Good start, but then it gets ruined

A lot of fun.

One of the best movies of the year! Incredible from the beginning to the end.

After playing with our expectations, this turns out to be a very different sort of film.

I'm gonna keep this short and sweet. You really wonder, what could of gone wrong with this dull, though trying film, like if, you had a perfect recipe, and your meal came out different. I mentionedtrying just then, but this one also tries your patience. I just found this one repugnant or repugnantly dull. Just check out it's covers, the CBS Fox one I had. Though I know repugnantly isn't a word, but cut me a break, which you'll be saying while watching this. Poor sorry soul, Hurst who was brainwashed into killing his parents, by evil controller/scientist, Day (the best thing about this film, besides sexy Umbers- I can still see that white low cut top, with an arm hung around boyfriend, Hurst) and ending up in a looney ward, vows revenge, returning to the scene of the crime to take down Day. This film won't make your day. What, am I being too harsh or picking on this film too much? This just doesn't work. It's just a bland, repellent, boring, and trying view. Don't worry, a couple of other films in the years to follow, had the same effect on me, but I won't movie drop. You do kind of get caught up in Hurst's tortured self, and you do feel empathy for the lad. The acting from the youngsters, is average, nothing to write home about, like the movie. It kinds of reminds you, of something Peter Jackson would do, this one being made a few years before his pics. Though only seeing the trailer, for that movie, The Ugly, also made in Kiwi land, 12 years, later I kind of relate it to The Ugly, much better movie fare of course. Also titled Death Warmed Over. But really, who gives a s..t. A 'Death movie has never been so cruel. This one is just terrible. So that's it, for DWU. Sorry.

This film was featured in a collection of 50 horror films, that most likely are in the public domain. I had never heard or seen this one before, so it was the third film I viewed. As I watched it, I couldn't help think to myself that this film is almost good. It has a nice idea, the acting is not bad and the settings are good too. Unfortunately, the editing is utterly loathsome, the story has huge gaping holes in it and they did not seem to know quite how to end the film. The bad outweighs the good and thus my score of 4. It is almost a shame, because I did think they had something going, but the editor was most likely Edward Scissorhands and he went to town on the film. Someone frantically tried gluing it back together, but just was not up to the task.The plot has a doctor who wishes to perform experiments to prolong life. A doctor opposes this idea, so the one doctor hypnotizes the son the doctor who is opposed and makes him kill not only his father, but also his mother. The son gets locked away and the doctor is now free to perform his bizarre experiments on an island. Years later, the son is let out of the mental institution and he and three friends go to the island so the son can exact his revenge upon the doctor. Strange people reside on this island as the friends encounter some strange people on the ferry going to it. Well, seems something is happening to those who have received the life prolonging procedure. Soon general mayhem ensues as the young man will stop at nothing to get to the doctor, though honestly the guy could have easily gotten to the doctor upon his arrival as he saw him going into a store.The problems with this movie is that it is hard to figure out what is going on at times, whether it is a bunch of shots sloppily edited in the dark or huge chunks of logic missing from the story. I was completely baffled if the man looking for revenge had told his friends that he was going for revenge. The man's girlfriend seemed to know, but I was not sure about the other couple. They go into some tunnels, but I have no idea why. Once again, getting to the doctor did not seem to require them doing this. Just a bit to jumbled, then a final showdown seems to be brewing between the son and this villain named Spider, but instead of showing this, they cut away to the son and his girlfriend driving away.The film almost had something, I enjoyed the idea behind the story. The film just lacked execution in certain areas. Not acting, the acting was pretty good for a low budget horror film. I really enjoyed the character named Spider, which is probably why I really did not enjoy that a final showdown was omitted. I was also kind of rooting for Spider at the end, because the son looking for revenge had done so much to put his friends into harm's way. Also, son and his friend kind of started the whole mess with Spider and his buddy anyway. So, while it was not a good horror film, it almost was.

So says one of the characters in this odd little number from New Zealand. It took me a little while to realise that the leading man was played by the same Michael Hurst, who is better known for playing Iolaus in the long running Hercules TV series. There seem to be a myriad of other films that this one has either borrowed from of been influenced by. Mad Max, Night (and Dawn)of the living Dead, Island of Dr Moreau or any other mad scientist movie. The actual story structure is somewhat disjointed, as we never really find out why the mad doctor wants to transform ordinary men into 'demented mutated killing machines.' Is there a world wide shortage of demented mutated killing machines? I don't think so if the news is anything to go by.It does make sense that he does programme our hero to kill his parents who are standing in the way of his experiments but why let him live afterwards to come back for revenge? The whole island laboratory to do his crazed work on is straight out of 'Dr. No.' But with less sense or reason.Not totally explained why the hero turns up on holiday with his friends after been released from the insane asylum, just happens to be the same island where his nemesis resides.But enough of sense and logic, the actual film is decent watching and holds the interest till the end and at around 75 minutes on the DVD I saw, it doesn't outstay it's welcome. Plenty of gore scenes for those who like that stuff, maybe the villain just liked doing brain work as his motive for it all.The ending is rather pointless as my fellow reviewer pointed out and it does seem they just ran out of ideas and decided to go out on a supposed shock ending. Just two last points to make, there was a Pakistani shopkeeper who was a very bad racial stereotype and there for 'comicial' effect. Not sure if it wasn't a white actor blacked up either, it was that unpleasant.Also at the beginning when he is supposed to be younger and running around in short trousers, he just looks ridiculous. I know Michael Hurst isn't the tallest bloke around but he just looks like an overgrown schoolboy or the lead singer in AC/DC. And there are gay overtones when he is in the shower afterwards as well but that plot line is just left hanging.Overall, a strange but otherwise interesting film.

Guess what folks I'm back again I'm really in that reviewing mood here lately. Today I only have one movie, its a little flick from the 80's called "Death Warmed Up", since Death is always best that way have you ever tried it cold...that stuff sucks. Anyway lets take a look at this little New Zealand horror romp.The movie starts us off with a teenager going to see his father at a research center/hospital. He sees his father arguing with another man who has created a way to prolong lives. His father is against it saying that the experiments have not been full proof as some of the lab experiments have had side effects. The other scientist gets irate and begins to tell him that he will not ruin his dream. His son runs away from the room only to be caught by the doctor who advises the boy to take a shower. A very gay sequence ensues involving the doctor walking in on the boy staring at him for awhile and then sticking his bum with a needle that has some of his secret recipe in it.We next see the boy with a shotgun in tow blasting his mother and father to death in their bedroom after a love session. The boy is institutionalized and apparently messed with during that time by the Doctor. 7 years pass and the doctor has been approved to do his experiments on a small island town where we see him drilling through some heads and putting a machine over them that apparently creates the mutation in their genes. They then flash forward to what they call "Now" which we know it is not now as the fashion sense screams 80's pastel easter colors. The young man has grown up and wants revenge so he is off to the island with 2 friends that do not suspect his revenge motive and the girlfriend who knows but does not tell anyone.From here the movie begins to show some of the experimentees(is that a word) as one in particular tries to do in our foursome with his buddy in their bright yellow truck of doom. When that does not work they try motorcycles and that does not entirely work either...these guys are the Coyote to the foursomes Road Runner. Eventually they get inside the facility as all hell is breaking loose. You see some of the experimental patients have been locked away from everyone else as they have went loco which leads to a finale that looks like it was left open for a sequel that never happened.So what did I think of it....uhh not much to write home about. It has some OK gore scenes here and there (exploding head, surgery sequences, etc) and the story would have been OK with alittle more fleshing out and more of a budget wouldn't have hurt either but there is some things that this movie just does not do right and it makes it fall to an unsatisfactory level. For one the movie tends to get boring, in the beginning even though the acting wasn't the best they had me but as the movie progresses it tends to become a labor of love as some of the sequences were just not good enough payoffs for me compared to the lulls in the middle act that really hurt this film.As I watched this movie I couldn't help but see some slight comparisons to Island of Dr Moreau and Night of the Living Dead but that side of it never surfaces either or completely. The Doctor's character though we know is suppose to be mad is never fully fleshed out as much as they could have as again a lot of the middle act meanders around with the main character (played by Michael Hurst) and his friends running from madmen and getting captured for a brief moment. The finale really is lackluster also and really brought the movie down as well, it just seemed like they ran out of idea and ofted one of the main characters in a rather stupid way just to do it or because they had no more money to use I guess.Really the movie isn't utterly bad its just not good either. I liked how some of the characters died but there was just not enough of it. All in all if you do not have nothing else better to watch you could do worse but there is also a lot better stuff you could be watching as well. With some OK gore and some weird 80's style I can only merit the lackluster score of: 4/10: Below Average, If you want to see a New Zealand Horror film see Dead Alive or Bad Taste (I know I know they are splatter comedies whatever) otherwise despite the cool VHS box cover (you know the one with the skeleton with a doctors mask on with the bloody words Death Warmed Up over top it) there really isn't too much cool about it.Sidenote: check out the boat captain in the movie its none other than Ian Watkin aka Uncle Les from Dead Alive (aka Braindead) Death Warmed up has not received a Region 1 release however if you own a region and format free player there is a PAL release by Arrow (that looks like it was taken directly from a VHS transfer) that is out. So until next time if you see someone yelling it hurts and they have a giant pulsating goose egg on the side of there head please stand back 50 feet and do not try to help them unless you want to get brain all on yah!!! I'm Out!!