The Andromeda Strain (1971)

3.5 / 5 Feb '11
Tagline: The picture runs 130 minutes!... The story covers 96 of the most critical hours in man's history!... The suspense will last through your lifetime!
Directed by: Robert Wise
Written by: Michael Crichton, Nelson Gidding
Actors include: Arthur Hill, David Wayne, James Olson
Genre: Sci-Fi
Length: 130 minutes
Banned: Nope

Review:
Conceptually this is very interesting, and the documentary style likely creeped out many. The plot is about an alien virus that is discovered near New Mexico. Then we are treated to what would happen in the next few days as they try to discover the virus and how to treat it, and learn of the disaster it could cause. It's visually very well made, everything is stark and put together, though some of the strange camera ideas and whatnot definitely scream of the times. I think what works so well as this feels like it could happen, they go about portraying the story in a very realistic way. Where it lacks is that it's just too darned long, I could do with an hour less and be far more satisfied. This is a slow moving film with purpose and I do recommend it to fans of vintage sci-fi, particularly to see how influential this must have been. I did feel a little disappointed but I certainly don't regret watching it.

Availability:  On DVD

Quarantine (2008)

2 / 5 Nov '10
Tagline: Contain The Truth
Directed by: John Erick Dowdle
Written by: John Erick Dowdle
Actors include: Jennifer Carpenter, Steve Harris, Columbus Short
Genre: Horror
Length: 89 minutes
Banned: Nope

Review:
From what I understand this is the American remake of the French film [REC] (which shamefully I haven't seen yet). Although I'm sure that is a much better film, after seeing this one I'm in no hurry. This one starts out with an obnoxious reporter called Angela (Quarantine) who has her film crew at the fire department to do a little special on them. All is duller than dull (seriously who would watch her news report?) until they get a call at an apartment building. They all rush inside to find a woman who is exibiting signs of zombism. Soon they find themselves locked inside with no way to escape, nobody will tell them anything and soon this mysterious virus starts running rampant when person after person gets bit. The handicam style is annoying, as well as the fact that nobody seems to have a clue how to adapt or what to do in the situation. In other words, how did they find the world's dumbest people to lock together in a building...it really seemed as though this "virus" was doing the world a favor. I will give this credit for having reasonable gore, and the infected humans look evil enough. I really thought this started out horribly and ended up even worse, though the middle had a few better points. Really weak film overall, I'll see [REC] eventually but after seeing this I'm not in any hurry, regardless of the fact that I'm sure it was much better than this.

Availability:  On DVD & Blu-Ray