Town Creek (2009) Reviews

• Started great and then dived into mediocrity

  siderite2012-10-04

  This is a horror movie about a Nazi necromancer, that means he can raise dead things to do his bidding. The actor interpreting the Nazi is Michael Fassbender. The director is Joel Schumacher. Now, with a premise like that, I expected a great movie, especially since I've read a review describing it in very positive words. Instead, I get a slight twist of a typical zombie/monster movie. I was disappointed. What was amazing was how the movie started. Fassbender coming from Germany to the US, doing his nice guy voice (but with a German accent) explaining to a little girl how he can raise the dead, now that he had found a runic stone. Then a lot of detailed action and scenes explaining the story of the paramedic brother of a soldier lost in Iraq. Then suddenly the brother returns, all rags and long hair, asking for help to get guns and shoot people. Then the film turns into the typical "group trapped with a monster and they have to kill him before it kills them" thing. The dichotomy between to two parts of the movie was shocking, like someone did two different films and then spliced them together, and therefore I can't really recommend the movie, except as a well done monster flick. Go in with low expectations and you might enjoy it fully.

  More

• Unusual horror-action-zombie-supernatural film

  fung02010-06-25

  I'm surprised at the lackluster ratings for this one. Joel Schumacher does have a reputation as a bit of a Hollywood hack (based chiefly on the abominable Batman Forever and Batman & Robin), but has actually turned out a surprising number of well-crafted films (Phone Booth, The Client, Flatliners, etc.) Thematically, Blood Creek is a departure even for him, but it's an excellent new spin on the usual horror-by-night formula. Blood Creek starts out looking like a sequel to Texas Chainsaw Massacre (or the similarly named Australian film Wolf Creek). But it quickly veers off, taking us through a Night of the Living Dead zombie scenario, then spinning into the more gruesome supernatural elements of Hellboy. The shifts are somewhat disconcerting, but also highly entertaining. In hindsight, all the elements do hang together, so you won't feel cheated on a logical level. No, this isn't a 'classic' film in any sense. But it's got good performances, excellent visual design, all the blood and gore you could ask for, and a whole bunch of solid action that could almost make a film on its own. I enjoyed the weird mix from end to end, and I can't see why any horror aficionado wouldn't.

  More

• 'Blood Creek'

  Ence19812009-09-20

  Not sure how a filmmaker as prolific as Joel "Lost Boys" Schumacher could make his return, in essence, to the vampire horror subgenre only to find his finished product, "Blood Creek," tossed into second-run theaters in a handful of locations with virtually no heads up to the popluace. (As of this writing, the IMDb listing is still "Town Creek," and not "Blood Creek.") Lionsgate apparently thought they had a marketing nightmare on their hands... which may indeed be the case. This imperfect yet original thriller deals with such batshit insane subject matter as undead Nazis, demonic horses, Viking runestones, suits of bone armor, human sacrifice, and the beginning of an occult war that Germany began back in the 1930s. So okay, perhaps it's easy to see, at least on the surface, why this might have been a hard sell. It's just too bad most horror fans won't get a chance to see this one-of-a-kind original in the wake of so many remakes, reboots, and sequels. At least somebody had their thinking cap on when conceiving this thing... or at the very least were taking some heavy duty crazy pills. I mean, did I mention that a Nazi "vampire" (for lack of a better word) possesses a horse that nearly kills our protagonists like some kind of man-eating beast? Or that he later hammers a hole in his forehead before tearing off his face and growing a third eye? WTF?! True, "Blood Creek" isn't for everyone, which probably explains why it will find its audience primarily on the DVD circuit even had its release not been as top secret as Germany's occult activities during WWII. The concept is so insane, so bereft of screaming teenagers, so utterly lacking in irony despite the absolute insanity splashed upon the screen, it's bound to turn a lot of viewers off. To make matters worse, a tedious black and white prologue complete with unnecessary voice-over stains the beginning of the film, hinting too much at the later goings-on when it would have been more fun to learn the truth as the film surges forward. This seems like a studio afterthought, tacked on gracelessly before an otherwise inspired and fast-moving siege flick. If you want a fresh take on "vampires" and aren't yet tired of evil Germans circa 2009, this promotionless horror flick should fit the bill despite its issues. Once the pace kicks up, it never relents, and the mythology it creates is interesting albeit completely daft. What's here certainly falls into the "Night of the Living Dead" formula (a house under siege by supernatural forces), but with an off-the-reservation twist. Check it out... if you can find it.

  More

• Went in with low expectations, got my $1s worth and then some

  pipecock2009-09-24

  I hadn't heard anything about this movie prior to today, but checking IMDb to see what the local cheap theater had to offer came up with this. Having no desire to see anything else that was playing, my wife and I decided to drop a couple bucks on it and we were not disappointed. In general, I am not a fan of WW2, Holocaust, or Nazi related films simply due to the obvious nature of nearly every plot line related to them. Even Inglorious Basterds irritated me because of this. Thankfully, Blood Creek takes itself not very seriously and throws in lots of other random plot devices (Viking runes, zombies, the occult, the war in Iraq, etc.) that make little to no sense but serve the film well. If you like crappy modern B style horror films (I saw another commenter mention Drag Me To Hell, which I also enjoyed more than just about any other "big" release I've seen this year), then you can't really go wrong here. Iffy acting, senseless plot, and bad CGI are not enough to defeat the high entertainment value of this fast-paced flick. If I had expectations for this, or had I paid $10 to see it, I would probably be pretty irritated. But if you can catch it at your cheapo second run theater, I can think of far worse ways to spend an hour and a half.

  More

• Guess who's coming to dinner

  kosmasp2010-10-19

  Joel Schumacher seems to have fallen. I didn't expect him to be doing low budget Horror thrillers anyway. But then again, the guy knows a bit about filmmaking, so this movie is pretty solid (and has a very good cast, not only Mr. Fassbender). While it seems uncertain and not tonally correct at times, has a few script flaws here and there, it does flow quite nicely (if you let it and you're not interrupting it with questions that is). The story is kinda nice, the ending more or less predictable. Some nice scenes of gore and suspense. I guess if you don't have high expectation, it's the best way to watch the movie.

  More