The Crazies" are highly possible in reality.  Lets hope we don't deal with the problems in the same way if we are ever faced with them.

Bitten

Release Date: July 6th, 2010

Genre: Comedy / Horror

Stars: Jason Mewes, Erica Cox, Richard Fitzpatrick

Synopsis: A young male paramedic finds a beautiful woman in the alley outside his apartment that appears to have been bitten by something and takes her in to nurse her back to health. 

AltAss Ratings (On a scale of 1 to 5 asses)

Plot:                                

Most concepts in these types of movies are not as well thought out and detail oriented as this one.

Writing:                         

Again a much more solid effort than I honestly expected to see here.  The dialogue is sound and the pace is proper.

Acting:                                               

This is the achilles heel of an otherwise well crafted film.  Jason Mewes and Erica Cox are downright dreadful.  Most of their scenes together reminded me of a bad high school play.  What makes things worse is that the supporting cast, led by Richard Fitzpatrick, are so much better than Mewes and Cox it draws even more attention to their poor performances.

Originality:                               

Vampires are very in these days but I did appreciate the attempt at a different idea from the ever present Twilight saga of what a relationship between a vampire and human might look like.

Overall:                       

Tearing my hair out over what could have been if more capable actors had been cast in the lead roles because this film had a lot going for it everywhere else (except the sound track which was one of the worst I've ever heard).

The Laugh Factor

Belly Laughs: 1-3

Chuckles: 6-8