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NECROPOLIS AWAKENED
Chances are I might have invalidated anything this award might have meant by not being able to choose a single film for the title of Underground Film of the Year for 2002. The quality of films reviewed this year weren't up to par with last year's releases and only two features really stuck out, the urban drama THE HITT-MAKER and the horror-action film NECROPOLIS AWAKENED. They both stand on their merits and they both deserved the title, so they both are being crowned.Why THE HITT-MAKER? Because no movie sent in for review this year has shown even one-tenth the heart of this one. I can look past any technical issues and see the movie for what it is, a heart felt attempt at capturing a specific moment in time during a desperate man's life. The movie doesn't cover any new ground in terms of what cinema is, but filmmake's passion shines through all the same.
A friend of mine likes to remind me that everyone has an angle, even those that seem perfectly content in life. THE HITT-MAKER just goes to show that nobody is perfectly content and the straight and narrow doesn't really exist, but angles are everywhere. It's a bleak portrait.
As the story unfolds it becomes clear that the director, known only as Mr. Balln Big, knows each and every character personally. He pulls from his own life to tell a story about the struggles he's seen and dealt with. I've always said that if you have a story worth telling, then tell it, and Mr. Big does just that. The film is deeply personal and deeply moving.
The epic horror and action title known as NECROPOLIS AWAKENED. might seem like an odd choice to be cast with an urban drama, but it has just as much heart as THE HITT-MAKER, and considering past winners, a title like this should come as no surprise. As I've said before, NECROPOLIS AWAKENED. goes to show how ambition and determination can make up for that lack of money in a filmmaker's pocket. When you look at what the White Brothers were able to achieve, the result is absolutely stunning.
Like past winner MEAT MARKET, NECROPOLIS AWAKENED. uses the horror genre to comment on society. At its heart, this movie is a satire. The White's are able to make a movie that's as entertaining as it is intellectual. That's not something altogether easy to do. I know, I've tried. If you talk to Garrett White he'll even be happy to point out a few elements I missed in my initial review. I don't always agree with the White's political stance, but that's totally beside the point. While they entertain, they educate, and that's something only the best films can do.
This year I've started giving a title to a short film that exceed my expectation of what a filmmaker can achieve in a limited amount of time. Of the winners this year, MR. BLACK has the most in common with the past features to win the Underground Film of the Year title in that it's about more than just its subject. MR. BLACK is about movies themselves. Concepts like plot and character take a backseat to themes, ideas, and cinematic self-awareness. Some would call MR. BLACK a parody of all that cinemaphiles hold dear, but I would like to think of it as a natural outgrowth of modern cinema trends. It's takes various genres and cliches and molds them into something new and exciting. It doesn't push the envelope, it bursts right through. If MR. BLACK were a feature, it would probably be the sole taker of Underground Film of the Year title, and not just Underground Short Film of the Year, as it's the reason why I watch movies.
Below you'll find the original review I wrote for each respective film. I hope you take the time to seek out these movies as well as the past winners, they are all worth your time and effort. At the very least, they can teach the novice filmmaker what is possible to achieve with the medium and that the most important aspect of all is to put yourself in your work. If it's not heartfelt, it's nothing more than light entertainment.
ORIGINAL REVIEW:
Produced by Duke White
Written, Directed, and Edited by Garrett WhiteDuke White - Bob/Judas
Brandon White - Johnny/Nefarious Thorne
Garrett White - Tiden
Brandon Dubisar - DetroitBob the Alcoholic goes to Zombie Land and drops a Herculean Smackdown on some undead ass in the White Brother's NECROPOLIS AWAKENED, the most ambitious micro-budget horror effort to cross my desk. Ever. Period. Bar None. It's a true testimony to the results that a little desire and a good deal of hard work will get you. And as my farmer neighbors are prone to repeating, "nothing ain't worth doing if it ain't worth doing right."
The last production from the White Brothers was the punk rock fueled Frankenstein re-imagining done Evil Dead style titled MONSTER. It was a debut that put many established independent film and videomakers to shame. Effort was taken to create something different; something that would stand out; something that would be remembered and talked about for years as a movie that went above and beyond the call of duty to entertain the audience and deliver something worth watching. In a time where the consensus is to film as many pages of script per day as possible and forsaking such givens as atmosphere and composition, the White's take their time and do it right.
Bob the Alcoholic, a character molded in the vain of Ash from ARMY OF DARKNESS, has been holed up in a cave for weeks. His peaceful desert hometown has been taken over by a corporation of undead zombies, called Neo-Genentrix, who use the locals as cattle. Hermit-like to begin with, it isn't until members of his own estranged family are put in jeopardy that Bob takes matters into his own hands. Be it blasting lead or bare-knucked brawling, Bob's going to make sure that undead heads are gonna role...or go "splat."
As hard as it may be to believe this, the biggest problem the movie faces is the pure amount of ass-kicking and action sequences contained within...or at least the amount of footage used to piece them together. When one's footage looks so great, it's easy to fall in love with it. Sometimes, the hardest part about editing a film you've shot and directed can be letting go. Clocking in at 2 hours, the set pieces, including a THUNDERDOME-like cage match and a chase straight out of RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK, as impressive as they might be, can be trimmed and tightened to allow for an overall better flowing production.
Just as with MONSTER, the White Brother's create a cinematic world in NECROPOLIS AWAKENED whose wholly unique atmosphere stems from their love for of the horror genre. The Raimi-esque kinetic energy of the visuals is reigned in from that of MONSTER in favor of a more conventional, John Woo style actioner. While the atmosphere is still amped up, it's just not so over the top.
The idea of an Undead Corporation takes George Romero's DAWN OF THE DEAD view of consumerism a step farther. Rather than reflecting the cattle-like nature of blind consumerism, the White's capture the soulless nature of corporate greed and the capitalistic desire to infest every home with one's wears. The ultimate goal of head zombie, Nefarious Thorne, a Bill Gates by way of Beelzebub figure, is to eventually monopolize the undead market and create a zombie dictatorship modeled after Hitler's regime. The guy even has his own swastika-like Neo-Genentrix logo emblazoned on every piece of company-owned merchandise from cars and trucks down to the gestapo-like getups worn by his gang of zombie stormtroopers.
Short of asking them directly, I have no way of knowing if the White's set out to make a politically-based action/horror film that's as equally fun as it is smart, but there are too many elements that fall perfectly into place for NECROPOLIS AWAKENED to be some sort of "happy accident". With any luck, you'll see this one on the video shelves in the near future and get to judge for yourself.