No Flesh Shall Be Spared

Hardware (Richard Stanley, 1990)

2000AD was a weekly comic I would read throughout most of the 1980s and early 1990s. It was a font of creative talent exemplifying the comic book renaissance at the time; some of that talent, would be poached by the Big Two (Marvel and D.C.) and eventually see their works adapted into film.

It's no big secret that Paul Verhoeven's sci-fi classic, Robocop (1987), took blatant inspiration from 2000AD's flagship lawman Judge Dredd during its pre-production.

Similarly, writer and director Richard Stanley tapped into the Dreddverse with his debut feature film Hardware (1990). Evidently, Fleetway Publications, the owner of 2000AD, thought Stanley's film was doing more than just taking inspiration and successfully won a copyright case against it. Despite Stanley denying he ever read, SHOK!, the seven page story which first appeared in the 1981 Judge Dredd annual. Thus, SHOK!'s creators, Steve MacManus and Kevin O'Neill, were credited subsequent prints of the film.

Hardware is set in a dystopian future ravaged by atomic warfare. Nomads scavenge for scrap in an irradiated wasteland. Ex marine, Hard Mo' Baxter (Dylan McDermott), acquires a robot skull from one particular nomad. He gifts it to his sculptor girlfriend Jill (Stacey Travis) upon his long return home as a Christmas present. (Yes, it's a Christmas movie!) However, both Mo' and Jill are unaware that the skull is part of a deadly M.A.R.K. 13 robot capable of resourcing power, reassembling itself and delivering a fatal toxin. Furthermore, it is later revealed that the M.A.R.K. 13 was programmed by the government to reduce the human population.

The mise-en-scène is central to Richard Stanley’s vision, with the plot serving as secondary.  Dystopian cyberpunk imagery is prevalent. Future tech, metallic junk and urban rubble are everywhere. Computer generated wire-mesh visuals rotate on crummy monitors. Steam is ejected from unknown vents. And colourful lights cast Bava-esque beauty on metallic surfaces. Hardware is an unapologetic film that's all about style over substance. 

This is a nightmarish future. A stark example of the grim state of the human race is a child tied to its deceased mother on a forgotten apartment level. Furthermore, nonchalant media announcements for enforced sterilisations commencing in the New Year are chilling.

The performances are mixed. Stacey Travis and Dylan McDermott are great as the leads, maintaining professional composure throughout Richard Stanley’s avant-garde direction. They do their best with the material that they have available. John Lynch’s character Shades, is both shallow and superfluous. This is largely due to the character’s flat profile rather than Lynch's performance. Additionally, his Ray Bans and aviator jacket would have been more suited on a background extra in Top Gun than here. The character's solo scene, in which he appears high in his apartment, adds nothing to the film and is a time waster.

Mark Nothover plays Alvy, a dwarf junkyard trader whose voice appears to have been dubbed by an American actor. Despite his limited screen time Alvy’s role is more integral to the film than Shades and genuinely serves a purpose. The merchant is the one who discovers how dangerous the M.A.R.K. 13 is; adding urgency to the mix.

William Hootkins, best known for his role as fat X-Wing pilot Jak Porkins in Star Wars, plays Jill’s stalker neighbour. He is memorable as an odious pervert and for his bizarre singing of They All Walk the Wibbly-Wobbly Walk . You’re just praying for him to die horribly.

Given Richard Stanley’s background as a music director (credited for directing Superfly Guy by S-Express and Blue Pearl’s Naked in the Rain), he features several musicians in his film. The aforementioned nomad is played by Carl McCoy of Fields of the Nephilim, while Lemmy of Motörhead is a water taxi driver, crossing a polluted river with Ace of Spades playing on his stereo. However, the most memorable cameo is Iggy Pop as the off-screen DJ Angry Bob, whose over-the-top performance is notably quote-worthy::

"This is Angry Bob, the man with the industrial dick. Coming at you loud and clear on W.A.R. Radio. Rise and shine, folks! It's a beautiful day! Just look at that sky; it's a work of art. Huh! Nature never knew colours like that. And a friendly reminder: when you look at it, be sure to wear your shades! The radiation count's way up in the heatwave and ain't expected to let up, either. Weather Control tell us it'll probably hit 110 down town, before nightfall. As for the good news: there is no fucking good news! So let's rock with one of our golden oldies" - Angry Bob

Elsewhere, Public Image Ltd’s The Order of Death is prominently featured in the film. Soundtrack composer Simon Boswell provides an original score, consisting of loud industrial  and brash synthesisers. It may be considered intrusive by some, but complements the film’s high tech and junkyard metal aesthetic.

The film’s premise, a woman confined to her apartment with a killer robot, may evoke moments from other science fiction films such as Saturn 3 (1980) and The Terminator (1984), but Richard Stanley seems to forgo all that for much of Hardware's run time and spend most of it on the cool cyberpunk world he's realised. Admirable as that might sound, it does come at the expense of a very long wait for some slasher style action. At least forty minutes have to pass by before the M.A.R.K. 13 begins its murderous rampage. 

An example of Stanley's avant-garde approach is the surreal sequence involving the deadly toxin running through the veins of one character. A hallucinatory M.A.R.K. 13 appears like a dance artist on Top of the Pops, followed with acid trip style spiral patterns. Dramatic opera music soundtracks the fatal psychedelic experience.

Hardware did not resonate with me, initially. Despite its connection to my teenage interests at the time, its unorthodox style was too ostentatious for my liking. However, the film has grown on me considerably since then; largely due to its technical merits being so accomplished on a shoe-string budget (less than £1M, believe it or not). It retains a remarkable cyberpunk aesthetic that is both stunning and more stylish than numerous bigger budgeted studio efforts. 

Although not an easy recommendation, it is definitely worth checking out for any sci-fi film enthusiast and fan of cult cinema. Better than Alphaville, that's for sure.

Merry Christmas!

Boyle with Rage Again

28 Years Later (Danny Boyle, 2025)

When the news was announced that Danny Boyle and co-writer Alex Garland (a dead ringer for DJ Yoda) were returning to the post-Rage blighted Britain, which they first unleashed with their horror film milestone, 28 Days Later (2002), it instantly became the most anticipated film of the year for this film blogger. It was an absolute game changer to the the zombie/infection subgenre. The film's innovation and influence credit it as the patient zero in all things zombie related throughout the Noughties and 2010s. Therefore, its creators seemingly have a mighty task in delivering a follow-up equally as exciting, fresh  and terrifying with 28 Years Later (2025).

Decades after the Rage virus outbreak, the entirety of Great Britain has been quarantined off from the rest of the world. Survivors exist, but they are remotely scattered. Lindisfarne, also known as Holy Island, off the Northumberland coast of England, is one such example. Separated from the mainland by a natural causeway which reveals itself  in low tide, the survivors have become a living community. Amongst them, is twelve year old Spike (Alfie Williams). He must undergo a rite of passage, where he will cross over to the mainland with his father, Jamie (Aaron-Taylor Johnson), and put the hunting skills he has learned to the test. To kill your first infected is akin to a blooding in hunting; symbolising Spike's transition from a child to a man. These important steps into a proverbial larger word, will become the film's drive. This rite of passage will also play heavily in the plight of Isla (Jodie Comer), Spike's mother, who is afflicted by an illness and bed-ridden.

A special mention deservedly goes to its break out star, young Alfie Williams. Child actors tend to over act, but his performance is first rate in 28 Years Later. That's no mean feat when you're performing opposite experienced actors Jodie Comer, Aaron-Taylor Johnson, and the consistently great Ralph Fiennes. Big fan of Comer and Johnson's Geordie accents. 

We learn that the Rage Virus has evolved since the outbreak. The infected no longer starve to death, as first shown in Boyle's prior film. They are able to eat; therefore, they no longer starve to death like before. The outbreak's spread to Paris, as shown in the epilogue of 28 Weeks Later (2007), has been successfully driven back. It's an obvious retcon by Boyle;  nonchalantly explained in a blurb of text. That would explain why Boyle's vision of an isolated Britain, with European fleets around its waters, comes across as a possible allegory to Brexit. An island isolated from the rest of the modern world; one that revealed to have regressed to the past, where they use bows and arrows again. Bereft of modern tech and weaponry, various scenes from Henry V (1944), particularly where archers are drawing their bows, are intercut with the Holy Island's inhabitants. The solitary flag of St. George overlooking the North Sea.

Technically, 28 Years Later's attention to detail is on par with George Miller's post-apocalyptic Mad Max universe. All the more remarkable that returning director of photography Anthony Dod Mantle, shot it all with iPhones. Some novel visual treatments; like red night vision scenes, are particularly effective. The film also has its own brand of bullet-time; more accurately arrow-time, is a mixed result. Initially impressive, but its over use quickly becomes gimmicky A major draw, is how evocative it is of sixties and seventies era British films in its visual style and feel. Holy Land has a wonderful Summerisle vibe, along with John Wyndham's The Day of the Triffids. The latter, having already been a major source of inspiration for the first film. 

The virus's evolution has resulted in three distinctive types of infected: the fast ones that we're accustomed to from the previous entries; Slow-Lows are grotesque and blubbery humanoids which crawl on their bellies and scavenge for worms and other earth grub. The most dangerous of them all are Alphas. These specimens have been affected by the virus also serving as a growth steroid; turning them into huge, hulk-like humans, hung like a horse. They possess superhuman strength, speed and resilience and the most formidable for any armed group. Alphas are also more intelligent than their other brethren; even acting as pack leaders to other infected.

28 Years Later has three disjointed acts of varying quality. In the first act, we get to experience Spike's first trip to the mainland with Jaime. It is by far the best part of the film. Spike spends more time with his mother in the remaining acts, where we're also introduced to shipwrecked Erik Sanqvist (Edvin Ryding), a Swedish NATO soldier, who provides a window to the rest of the world. The iodine tinted, Dr. Ian Kelson (Ralph Fiennes), a Col. Kurtz-like loner is the remaining character introduced in Spike's coming-of-age tale. Plot contrivances are more apparent as the film progresses. The third act in particular is much slower paced, and very much drags at times, in its emotional development to Spike's story arc. Without delving into spoiler details, one distinctive scene attempts to pull a heartbreaking sequence, but Boyle's execution is so cumbersome, that it feels unearned and weirdly comedic. Therefore, the constant emphasis on memento mori fails to truly resonate.

Bizarrely, the final scene of 28 Years Later, one that bookends the intro, where a group of children nervously watch Teletubbies during the initial spread of the outbreak, and eventually leading to Jack O'Connell's character in the second chapter of this new trilogy, is perhaps the most jarring scene in the entire film. Brits will no doubt be familiar with who O'Connell's cult is based on, by their hair and wardrobe, but to the rest of the world, not so much. If anything, the final moments, which are beyond surreal and discordant with the rest of the film, might actually dissuade anyone even bothering with Nia DaCosta's follow-up, 28 Years Later: The Bone Pile (2026), next January, when people do some inevitable Googling.

Technically, 28 Years Later's attention to detail is on par with George Miller's post-apocalyptic universe. All the more remarkable that returning director of photography Anthony Dod Mantle, shot it all with iPhones. Some novel visual treatments, like a red night vision scenes, are particularly effective. The film also has its own brand of bullet-time, more accurately arrow-time, that is remarkable, initially, but is over used too much in the film and winds up feeling gimmicky for the remainder. A major draw, is how evocative it is of sixties and seventies era British films. Holy Land has a wonderful Summerisle vibe, along with John Wyndham's The Day of the Triffids, the latter, having already been a major source of inspiration in the first film.

Overall, Messrs Boyle and Garland have delivered a perplexing film. This ought to have been the film of the year. It's riddled with plot holes, ridiculous contrivances and tonal inconsistencies, and yet, it still manages to be an entertaining post-apocalyptic spectacle. The first act is cinematic heaven; it's just a shame the other two aren't on that same level. This is obviously faint praise, but as a first time watch, 28 Years Later is one of the more enjoyable releases from what's been an otherwise disappointing year thus far for films. Whether or not, I'll still feel the same way about it after a repeat viewing, remains to be seen.

The Silent Era

Azrael (E. L. Katz, 2024)

Post-apocalyptic films are a frequent setting in sci-fi and horror; practically a genre in itself with how common it's become, but there aren't that many out there with a Biblical theme, thus Azrael (2024) has made it onto my radar. E. L. Katz, who I first discovered from his debut, dark comedy Cheap Thrills (2013), has managed to deliver a lean little eighty-five minute film survival horror set after the Rapture. Sold!

Years after the prophetic event, all that's left in the world are the undesirables. Azrael centres around Samara Weaving — who has really grown into her own actress, rather than the once labelled as Lidl brand Margot Robbie — plays the titular character. Azrael is the Angel of Death in various religions; here, she's an escaped prisoner from a woodland community of religious psychopaths. They're all God-fearing mutes now, since the removal of their vocal cords. A cross-like scar is left on their throats.

The majority of Azrael is dialogue free. This might be a potential deal breaker for many, but considering the aphonic No One Will Save You (2023) was the best film last year (still no 4K release) for your host, that's not an issue at all. Thankfully, Azrael succeeds in a similar manner in a narrative told with physical actions and intriguing world-building.

Samara Weaving's performance is of someone completely put through the wringer. She’s able to tell a lot just with emotions in her facial expressions. Big blue eyes say a lot when contrasted with all the mud and blood she's covered in. There are occasional texts that appear on screen that serve as quasi-Biblical like gospel to the proceedings in the film. They're few and infrequent, but lend well to the overall dark and brutal tone of the film.

Considering all the good 'uns are all in Heaven, the remainder are left behind. With no room left in Hell, charred looking, flesh-eating zombies also walk the Earth. Much of the bloody horror content is attributed to the zombies ripping and eating the flesh of any poor souls they catch. There's also Weaving's gruesome takedowns of her captors whilst exacting bloody revenge on them.

As far as low budget, post-apocalyptic films go, Azrael looks surprisingly good, considering it's mostly set in remote woods with a bunch of old tents. There's a lot of ambiguity, but it doesn't feel like it's intentionally done in an annoyingly pretentious manner, but still requires work reading into the world Katz has created. It becomes rewarding, as it leads to an unforgettable climax which ends the film on a high note for me.

Definitely  a Marmite movie for many, but of all the religious themed horror films released this year, Azrael stands out considerably for its creativity, storytelling and above all, its entertainment factor.