CINE-APOCALYPSE PRESENT 10 FILMS THAT INFLUENCE ME

Here's a little bit of a change to the usual reviews. I've decided to post a list of the ten films that have influenced me as a person and as a reviewer. A list that contains everything from comedy, Action , Sci-fi, Horror and thrillers. Not only am I a film review but I am also a struggling, and I mean struggling screenwriter and have only ever managed to finish one script so far. So not just a look at the films that made me who I am but ones that also influenced and continue to influence my writing .

HACKERS (1995) Dir: Iain Softly

Ok here's the thing with hackers, I ain't a technophobe but I can't say that I am technically gifted either, I have trouble with even the basics of HTML coding but when I say that Hackers was one of the defining films of my life I mean in a 'god-damn these guys are fucking cool' sort of way. Sure the film was so terribly wrong in it's depiction of internet hacking in '95 but who gives a shit, it had outcasts with combat trousers, roller blades and chains hanging out of their pockets. It even had a cool as fuck hangout for the characters where Crash Override beats Acid Burn by playing what looked like Whipeout. I still use the words hack the planet when talking to computer savvy friends of mine when we converse about this whole Anonymous hacking shit that's been going on lately. when I was a teenager, I too wore combat trousers with a chain hanging out of the pockets, I skateboarded rather than Roller bladed and I thought I was the shit but now, looking back I looked pretty much like a tool. Love this film.

RESERVOIR DOGS (1991) Dir: Quentin Tarantino

Yeah I know, cliché alert, sure everyone my age cites Tarantino as an influence but he really did influence the way I write dialogue, the way I shape my characters and why I swear a lot when I write. For me and a lot of people, watching Tarantino's movies not only introduced us to the genius of the man himself but also opened up a world of cult, grind-house and obscure movies that we may never had heard of. I mean take a look at any line of dialogue from the script for True Romance, the opening scene where Clarence is talking about going to see a Sonny Chiba triple feature..

I didn't know who Sonny Chiba was, I had no idea what the Street fighter was, I thought it was a movie of the game and now at near enough thirty years of age, I know who Sonny Chiba is and I own all the Street Fighter films on DVD. It's the introduction to these films and my love for them that set about the beginning of this website. Reservoir Dogs was my intro to the world of Tarantino and that is why it's on this list.

SINGING IN THE RAIN (1952) Dir: Stanley Donen & Gene Kelly

What can I say about Singing in The Rain that hasn't already been said by every film critic. This film is a fantastic feat of film making in the way it mixes so many different film elements into one very very enjoyable film. It proves you don't have to stick to one genre to make a film. If you look closely at the film you can see it includes everything, Action, Comedy, Drama, Romance, Music and incredible set design. It's just a magical movie and a great look at old pre-talkie Hollywood. Now I'm not the biggest lover of musicals and the reason for this is growing up on a diet of The Sound Of Music and The Wizard Of Oz, both films were almost force fed to me as a child which put me off musicals, but for some reason, Singing In The Rain really struck a cord with me. I can't explain this cord but I've seen it countless of times and it always makes me happy. Everytime Donald O'Conner performs Make 'Em Laugh you can't help but smile.

RONIN (1998) Dir: John Frankenheimer

In my opinion, Ronin is the last great practical action thriller from a major studio. It's adrenaline fuelled 120mph action cinema at it's grittiest. Not since The French Connection has an action film had such a rawness to it, and Frankenheimer, being the master of the car cam captures the action with almost effortless ease. Watching cars weave in and out of heavy oncoming traffic in France is unbelievable. I know the film is held in high regard due to the car chases and I know that a lot of critics call the plot nonsensical and a mess, but it's the story or the characters that intrigue me the most with this film. We know that the men are meant to be mercs, but are they really, is Sam (De Niro) really a merc or is he undercover C.I.A, and what about Vincent (Jean Reno), why is his character so mysterious. It's this that makes me love the film so much and why it's in my top 5 films of all time. J.D Zeik's script which was polished and almost completely re-written by master writer David Mamet that should really get more attention than the action scenes. My intention is to one day write a screenplay that has the characters and Action of Ronin with the razor sharp dialogue of Tarantino. Every thing about this film so freaking bad ass I have to include it on this list.

THE THING (1982) Dir: John Carpenter

John Carpenter's remake of Christian Nyby's 1951 adaptation of the John W. Campbell's shot story Who Goes There, contains some of the greatest practical visual FX ever created for screen. Rob Bottin's FX make the film one of the goriest, gooiest and down right grossest film ever made and along with Bill Lancaster's superb script make this one of the most frightening films ever made. In my opinion it's Carpenter's best film and he uses the small spaces to create an almost unbearable feeling of paranoia as each of the men start to turn on each other, wondering who is the Thing now.

This is a superb film and Bottin's FX have never been bettered. The recent prequel was filmed, as the director stated, with 90% practical FX and 10% CGI, but at the last moment producers orderd everything to be computer generate to make the creature scarier. Hello, have they never seen the original or Alien. CGI just makes things look cartoony. Anyway the mixture of brilliant FX, a wonderfully paranoid screenplay and some cracking direction from Carpenter get this on my influence List.

DAWN OF THE DEAD (1979) Dir: George A.Romero

This is another film in my Top 5 films of all time. The reason for this because of the world Romero created. Sure it started in 1968 with Night Of The Living Dead but this film took the idea of a zombie apocalypse to a whole new level and has been imitated ever since. It's influence heavy plot is very simple; in a world filled with the living dead, a group of survivors whole up in a shopping mall. So simple yet so good. Romero creates a world of isolation with the setting of the mall. A small group of characters trying to continue living surrounded by the dead with no way of contacting anyone. It's this isolation idea which really dragged me in. Carpenter did it in The Thing, Sam Raimi did it in The Evil Dead and many other films followed suit. The idea of being stranded or lost with no means of contact really scares the sit out of me and this is what drags me in to these types of films. Dawn Also shows the way civilisation could collapse if anything like this could happen. It's just a wonderful film and it was my first introduction to real horror films.

AMERICAN POP (1981) Dir: Ralph Bakshi 

HEAVY METAL (1981) Dir: Gerald Potterton

OK kind of cheating here as these are both going in as a double act. I first saw American Pop around 1995-96 when my primary listening pleasures were that of the fucking Spice Girls and whatever teen shite was making it's way up the charts at the time, and my god did this film open my eyes. The same goes for Heavy Metal which I also saw for the first time around '95-'96. I mean not only did these films have exceptional animation, especially the beautifully rotoscoped animation of American Pop and the Taarna segment of Heavy Metal (brilliantly parodied in South Park) but the music which ran through these films really opened my eyes to the types of music I listen to today. American Pop follows four generations through the evolution of music from the pre-jazz age through Soul, 50s Rock, Psychedelia and Punk, it introduced me to people like Sam Cook, Jimmi Hendrix, Pat Benatar and Lou Reed. Heavy Metal introduced me to bands like Blue Oyster Cult, Journey, Cheap Trick, Black Sabath and Devo, and because of these musicians and bands I found out about bands like The Ramones, Lynard Skynard and so on. So my musical influences come from animated movies. Who knew. If you've never seen either film I urge you to check them out.

THE KILLER (1989) Dir: John Woo

The Killer appears on this list for the same reason as Ronin, The action choreography is second to non. John Woo created a sub genre of action cinema with his insanely violent shoot outs that came to be known as Heroic Bloodshed, With stylized action sequences and dramatic themes of brotherhood, betrayal, Duty, honour, redemption and violence. The Killer is probably the most famous of this sub genre and it's easy to see why. Woo crafted one of the single most violent action films that at times is both visceral and beautiful at the same time. With it's cop on the hunt for a hitman plot, it could be any action film but Woo adds into the plot, the accidental blinding of a female singer by the films main characters, the hitman and uses that to show us that he might kill people but he's really quite a nice guy. The Role of Ah Jong is brilliantly played by Chow Yun Fat who is the coolest man on the planet with two hand guns and he's equally matched by Danny Lee as the cop. But it's all about the balletic action sequences that make this film stand out and the final shootout in the church should go down as the greatest gunfight in film history. When I write an action sequence I always turn to Woo for inspiration and it's not only me as a writer, almost every Hollywood action film of the last 20 years or so also took inspiration form the movies Woo made.

THE TIME MACHINE (1960) Dir: George Pal

Now I maintain that this is the film that set me on a path to the desensitization of screen violence. Now I bet you're wondering how on earth this film could do that. Well there's a scene where George has climbed down into the morlock's underground mine in search of Weena and gets into a fight with one of the blue skinned Morlocks who George pushed into a rock causing blood to pour out of his mouth, for a 5 year old kid this is quite fucked up but my parents always told me that it ketchup and not real blood. Now since viewing the time machine as a little boy I have seen some of the sickest most fucked up film you've never heard of and I owe it all to that film. But not just the fact that this film caused me not to be scared of blood and violence, but it's one of the greatest science fiction films ever made from one of the greatest science fiction books ever written. It has everything, Monsters, Time Travel, Hot Women, Hitler kids, some pretty bang on special FX for 1960 and the time machine it's self, a marvel of Victorian design and brass plates. This film's visual style is so good and the story is brilliantly realised on screen by director Pal. I know that most people of my age (28) would say that their first introduction to science fiction would have been Star Wars and sure, I saw that as a youngster but I really do think that The Time Machine led me to the world of sci-fi and turned me into the geek I am today. So for that reason alone it deserves a spot on this list as one of the most influential films of my life.

There we go, 10 films that have influenced my life and the way that I write. Everything from time travel, musicals, Zombies and Car chases. I bet a lot of people who read this will be thinking 'hang on what about Citizen Kane or 2001: A Space Odyssey' which I would respond with, yeah they're good films but have they influenced me?...No. This isn't a list of influential films for film makers, this a list of films that have influenced me, my style of writing and why I do this website. I just like telling this shit and if you don't agree with me then that's your choice, in fact please leave comments or contact me, there's nothing more I like than having a cinematic debate with someone.