[Tooth and Nail]
Plot::A group of people in a post-apocalyptic world fight to survive against a band of vicious cannibals.

Cast:Michael Madsen, Vinnie Jones, Rider Strong, Robert Carradine, Rachel Miner, Michael Kelly, Nicole DuPort, Alexandra Barreto, Emily Catherine Young, Beverly Hynds, Patrick Durham, Jonathan Sachar.

My Thoughts:Decent attempt at something different.

Review:"Tooth and Nail" made the list for 2007's After Dark Horrorfest 2, as it was one of the 8 films to die for (allegedly). The pic tells the story of society, thrown into chaos, desperation, despair, apocalyptic ruins...all of the above. Thanks to the U.S. running dry and completely out of oil. Once the last drop of oil was mined, many things which relied on oil such as food deliveries, cars, heating, etc...simply went away, and society quickly fell apart. The usual horrors then took place, rioting, looting, murder, as society quickly fell into an abyss without an ending.

A small band of people however managed to survive the chaos, as they remain inside a city, living in a skyscraper. This group are pretty much what's left of most of their city, and they live for the most part in peace with each other, with no problems to speak of. Although they have no carnivore friendly food, they still have rations to live off of. Soon, the group comes across a stray named Neon (Rachel Miner). Once they take Neon in...a roguish band of cannibals soon follow, targeting the group for their next meal. These people are in the same boat as the others, only instead of keeping their humanity...they have lowered themselves to feeding on human flesh.

Led by Jackal (Michael Madsen), these cannibalistic foes will present a gruesome challenge for these survivors. "Tooth and Nail" is certainly an interesting horror/thriller picture...although it takes it's time getting ito the groove of things. It's not the sort of film that lays on the action and intensity right at the start, but instead eases into the more intense and gruesome aspects of it's story, as the viewer begins to get a deeper uneasy feeling whle watching the film, and what takes place within it. It's really a story about what society will become once our most precious and prized resources are taken from us.

Unlike other films, which don't tell the story smartly enough, or realistically enough, "Tooth and Nail" keeps it's story tight, cocise, and within it's own area where it can comfortably tell an intriguing story of humanity gone terribly awry. It works in this films case, although the casting of the movie is a tad bit questionable. Michael Madsen plays a decent enough bad guy/cannibal tribe leader, but he just seems too jolly for this sort of thing. I mean, I bought him as Bud in "Kill Bill" volumes 1 and 2, but for some reason I cannot see Madsen chowing down on human flesh in the midst of an apocalyptic nightmare.

Rachel Miner does a good job as the odd and secretive Neon, and her charactr really becomes an important part of the story late in the movie, moreso around late act two into act three. But what's to like most about "Tooth and Nail" is that it allows one of it's more supporting characters to rise up as the heroine of the day, and end the film on a very impressive and impactful note. I can appreciate a movie that goes by the numbers, and lays out early on who will live, who will die, and who will be the savior of them all...if it's a good movie.

But a film that flips the usual cliche order of death/survival on it's head, always scores some bonus points with me. There's also some very well-perfected twists in the movie, twists which connect solidly back to earlier events that take place within the movie. It's not very often I can say that, as alot of horror films are more concerned with throwing in weird twists just to seem clever, when in relaity...the twists just muck up the story because they're so ridiculous.

"Tooth and Nail" also has a "Lord of the Flies" vibe to it, but more than anything else...it manages to stand on it's own as it's own movie. There's not alot of blood and gore to see here, which is rather strange for a film about cannibals...but at the same time, it makes sense due to writer/director Mark Young concentrating more on the story, and characters...above simple scenes of graphic pointless violence.

"Tooth and Nail" is a slow moving yet intriguing piece of work, which also carries along a message of how certain non-aggresive people when pushed to that edge, will resort to almost anything to preserve themselves. If you can tolerate films that work through things a bit slower than normal, and build a story piece by piece...instead of just throwing it all out there at the beginning...then you should check it out.

Positives:Good story, interesting twists, likeable ending, decent acting.

Negatives:I didn't buy Michael Madsen as the leader of the cannibal tribe, and Vinie Jones who also appears in the movie, I think should've played Jackal instead.

Overall:Good film.





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