Resurrection
A jaded homicide detective has been put on the case of a ruthless killer in the city of Chicago, who leaves a trail of horribly mutilated and dismembered corpses along with perversely ironic biblical quotes.
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- Cast:
- Christophe Lambert , Leland Orser , Barbara Tyson , David Cronenberg , Jayne Eastwood , Rick Fox , Robert Joy
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Reviews
Very very predictable, including the post credit scene !!!
Simple and well acted, it has tension enough to knot the stomach.
Fanciful, disturbing, and wildly original, it announces the arrival of a fresh, bold voice in American cinema.
If you like to be scared, if you like to laugh, and if you like to learn a thing or two at the movies, this absolutely cannot be missed.
Coming from the videoclips' world to the unexpected success of "Highlander" ('86) made the Melbourne native, Russell Mulcahy, a promising director that earned his '15 minutes of fame' until "Highlander II - The Quickening" ('91) was released to theaters and was destroyed by both critics and audiences. It wasn't entirely Mulcahy's fault, but due to the troubled production in Argentina and the producers' ultimate cut which made the film halfway to the obnoxious' territory (thankfully that was corrected in the director's cut called "The Renegade Version").That misstep did not affect the friendship between the director and his lead star, and a couple years later, both started the concept for a 'crime / thriller' film, written by Lambert himself with the collaboration of Brad Mirman, and the result was "Resurrection", a well-crafted addition to the 'serial-killer' sub-genre. The obviously comparisons to "Se7en" ('95) started to flow, even if the David Fincher's directed film was only made due to the resurgence of the genre with the 5 Academy Awards' winner, "The Silence of the Lambs" ('91) and even prior to "Se7en", Christopher Lambert was the lead star and producer of a largely underrated 'mystery / crime / thriller' film, set in the wicked world of a 'serial-killer' called "Knight Moves" ('92), also starred by his then wife, Diane Lane with Tom Skerritt, Daniel Baldwin & Ferdinand Mayne in supporting roles, which served as a forerunner to films like "Se7en"; "The Bone Collector" ('99); the french film, "The Crimson Rivers" ("Les rivières pourpres", '00) or "Taking Lives" ('04).The only major difference between the two productions is that in "Knight Moves" did not star the ladies' boy toy from the early 90's, Brad Pitt, and Tom Skerritt never had the star power of Morgan Freeman, who only had his breakthrough in the industry when he was pushing 50 and the late director Carl Schenkel wasn't a MTV protégée like David Fincher, the guy responsible for ruining the "Alien" franchise, but curiously still have a legion of devoted internet fanboys.Back to what really matters, "Resurrection" suffers from limitations within the budget ("Se7en" had much more money invested in it) and the team Lambert / Mirman, should had withdrawn some "Se7en"-ish elements from the screenplay, like the beginning of the film when Lambert is up to work or the constant raining or even the addition of Leland Orser as Lambert's partner (Orser was in "Se7en" playing one of the last victims, but he was also in "The Bone Collector", another similar film in its tone and screenplay, so...)Aside from that, and some less appropriate camera work that resembles TV shows, "Resurrection" fully engages the viewer into the mistery due to a clever writing, featuring some great, creative & unexpected plot twists and a competent notion of characters' development / motivations and last but not the least, a great visual impact provided by the director Mulcahy who never lost his touch.The movie makes use of far more interior shots (due to the budgetary reasons above mentioned), but the team behind the décors, props and make-up / special effects did a great job here (once again better than "Se7en"), except for the baby part which looked so fake that almost ruined the climax (they should have edited better that sequence or made the doll looking more realistic, but in that way it could have shocked the audience even more...)The sense of grotesque and 'body horror' are well patent and ironically, the master of that sub-genre, the director David Cronenberg appears in a two scenes' extended cameo as the obviously 'red herring', playing an eerie looking catholic priest named Father Rousell.In terms of performances, Christopher Lambert delivers a way better performance than Brad Pitt, who acted in "Se7en" like he was in a training mode for the cuckoo's nest in "12 Monkeys", filmed just after "Se7en" wrapped production. Unlike Brad's David Mills, Lambert's John Prudhomme does serious detective work here (more like Morgan Freeman) and he have far more relevant character's arc due to the writing than Mills, whose only purpose in that movie was living up to the climax.In short, forget the "poor man's Se7en" comparisions written here by the other reviewers, "Resurrection" is far more interesting and works so much better as a 'detective thriller / mystery' with plot twists along the way that keeps the viewer envolved and not just building for the final reveal, acomplishing nothing more throughout the film than the "let's go from crime scene from another crime scene" like "Se7en" did.As a final note, thank you Christopher Lambert (also for "Knight Moves" which i will review it here very soon), Brad Mirman & Russell Mulcahy for one of the best films ever produced in this genre. Recommended !!
I put off watching this movie for a long time, seeing how director Russell Mulcahy has made a number of stinkers over the years, and that actor Christopher Lambert hasn't exactly impressed me with his acting over the same period of time. (The fact that he co-wrote the story of this movie didn't exactly give me much hope.) To be sure, this movie is not perfect. The visual look of the movie is too dark at times, and there is a mysterious fog in many scenes (even indoors) that looks out of place. Some of the clues that Lambert's character uncovers come out of nowhere, seemingly because the screenwriters couldn't figure out how the hero would uncover them at the same time as the audience. The subplot about the hero's loss of his son is eventually forgotten and never brought up again. And Lambert, except for one crying sequence, is pretty stiff and unemotional.Despite those things, and a few other nitpicks, I still found enough to enjoy in this movie. The atmosphere of the movie is very good, bleak, dark, and horrifying. Murder is shown to be definitely not very pleasant. The progression of the investigation is very easy to follow, unlike some other murder investigation movies. The actor playing the killer is really creepy. And I can't say that at any point I was bored. So if you come across this on cable, give it a try.
This wasn't bad at all. It does bear a strong resemblance to SEVEN but its interesting enough in its own right to warrant at least one viewing. The film looks great, all washed-out greens and blues and grays--and it benefits from the restless, edgy camera-work by Jonathan Freeman. There is a surprisingly good performance from Christopher Lambert. Leland Orser also provides strong support as Lambert's partner. The film breaks down and becomes somewhat predictable by the 3rd act; there are a few too many car chases and shoot-outs,and the rooftop showdown with the villain dangling a rubber-looking baby over the rainy precipice is actually rather laughable, but for the first two-thirds, RESURRECTION is pretty gripping. It's nice to see the director Russell Mulcahy teaming up with Christopher Lambert again. Perhaps its their long association that has enabled Lambert to give one of his best performances; when actors form working partnerships with specific directors, the results usually get better and better as their collaborations progress. I enjoyed this film more than ALONG CAME A SPIDER.
First of all I wouldn't say that this movie is a Se7en Rip-Off. I agree to the point that it's similar to Se7en. But this murderer has a different purpose with his killing than the murderer in Se7en and as in Se7en the one in Resurrection don't replicate the 7 sins. He merely wants to Resurrect Jesus Christ.The movie has a touch of low budget over it but still it manages too keep you interested and entertained. The actors ain't really Oscar material but they do what they're supposed to do and do it quite well. I like the concept about religion, it's a subject everyone have heard about and this movie is overall realistic. It's not very predictable and I don't think you'll turn it off and say "THIS IS CRAP!" I think this movie is underestimated and deserves being viewed. And the fact that it's not packed with special effects and thousands of big actors makes it a good choice. I've always preferred David over Goliat. ;)