Army of the Damned (2014)

   

Written & Directed by:

Starring:

Jackie Moore .... Kayla
.... Dave
.... Donald
.... Bridge
na .... Griffith
.... Crazy Earl
David Chokachi .... Rhodes
.... Patricia Woods
.... BeefCake
Tom Paolino .... Sobecheck
Jasmin St. Claire .... Agent Hart
Tony Todd .... Jackson

Release Date: Direct-to-DVD: January 14, 2014

 

Rating:

 

A filming on a cop hit reality show goes wrong when there's an answer to a domestic disturbance of a family slaughtering in a house only to discover that the house is evil and possessed causing more slaughterings and possessions on the victims by making them very powerful whenever they enter the property.

 

The beginnings of this film looked rather lame as we spot a couple making out in a van and having a feeling that something creepy will happen which seemed too obvious and only to have a crew filming this moment or other situations with a dorky camera person preparing someone to shoot their scene by doing something. Basically the typical set up for preparing a reality TV show in which you could tell from all of this was a total farce.
We spot some people going inside a mysterious home in which there's nice shots on the hallways and them searching around making things look mysterious with some still moments yet things start to look cheesy after a while as well as spotting a mysterious little girl that they discover which is supposed to add some flavor to the horror story by suggesting ghostly moments. Yet this seemed a bit too obvious. Also there's a still moment on one of these people being slayed by a mysterious demonic killer with good close up shots on this. Yet doesn't seem too terrifying at all.
We spot some corny discussions with the police being sarcastic before going on their mission inside the haunted home in which was supposed to look like a cheesy take on Cops. Things did look rather amusing when they go in to search for some stuff as well as a good shot on a grisly slaughtering on some vicitms at a dinner table which can please any horror fan for sure. While the police squad discovers this they get aggressive with the cameraman to turn it off due to things seeming too gruesome to show in which this moment was supposed to look serious yet fails to deliver.
We spot more corny discussions with the police outside waiting for their mission which almost makes things look pretty bland but things do seem to pick up. There's some good cheesy night effects on the front of the house which looked pretty low budget haunting like as well as interesting cheesy special effects on the ohuse lighting up at times suggesting some paranormal events occuring. We also spot a moment when there's a ghostly like figure speaking out his commandments like he's at war as at first it seemed good and ghostly but afterwards looked a bit disappointing and too cheesily done.
Also things were supposed to look effective when one of the paramedics named Griffith tries to find the little girls pulse and there isn't one yet this seemed a bit stale to watch and needed to look more convincing.
All of this seemed to look like an average bland film but it does pick up which the action starts to kick in as we have some great moments involving other police squad members like Crazy Earl getting ready to go in for battle as well as nice shots on
the head lieutenant Jackson approaching from his vehcile ready to do battle as well and meaning business as this looked fun to watch as well.
There's some slapstick moments on a handcuffed Donald trying to take a wizz near a tree which looked hilarious to watch as well as some shocking moments on a burly possessed police officer slaughtering some of his teammates along with cheesy struggling moments on the survivors trying to kill him as it doesn't look as intnse like it was supposed to be due to alot of the slapstick situations going on as well.
There's some perfect fucked up shit with the living dead squad slaughtering their body parts to use weapons for their arms like a sledgehammer as there's great dark shots on all of this happening which can make you cringe along with other creepy shots on what else they're doing as well.
Alot of terrific dark moments on the squad like Crazy Earl going into the house to snuff out these possessed people with nice gruseome reactions to the shootings as wellas good cheesy moments on the actions of these possessed maniacs and nice focused shots on this as well as corny fast action battling too. All of this was entertaining nevertheless. These scene's can be enjoyed by comedy-horror fans who enjoy party flicks.
Bottom line is that this is a so bad it's good type of flick and although there's alot of cornball moments other situations seems to make up for it especially the cheesy low budget horror effects which looked exciting to watch. Seems like a fun little indie flick and almost spoofs shows not just Cops but also the Amityville and Evil Dead series. If you're not in the mood for a party horror flick then you may want to skip this one though. The storyline is just as clever as movies like Return to Sleepaway Camp and the Lost Boys: The Thirst.

The acting is pretty bad for the most part with a few exceptions. Some of it is hard to review but I will do my best here.... Lead actress Jackie Moore (Kayla) seemed to draw in a nice seriousness to her role and doing well by her speaking in which she gives it a good and clear performance as well as show a nice decent type of energy and attitude into what she does. She was on the ball for sure. She was one of the few exceptions for sure but not the greatest by any means.
Dave) was a bit corny in his performance as a detective but however seemed to be a natural ham at the same time with his sarcasm in which he added some nice spunk within this. Also had the right comedic looks and appeal to add to the dark comedy used in the film. He was also on the ball with things too and knew on how to interact with one another. He had the perfect looks for this role with his stocky appeal.
(Donald) was quite funny in his part as a criminal showing good blocking at what he's doing by acting clumsy and offered a good hyped up type of attitude too. Comes across nicely with his charming appeal making himself a likeable type of villain and a hero in the end of his performance. Seemed to study this part in an okay fashion. At times he was a bit cheesy though.
(Bridge) seemed to get on my nerves big time as someone whom is trying to shoot a reality show in which he seemed to come across as a typical dork. He just didn't do anything for me as I sort of found him to try too hard to portray a character actor. But again that is only my opinion. He seemed to be pretty annoying regardless.
na
(Griffith) played a paramedic in this film and was quite off in many situations with his performance like when he gets emotional after spotting something tragic in which he was awfully wooden within this. However seemed to add a good uplifting attiude in other certain spots like when talking to an onscreen child. He showed off a happy go lucky attitude in other spots fairly well. Just needed improvements in other areas.
Crazy Earl) was probably the best out of the cast as he was never a disappointment from anything that I've seen him in. He offered nice comedic timing with his gruff and sarcastic attitude and knew on how to get to the point with stuff too. Shows some good expressions with his bad ass type of personality. Was perfect with his commandments while going into battle and showed some perfect forceful blockings while trying to fire his weapon. Also was perfect with his speaking too. There doesn't seem to be any boundries with this guy.
David Chokachi
(Rhodes) had the perfect tough cop looks but that was about it. Whenever he was obnoxious or screaming he seemed to fall out of character and acted way too over the top within whatever he did here. I just couldn't give him a postivie review on whatever he did here. He almost seemed energetic which was great but that was it. However knew on how to turn into a demonic force but that's nothing to brag about either.
Tom Paolino (Sobecheck) really had the knack when he turns possessed with his cackly laughter and insane attitude especially with his expressions as you could tell that he was ready for anything. He was on the ball with his horror character big time and sprung into action terrifically. Had the perfect looks to play this role and wasn't a let down by any means.
Tony Todd (Jackson) was another one whom I'd say was the second best performer in this film even if his role wasn't too huge. He showed off a perfect aggressive commander of the squad and was on target. Very different than what I've seen him in compared to movies like the Candyman or Final Destination. Also knew on how to act expressionless and creepy after he becomes possessed.

Officers neck is torn open as well as his other parts of his flesh.
Bloodied dead bodies are revealed at a dinner table.
Arms and other body parts are sawed off.
Decapitations are revealed.
Heads are blown off.
Flesh is torn off on people's heads and faces.

The music was perfectly put together sounding very mysterious and spooky as we hear alot of hissing sounds which seemed perfectly ghostly. Also we hear the odd southern outlaw twanging guitar playing too. Also some good echoey piano playing which sounds very different than the average composing we often hear in today's horror films. Quite unique indeed. Plus we hear the odd badd guitar thumping too sounding good and low. For alot of the comedic moments we do hear some harp plucking which is the traditional type that we often hear. Plus there's a real balls to the wall heavy metal soundtrack while the police squad try to snuff out of the possessed people in the home which fits every scene with the heavy riff guitar playing.