“We’re as close as we’ve ever been to making it happen but it’s still not a guaranteed thing,” he says. “Right now, the idea has no first person in it at all, but we’ll see. There’s always room for new ideas to come in. The plan is to have them [ Heather Donahue, Joshua Leonard and Michael C. Williams] back. They’re probably not going to be the main characters but they’re definitely characters in the sequel.”

Sounds cool, and Sanchez noted to the source, that while he likes Blair Witch 2: Book of Shadows, it wasn’t the proper sequel it needed to be. Thoughts?

Apollo 18 is a stunning docudrama, which nudges itself in the propaganda of the 1960s optimism of the unknown frontier, using extreme attention to details, creating a “lost” look at the real reason we never went back to the moon. Director Gonzalo Lopez-Gallego uses the blackness of space and the small quarters of the station to create maximum tension and claustrophobia. Using the conventions of the “found footage” genre to its advantage, Lopez-Gallego freshens up the sub-genre. Sound is key, as it is in Paranormal Activity or Blair Witch (who are the grand-dads of the genre still), but since the equipment and the lunar location are still foreign to the audience, and easily creates a position of unrest.

Make no mistake, if you’re not in tune with the “found footage” aspect, then the film won’t work. Your loss. Apollo 18 is stunningly real, harrowing, and creepy. The scares might be minimal, since the film’s pace is set to break-neck speed leaving little build-up for suspense and then the pay off, but I’ll happily sacrifice this for the immense claustrophobia. Apollo 18 is an imaginative take on a genre far too reliant on ghosts and zombies. If you want chills, Apollo 18 is your hair-raising answer. Look to the stars, and be thankful you’re only on Earth.

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

The Film:

As apart of the newly founded Bloody-Disgusting Selects label, an outfit seeking cool, niche horror films, and giving them the proper treatment for theater, VOD, and DVD play, YellowBrickRoad is an interesting, flawed excursion into the woods, with the Wizard of Oz reference not lost on viewers. What it lacks in a proper gut-punched that was needed badly, it makes up for in tone and mystery, and we always fear what we do not know.

70 years after a town in New Hampshire mysteriously had its residents found dead and some even disappearing all together, a research crew has meticulously planned an expedition to retrace their steps, as well as document this legend. Foregoing the “found footage” aspect that maybe some would have easily gone to, there’s plenty of unintentional nods to The Blair Witch Project scattered through, from tension to arguments, and even a first-person perspective, yet its audible not visual. This, along with the nice, murky cinematography create mood, something “found footage” films rarely don’t have, which helps the mystery. We’re never smarter than the characters, but it’s sometimes a chore to get the film going for us to care about them.

Pacing is deliberate and slow, mood is the film’s plan, not ghosts or gore. Directors Andy Mitton and Jesse Holland don’t fully trust themselves as film-makers yet, and it’s apparent in the opening 30 minutes, which has long-winded intros to the characters and the build-up is extremely tedious at times. But once the end of the second act comes, the crazed mystery, and that first-person audio perspective is unique and eerie. Maybe borderline tense?

But the idea is a bit far too ambitious, which isn’t a bad thing, it’s just since Mitton and Holland are new, they don’t know how to fully capitalize on what they’ve been generating, and YellowBrickRoad fizzles like flat pop in a confusing and off-putting ending, if there ever was one. Unlike The Wizard of Oz, this YellowBrickRoad doesn’t lead to any self-fulfillment, just an open road into “shit happens.”

The DVD:

Audio/Video: While not an HD transfer, and due to the colors used in the cinematography, I was a little surprised by Vivendi Entertainment’s transfer. Clean, detailed, sharp. Lots to like. The softness in the dialogue mix is a little frustrating when the finale picks up and the audio booms. It’s not that bad, just a little ho-hum, when I expected a better punch.

Commentary: Directors (and writers) Andy Mitton and Jesse Holland offer up a decent listen. If you can get past their occasional describing what’s happening on-screen, there’s plenty of interesting production history and info for those who care.

Trailers round out the extras.

The Film: Rating: 2.5 out of 5 stars

The DVD: Rating: 3 out of 5 stars

What works so well in Grave Encounters, a terrific no-budget debut from The Vicious Brothers, is that it follows the conventions of the genre, almost worn out by [REC] sequels, Paranormal Activity, The Last Exorcism, and of course, The Blair Witch Project, and infuses it with vicious supernatural elements. For some films, a door moving or a loud thump is the source of its scares, but The Vicious Brothers aren’t interested in such rudimentary typecast scares. While showing how reality TV has become rather scripted, The Vicious Brothers are also skeptical of the “found footage” genre, and are keen on giving smart horror fans a real jolt of terror.

The story is simple, because it needs to be. A popular TV show is gearing up for their next episode at the abandoned Collingwood Psychiatric Hospital, and while filming and even staging certain moments, are caught up and trapped in the hospital. One key thing the directors do, is allow the camera lights, along with the night vision, to capture a truly wonderful location where they filmed at. The green light of the night vision instantly adds depth to the rooms and immediately instills tension. With suspense, you need a payoff, and Grave Encounters has plenty of little climaxes that should make you scream. Doors moving and shadows creeping are absent, and instead, and it’s one of the film’s best new elements to the genre, is the supernatural boo’s are manifested into some really pissed off ghosts.

Familiarity both helps Grave Encounters and somewhat hurts it, but this wasn’t made to convert the naysayers of this genre. The abandoned Collingwood Psychiatric Hospital is place I don’t want to visit. Featuring a scare-a-minute finale, Grave Encounters is a fun thrill ride, no matter the similar notes to The Blair Witch or the Silent Hill video games. Where as the slasher genre in the 1980s burned itself out, so did the teen-horror-parody in the 1990s, and the zombie genre in the 2000s, the “found footage” genre might be heading that way too soon, but it won’t be Grave Encounters fault.

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

The film follows a group of twenty-somethings who take a trip to a cabin in the wooded wilderness and are methodically hunted by a Bigfoot-like beast. Of interest is that WETA is working on the creature design for the film. Sanchez says of the project: “The film is the first in a trilogy exploring and reinventing the Bigfoot myth. We all remember the terror of watching such classics as The Legend of Boggy Creek, and I look forward to making Bigfoot scary again.”

The film is going to film this October.

Source: Arrow

It’s a kissing cousin to The Blair Witch Project in every sense of the word, but it becomes a bit droll whenever the title creatures aren’t roaring, killing, or farting.

Yes, farting, but whatever. Director André Øvredal certainly is a playful chap when it comes to these creatures, even right down to their looks. These aloof monsters are the real reason for global warming, and are Norway’s best kept secret. The film is clearly mimicking Cannibal Holocaust with its “found footage” documentary style delivery, but structurally it’s a lot like Blair Witch, even right down to the final second. While these previous films shouldn’t take away from the experience of Troll Hunter, it does, especially now as the sub-genre has played itself out, and Troll Hunter isn’t the fresh reboot it needs.

So it’s predictable to a fault, and not as smart as André Øvredal would have hoped. Acting as a metaphor for the conservative notions about Al Gore’s global warming lectures, it’s too silly to be deep and not clever enough to be worth thinking about. The film goes nowhere with its ideas of Christian blood and why the trolls can sniff Christians out or really anything about the trolls mythology. Arguing amongst the film crew pads screen time, followed by shaky-cam antics, it’s almost down right plagiarism towards Blair Witch.

But I’ll be damned if writer/director André Øvredal doesn’t stage the trolls scenes with a Spielbergian eye. This is when the film comes to life. These scenes deliver the kind of B-movie fun and thrills seen in creature features of the 1950s. The ants in Them! The grasshoppers in Beginning of the End. Large, maybe silly creatures dwarfing man, roaring, killing, and farting all in good fun. But I sense André Øvredal didn’t fully aim for this sense of cheap fun thrills so absent from movies now days like this, as the film just wants to say something meaningful. It’s attempt at seriousness is goofy. Nonetheless, Troll Hunter is kind of cool, kind of neat.

Rating: 3 out of 5 stars

Before The Blair Witch Project came out in 1999 there were already “found footage” movies being made. The Blair Witch Project, however popularized it and made that genre a box office hit. Since then, there have been many other films made in that form, some just as successful, some not. The most recent found footage movie comes by way of Norway and is one of the more original films to come out. Troll Hunter is an entertaining, fun and suspenseful ride.

Troll Hunter tells the story of three college students, Kalle (Tomas Alf Larsen), Johanna (Johanna Mørck) and Thomas (Glenn Erland Tosterud) who are trying to find and interview a local poacher. In Norway, it is illegal to go bear hunting without a license. During the hunting season, bears start showing up dead, but none of the hunters killed them. The three students find the poacher and intend to interview him for a video project they are making. They approach him, but he refuses to talk to them. The students follow him for a few days until one night they trail the poacher into the woods. They lose the trail, but see flashes of lights coming from amidst the trees. There are strange noises as well. After a couple of minutes, the poacher comes running at the group, he stops and yells one word, “TROLLS”, then continues to run. Thomas is then bitten by something, and the poacher helps the group back to his car. They drive out of the woods and back to the campsite that he is staying at. The poacher, who we learn is named Hans (Otto Jespersen), and he isn’t a poacher, but a troll hunter, takes the three students on his next outing since they don’t believe him, because they believe trolls aren’t real. Hans wants to prove to them trolls are real. That night the group run into a three headed troll that Hans is able to kill by shining a very bright light on. It turns to stone and he then blows it up. Hans takes the students out to breakfast and explains to them about trolls. He tells them about the different species of trolls, how they die (by shining light on them they either turn to stone or blow up), what they eat (rocks and tires.) and that they also eat Christians (this is part of the Norwegian folklore). Hans was a Navy Ranger, and when he got out the TSS (Troll Security Service) recruited him to hunt the trolls. He is fed up from working years at a thankless job, so he is going to allow the students full access to him and his troll hunting ways.

Scandinavian countries have given us some really good, original movies as of late, and this is no different. André Øvredal has come up with a great story with engaging characters that the viewer cares about. The script has a good mix of comedy, horror and suspense. The effects are great as the trolls look real. The interaction between the trolls and humans helps to bring the realism out even more. Being a found footage mocumentary, one thing this film needed to do to make sure of the realism was to not have any unnecessary music. The only times we hear music is when a character is listening to it on a radio. That helps make the viewer feel like they are there with these characters. There is really only one problem with this movie, and it’s the same thing that man found footage movie suffers from, a week ending. After 1 hour and 40 minutes of going out to kill these trolls, the movie just ends. There is a little more to it, but it would ruin the movie if more was said. With a little better ending, this movie would be destined for greatest. It doesn’t make it a horrible movie, just a bit of a let down.

Rating: 3 out of 5 stars

Jon: How did Possession come about after The Seventh Moon?

Eduardo Sanchez: Well, actually my co-writing partner Jaime Nash had an idea about a woman who tapes herself and I thought it was a great idea. That was about a year or so ago, and we started developing it together. He got really busy, and I had an idea about the movie and how to do it, so I took the lead and wrote a draft. I was doing other things and I’m a slow writer, but it took me about six months to complete.

So I finished the first draft about late April and sent it out, which it got some good responses, so my agent sent it out. That’s kind of how it came to be, from Jamie Nash’s seed of an idea, to my script. We were trying to write it together, but I ended up finishing it under his blessing.

Jon: This is your third collaboration with Jamie Nash. Why do you guys work so well together?

Eduardo Sanchez: He’s a creative guy, works really fast, and lives near me, which is a big deal. I met Jamie on Altered together, which was a really a crap shoot, as it was sent to me by another producer and after reading the script, I really liked it and found out the writer lived about 45 minutes away from me. The chances of a writer, who is really good and doesn’t live in LA or New York was pretty slim. So, when I got to know Jamie, he’s a nice guy, who accepts other ideas when they aren’t his, which is good, as other writers fight you about them. Very agreeable and comes up with stuff fast, and Possession is like the definition of all of it; his idea, my script, and he was cool with it. It’s hard to find really good writers, who understand the low budget world and are good and professional.

Jon: I believe you’re shooting in Maryland, so can you explain why there and what does that location bring to the film?

Eduardo Sanchez: Yeah, well when we wrote the script and decided that we’re doing it, we talked about locations like LA or Florida, which we shot there before, and we knew a lot of people in productions down there. With the budget limited, we figured LA just wouldn’t work for the film. Orlando, where we looked a bit more into, just didn’t have the house we needed and just didn’t find anything.

The film commissioner in Maryland knew this guy who was in charge of tourism in the town we’re filming in, really went after us. He got our emails and phone numbers and wanted to know “what would it take to film in Hagerstown?” We said we needed this, this, and this, and from there he just made things happen. He found us hotels in our price range, the house we’re going to shoot in, so he got us in touch with the police, fire department for certain scenes, helped in casting, just everything. Plus, Hagerstown is about 40 minutes from where I live, but it’s been a great experience so far.

Jon: Blair Witch, Altered, Seventh Moon and now Possession all deal with the similar paranormal themes. What is it about that sub-genre of horror that keeps attracting you to it?

Eduardo Sanchez: You know, for me it isn’t really anything, it just is always something that is popping into my head. I’ve always wanted to make some sort of exorcism story and Possession isn’t what I had in mind for that, but it really is pretty neat. It isn’t like any other exorcism movie and it really blurs the line between if she was possessed or a form of psychosis. It’s dark, very, very dark. I don’t know, there’s just something about the unknown I like.

Jon: I’ve noticed a weird relationship with what you created. Stuff like Paranormal Activity gets touted as “the next Blair Witch”, yet since 1999 the horror community has been rather down on your other films, asking “when’s his next Blair Witch”? It’s weird and unfair, in my opinion, but how do you explain this decade after Blair Witch?

Eduardo Sanchez: To me honestly, I thought a movie like Paranormal Activity would come along a lot quicker than it did. There have been a lot of first person movies, as it wasn’t like nobody was trying. Even after Blair Witch, there were a lot of first person movies that just didn’t get distribution. There was something about Paranormal Activity that was simple enough, creepy enough, that just worked. You never know about those movies, if they will work, and it was catching lightning-in-a-bottle, so to speak.

As for horror after Blair Witch, there’s at least a few first person movies a year, some better than others, and it looks like Blair Witch is still influencing someone. It’s like Blair Witch started a sub-genre with the last one with The Last Exorcism, which made pretty decent money. But now I’ve noticed the first person movies are sort of mutating into something else, with the use of security cameras, the use of music, multiple cameras, which is still affective, but it wasn’t true first person like Blair Witch, [REC], or Paranormal. The horror genre is strong as ever, with stuff like Saw and Let the Right One In, a classic dramatic horror film.

In the horror genre, everyone is always looking for the next big thing. These last summer and early fall, horror hasn’t done well, like Let Me In who did terribly, the new Wes Craven film [My Soul to Take 3D] didn’t do too much box office business. With the marketing and money they put in, you just never know what will do what. Audiences are so hard to peg. I thought Let Me In was going to do a lot of money.

Jon: So did I. Loved it.

Eduardo Sanchez: I haven’t seen it, but that’s what I heard, that it was really good. As a film maker, all you can do is make the best film you can. Sometimes they hit, sometimes they don’t. You just got to keep on going and that’s why I’m trying to do with Possession. It’s a different kind of horror movie. Its first person, something that I haven’t done since Blair Witch, but it also isn’t. Hard to explain, but I am trying to capture that feeling, even though it isn’t, if that makes sense.

It’s a gimmick, having the characters shoot themselves in the movie, something that Blair Witch done, like Cannibal Holocaust did before it and the same with [REC] and Paranormal Activity. Dan and I didn’t know about Cannibal Holocaust, until someone sent us the VHS after Sundance, otherwise I don’t think we would have done Blair Witch at all. It’s really a gimmick. You have to explain the camera battery, why they’re still filming; you have to constantly explain that shit.

Jon: Finally, speaking of your debut film, a lot of my friends got excited for the Blu-ray release a few weeks back of Blair Witch and they would be mad if I didn’t ask, so what’s the latest on Blair Witch 3?

Eduardo Sanchez: Well, we’re talking to Lionsgate Films still, and have been for about a year now. That’s all I can really say. But we’re as close as we have ever been to getting it made, and they want to do another one. Sadly, nothing is set in stone. It could be three months and it is green-lit or three years. There are a lot of people wanting it and I’m sure when it is announced everyone will know. We don’t want to do another first person Blair Witch, though, it just wouldn’t be fair, so we were trying to figure out how to do it and I think Dan and I found it, it is now just a matter of figuring out if Dan and I are a 100% happy with the story and Lionsgate wants it as another franchise.

Keep it here as we update you more with Possession as it completes filming, only on Killer Film!

**All photos used with permission from Eduardo Sanchez**

The Film:

After 11 years, there’s still nothing like The Blair Witch Project. It was the forefather to the recent crop of “found footage” movies like Cloverfield, [REC], Paranormal Activity, and The Last Exorcism, yet it’s so much more than that, but in the intervening years, the film still divides horror fans down the middle. One camp says it’s an effective, suspenseful, creepy film, while the other camp claims it’s boring, too much arguing, no monster. Blah, blah, blah, folks, because love it or hate it, The Blair Witch Project was the best straight-up horror film in the 1990s, staking claim to the dead genre in that decade, in an effective way.

Was it real? Was it fake? To me, that’s the fun of the film. Of course, it wasn’t real, but thanks to a brilliant Internet marketing campaign, people swore it was, and sometimes still do. At its simplest, The Blair Witch Project is perhaps the best example this side of Sam Raimi’s The Evil Dead as a do-it-yourself, no budget, grab a few friends and head into the woods, horror film. The film plays perfectly into everyone’s psyche: we all live in a town or city that has a local legend, and that’s the real hook of The Blair Witch. It plays with us since it feels like a filmed version of what you and your friends always talked about.

Besides the DIY attitude, even with the no budget, directors Daniel Myrick and Eduardo Sanchez created a mythology that we came to accept. Plus, it didn’t hurt having another faux-documentary air on the (then titled) Sci-Fi Channel, called Curse of the Blair Witch. But even after all of this, some people hate the shaky camera, the lack of any real on-screen gore or creature, and the “bad” acting.

These “found footage” movies really only work if one invests themselves into it, and that’s what a slew of people did in 1999. For those that did, The Blair Witch scared the crap out of us, especially since we were a few years away from the reality TV craze that has everyone glued to the screen, following people’s lives as if it was good drama. A head of its time, for sure. Good? Bad? It’s the film with the phenomenon.

The Blu-ray:

Audio/Video: Lionsgate bought Artisan a while back, so it’s no surprise we have this film in HD now. Anyone who understands the capabilities of Blu-ray and the intentions of the directors, will be highly skeptical on why this film is in HD. True, it really doesn’t benefit from the HD upgrade, only very minor enhancements can visibly noticeable, but that’s the way of the world – everything on Blu-ray. The audio doesn’t benefit either, nor should it. This film is meant to look and sound like real footage and it does, don’t expect much in the A/V department.

Sadly, after celebrating its 10th Anniversary recently, one wishes LGF would have offered something new in the extras, but they did not. We get all of the Artisan’s DVD extras being ported over.

Commentary: Directors Sanchez and Myrick, along with the film’s producer offer up an fun, light, but informative track. They touch upon their budget, their intentions, the acting, the staging of scenes, all to a great listen.

Curse of the Blair Witch: This SyFy Channel (as its called now) documentary on the kids in the film who went lost and the Blair Witch myth, further adds to the film. It’s great; it aids the film greatly, reaffirming the fake-reality of the characters. Runs for 45 minutes and it’s a must-watch for fans of the film.

Alternate Endings that offer some interesting, if not wrong choices, but they’re there for discussion (I prefer the theatrical ending still); Discovered Footage which is nothing more than deleted material to no real regard; The Blair Witch Legacy is another fake news report on the events in the film that’s too quick, but still fun; and Trailers round out the extras.

Conclusion: Do you need The Blair Witch on Blu? Probably not, but that Artisan DVD is getting quite shoddy now days, huh?

The Film: Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars

The Blu-ray: Rating: 2.5 out of 5 stars

According to an interview with the Toronto Star, director Eduardo Sanchez revealed the following:

• They’re now at the point where they’re ready to do a “Blair Witch 3“, once again sharing writing and directing.
• They’d pick up from where the original left off, pretending “Blair Witch 2” never happened.
• The duo recently went on a drive through their original “Blair Witch” haunts, about a half hour from Sánchez’s Maryland home, looking for inspiration.
• They’ve worked up a treatment for a new story, which would involve original cast members Heather Donahue, Joshua Leonard and Michael C. Williams, albeit in smaller roles.

Source: Toronto Star

All shot in a two-storey home, the story follows Katie (Katie Featherston) and her devoted (and I mean DEVOTED) boyfriend Micah (Micah Sloat) in his house. After a few strange occurances  in the house, Micah decides to set up a camcorder in their home to prove there is something in his house.  The couple seem skeptical at first, but after being told by a spiritual advisor that Katie has been followed by a demon prescense her entire life, they soon realize after watching the tapes that there is something evil lurking in the house and it’s getting far more violent each night the camera starts recording.

Surprisingly enough, I had gone into this film completely blind. I was smart enough to avoid the spoiler-heavy trailer and had no clue as to what was in store for me and I recommend everybody to do the same because Paranormal Activity is definitely a movie that will send chills up your spine long after the end credits have rolled.  On a mere budget of 11,000 dollars, director Oren Peli has created the new ‘miracle’ film with his artful eye for detail.  Unlike The Blair Witch Project, this supernatural film actually gives you money shots of terror while still using basic techniques such as door slams, creaky stairs and a simple click of a light switch to terrorize its viewers.

Kudos to Peli for also being able to try to explain why this couple haven’t left the possessed house like so many other similar films like The Amityville Horror have failed to do. (*Note the word ‘try’)  There are many ‘jump in your seat’ moments and one in particular is guaranteed to have majority of the audience scream.  (I’ve been tucking my sheets in bed under me when I sleep because of it!)

On the downside, there are many plot holes in this film that many other films of this sub-genre also fall victim to.  For instance, Micah starts using the camera to catch the entity on camera and when he has proof, he doesn’t take the tapes to anybody. So why keeping recording?  Also, I just didn’t find it to be all that plausible for this couple to stick around and stay in this possessed house for the entirety of the film.  I understand that the demon is following the girlfriend wherever she goes, but if the film had a higher budget, it would have made much more sense for them to at least TRY to escape.  Having said that, there are also a couple of questions I would like to ask such as: Why does this couple leave the door open every night? And Why doesn’t Micah just dump his demon-magnet girlfriend already?

However, despite Paranormal Activity’s flaws and abrupt and underwhelming ending, it is still a shocking, smart and unsettling film that will frighten even the most skeptical viewer. So what are you waiting for? Go see this terrifying film at midnight in your city’s nearest theatre and if they don’t have it, DEMAND it online!

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

In theory, District 9 had the feeling of the type of science-fiction Spielberg used to make, but in execution, it only comes out as a shining example of potential left untapped. The problem is simply boiled down to one question, what is District 9 as a film? Is it a documentary? Action film? Docudrama? It’s a collection of ideas and styles, that don’t gel together, but are an interesting attempt at something seemingly new, even if it’s narratively messy.

As a docudrama, or whatever fancy terminology you want to give it, it fails. The film starts off as a retrospective document on the origins of District 9, and one doomed government agent (Sharlto Copley). We get interviews and archival footage, all highly convincing, that tell us why these slums were created, the racial tension, life in District 9, and the beginnings of an epic eviction of over a million aliens into a new confinement. At first, this is all pretty fun. In 20 or so minutes though we’ve dealt with all of the back story we need, and it perfectly gives us the information without feeling like heavy-handed exposition. The one aspect of the film that nobody will complain about, is the seamless marriage of live-action footage mixed with CG. It works wonders for the film, and if this area suffered, we would just have one hokey sci-fi yarn, but with the FX being so good, we never question the aliens, only accept them.

Where this goes south, is District 9 breaks the documentary format, and shows us things like establishing shots and character interactions that would have never been filmed. A documentary documents an event or through interviews retells a story for people who weren’t there, and by showing us these shots, it breaks the format, and just becomes a movie. The reason why something like The Blair Witch Project works as a fake documentary, is that whatever happens on camera is shown. We never see anything the camera doesn’t. So this begs the case of why go this angle, if the film isn’t going to be a fake documentary 100%, then why be documentary-like? Because midway, the film begins as just an action film.

Now as an action film, the film succeeds because of the previously said marriage of FX and live action, and also because the director Neill Blomkamp is really good at staging these scenes. The final third of the film shines, and saves it. The alien weaponry is pretty cool once it is used, and these scenes breathe some much needed life into a film that was beginning to become stale. It’s hard to pinpoint why it was becoming stale, although the documentary footage was wearing thin, and the lead, a hero we’re going to follow for the second half of the film, was written as a dorky schmuck. It’s hard not to get irritate with him in the beginning, but through some circumstances that happen to the character, he drops the schmuck attitude. To me, the real characters, the ones with interesting depth, are the lead alien, Christopher and his son. While the action almost supersedes their arc towards the end, the film gathers its purpose and themes from them.

It’s hard not to get what Blomkamp is saying here in District 9. By nature, humans will fear what they don’t understand. The aliens were at first starved and in need of medical help. By our fears, we place them all in a camp, and soon a certain camp life begins, giving the aliens what is necessary to survive, things like factions are made, stealing becomes a norm, insider trading comes about, making them look like low-lives in our human eyes. But Blomkamp is saying that we create our evil, and the references to historical dark times like the Holocaust and the Japanese camps here in America during WWII are obvious sources, and it works. This adds to the film, which is basically an alien invasion flick. By dropping the documentary approach and going in as a full-on action sci-fi film with this subtext, I believe it would have worked better.

District 9 ends in with a whimper, instead of a bang due to its anti-climatic finish, one that does the clichéd summer angle: set-up for a sequel. Blomkamp will be a great director someday, but his debut here is a bit muddle with too many ideas that don’t gel. The film is certainly not without its merits, it just allows cliché to damper its attempt at originality.

Rating: 2.5 out of 5 stars

Source: Postergeek