Resident Evil [2002]

Given that Resident Evil is a Paul Anderson movie based on a computer game which was itself highly derivative (especially of George A Romero and James Cameron films), it's probably unfair to complain that it hasn't got an original idea or moment in its entire running time. In the early 1980s, Italian schlock films such as Zombie Flesh Eaters and Zombie Creeping Flesh tried to cram in as many moments restaged from American originals as possible, strung together by silly characters wandering between monster attacks. This is a much-improved, edited, photographed and directed version of the same gambit.

As amnesiac Milla Jovovich remembers amazing kung fu skills and anti-globalist Eric Mabius mutters about evil corporations, a gang of clichéd soldiers with nary a distinguishing feature between them (except for Michelle Rodriguez as a secondary tough chick) are trapped in an underground scientific compound at the mercy of a tyrannical computer--which manifests as a smug little-girl-o-gram--fending off flesh-eating zombies (though gore fans will be disappointed by the film's need to stay within the limits of the 15 certificate) and CGI mutants, not to mention the ever-popular zombie dogs. It's tolerably action-packed, but zips past its borrowings (Aliens, Cube, Deep Blue Sea) without adding anything that future schlock pictures will want to imitate.

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Hostel 1 & 2 Box Set[2005]

With only one film under his belt and the endorsement of Quentin Tarantino, Eli Roth became a virtual horror brand with Hostel, a yarn about a group of thrill-seeking American college dudes backpacking through Europe, only to be seduced into a Slovakian money-for-torture ring where they became the prey.

The sequel begins right where that film left off, filling us in on the whereabouts of lone survivor Paxton (Jay Hernandez). But before long, we see that gender roles are reversed and we are travelling with sensible Beth (Lauren German), hedonistic Whitney (Bijou Phillips), and virginal Lorna (Heather Matarazzo). After tussling with a gaggle of shifty men on a train, they meet Axelle (Vera Jordanova), a gorgeous woman who persuades them to follow her to a rejuvenating spa in Slovakia. As the trio checks into the same infamous hostel, Roth shows us the inner workings of the previously mysterious torture club. Once the girls are put up on the auction block, online bidding begins among the club's members---who are revealed to be prominent international business-people.

After Beth and Whitney are won by type-A American corporate jerk Todd (Richard Burgi), who believes that killing someone will give him power, and his reluctant associate, Stuart (Roger Bart), the film shifts to the preparations for their inaugural slayings within the bloody walls of the warehouse. For those who embraced Hostel's abrupt tonal shifts and very realistic gore, Roth serves up amplified doses of both in his follow-up. Astute horror fans will find a few amusing in-jokes among the carnage, but beware---things get incredibly strong, and Roth's charnel house chic intends to offend.

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28 Days Later/28 Weeks Later [2003]

Features the film 28 DAYS LATER and its sequel 28 WEEKS LATER. A deadly virus escapes from a research centre and within twenty eight days the entire country is infected with the exception of a few survivors. Together they try to build a future for themselves. 28 WEEKS LATER is set after the blood-thirsty fiends of 28 DAYS LATER are thought to have died out. The American military are slowly bringing British citizens back to London, where a heavily guarded community is picking up the pieces and trying to return to normal life. However, chaos soon returns, with the sadistic military and the forlorn survivors battling both each other and ‘the infected.’

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