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| About Review |
Reviewer
RumbleWolf4
Review Date
9th August, 2004
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| Movie Credits |
Director
Sebastian Apodaca
Cast
Sebastian Apodaca
Kathy Wagner
Kim Te Roller
Rob Zazzali
Robert Pike Daniel
Screenplay
Sebastian Apodaca
Tagline
"The legend lives!"
Country
South Africa
Classification
R
Year
2004
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| Errors |
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| DVD Cover Art |
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| DVD Information |
Format
NTSC
Region Coding
1
Aspect Ratio
1.78:1
16x9 Enhanced
Yes
Running Time
86 minutes
Year Released
2004
Packaging
Keep Case
Extra Features
Behind The Scenes
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Half-Caste
The Plot
This will sound very familiar. This is the "true" story of four students who ventured into the South African bush to film a documentary on the Half-Caste. the African equivalent of the werewolf. A local police officer has found the sole remaining film maker. Covered in blood and distraught, he seems to be a prime suspect for the mass disappearence of the others. But as he tells of his experiences to the officer, it becomes all too obvious that the legend of the Half-Caste is not a legend at all... but rather bloodthirsty reality.
The Movie
Yes, it is quite similar to the Blair Witch. This film is recorded via handheld cams and "web-cams" that are placed around the lodge which they stay in. Unfortunetly, this movie is far inferior to it's cousin. The main problem with this movie is it looks a lot like an episode of "MTV's Fear". The voice overs sound extremely similar and the whole film is held together by transitions featuring an odd variety of music. The heavy metal during the end credits is very out of place. The mere presence of a musical score brings the movie down. It would've seemed so much eerier and more visceral if there was no music at all. Having the cliched "Ominous" music play during a dangerous encounter takes you right out of the documentary atmosphere. Apodaca actually stars, edits directs, writes and performs the songs in the film...talk about overexposure! One more gripe is that the movie makes it painfully obvious what's behind the killing. There's no sense of mystery or tension like in Bair Witch. We know that the Half-Caste is real and slaughtering these people.
The movie's not all bad. We do get some effective and clever scenes. The posession and lion attack scenes are awesome and are easily the best in the movie. The cinematography is beautiful as the film was filmed on location in South Africa. The atmosphere is very authentic. The beast itself (think "Were-Leopard") is actually kind of creepy. Too bad the shoddy editing erases some of the potential tension. The acting is shoddy as is expected and some plot elements (such as the love triangle) seem completely unnesscesary. Nonetheless, we don't see many were-leopard films and this one does carry a breath of fresh air feel to it! As for gore we get the sticky intestines so classic to lowbudget films and plenty of bloodshed. If you can look past the movie's many flaws, you might find something quite unique. Worth a rental at least.
"The Blair Witch can suck my left testicle!" - Ray (actual movie quote)
The DVD
The opening menu promises potential thanks to an impressive clip loop and a really nice African drumbeat/chant score that creates good atmosphere. However, beyond that, we have a typically bare-bones DVD. The sole feature is a collection of Behind-the-scenes. i for one, could not tell wether these were delted scenes or outtakes. They range from plain cheesy to oddly serious. The film itself was merely ok, so I cant really recommend a purchase at all. At least the score was cool!
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