Andy Wood

“New Zealand… 1986. The zombie apocalypse is here and three mates are stranded. The trusty Holden is out of gas. With only fast food scraps and a few cigarettes for sustenance, surviving each other may prove harder than facing the undead outside…”

After years spent talking about making a short film we finally pulled our fingers out long enough to go into debt, buy lots of expensive computer gear and trick our friends into thinking we knew what we were doing.

The original screenplay was titled “Untitled Zombie Short Film” which slowly morphed into “Zombie Movie” and eventually stuck as the actual title like brown on shit. If you do think up the perfect title, keep it to yourself.

We shot at Studio A, Stone Street Studios, Wellington, New Zealand in February 2002. Pick-ups followed during the year following.

With favours asked we begged, borrowed and stole our little film into existence. We are eternally grateful to all those who gave their time, effort and sanity for our bogan tale of life, death and metal.

Zombie Movie is in competition for “Best Horror/Comedy short” at this year’s SCREAMFEST Horror Film Festival in Los Angeles.

To view the short, boot up Steam, click on the ‘Store’ tab and then on ‘Media’ in the left-hand column. It’s at the bottom of the media list because its title starts with a ‘Z’.

NCsoft and Cryptic Studios launched Issue 7 two days ago and it’s one of the largest free expansions that the franchise has seen so far. It introduces level 40-50 content for villains, adds mayhem missions with destructible environments, updates the graphics engine and much more.

After playing for two days I’m a pleased as punch to say that this free expansion is top notch and I can’t wait for issue 8 either. The new power sets are excellent and especially the electricity power sets for brutes which seem to be very popular and I am sure that no one will have any problem finding a new brute to match up with.

The big add is the new PVP zone, Recluse’s Victory, for level 50 heroes and villains. The zone graphics change on the fly based on which side is controlling the zone and the shift from bright and rather cheerful graphics to near-goth darkness is dramatic and entertaining. This PVP zone is filled with signature villains and heroes and these seem to be extremely challenging if you’re not really good at what you are doing.

Underworld: Evolution is so much like its predecessor, Underworld, in story, approach, look, and feel.

If you are a fan of these types of movies the whole vampires vs. werewolves tale, there’s little reason to believe you won’t be as entertained by the sequel. Underworld: Evolution is designed with Underworld fans in mind. Others need not apply.

There are several lengthy fights, including the climactic one, are more ambitious than anything attempted in the original Underworld. Overall, however, there’s not enough story to warrant 105 minutes of cinema. And the kinetic energy evident in the repetitive battle sequences makes the “in between” scenes seem more inert than one might expect.

Underworld: Evolution is representative of the “modern” vampire movie - loud, violent, and raucous. Gone are the days when vampire movies were masterpieces of mood, subdued terror, repressed sexuality, and restrained gore. Instead of a trickle of blood on the neck, we now have vats of it splattering all over the place. Calling Underworld: Evolution a horror movie would be a misnomer. This is an action/adventure film that happens to feature vampires and werewolves. It’s not the best or the worst of its kind. I can’t say I was bored, but I have a hard time recommending this as anything but late-night cable fare.

Bruce Wayne passes the baton to Terry McGuiness as the two partner up to fight the good fight. Their relationship is incredibly well developed, and follows a logical progression throughout the season. The two clearly are their own men, and it’s far from being just a generational gap.

Terry isn’t the eager beaver that some of Bruce’s former protégés were, Terry is always disobeying the old man, and even tells the old man that he’ll never end up like him. (or will he?) At the new Dark Night gets his wings and becomes more of the crimer figter, Bruce dials back on the micromanaging, and allows Terry to follow his instincts. This makes sense to me and allowins for the worlds best detective to do what he does best.

Alll great heros needs need those bad guys, and the rogues gallery for Batman Beyond is yet another example of how well thought out this series is – a marriage of old and new that makes sense.

While the emphasis clearly is one creating new villains, the legacy of older ones is still felt. The most notorious street gang in Gotham, The Jokerz, draw their inspiration from the Clown Prince of Crime. The Royal Flush Gang, always rotating their membership, is still making waves. While it is good to see connections to Mr. Freeze, Bane and a couple of others. The gang behind Batman Beyond come up with some good new ones for Terry to take down.