Curse Of The Zodiac (2006)
Picture:
C Sound: C Extras: C- Feature: C-
WARNING:
THIS IS NOT THE DAVID FINCHER “ZODIAC”
THAT WAS ALSO JUST RELEASED AND WAS
SO UNDERRATED.
Instead,
this is writer/director Ulli Lommel’s attempt to take the real life murder
spree and make it into a cheap serial killer flick, complete with bad acting,
blood, gore, a script that is totally inept and is at best a novelty on how not to make such a work.
Cheaply
made, with an obvious non-research stance, the very, very long 82 minutes plays
so badly that I could not believe it ever got made. The killer is celebrated, never identified or
as thoroughly explained as it becomes an excuse to cash in on the Fincher film
which actually uses a well-researched book to suggest a solution to the
murders. This film thinks it is scary,
but it is just a work to treat its audience like idiots and is obsolete upon
arrival anyhow. It probably was before
Lommel started writing it, but then what do you expect from the director of The Boogeyman?
The
anamorphically enhanced 16 X 9/1.78 X 1 image looks like it was shot on
lower-def digital video, is poor in color, depth, detail and definition. It is badly edited, badly shot, has plenty of
sloppiness throughout and is a mess. The
Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo is about as bad with no surrounds, bad location
recording and is simply substandard by any standard of audio fidelity. Extras (it actually has some) include stills,
bonus footage that is as bad and a disposable audio commentary that is amazing
in that the participants thing they made a good work.
- Nicholas Sheffo
