Alien 3

With a style distinctly belonging to David Fincher, this debut feature, which also stands as part of the Alien franchise before ALIEN VS. PREDATOR days, is a cynical and dreary film. I would like to say that Fincher's version is good, but it isn't even that, for, in his debut being part of a greater mythology, Fincher seems to abandon any of the sensibilities of the ALIEN series. More concerned with the standings between the grimy men of the prison colony Ripley crash lands on, and insisting on creating a dark world to begin with, Fincher betrays any sense of the franchise that existed previously. If the film were any good, who would care, but Fincher traps himself by beginning the film with his own twists, but having to devolve into the monster picking off people one by one storyline. In eventuality, it appears that Fincher's changes are an attempt to make something other that ALIEN 3. But, for what it is, the film is boring, nonsensical, and formulaic.
Alien 3: ★★

Dead Alive

DEAD ALIVE is one of the stupidest movies I've ever seen. By no means is it "brilliant" and by no means is it very good. However, there is a quality to the film that provides as stupid entertainment. For a film that is shoddily shot from low angles, and lacks decent sound editing, for a film that makes itself very self aware in the later parts and is basically a remake of EVIL DEAD II, DEAD ALIVE still manages to be somewhat entertaining. The film concerns a young man still living with his mother. When a girl from the market learns from her clairvoyant grandmother that she is supposed to fall in love with this man, she pushes the issue with him. In no time, the couple is out on a date at the zoo, but the overbearing mother is spying on them. When they go by the monkey exhibit, an insane one from a foreign country bites the mother. She slowly starts to fall apart. Her skin tears off, her ear falls off. Eventually, she dies, but becomes a hungry for blood zombie. In the disgusting and bulbous bad special effects of the late 80's, early 90's, she begins to infect everyone around town. It takes a while for the son to decide that he should destroy these creatures, for he still has some delusion that they're still the people he used to know. But eventually the movie degenerates into some very entertaining splatter-action scenes. One of the funniest, and best, is when the local Priest "fights for divinity" and beats the crap out of the zombies. Now, this film is not without its sadistic side, and it is a little too close to the great EVIL DEAD II to really earn any points for originality. But with what it is it does alright.
Dead Alive: ★★1/2