Review of Eden Log (2007) by Sam C — 13 Sep 2009

Here is a perfect example of a rather cool concept gone horribly awry. I'm sure the some people will slam me for not appreciating this low-budget cyberpunk-injected sci-fi romp through the underworld, but let me explain myself.

Eden Log is an underground facility where the employers promise citizenship for those who give everything they got to their job. Things go awry when the tree that they help harvest begins to take over the facility. People are plastered to the wall, Aliens style, while others are mutated.

The cinematography was shot all handheld, so expect some "shaky cam" as you go in. The visuals are grim and muddled, which may be an unintentional allegory to the story since the script is just as muddled. Maybe it was due to the horrible voice overs, or the lack of a conventional plot, but I was all sorts of confused and had to read the synopsis after viewing the film. Sure, once I finished reading everything more-or-less came together, but that doesn't make up for the fact that I was generally lost for most of the film. The main character, as with most sci-fi films, has something "special" about him. More precisely, it's in his blood, which helps him to control his mutation.

There are plenty of good things about this film. First and foremost, the art direction is phenomenal. The sets look grotesquely decorated with grime and roots, Alien style. There are plenty of pipes and wires to keep the cyberpunk-industrial fetish happy, and these deserve some merit of their own. The costumes may seem a little goofy, but they work for me. The security uniforms look like something straight out of the video game Killzone, which looks like the uniforms straight out of Hiroyuki Okiura's Jin-Roh: The Wolf Brigade. Rather cool, if I say so myself. The fact that this is a low-budget film helps me appreciate the visuals more, but that doesn't make up for the incoherent storyline. Style over substance just doesn't do it for me. The substance has plenty of potential, I just feel that the director went at it the wrong way.

The security guards have the goofiest voices ever, and it was a huge mistake on whoever's part it was to come up with the idea of them having booming voices that sounded like they were coming in over intercoms. It's certainly an interesting film, but I'd stick with the trailer. Then again, maybe it's unfair of me to judge this film so harshly: it is now four in the morning as I write this. Regardless, as I stated previously, it's all style over substance.

Eden Log is made of people!