Writer: Matt Mitchell (Screenplay)
Starring: Sally Philips, Bruce Payne, Julian Rhind-Tutt, Tom Goodman-Hill, Adrian Edmondson, Stephen Marcus, Bruce Herbelin-Earle, Christopher Tajah
Plot: The year is 1955. NATO and the Allied Forces have been conducting secret, occult experiments in a bid to win the Arms Race. Now, they have finally succeeded but what the Army has unleashed threatens to tear our world apart. One woman must lead the only survivors past horrors that the military has no way to control – and fight to close what should never have been opened.
Runtime: 1 Hour 34 Minutes
There may be spoilers the rest of the review
Verdict: Twist & Blood Filled Horror
Story: The Rizen starts as we dive into a facility under lockdown, blood flying and memories gone, we meet Frances (Swift) as she starts to look for an exit as creatures roam the hallways. Francis is joined by Professor Baughman (Tajah) and solider Briggs (Knowles) in the attempts to survive the creatures from beyond the grave.
With visions, flashbacks the story is filled in and we learn the truth about Frances and what was being created within the facility.
Thoughts on The Rizen
Characters – Frances is our leading lady, woken without a memory with only paperwork that tell her, her name and her job a cook in the facility, she attempts to lead the survivors out of the facility, while learning her true place and reason for being there. Briggs is a solider on the facility, he refuses to kill the innocent people within leading to him becoming court martialled, he joins the survival group where he shows his worth in battling the creatures. Baughman is the professor that is trying to survive, he does fill in blanks as his memory returns quicker than the rest, he also gives us plenty of comical moments with his reactions to decisions being made.
Performances – The performances from our main three stars trying to escape are good without being the most memorable in the genre, we have seen similar characters done better and some done worse, but for the budget of the film this works for the film.
Story – The film is a mix of survival horror as we follow the group try to locate a way out of the facility, while also giving us an occult meets science storyline where we see how scientist handle getting the information. Think back to the original Resident Evil movie and you have a similar idea, just with much darker tones, settings across the board. The story does have twists along the way, but sometimes we get some just to have another one, which at times can leave you wondering if we needed this many along the way.
Action/Horror/Sci-Fi – The action is battling the creatures which gives us plenty of blood splatter in the meantime, we start with one enemy and it seems to increase each time we lead into the next battle. The horror comes from the creature creations which are both terrifying and deadly especially with how they can create more. The sci-fi side of the film comes from how the occult and science clash to make what the creatures have used to come through.
Settings – The film is set in the facility which shows how the characters have no easy escape with creatures hunting them down.
Special Effects – The effects are a mix of practical effects which are delightful and bloody but the usage of effects to show memory loss are not a pleasant viewing experience.
Scene of the Movie – The creation of the creature.
That Moment That Annoyed Me – The regaining memory sequences, this is the camerawork for it.
Final Thoughts – This is a good, fun, bloody splatter horror movie, it will be more for the horror fans to enjoy, but don’t be expected to be scared by any moments in the film.
Overall: Blood filled horror for horror fans.
Rating