Happy October and welcome! All 31 days this month, I will be reviewing all the films I watch in the month of October. They’re mostly a selection of horror or suspense films in my own library or films and shows that have been recommended to me.
Please enjoy and leave a comment!
And if you missed any of our past reflections, take a look:
The Phantom of the Opera (1925)
Psycho (1960)
The Haunting (1963)
It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown (1966)
The Other (1972)
The Legend of Hell House (1973)
Young Frankenstein (1974)
The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975)
Halloween (1978)
Alien (1979)
The Shining (1980)
Halloween II (1981)
The Evil Dead (1981)
Halloween III – Season of the Witch (1982)
Ghostbusters (1984)
Teen Wolf (1985)
Aliens (1986)
Big Trouble in Little China (1986)
Predator (1987)
The Monster Squad (1987)
The Witches of Eastwick (1987)
The Lost Boys (1987)
Evil Dead II: Dead By Dawn (1987)
Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers (1988)
They Live (1988)
Beetlejuice (1988)
Halloween 5: The Revenge of Michael Myers (1989)
Ghostbusters II (1989)
Predator 2 (1990)
The Addams Family (1991)
Alien 3 (1992)
Army of Darkness (1992)
The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993)
The Crow (1994)
Halloween: The Curse of Michael Myers (1995)
From Dusk Till Dawn (1996)
Scream (1996)
Alien: Resurrection (1997)
Scream 2 (1997)
Halloween H20: 20 Years Later (1998)
The Sixth Sense (1999)
What Lies Beneath (2000)
Scream 3 (2000)
28 Days Later (2002)
Bubba Ho-Tep (2002)
The Ring (2002)
Halloween: Resurrection (2002)
Identity (2003)
AVP: Alien vs Predator (2004)
Shaun of the Dead (2004)
Snakes on a Plane (2006)
Our next film is…
WATCHING: Alien vs Predator: Requiem (2007)
DIRECTOR: The Brothers Strause who basically made this…and Skyline, a terrible 2010 alien invasion flick. After that, they dropped off the map.
WHAT IS IT?: The ill-fated sequel to the fun AVP: Alien vs Predator (2004).
THE PLOT: Picking up right where the first AVP left off, the dead Predator, “Scar”, had given birth to a new type of Alien-Predator hybrid (dubbed “The Predalien”) which goes nuts aboard the Predator ship and starts killing Predators. After the ship crash-lands on Earth, the PredAlien escapes (along with a slew of Facehuggers the Predators were keeping for research) and begins to wreak havoc in a small Colorado town.
Before his death, one of the Predators sends a distress signal to other Predators throughout the universe, a signal picked up by “Wolf”, a hunter who lands on Earth in order stop the ensuing alien invasion/massacre. But as the invasion and hunt progress towards the point of no return, outside forces threaten to end things once and for all.
WHAT DID CRITICS THINK?: They hated the shit out of this movie, saying that it was far too gory and murky. Empire called it “A candidate for one of the worst films of the year.”
WHAT DID I THINK?: The original “Alien vs. Predator” got a LOT of flack for having a PG-13 rating. Here, the sequel goes all-out, giving fans the R-rating they wanted…and it doesn’t make things better.
While the visual and creature effects are still pretty awesome and the level of violence is right on par with all the films in both the “Alien” and “Predator” franchises, the film is relentlessly dark with shoddy, careless editing and it gets to the point where you can’t see a goddamn thing at times.
The film is also a bit cruel. Did we really have to see a Facehugger go after a child? AND see an alien pop out of that child’s chest? Jesus…the rule of thumb in this series has usually been “Leave the damn kid alone”. And the Predalien…man…it’s an Alien. But also looks like a Predator. And that’s it. It can also impregnate women by grabbing their face and just shoving large eggs down their throats (in a scene that just makes me laugh which I’m sure was totally the reaction the filmmakers wanted) and that just makes batches of aliens at a time.
Directed by The Brothers Strause (who would go on to direct the god-awful “Skyline” and wouldn’t be seen in a director’s chair since), and written by Shane Salerno (“Shaft”, “Ghost Rider”, and the upcoming “Avatar 3”) all the fun of the last film is completely drained from this one. There isn’t one single memorable character here, the plot twists are awful and the ending makes zero sense whatsoever the more you think about it, with a small little nudge-wink at the end for the fans who stuck around to see how this all connects to the rest of the “Alien/Predator” franchise mythos.
Alien vs Predator: Requiem was a colossal miscalculation.
GRADE: D+