Fire City: End of Days

2015

Fantasy / Horror / Thriller

4
Rotten Tomatoes Critics - Rotten 54%
Rotten Tomatoes Audience - Spilled 54%
IMDb Rating 4.8/10 10 926 926

demon

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Plot summary

Vine, a disillusioned demon, is forced into a choice to save his brethren or an innocent human girl. Demons have been living secretly among humans for centuries. It was a fragile balance that has now been shattered when their life source is destroyed. The demon population must rise up and take all necessary steps for survival or their species will cease to exist. The battle for the Earth has begun. Vine, a disillusioned demon, secretly lives with others of his kind in the world of humans sustained by their misery. Forced into a choice to save his brethren or an innocent human girl, the delicate balance between human and demon kind is threatened, which may result in war.

Director

Tom Woodruff Jr. Photo
Tom Woodruff Jr.

Top cast

Tobias Jelinek Photo
Tobias Jelinek as Atum Vine
Harry Shum Jr. Photo
Harry Shum Jr. as Frank
Mary-Margaret Humes Photo
Mary-Margaret Humes as Human Cornelia
Matt Winston Photo
Matt Winston as Ron
720p.WEB 1080p.WEB
914.49 MB
1280*534
English 2.0
NR
Subtitles us  
24 fps
1 hr 39 min
Seeds 1
1.83 GB
1920*800
English 5.1
NR
Subtitles us  
24 fps
1 hr 39 min
Seeds ...

Movie Reviews

Reviewed by I_Ailurophile 6 / 10

Better than not, with great ideas - maybe too many; flavors that don't quite blend

On the one hand, Tom Woodruff, Jr.'s name carries no small weight in the film-making industry, with a long list of acclaimed credits in special effects; that this is accordingly only the second feature he has chosen to direct surely says something (good). On the other hand, that Uncork'd Entertainment is attached in any way (as distributor in this case) is a bad warning sign, as they have been involved in too much dreck below the level of The Asylum. I'm not familiar with writers Michael Hayes or Brian Lubocki, but I see that 'End of days' follows from a short film sharing the 'Fire City' moniker, so I presume this picture is a bit of a passion project for them. Before the film has even properly begun these are all facets to greet our attention, and from there it could go either way. As the runtime progresses, that push and pull of conflicting vibes is kind of sustained, for this movie is an odd mixed bag. I do like it, on the balance, but I'm not sure that even it quite knew entirely what it wanted to be.It takes most of the first thirty minutes for the picture to start to give a concrete sense of what it's about. Such plot development isn't abnormal; the extent to which the story threads are scattered and disparate, and the distinct effort to obfuscate real plot in the interval, is. Once we do get to that earnest narrative, I recognize some enticing ideas and potential. I actually very much like what Hayes and Lubocki have whipped up: demons secretly living in the human world, feeding off misery, and suddenly there comes a disruption to that parasitic relationship. What's strange is that in some measure the concept feels like one better suited for PG-13 or even PG-level dark fantasy - it could be orientated toward more mature audiences, and in this case it unquestionably is owing simply to blood, gore, violence, nudity, and the distinct intonation of bleak themes. Yet even for such inclusions, there's a cheeky, almost ham-handed levity and playfulness that would feel at home more in a feature for a younger audience than it does here. To that point, in the way that the genre elements manifest and in that incomplete balance of feelings, I'm reminded somewhat of Clive Barker's 'Nightbreed,' which bore a similar tone. Here, however, the mashup of discrete horror and dark fantasy facets with any more lighthearted notions doesn't come off quite the same way.None of this is to say that 'Fire City' is bad; not at all! Not only do I like it, as I said, but I also think it's actually pretty good! Woodruff shows capable skill as a director, arranging shots and scenes and guiding his cast, and as one should expect of features he's involved with, the visuals are rather excellent. The special makeup and costume design for the demons' appearances are rich and flavorful (the biggest point of comparison with 'Nightbreed,' for what it's worth), and blood and gore look great. Other effects both practical and digital are just as swell, and I love the production design and art direction, the use of lighting, and Danny Grunes' mindful cinematography. Even restricted almost entirely to the setting of a single apartment building, the film is rounded out with splendid detail in others ways, including scene writing and the narrative at large. This also does a fine job of suggesting a larger lore to the universe that isn't fully explained, giving us just enough information to meaningfully propel and enrich the plot without going overboard on expository dialogue.Still, I can very much understand how this has limited appeal broadly speaking; above all, the flavors don't quite mix in the ideal way - horror, dark fantasy, mystery, drama, thriller, all a loose and heterogeneous blend. Furthermore, in addition to the central plot, it almost seems at some points like there are scant threads that don't quite fit, or that are too much for this one feature - they could have been explored more fully, perhaps, but not without sacrificing integrity of the movie as it is. As a prime example, the overflow of plot we get in the last ten minutes or so, explaining the course of events, is so substantial as to be overbearing, and in a fraction of the runtime the title suddenly feels significantly imbalanced from out of nowhere. One unfortunate side effect of the elaborate makeup and prosthetics that actors wear is that their performances necessarily involve no small amount of chewing of scenery to speak and emote through their costumes. Among those portraying demons, there's no one this doesn't impact, and it's only a question of degrees from one to the next; I admit bias since I like her anyway (and she's the only cast member here I'm familiar with at all), but I'm inclined to think Danielle C. Ryan, portraying (demon) Cornelia, achieves the best results under these circumstances - kudos to her!The result is a picture that I think is much stronger than not, but which plainly struggles to stir all its varied parts together. It also altogether tries to do too much in too small a span of time; maybe if this were more than just a single feature the assemblage could have been teased out to more complete and productive ends. What I see is a strong sophomore directorial effort from Woodruff, and intelligence from Hayes and Lubocki - intelligence, and maybe ambition that needed to be tempered in this instance. I see a fine cast that is restricted by the material or perhaps literally and physically by their costumes and character designs; I see contributions from all those working behind the scenes that are terrific, though in light of those ways in which the film more or less bites off more than it can chew, such work to realize it also ends up feeling like A Bit Much. When all is said and done I do think 'Fire City: End of days' earns a soft recommendation, even as I get why it won't meet everyone's preferences. My enthusiasm would be greater had only the screenplay been tightened, shedding some of the storytelling ideas to be more tightly focused.Ah well. A good show of it; just too overflowing with ideas and flavors for its own good.
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Reviewed by nocpan 6 / 10

Original idea, needs refinement

Despite the low budget of 200 000 USD, I sat through that movie without, checking my watch, composing grocery shopping list or thinking what will my day at work be like tomorrow.

I think its original. There were movies about monsters living among humans but usually its different. Here we have a run down apartment building with different monsters/demons living in it, who have a parasitic relationship with other human tenants where they feed of their misery, pain, anger and fear. It was very clever how all monsters see each other as they are but humans see them as normal people, this is actually explained somewhat. But there are many loose ends and unexplained aspects that drag the movie down.

The story revolves around a caretaker of the building, Adam, who apparently is a demon who doesn't need to feed on other peoples emotions and has a soft spot for the 11 year old girl who he protects. In turn he brings down the wrath of other supernatural tenants who begin to starve because of his actions.

If anything the violence and misery were not shown vividly enough. It should be more drastic. More severe, more bloody. Horrors are meant to be brutal, this one is not so much. Scenes of violence were theatrical and not to real. Hinting that a big black man(very stereotypical) in a dirty wife-beater is going to rape a 11 year old girl, somehow was done is such a way that it wasn't even disturbing. And its not very disturbing when we find out that he did.

The movie is almost entirely shot indoors, most likely on the same floor of an apartment building or set that looks like one. Masks and makeup are pretty nice, not computer animated, some clever others like monsters from Power Rangers. That could use improvement.

This is not a movie I would recommend for anyone. Geeky audience will find it amusing. Others might not like it. It is not worse than some TV series I seen, so sit back, pop open a beer and take it for what it is.

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