Review of Doomsday (1938) by Tom T — 09 Jul 2010

Neil Marshall's "everything-and-the-kitchen-sink" near-future apocalypse drama meshes 28 Days Later, Mad Max, Escape From New York and a gazillion other film references to create something that, whilst (for the most part) is enormous fun, never convinces as a cohesive whole.

For instance, whilst the punk/mohican evolution makes a sort of sense, the medieval aspects look plain daft and sit uncomfortably amidst the other sections. The film is also very clunky, and there are a couple of parts that are plain annoying, and most of the performances are verrrrry hammy (and that includes Rhona Mitra's best Kate Beckinsale in Underworld impersonation).

I do greatly admire Neil Marshall regardless - The Descent is one of the best horror films ever made, and the man knows his form, but Doomsday is more of a curio and possible cult film than anything substantially good.