Fire City: End of Days

Short version: this movie is a very enjoyable film noir, with an interesting mystery story, using demons as plot attributes. It's not a demon horror action movie.

Long version: First off, this movie is weird. Not just in the sense that it's about "weird" stuff like demons, but in that it's a movie trying to mix film noir, mystery, horror, and drama. As I started watching it, I was expecting it to be some crappy demon-horror B-movie, but I've not often been so surprised (and wrong in my initial judgment). I believe the reason for most bad reviews of this movie, is that people were expecting a radically different movie. The best I can describe it is as a film-noir mystery detective demon drama. If that sounds ridiculous to you (and I can't blame you), then you're probably better off watching something different. If instead you're intrigued by this seemingly random combination of genres, you might want to give it a try.

I found the script to be surprisingly intelligent, with pretty few plot holes, and after the first "what the f*ck is this?" moment passed, I really got into the story (which I will not spoil). Most of the movie is very bleak (although it has a somewhat happy ending), including domestic abuse, alcoholism, child rape (although that was thankfully only implied, but never shown), etc., so it's probably not suited for the faint hearted. I found the acting to be much better than I expected: not Oscar nomination material obviously, but it was adequate enough. Also the special effects, being mostly the demons' body prosthetics, were quite nice. At times it was clear they were just rubber masks and floppy prosthetics, but I found the designs very elegant and was impressed with the film's visual style. Overall I would say it's very entertaining to watch and very different from what you would expect from something called "Fire city: end of days". I also found it to be thematically intriguing, and most of all a very original combination of different genres. I would give it a solid 7/10, but it gets an extra +1 because it's really much better than the 5/10 it has now on IMDb.

If you're going to watch the movie, just keep in mind you'll actually have to pay attention to the story - otherwise it's just going to seem like a strange, confusing, meandering movie. But believe me, it actually does make sense in the end. Just think of it as a film noir that happens to feature demons, rather than a demon movie, and you'll know better what to expect.

I really enjoyed this little film. Little bit different from all the other horrors around. Worth a watch.

I had no idea what to expect from this movie when I sat down to watch it, other than I believed it to be a horror movie. I read the synopsis, and it seemed alright.

The storyline in "Fire City: End of Days" was very deviant from what I was expecting, especially since I found this movie in the horror section. It didn't really have an ounce of horror to it; this was more of a fantasy movie of sorts. And there was so little happening of any interest or anything riveting that made you hunger for more, so it was a very bland and uneventful pace that the movie trotted on in.

And just when I thought I just about had seen all there was to see, a demonic drug dealer pops up on the screen here.

So this was supposed to be demons coexisting with humans in our world? But somehow the demons looked like creatures from "Babylon 5". And some of the demons looked like something from one of the early Peter Jackson movies such as "Bad Taste". There wasn't a shred of demonic feel to the majority of the creatures in the movie. Which kind of baffled me, especially since they had definitely put a lot of effort into the make-up and prosthetic. The boar-like demon was perhaps the one with the worst demon design of them all, it looked like something from a low budget young adult TV horror show. There was a Moloch, though, that actually looked quite good and had that demonic feel to its design, aside from the mouth when it spoke and it spoke with Schwarzenegger-like accent, which made it difficult to take it serious.

The acting in the movie was adequate, and I was actually a bit surprised to see that Danielle Chuchran was playing the role of Cornelia. Aside from Danielle Chuchran, the only other familiar face on the screen was Matt Winston (playing Ron).

The characters in the movie were so trivial and generic that you don't really bother committing to any of them. The characters do appear to be rather pointless and could easily be replaced by cardboard cut-outs.

There was a scene where the Asian couple was sitting at the dining table with another woman, and when she got up and started to undress and dance naked then I was just about ready to get up and turn off the movie. Because that brought so much ridiculousness and pointlessness with it. And it served no purpose at all. Sure, I get that some demons are all about sexual prowess and seduction, but come on. It served no purpose other than director Tom Woodruff Jr. having a chance to put a fully naked woman into his movie.

"Fire City: End of Days" was by no means an outstanding or particularly memorable movie in any way. It was entertaining enough for the campy thing that it turned out to be. Just don't expect anything extraordinary here. And I doubt that you will watch the movie more than once, provided you actually make it through the first time, given its slow and mundane pacing.

Vine, a disillusioned demon, is forced into a choice to save his brethren or an innocent human girl when the misery his kind feeds on is diminished.

Director Tom Woodruff Jr. (special effects maestro, know for Aliens) offers a surreal neon monster demon film packed with makeup and special effects. Ryan Leach score enhances the vibe in this overlooked tight budgeted film with few locations. Although big on concept but small in scope and budget it has a comic book feel, and visuals echoing likes of Nightbreed, with touch of Hellboy.

The cast do a great job, nonchalant Tobias Jelinek is notable giving a standout performance as Jack Nicholson-like Atum Vine. Danielle C. Ryan Is memorable as Cornelia. Both Kimberly Leemans as succubus demon Amber and young Sara played by Keely Aloña deserve a mention.

Overall, it may not have the budget of the aforementioned, but with its premise and makeup effects Woodruff delivers enough horror ingredients to make it worthwhile.

On the one hand, Tom Woodruff, Jr.'s name carries no small weight in the film-making industry, with a long list of acclaimed credits in special effects; that this is accordingly only the second feature he has chosen to direct surely says something (good). On the other hand, that Uncork'd Entertainment is attached in any way (as distributor in this case) is a bad warning sign, as they have been involved in too much dreck below the level of The Asylum. I'm not familiar with writers Michael Hayes or Brian Lubocki, but I see that 'End of days' follows from a short film sharing the 'Fire City' moniker, so I presume this picture is a bit of a passion project for them. Before the film has even properly begun these are all facets to greet our attention, and from there it could go either way. As the runtime progresses, that push and pull of conflicting vibes is kind of sustained, for this movie is an odd mixed bag. I do like it, on the balance, but I'm not sure that even it quite knew entirely what it wanted to be.

It takes most of the first thirty minutes for the picture to start to give a concrete sense of what it's about. Such plot development isn't abnormal; the extent to which the story threads are scattered and disparate, and the distinct effort to obfuscate real plot in the interval, is. Once we do get to that earnest narrative, I recognize some enticing ideas and potential. I actually very much like what Hayes and Lubocki have whipped up: demons secretly living in the human world, feeding off misery, and suddenly there comes a disruption to that parasitic relationship. What's strange is that in some measure the concept feels like one better suited for PG-13 or even PG-level dark fantasy - it could be orientated toward more mature audiences, and in this case it unquestionably is owing simply to blood, gore, violence, nudity, and the distinct intonation of bleak themes. Yet even for such inclusions, there's a cheeky, almost ham-handed levity and playfulness that would feel at home more in a feature for a younger audience than it does here. To that point, in the way that the genre elements manifest and in that incomplete balance of feelings, I'm reminded somewhat of Clive Barker's 'Nightbreed,' which bore a similar tone. Here, however, the mashup of discrete horror and dark fantasy facets with any more lighthearted notions doesn't come off quite the same way.

None of this is to say that 'Fire City' is bad; not at all! Not only do I like it, as I said, but I also think it's actually pretty good! Woodruff shows capable skill as a director, arranging shots and scenes and guiding his cast, and as one should expect of features he's involved with, the visuals are rather excellent. The special makeup and costume design for the demons' appearances are rich and flavorful (the biggest point of comparison with 'Nightbreed,' for what it's worth), and blood and gore look great. Other effects both practical and digital are just as swell, and I love the production design and art direction, the use of lighting, and Danny Grunes' mindful cinematography. Even restricted almost entirely to the setting of a single apartment building, the film is rounded out with splendid detail in others ways, including scene writing and the narrative at large. This also does a fine job of suggesting a larger lore to the universe that isn't fully explained, giving us just enough information to meaningfully propel and enrich the plot without going overboard on expository dialogue.

Still, I can very much understand how this has limited appeal broadly speaking; above all, the flavors don't quite mix in the ideal way - horror, dark fantasy, mystery, drama, thriller, all a loose and heterogeneous blend. Furthermore, in addition to the central plot, it almost seems at some points like there are scant threads that don't quite fit, or that are too much for this one feature - they could have been explored more fully, perhaps, but not without sacrificing integrity of the movie as it is. As a prime example, the overflow of plot we get in the last ten minutes or so, explaining the course of events, is so substantial as to be overbearing, and in a fraction of the runtime the title suddenly feels significantly imbalanced from out of nowhere. One unfortunate side effect of the elaborate makeup and prosthetics that actors wear is that their performances necessarily involve no small amount of chewing of scenery to speak and emote through their costumes. Among those portraying demons, there's no one this doesn't impact, and it's only a question of degrees from one to the next; I admit bias since I like her anyway (and she's the only cast member here I'm familiar with at all), but I'm inclined to think Danielle C. Ryan, portraying (demon) Cornelia, achieves the best results under these circumstances - kudos to her!

The result is a picture that I think is much stronger than not, but which plainly struggles to stir all its varied parts together. It also altogether tries to do too much in too small a span of time; maybe if this were more than just a single feature the assemblage could have been teased out to more complete and productive ends. What I see is a strong sophomore directorial effort from Woodruff, and intelligence from Hayes and Lubocki - intelligence, and maybe ambition that needed to be tempered in this instance. I see a fine cast that is restricted by the material or perhaps literally and physically by their costumes and character designs; I see contributions from all those working behind the scenes that are terrific, though in light of those ways in which the film more or less bites off more than it can chew, such work to realize it also ends up feeling like A Bit Much. When all is said and done I do think 'Fire City: End of days' earns a soft recommendation, even as I get why it won't meet everyone's preferences. My enthusiasm would be greater had only the screenplay been tightened, shedding some of the storytelling ideas to be more tightly focused.

Ah well. A good show of it; just too overflowing with ideas and flavors for its own good.