Necropolis Awakened

Pathfinder | minutes | | | Standard DVD reviewed by: Fusion3600

The town of Skyhook has been turned into a ghost town of sorts, as most of the residents have vanished. The homes aren't occupied, the stores aren't open, and even the police have shut down for some reason. But some signs of life and activity are present, because the people who caused Skyhook to turn pale are still in the area. The man in charge is Nefarious Thorne (Brandon White), a menace who seeks to use Skyhook as one massive experiment and in truth, he is quite close to realizing his plan. The residents have been hunted down by Thorne's men, three assassins who are led by the sadistic Judas (Duke White). This man and his two minions have invaded Skyhook and taken aim on those who live there, with lethal force. Now all the residents have been killed or turned into undead fiends, at least the ones Judas is aware of. As it happens however, there is one citizen that managed to survive the assault and now, it is up to Bob (also Duke White) to take on Thorne's men and ruin his plans. But it won't be easy for just one man to go up against a virtual army of the undead, that much is certain. Even so, with no real alternative, Bob is prepared to go it alone, but does he even stand a chance?

This movie was made on a minuscule budget, but the ambition and dedication of the filmmakers shines through. I've seen countless low budget movies of all kinds, but perhaps no genre has more than the horror movie realm. You don't need stacks of cash to produce atmosphere and chills, you just need a good premise and a skilled cast & crew. In this production, Garrett White served as director, editor, producer, actor, writer, and even sound engineer, while most of his cast turned in multiple performances and also worked behind the scenes, as sound engineers, special effects artists, and stunt team members. The word is that Necropolis Awakened was made for under eight thousand bucks, the kind of cash that wouldn't even pay for the portable toilets on a major studio production. So when you watch this outlandish, unpredictable, and wildly entertaining movie, keep in mind how much went into it, even if it wasn't funds. You can tell the cast and crew busted ass on this, to make it so good with so little resources available. This movie houses some great action set pieces, photography, and attention to detail. The crew used what was out there, like haybarns and other farm equipment, and used it all to effective ends. This is simply a well crafted movie in all respects and fans of horror cinema shouldn't miss it.

I've seen some incredible stuff in movies, from wild special effects to intense car chases to stunning action sequences. When you talk about action driven movies, you usually talk about how expensive those productions can become. These days, we don't even blink an eye when a movie costs over a hundred million dollars to make, even if that same movie doesn't look like it cost half that much to produce. This is because most of the cash goes to the stars, especially those who pull in million upon million, some up around twenty-million. So if the special effects look hazy or the action stunts are a little off, perhaps it is because too much of the budget went toward some primadonna's trailer or other special demands. When I watched Necropolis Awakened however, I not only saw all the eight grand or so it cost to make this movie, I thought I saw a lot more, because of how well crafted this picture is. You can tell that Garrett White had a passion for this material, as he worked in front of and behind the cameras, as writer, director, actor, editor, and sound team member, so he turned in one hell of an effort here. As I said before, most of the cast members also pulled overtime, playing multiple roles and working behind the scenes. But it all paid off in the end, as Necropolis Awakened is one kick ass movie.

Necropolis Awakened is presented in 1.85:1 widescreen, which is not enhanced for widescreen televisions. This feature was shot on video, but holds up pretty well, especially when you consider the budget involved. The image has the video texture, which means you'll know it isn't shot on film, but it looks solid enough. I saw a few compression artifacts, but they were minor and on the whole, the transfer is well handled in that respect. The colors are bright, but within a natural scope and contrast seems well balanced in most scenes. The video format causes some overly bright moments, but like I said, black levels are solid in most instances. Given the circumstances, I think this is a more than acceptable treatment. I would have loved an anamorphic edition, but this one still looks good in most aspects.

The audio here is basic, but with the limitations of the production, I see no reason to complain about the results. The elements come across in clean fashion, but this is no full on surround track, so keep that in mind as you watch. A few scenes do seem to beg for the surrounds, but for what it is, this is a solid presentation. The assorted sound effects are loud and effective, but limited to the front channels, they tend to wane a little. So no, this track doesn't quite do the material justice, but like I said, that's a source flaw. I did notice some harshness when people yelled or screamed, which proved to a distraction in some cases. But most of the time, dialogue is smooth and shows no signs of error in the least. This is a low budget soundtrack for a low budget movie and by that turn, it sounds just fine.

In addition to a talkative and insightful audio commentary track, this disc also includes four deleted scenes, a behind the scenes featurette, a bonus short film titled Monster, a selection of storyboards, still photos, and the film's trailer. A very nice assortment of supplements and to be sure, ones than fans will be all over.