Wasteland (2011) Reviews

• Good time waster

  viligeidiot2011-10-24

  Right out of the gate, you can tell this is not the highest budget, big production movie of the year... but that's OK! Hollywood should take notice of little indie films like this that do a lot with very little. The movie itself is a mishmash of Mad Max, survival wasteland and some chop-socky tossed in for flavour. If you can look past the low budget and the 'slightly' over the top acting, it really isn't a half-bad movie! Certainly entertained me more than 'Drive' which I watched earlier this evening. Fans of cult films will certainly get a kick out of this (pun intended)and I hope the makers do more in the future. I think with a big studio behind them, they could really create something special.... maybe even the next Matrix or Saw, who knows?

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• Potential unrealised

  neil-4762017-11-19

  In a post-apocalyptic scenario, a group of murderous zealots kill mother, kidnap son, and leave father for dead after shooting him multiple times. 17 years later, father is hunting this group for revenge. Let me start by saying that this film is the creative offspring of Lukas J Culshaw (producer, co-writer) and an individual who calls himself Kantz (co-writer, director. This strikes me as pretentious and puts my teeth on edge right from the start. This simple revenge tale - desert locations, small cast and crew, some martial arts setpieces - is the lowest of low budget films, But, for all that, it looks quite good: Michael McCants (I'm not going to play silly name games with him) has some ability behind the camera. The action sequences are quite well done. The cast look good, especially the group of improbably attractive and erotically clad young Asian women. Regrettably, not a single one of them is capable of acting, in which endeavour they are not helped in the slightest by a script which would have made Olivier look like an amateur. There are also some distracting, pretentious and unhelpful touches in the editing. I hope McCants can find some directing gigs. And I hope he stays away from writing.

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• MANKIND IS GOING BACK TO THE WAY OF THE 8-TRACK

  nogodnomasters2018-08-13

  This is an odd oriental western post apocalyptic grindhouse with a decent soundtrack. The American west (maybe more) has been devastated from some unnamed tragedy that has contaminated the land and created mutants. Most of the people are attempting to go to a government train so they can be taken back east where everything is fresh and clean. There is a "religious" group of hombres who want to cleanse the land through rape, pillage, plunder, and a bit of cannibalism, all for the greater good. In the opening scene, they rape and kill a woman, kidnap the son and shoot the husband multiple times...but he didn't die. 17 years later he (Garret Sato as Keo) is alive and seeking this group for revenge and he wants to get his son back, although we have been told he was eaten...and was very tasty. The movie sometimes has a comedy tone to it as demonstrated by a man in the desert complaining his 60 Lou Rawls albums being stolen by hombres. The human mutants travel underground like the sand-worms in "Dune." One of the members of the church, Charm (Erin Laurence) is a Sherie Moon Zombie type who delights in bad things and prays during the first rape. She is perfect for a grindhouse and is clearly under utilized. Although it is 17 years later, no one looks older. The movie has some really horrible, downright campy acting and dialogue which actually made the film more enjoyable. It boasts 5 pretty oriental women showing off their legs. Derrel Maury (Mario from "Joanie Loves Chachi") is Caine who leads the religious cult group. F-bombs, rape, no nudity, minor blood and gore. A movie clearly not for everyone.

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