|
|
Death Warmed Up
Directed By David Blyth
Released: 1984
Starring: Michael Hurst, Margaret Umbers, William Upjohn, and Norelle Scott
Running Time: 83 minutes
----------------------------------------------------------
In order to continue his morally questionable
experiments on prolonging human life, Dr. Archer Howell (played by Gary
Day) decides to eliminate his colleague Dr. Tucker (David Weatherley). Dr. Howell brainwashes Dr. Tucker’s son Michael (played by Michael Hurst) into killing his parents with a shotgun. Michael is put into an insane asylum and after his release, seven years later, is looking to kill the mad doctor. He travels with a couple of friends to Dr. Howell's huge island medical facility. It is here where Michael discovers that the mad doctor’s test subjects have become violent mutants that only Dr. Howell can control.
Okay, so now I think New Zealand is the weirdest place on Earth. This
wonderfully cheesy, oddly disjointed, and completely manic sci-fi horror
flick comes from director David Blyth (Red-Blooded
American Girl).
Death Warmed Up
is an action-packed and splatter-filled romp through Kiwi country with
great stunts, lots of wet gore, and plenty of imagination. The
cinematography by James Bartle (The
Quiet Earth) is excellent and the
synthesizer-infused soundtrack fits the film perfectly. I can’t help but
dig on those wild sets and fierce lighting schemes.
On the down side, the script leaves much to be desired as the dialogue is
very silly and there are way too many confusing moments in the film. The
loose ends and logic lapses make it feel like the movie was a 2 hour epic
that someone sliced up. I’m not saying the film would be better with more
footage. After all, one of the highlights of
Death Warmed Up is its dizzying
pace.
Although actor Michael Hurst’s intensity is appreciated, it reaches comic
proportions in some points. And yes, his character, Michael, is written
rather poorly. From his declaration of love for Sandy (played by Margaret
Umbers) to his nihilistic ramblings at the end of the film, I’m just
friggin’ lost. Also, if he is on a quest for bloody revenge against Dr.
Howell, why the hell did he bring his girlfriend and another young couple
along? Thank God for Spider (played by David Letch), his mutant rival, who
is clear, concise, and deadly.
When I told my friend Nafa about this New Zealand-born horror film, he
said “Oh, is Bruno Lawrence in it?” I laughed because it seems like the
superbly talented Lawrence (The Quiet
Earth,
Utu) was in every flick from
New Zealand until his death in 1995. Then, while writing this review, I
noticed that Bruno Lawrence is indeed in Death Warmed Up. He plays Tex, one
of the original mutants in Dr. Howell’s experiments. Awesome.
When all is said and done, I found Death Warmed Up to be a lot of fun
despite its downer ending and confusing story. The film is visually
arresting, surprisingly gory, and determined to get your attention with
its outlandishness. Wait, was Dr. Howell trying to cure death or was he
trying to create an army of mind-controlled mutants? Your guess is as good
as mine. Just beware of the sexy and evil Kiwi nurses, okay?
----------------------------------------------------------
Quotes
Spider: “I’ll get you! I’ll get you, bastards!”
|
