Screenwriter Gary Scott Thompson, who would achieve success in Hollywood by working with popular blockbusters, wrote the primary script back in the late eighties. The action took place in modern America, telling about the search for a maniac who is fond of some occult knowledge, leaving mysterious pentagrams on the bodies of victims with their hearts torn out. At the studio, he was noticed only a few years later, but they demanded to make changes, because then the thriller “First Force” with similar plot elements was already released. It should be noted that the changes have benefited, creating a fascinating background of fantastic neonoir. The action took the viewer to London of the near future, whose subway and even the surface is flooded with water. Global warming has affected the climate, turning the city into an eternally damp, overcast and inhospitable night world, where floating rats, wet concrete, dark silhouettes knee-deep in the water, sandbags, metal structures in which it is so easy and easy to hide the elusive villain. Speaking of the villain, the writer also had a hard time, forced to constantly amend the plot to make the story as exciting as possible. Fortunately, the case intervened when the main role was offered to Rutger Hauer, who showed great interest in the project and his hero-policeman, combining a harsh look, a bad character and eternal sharp jokes over a clumsy partner. Both are completely different. The first, with the speaking surname Stone, translated into Russian "Stone", a strong and strong-willed man, dressed in futuristic leather clothes with a huge "gun" in the same huge fist, literally obsessed with catching a maniac to avenge the once-killed partner. To do this, he is ready to hardly sleep, constantly feeding himself coffee and chocolate on the go, exploring every dark place in the city. The second with a ridiculous name Dick, from which translation I, perhaps, will refrain, sparkling glasses, graduated from Oxford, versed in psychology, does not take off the tie, in everything denies himself, will be too correct, indecisive and inexperienced, perfectly playing on the contrast. But the opposites of the partners of the film can not pull, so Hauer gave smart advice to the screenwriter, give his character extrasensory, connecting with the maniac, to feel the invisible presence of the gut. Then – more, still absolutely blurred image of the villain suddenly started playing with new colors, turning into a real monster! Something endowed with supernatural power, large dimensions, fangs and claws, still had intelligence, so the film, as a dark thriller and tense action movie, gained additional charm from the capture of not just a maniac, but a monster with the makings of a maniac. The story successfully flirts on inefficiencies, giving the origin of the creature to the audience’s imagination, giving rise to a lot of theories to this day. Extraterrestrial appearance, occult symbols, non-human power, the absorption of souls through the hearts of the victims could give birth to any monster, perhaps once human, climbed out of the depths of Hell or fell from the depths of space. The very entourage of a half-submerged, urban and nightmarish non-stop could easily shelter this creature, becoming the abode of all evil, no matter where it came from.
The dynamics of the action movie at the production at a high level, pleasing with juicy shootouts, and the thriller is decorated with an excellent prop. The view of the monster is eerie, skillfully withstanding intrigue, so as not to immediately appear in all the terrifying beauty on the screen. Features of the baddy-movie about two companions are also skillfully played, possessing periodic jokes and gags in the color of black humor. One gradually opens up, turning from a “stone” into a caring man and a good friend, and the second is increasingly liberated in an extreme situation, comically adopting the bad habits of a frowning comrade. In addition, the story introduces the wife of the deceased partner of Stone, to whom he breathes unevenly and is forced to protect from the monster that took a trace on her hand and heart in the carnivorous sense. It is performed by the recognizable Kim Cattrall, whose career began to gradually turn towards television, however, it was there that began and then again brought great success. In general, it will definitely not be boring in the company of the trio of characters, a malicious monster and sullen futuristic locations.
However, not everything is so smooth, because the constant census of the script affected the partial illogical behavior of the characters and the sequence of scenes, giving a mess. Because of this, even the first director asked to remove him from the project, who lost a clear idea of his film. The replacement was in the face of professional Ian Sharp, who knew how to work as a second director on the set. In this picture, it was he who shot the entire climax and it is striking because of the increased action, perhaps too hastily putting an end to the fight with a seemingly hitherto invulnerable creature. After the premiere, Western critics mostly spoke negatively about the film and it did not pay for its budget. But already in Russia, in the post-Soviet space, “Few Seconds” was well shown on TV channels, sold well on videotapes, as another simple but entertaining adventure with Rutger Hauer, whose works caused stable interest in the nineties among fans of action films. And here is the melody from the famous British song "Nights in white satin", which will be a lot of singing. But this is for the most attentive. The film turned out with a memorable fantastic background, brisk dynamics and two opposites, forced to become companions. They are destined to fight against the inhuman evil that terrorizes people around them. But nothing, our guys will answer the call and invade the territory of any monster, step into his lair to put an end to all atrocities. We will support you without doubting for a second.
Is it strange that you do not have a grenade launcher?
...and the whole film, as far as weapons are concerned, of course, is full of such unconventional and colorful phrases ... and as for everything else, I terribly wanted to have the same cloak and glasses as the main character, and that Harley stood in the kitchen ... or even all two.
The plot, both the atmosphere of the film and everything else that you can see in this film is perfect (for VHS format time). A chic translation - which is no longer found, a murky picture of a 25-year-old cassette tape, all that remains of youth ... when it seemed that you could hunt the devil with a six-barreled machine gun, that a diet of caffeine, chocolate and violence is all you need for a healthy life ... and an abnormal 45-caliber (or even 50-caliber) colt and a lightly moved roof never prevented normal guys from working in the police.
Bring back such films – where brutality does not need to be created, where the bad protagonist becomes even more terrible, and the positive one becomes like you, Stone rises in the eyes of the viewer to the level of steepness higher and higher, as soon as he comes to the conclusion that “...we need more guns”.
Hallelujah!!
I saw this film for the first time in the cinema as a child, but for some reason without ending. Either I forgot, or it was one of those weird sessions that somehow got interrupted in the middle. The other one I remember clearly, so most likely with ' Counted seconds' was also.
***
The film tells about the difficult fate of a cop played by Rutger Hauer - he lost a partner under mysterious circumstances and can not cope with guilt. And after many years, the same killer begins to leave messages to the character Hauer, slowly driving him crazy.
The atmosphere of this story is extremely noir, oppressive: it is constantly raining, the city is flooding, everyone walks in cloaks and smokes one after another. Rutger's bachelor apartment perfectly complements the image of a lonely cop obsessed with one idea - to find the killer of his comrade.
The genre of the film can be attracted to 'buddy cop' because a new partner appears in the life of the hero, who is also in danger. To some extent, events and characters echo 'Predator-2'.
The actors do their job, the plot presents surprises, the stakes are present, the suspense is well pumped.
In the significant era of video parlors, when our market literally flooded pirate cassettes with one-voice amateur translation (who did not know the “man with a pinch-on-nose” that the influence of this era did not experience), and there was a police action movie with elements of a horror film called “counting seconds”, although this official name was given somewhat later, and originally it was known as “Share of a second” or “Share of a second”.
The director of the film was the Englishman Tony Mailam, over whom the cinematic fate cruelly laughed: his second full-length feature film “Burning”, created in the subgenre “slasher”, failed at the box office, but later was recognized as a cult and still enjoys some success among fans of horror films about psychopathic maniacs. Mailam later spent some time on television and returned in 1992 with Just Counted Seconds. Again, the film did not cause much sympathy and went almost unnoticed. Mailam’s last film work was the film “Diary of a Contract Killer”, which appeared on the screen in 2008, and until now almost nothing is heard about Mailam.
The script for “Count Seconds” was written by Gary Scott Thompson and it was he who gave us in 2001 the plot for “Fast and Furious”, which now turned into a real conveyor and began to grow even spin-offs. And in Counting Seconds, Thompson decided to tell the story of brutal police officer Harley Stone, carrying out his difficult service in London after an environmental disaster. Stone has a bad character, inability to take root with partners, and he is also a big fan of coffee, does not take a cigar from his mouth and uses a hefty “gun”. Stone leads the hunt for a serial killer who literally tears the chests of his victims. The authorities put him Dick Darkin - a real polyglot. Together they try to stop the maniac and both are convinced that he is not a person at all, but some terrible creature from the basement of the Thames Canal.
In the 90s of the last century, a movie with such a plot was especially appreciated, because it was the time of the real heyday of various varieties of horror, slashers, action movies and thrillers and the viewer, by and large, rarely thought about the quality of the proposed material, as long as the adrenaline pulsates when watching and the more blood and horror - the better. And yet, "Few Seconds" can be attributed to the classics of the genre, because all its well-known features are preserved: an unflappable hero without fear and reproach, but with a complex character and a special personal dramaturgy, which the authorities dislike; a mysterious antagonist who brings fear and panic to everyone and seems to have superpowers and only our brutal hero can stop him; the hero himself has a passion over which hangs because of the antagonist, because the fight between the protagonist and the villain grows, as a partner, who is the opposite. So, as you can see, in the slasher "Few Seconds" characteristic of the genre features of the plot are preserved.
Another thing is that the quality of “counted seconds” leaves much to be desired. Still, with a budget of $ 7 million, which in the 90s was not the best financial foundation, the film could be more realistic, and even post-apocalyptic London is somehow dryly displayed, there is no special atmosphere, and suspense comes only at certain moments, when the antagonist must strike his timely, but unexpected blow. And quite a lot rests on the image of Harley Stone, who embodied Rutger Hauer, at that time a big star after Blade Runner, Lady Hawk, Traveler and Blind Fury. And the image, I must say, memorable and if it was created by the actor himself, then the honor to him and praise. But the binding of his character to the villain (here the mandatory “shadows of the past” are involved), to the beloved woman and the newly-made partner and friend is too easy to read, so that the templates in “Counted Seconds” are also enough.
However, in any case I will not push away from viewing, who especially loves and honors the films of the 80-90s of the last century, after all, they have a special charm that can feel a tangible sense of nostalgia, because sincerity in those films was much more than in our current age of high technology with large-scale visual special effects. But in any case, even in the subgenre of slashers appeared films stronger than “counted seconds”.
6 out of 10
The director Tony Mailam after the cult slug "Burning", in principle, did not become great. I made a couple of TV movies, but after a couple of them decided to break into theaters again with the action movie " Counted seconds". Alas, the result was deplorable. The film could not pay off and simply undeservedly forgotten.
The world is in chaos, half the world is flooded with water, and then a bloodthirsty killer runs around the city, who rips the hearts of the victims and eats them. The main character is trying to catch him with all his might, since he has personal accounts with him, the maniac killed his partner and best friend, which made him so mentally insane. But later it turns out that the maniac is not even a person, and slightly resembles an Alien. Will he be defeated by the hero?
It is worth mentioning that the film in normal quality simply does not! All you'll find is a VHS tape. Visually, the film looks kosher, and looks like “Blade Runner” where also played Hauer. The city looks gloomy, the design of the guns is cool, the action is a little, but put correctly, the murders are done bloodyly that the faint of heart will not like, and it is worth mentioning the monster, which, as I said above, looks like someone else, if this is a tribute to the classics – then, respect the creators. Rutger Hauer coped well with the role of an abnormal bull-policeman, the rest of the actors also did not disappoint, but against the background of Hauer and they are lost.
In general, "Few seconds" - a strong clichéd fantastic action movie with admixture of a thriller. It will be a good evening if you are looking for an interesting film.
7 out of 10
Fiction often depicts the grim future of humanity, after any disasters, this film shows an ecological catastrophe and the flooding of London. Thus, science fiction is trying to warn humanity about the possible consequences. But humanity has both destroyed and destroyed nature, almost without restoring it.
I like dialogue, humor, sarcasm, and especially what Stone says.
I showed my dog an ID and she understood it. The sound of the beating heart of the monster, almost the entire film, keeps in suspense and anticipation of something.
- He eats human hearts.
- How do you know? ?
- We had lunch with him ...)
25 years 78 cycle, the Chinese calendar, now 2008, I guess, the year of the rat 2008.
Interestingly, the film was made in 1992, and I have watched it several times in my life before, and I write from 2019. Hauer's house is an ugly mess, the whole movie wants to clean it up.
' I work alone' - this phrase has become a template for decades in the movie about police officers who proudly, with a cigarette in their teeth, over-extending alcoholism, catch scoundrels in a gloomy city.
The world is rotting. We are shown the near future of 2008, but the director misses his futurism. We only occasionally slip signs or newspaper headlines, where the year is listed, apparently, so that the viewer does not forget that he is in the fictitious & #39; modern world'. There are only four locations in the film, and they were shot with a background that will not change much even after 10-20 years, for example, a large bridge at the beginning.
The viewer is waiting for any cyber-punk, as in Dews X, interesting hairstyles, grown multi-storey houses or dilapidated buildings, interesting technologies and weapons, because the film claims to be a genre of fiction, but all that was enough ' the famous futurist' Tony Mailema is a stereotypical square gun, destroying all living and ankle-submerged city. It's very difficult to call it noir. Also, the creator of the picture did not even bother to explain why and how the world changed.
But it's not that bad. The main character tries to save the film from the very beginning: epically, the whole movie lights up from burners, burning cigars with flames, as if exterminating gooks in Vietnam. Drives on style, leathers, formidable look, epic phrases. The kind of big, stupid cop who ruins everything and everything because of his mental disorder. Template, but that's the only thing that's nice to watch. Not for long either. Sometimes the main character, instead of letting go of another toilet hamstring, prefers to grab someone and hit. All this looks dull and primitive, however, as well as the plot.
It seems that the script was written on the knee: ' Yes, and so it will come down, shoot there, run, add a little blood, then honest people scavenge' But, alas, they didn't. From the irrationality of the actions of the characters, who are clouded in the film, sometimes even twitches. You look at yourself and involuntarily ask yourself:': Adult man, why, why do you make such a film? Why did he hit him now? What kind of scene was that? Are they kissing? Really?!' After thirty minutes, this futuristic masterpiece is boring to watch. It's like sitting on nails the rest of the time and you want to turn it off. The director does not show the monster until the very end, delighting the viewer only ' the view from his eyes' and behind-the-scenes malicious breathing.
Music in the movie? She's disgusting! Terrible work with all the sound, the volume is now and then limping, about the compression in the distant 92nd directors, apparently have not heard. However, the ears forget everything as soon as the final credits pop up on the screen and the only good sound starts (there are actually two good ones there).
And yes. Seven million greens, just think about it, spent on this mediocre, boring movie. I'm never surprised that shit like that doesn't show up at the box office. However, it surprises me that there is a huge amount of good reviews online about SPLIT SECOND', where every second writer seems to need medical attention. The only explanation I found for myself was that people watched it as a child and didn’t realize how pathetic it was. I hope that if this is the case, then the viewer will not review it, otherwise this film will send all the nostalgic positive mood to the trash. And he'll do it incredibly fast.
It wasn't him, it was fucking him!
Few Seconds is a fantastic horror thriller from Tony Maleima starring Rutger Hauer. And if today the Dutchman is almost a harbinger of the failure of the film (the poor guy lived to the moment when he began to star in Russian directors and projects not of the first freshness), then in those days, after the hit “Baserunner”, the cult Ridley Scott film “Blade Runner” and receiving the “Golden Globe” (in the category “Best Supporting Actor of a Mini-Series or Film on TV” for the project “Escape from Sobibor”). Rutger became a very popular actor, and every director wanted him as much as the Oscar winner. In 1992, when Hauer’s career was great, he experimented with different genres. Consent in Counted Seconds may be called a similar experiment.
2008. The near future does not please the world. For example, sunny London turned into a gloomy, slowly flooded by the Thames place. The cause of everything is an environmental disaster, not just around the corner and political. Hardcore cop Harley Stone doesn't care about politics or the environment, after his partner is killed in mysterious circumstances, Stone occasionally blames himself. His duty is to find his partner's killer. The maniac kills not only policemen, but also ordinary people. It is not difficult to recognize his handwriting - a lot of blood and a heart torn with inhuman force. Harley feels the killer, feels his heartbeat, but constantly the attacker runs away, leaving a new corpse. The control captain gives Stone a simple task to find and destroy the enemy, and at the same time connects another policeman, Dick Derkin, who is the complete opposite of the hero himself - a loner.
Director Tony Mailem has had very few notable projects in his short career. "Few Seconds" can safely record Tony as an asset as his own breakthrough in his career, and his successful paintings. Maleim took a lot from “Blade Runner” – this is the very atmosphere of alternative reality, the nebula of colors and the picture itself. The director managed to make a not bad tense thriller, mixing it with fiction and horror. Some copies of Scott’s classics can be written as a small minus: too often those “similarities” and “borrowing” will pop up in your head. Overall, the work is more than successful. For the script was responsible for the then newcomer Gary Scott Thompson (future screenwriter of “Fast and Furious” and “Invisible”). This scenario was only Gary's third job. The screenwriter created the project not as one genre - here you can feel the action-packed thriller, and fiction, and a small drama, and a little horror. Thompson allows himself to dilute this mixture with a tablespoon of black humor. In general, the work is made interesting - to show a gloomy near future, crossing it with a police detective, as well as the atmospheres of Blade Runner and Alien. From these horrors, there is perhaps only a “killer”, it hides a minus: his story is not told, except for a few words about “hybrid”. By the way, the artists worked on the layout perfectly, while getting a mixture of monsters of those times – the same Alien and Predator. As for the characters, Thompson could also borrow them, mixing the typical bad cop of the past with the Terminator. Yes, Harley is very similar to this mixture, because all he does in the frame, in addition to catching the killer is: smokes, drinks, eats chocolates, shoots epic quotes of the hero - a loner, and also shoots at everything that moves. I don’t think I have to talk about it, it still seems like a human copy of the Terminator. Not a bad scenario for your time, done confidently. Cinematographer Clive Tickner works the way the director wants, namely to create an atmosphere of a dark, hazy as London, thriller. Tickner does even more: in addition to dark colors and high-quality shooting (in all genres), Clive “breaks” this world into two parts:
1) This is the one that the viewer sees – all the same London through the eyes of Harley, his partner Dick or anyone else who is “lucky” to live here.
2) The world of the “killer”, made up to the right moment only in the first person. We see no face, no hands, no hint of the perpetrator of this atrocity, create many theories and conjectures, and in the end they all collapse like a bridge of rotten boards.
This work can only be called diligent and professional, the operator did everything possible to create and multiply the atmosphere, not forgetting to follow the camera. The picture itself is very dark and that is probably its magic. The duet of composers Francis Haynes and Stephen Parsons does not stand aside. Music serves as a limiting sign throughout the film, moving from one genre to another (drama looks in softer notes, fiction crossed with a thriller sound tense, slightly menacing).
There's no question about the cast. During the viewing comes the feeling that if Rutger refused, either Tom Berenger or Michael Sheen could take the lead role. Both fit for the right characteristics, talent and charisma needed for the role. But Hauer did not refuse, making his choice right: in the image of Harley Stone, the actor looks more than serious, natural. The Dutchman entered the role without problems, playing the role of a hard cop without rules. Despite this description, one can add a slight feeling that the hero is like an “Iron Man” or a terminator devoid of feelings. This is not so, apparently for this the script added drama, to strengthen the actor in a more human channel. His co-star Neil Duncan also worked well. If Stone can be called a man in whose world only power decides and who has more gun, then Duncan's hero is more like a nerd. His role is no less important - the hero understands astrology, will definitely help solve the case. Almost invisible in the frame was Pete Postlethwaite, noted only in small episodic roles. Acting at the level.
Total:
"Few Seconds" is a good film with confident directing, interesting, albeit not without borrowings script, professional work of the operator, increasing the rhythm of musical accompaniment and natural play of actors. This film is good for those times, but today it will seem tactless, boring or even worse stupid. No, this film can be seen by people who understand the difference between the movies of the past and today. People who know the word “nostalgia”. Yes, Maleima’s film is not perfect, you can see a decent amount of borrowings or small shortcomings, but the picture does not pull at all bad, terrible and stupid. Watching or not watching is up to you. Fans of Rutger Hauer or 90s fans will love the movie.
Thank you for your attention and pleasant viewing!
Since you hear a strong and rapid heartbeat of the main character, who was brilliantly played by Rutger Hauer, then know that it is somewhere nearby ... and at any moment can appear in the frame and thoroughly frighten the viewer looking on the other side of the screen.
After the first acquaintance with "Seconds Counted" during the year before I went to bed, I would certainly look under the bed... and listen to my heartbeat. That is such an indelible and frightening impression made then this movie.
And again, the country of the Queen’s mother was distinguished by a high-quality and no less action horror film, to follow the overseas classic works with monsters in the frame. No, judge for yourself: big guns, a mystical and terrible monster villain (well, very memorable), a beautiful and pleasing cast, a good plot, keeping in suspense every minute, the post-punk environment and the half-flooded streets of London. Are these not the components of the monster-fighter genre that goes beyond the mediocre pseudo-cinema? If not, then I don't even know what today's sophisticated viewer needs. After all, it was incredibly exciting then and has become a classic today.
To go into details and write a lot does not make sense, I will say that the film is quite worthy of a phrase – a classic of the 90s.
I think this characteristic is enough for the eyes of any viewer and visitor of the portal when choosing what to see.
You know, having watched this film at that time, in those distant 90s, and now, when people’s work on makeup, costumes, cameramanship created real film miracles, then today’s films pumped, sometimes soulless and empty computer graphics do not want to trust and watch them.
My verdict for Tony Mailem's brainchild will be emotionally positive - a directorial opus magnum - it is obvious: watch, watch and review!
7 out of 10
An alternative future. Two thousand eight years. As predicted by scientists, global warming. The glaciers melted and most of the land was under water. But that is not the main problem. The fact is that an unknown person appeared in London, who brutally kills people by eating the hearts of the latter. In the wake of a serial killer is Detective Dick Darkin, who lost a partner through the fault of this monster. But he could not even imagine that he encountered not a simple man, but the devil himself!
This picture is inexorably reminiscent of “Crimson Rivers” and “Predator” and in both cases come exactly that the continuation of such famous paintings. After all, here and there we have a policeman, or policemen, who investigate a case of brutal murders and face the supernatural. That's right, not really. And the main difference here is the entourage of the picture - a gloomy and joyless future, or rather its absence, since the situation is getting worse day by day and we can safely say that these are the last days of humanity. And the characters of the picture are quite non-standard. The first of them is the aforementioned Dick Jones, who suffers from a whole bunch of psychological diseases and as a result is an extremely irritable person who could well be a murderer himself if he suffered from a split personality. The hero’s partner is a boy from Oxford, Harley Stone. A person who lives according to the rules, tries to please the main character in every possible way, and in his spare time he is engaged in parapsychology and enthusiastically reads everything related to mysticism. As a result, these two are quite a lively duo. Harley tries to be guided by his head and knowledge of what he has learned from occult books, and as for Dick, he is also guided by Harley’s head, kicking down doors. The killer, who performs some incomprehensible ritual most of all, resembles Crizalita from the wonderful toy X-com: Ufo defense. Fortunately, all with him and huge teeth and black scales, as well as the opportunity to appear and disappear in the most unexpected places. In general, a worthy opponent for heroes.
Summing up, I want to say that this is an interesting detective story with live heroes, a terrible monster and successfully staged dialogues. It's a good way to spend the evening.
Having in its arsenal a whole range of various genres, two directors in the chair and the star "Blade Runner" Rudger Hauer in the frame, the film "Measured Seconds" in the end can only claim to be a third-rate thrash horror. The third-rate thrash-horror, where the authors up to the very end, the viewer will not offer anything but to look at the dark corners of a city, flooded sewers, rats wholesale and a bunch of fake blood, smeared almost in every third episode of the film. The creators will lead the viewer by the nose until the very end, and the naive viewer will justify his time in the empty only charisma of Rudger Hower, who is not clear for what reasons he was in this garbage.
Already after a few tens of minutes after the beginning, it becomes clear that the authors will continue to escalate the situation until the end of the film with empty dialogues of the main characters, a weak detective, screams behind the scenes and the charisma of R. Hauer.
There is no action in the film, but there are steep guns at the main characters and shots in nowhere. There are bloody footprints on the victims and torn hearts in the frame, but there is no monster. It's all deception and one big disappointment, not a fantastic horror movie.
P.S. Against the background of this film, such a mediocre sequel as "Predator 2" seems almost a masterpiece, you begin to look at it differently and appreciate it.
I remember the wonderful episode of “The Wild Hunt of King Stakh” (which is not in Korotkevich’s book) – a batley, a Belarusian puppet theater, presents the legend of a sinister and powerful ghost that comes at night: “I am King Stakh, be mine...” It seems that there is no salvation for Panna Yanovskaya, but suddenly there is a new character: “I am a student from St. Petersburg, I came to destroy your machinations!” And although then the puppet theater is ruined, the actors are killed, but the bold word has already been said, and the swamp undead will not go away from payback.
This batlake, in Russian nativity, and came to mind after watching “counted seconds”.
In the Old Slavonic "vertep" - a cave. In the folk theater, it originally meant a cave where the baby Christ was sheltered from Herod.
Now it is a completely different cave, there is no God in it, but the devil is present, no matter how mutant he pretends to be. Little by little, the characters are imbued with the realization that their opponent is not just a serial killer-maniac with a toothy mouth, but something more serious, hence the words that sound like a spell: “We need more guns!” And not just guns. For nothing, Dick Darkin, Jr. in a pair of bad cops, says, clutching a six-barreled gun in his hands: “Lord of light, protect us from the attack of darkness, I ask for strength to fight black magic ...” And the cross, in Protestant, does not wear, the devil's claw on his chest that is scrawled, the sign of the cross did not guard himself - and, accordingly, he plunged into a water-drenched well. Whether it is a comic reception, or a hint - think for yourself, how to understand.
Mailam and Sharp wanted to make an inexpensive police horror movie, but against their will they got something mythological. Externally, the film seems to be quite consistent with the plan and price category, but it is worth looking at - and notice that not everything is as simple as it seems.
The world of the film is filled with darkness and dark water, there is no sky and sun, there is night in the squeezed walls, and under the feet of the heroes there is a constant splash - whether the tide is ebbing, the tide, but the water is almost all the time in the frame, it is even in the columbarium, where the hero of Rutger Hauer came to honor the memory of a friend.
“We are below water” is not a refrain in Darkin’s mouth, it is a diagnosis of a world drowned in darkness. In this new world there is nothing that would bring joy, peace, happiness. There is only the police, the victims, the maniac, the carbon monoxide club beast and the underworld of homeless people - either garbage stalkers, or catching rats for sale for food, and already something elusively similar to rats. What you eat, you will be.
World Cave. Or nativity, if you will.
This is how we saw the future 20 years ago. And they weren't really wrong. Instead of the light of truth, there is a darkness of lies. Something is flooding us like water, an hour before we drown. And rats, everywhere rats ...
A monster walks in shadow over a half-sinked London. Day and night are all one, because there is no more day, but in strict sorcery according to the phases of the moon. True, there is no moon in the sky due to the absence of the latter, but the rhythm of the Sun of the Dead monster feels perfectly - it dictates to him a regime of bloody feasting. He performs a horror movie ritual - but what was a thriller in 1992 is now almost natural to see Lady Gaga dressed up in a meat-colored line. Who are we closer to in 20 years? . .
Involuntarily comes to mind a spell from "Tim Thaler ...", although there it was pronounced almost jokingly: "Oh, lord of rats, mice, frogs, fleas, bedbugs and lice!" . . "
Now the jokes are over. DNA testing in Counting Seconds scientifically confirms that rat genes are present in the flesh of the monster. The rat king of European tales himself! if not more... Making sacrifices to himself, he collects in his body either the genes or the souls of all who have been destroyed by him - the impression is that the monster intends to absorb, suck into himself all of humanity, just while he is not strong enough, so he is content with a decadent London. Like any parasite, he picked a weak spot to get into. Even if he did not finish someone, left alive - he infected his dirty genetic mess with a satanic cocktail.
It's time for rats, it's time for incest through death. Our blood in the veins of brainless and fertile rats is what is truly terrible.
Movie Review: I Hate Rats! "But they love you."
Of course they do – they want to become us, replace us and live under the rule of their king.
“They are favoured by pestilence, famine, war, flood and invasion. Then they gather under the sign of mysterious transformations, acting like people, and you will talk to them without knowing who it is.
But Harley Stone (Rutger Hauer) is no longer the Pied Piper, but the Ratboy. He seems a little crazy only because he is completely devoted to his idea of destroying the scum of darkness, feasting with impunity in the London darkness. And when “nerd” Dick Darkin opens his eyes to the nature of the monster, the search becomes quite meaningful and purposeful. On the scene of the ceremonial action is a hero who is given to send a monster to where he came from. Like shamans before a trip to the afterlife chewing fly, the heroes begin to drink a lot of coffee, handfuls of chocolate, smoking a cigar after a cigar. The chief of the police department claps his eyes, trying to understand what they are talking about among themselves - ecstatically screwed up, with six barrels in their hands, they are talking about the devil and how they will kill him. It is wise to understand them - they have gone on the path of war that leads to the world of spirits. As initiates, upon entering the territory of the Rat King, they read symbols from fresh cuts on the chest of the living Darkin. “The devil got into deep shit!” – now he’s dead!
Like any show in a den, the film is stingy, even poor, and the monster, when it does appear in the frame, is sham, but when it comes to taking the devil back to the underworld, props mean little. The main thing is to be truthful, the rest is small.
Helicopter action is always deeper and truer than it looks at first glance.
8 out of 10