Nemesis 4: Death Angel (1996) Movie Review

Nemesis 4: Death Angel (also known as Cry of Angels) is a 1996 sci-fi action movie written and directed by Abert Pyun. The film is the fourth installment in the Nemesis film series and is the last one to have Pyun involved at any capacity. It stars Sue Price, Blanka Copikova, Andrew Divoff, Nicholas Guest and Norbert Weisser. Made in Slovakia about two years after part two and three were shot, the film is loose on continuity because Nemesis 3 didn't sell very well, so more nudity was added. Shooting was done in between the filming of Adrenalin: Fear the Rush, another film by Pyun shot in Europe.

In this entry, Alex Sinclair is a professional cybernetically-enhanced assassin in a world where humans and cyborgs have had a ceasefire. Her skills are top notch but she tends to be a bit messy and things get real bad when she kills Carlos Jr, the son of a crime syndicate leader. She also gets visions of a woman in black with a distortion VFX who haunts her, probably an angel of death alluding to how death gets closer to Alex because every bounty hunter is after the muscular killer now. 

This one is a sort of reboot of the series in the sense that very few things are brought back, only the fact that Alex is a genetically modified human and some plot points that are honestly not that noticeable at first. Don't expect a concrete continuity. The production values are still on the lower end and the limitations are apparent, but the very pretty european setting carries a good amount of the weight and gives the movie a rich amount of locations Pyun works with quite well, just as he did with the desert and industrial locations in the last two.

A lot of the movie features uncensored nudity from Price and others, surely an attempt by the makers of appealing to the direct-to-video crowd who wanted softcore stuff. A curious thing to point out is that this is probably one of the few times a brawny female body has been eroticized and treated the way more normative bodies are shot in such films and turned seductive in sexual sequences. A nice refreshing sight. Because of these scenes, the unreal and surreal vibes are back due to the playful way Pyun uses lighting and takes advantage of his new shooting locations, as mentioned above, and also because of the outlandish and bizarre deaths. The more out-of-this-world storyline with apparitions and strange occurrences are further proof that a great deal of changes were more out of the director's desire to touch upon particular themes and ideas.

The film mostly unfolds as a sexy thriller with some sci-fi components but things are mostly kept tight and intimate, the camera mostly stays in closed spaces and does close ups of the actors. Every performer does a very decent job and all retain their charm, especially the leading lady. After a rather vague and understated resolution we see what I can only assume is a tribute to Sue Price as a montage sequence of stock footage put together with some of her highlights appears on the screen, followed by her screen credit. A very worthy and awesome goodbye to the series, at least that's what it was until 2017 but that's another story.

Totally recommended for the DTV scavengers who enjoy this very B-level series and are also eager to see a lot of muscular nudity. This one should satisfy with its intriguing plot and solid cast.

Nemesis 3: Time Lapse (1996) Movie Review

Nemesis 3: Time Lapse (also known as Prey Harder) is a 1996 action sci-fi movie written and directed by Albert Pyun. This is the third entry in Pyun's Nemesis movie series which started in 1992. Part two, Nebula, changed the protagonist from Alex Rain to buff lady Alex Sinclair played by Sue Price, who would go on to reprise her role in part three, four and five. This third entry was shot back-to-back with part two, using the same locations in Arizona and some of the same cast with a few additions like Tim Thomerson, Jon H. Epstein, Ursula Sarcev, Norbert Weisser, Sharon Bruneau and Debbie Muggli.

The film continues right where the second one left off with Alex waking up and putting together all the things from the previous movie (there are some stock footage flashbacks). She realizes she has a half-sister named Ramie, actually she has about 20 half-sisters, but Alex is important because she has the ability to procreate and give birth to a new race of superhumans. She is also being chased by Nebula and the twins Lock and Ditko.

A lot of the same virtues present in the last films are repeated here but there are some considerable flaws that make it a step down from Nebula 2. Consider for example the somewhat extensive use of flashbacks with footage from the other film as a recap, showing you stuff that you already saw anyways. The atmosphere still feels desolated and empty in the environments but the side characters add some action and crowd the locations enough, making things more normal and rounded but less ethereal and unreal like in the second film.

The twists and pieces of new information are a mixed bag but they are really only added to extend the plot and come up with a new excuse to make the film longer. Most of the new characters are very dull and one-dimensional types who only play a small role and clutter the film by derailing the plot, the focus leaving Alex for a considerable amount of time and locking onto uninteresting side characters. However, the very best new characters are the ditzy twins that hunt Alex, Lock and Ditko (played by bodybuilders Sharon Bruneau and Debbie Muggli respectively), these silly muscle girls are hilarious and a very welcome addition to an otherwise by-the-numbers movie.

Things are getting slightly stale by this third movie, but when the film hits bullseye and works, it really works, arriving at some of the highlights of the series. Things are repeated and recycled, same places and faces for the most part, you pretty much have to take this film as one of those low budget entries in a series that were shot back-to-back and share the same attributes (Puppet Master and Trancers come to mind), if you pretty much accept that idea then you can enjoy this third film.

Inferior to the previous sequel but still entertaining to a balanced degree, Nemesis 3 has some sparks of brilliance under a derivative and barebones storyline. Some B-movie sci-fi schlock but without the most imaginative aspects or the serious plots of the best of its kind.

Nemesis 2: Nebula (1995) Movie Review

Nemesis 2: Nebula is a 1995 sci-fi action film written and directed by Albert Pyun. It's the second installment in the Nemesis film series and introduces the character of Alex Sinclair to the franchise, who will take the leading role from Alex Rain. She is played by bodybuilder and actress Sue Price, who would go on to reprise her role in the three following movies. In fact, this film and Nemesis 3 were shot back-to-back.

In a future overruned by mechanical overlords, the robots are about to kill a rebel woman who is with the human resistance, she sends a genetically-enhanced baby back to the 20th century. The child, named Alex Sinclair, ends up in an African village and grows up to become the best warrior around, impressing the chief of the tribe and defeating her fellow warriors in combat. A monstrous robotic entity known as Nebula hunts the now adult and fully formed Alex throughout the desert landscape. 

What I really love about this movie is probably how it becomes a very personal odyssey and achieves a very surreal and dream-like tone by having a fractured narrative that allows the film to either slow down on the ritualistic and contemplative moments of discovery and journey for the protagonist while also functioning as a very slick and well-crafted action movie on a very low budget. The typical drawbacks of a small production are present, like the fact that the film feels very empty due to the lack of locations and extras, making things seem very desolate. At first I thought it was a post-apocalyptic movie because of it but that's really only in the first scenes, the rest takes place in our era. However, this works in the film's favor as it accentuates the dream-like quality, abstracting time and place from normal and average real life, entering into a different realm it can play around in. 

The action is fast and with all of its perfectly cut and assembled sequences there's very little room for fat while making things still very legible. The places Pyun shoots in are very well handled and look very rich visually, specially with those old-school practical effects that reached a high point in the nineties even in poor productions. The stunts are also very professional and quite well executed, every fight has weight and every shootout has a very strong sense of place and rhythm. The visual effects such as slow motion and image manipulation to achieve the unreal visuals and movement are decently implemented and make the film more peculiar. It is expected for Pyun to be good at action, but I also liked how he worked with the actors, especially Sue Price, who gives us a very nice performance even if obviously most of her work has to rely on her physicality and body language, something she still accomplishes with more than just efficiency.

The sci-fi plot is rather thin and somewhat simplistic, but that also works in its favor since it helps to keep things streamlined and allows the film to move at a brisk pace without wasting much time on anything that isn't part of its thematic exploration or just the joy of constructing inventive action or using some great lighting and neat textures due to its splendid cinematography. This really does feel like someone with a B-movie budget trying to make the most out of it and making it work.

While these low budget science fiction B-movies are kind of an acquired taste, I gotta say that I do recommend this one to anyone who enjoys their nineties direct to video flicks and for those who enjoy beefy action heroines and wanna see more of them in media, which we should.