1. 

   arayner
   Member

   I finally got to see Autumn at the weekend at the Grim fest in Manchester. Firstly I’d like to say that I’ve been waiting forever to watch this film, being that I’m a massive fan of David’s books. At first I didn’t hold out much hope for it, due to some of the early trailers, and then of course the pirate copy that got leaked on the net shortly after Caradines death(which I haven’t seen, just read the reviews!) . But when the chance come up to watch it on the big screen and possibly getting to meet David himself, I didn’t think twice about it, even if it did mean driving half the length of the UK. ***contains spoilers***** The movie starts pretty much the same as the novel, I read some reviews about the copied version that the beginning was to short, or that it doesn’t cover the initial outbreak in enough detail. I couldn’t see anything wrong with it, although I haven’t watched the version that’s on the net, so I’m not sure if it’s the same length. I’m guessing that the one that leaked was a shortened version meant to drum up some more funding for the film. Throughout the movie it does it’s best to follow the novel, and to try and capture the feeling of fear that the survivors have, not only with having to deal with the fact that almost everyone has fallen dead, but the fact that most of the bodies have reanimated and are becoming more dangerous by the day. The film does follow some new characters, if just briefly . I did like couple that go off to just basically get hammered, but I wasn’t so sure about the clown at the community centre. The one difference that stood out for me was the standard of acting from a low budget film. I thought all three of the main actors acted superbly, especially Dickson Tolson and Dexter Fletcher. I felt there were points in the film where they really bounced off each other. If I’m honest, a lot more could have been written in for them, but It would have changed the mood of the film. Of course it goes without saying that the late great David Caradine put in a great performance as Phillip Evans. There were some things that the Director did that I wasn’t a big fan of. There were what I assume where suppose to some kind of dramatic pauses where the camera just freezes on a persons face for an unnecessary amount of time, but apart from that I think Steve Rumberlow done an excellent job. The Zombie make up was excellent as well. As the film went on, they really did start to look decomposed(I nearly cheered when Mr Moody himself pops up as a corpse). I can honestly say that when the movie finished, I felt relieved knowing that I enjoyed it. The last thing I wanted when I was just about to ask David to sign all my books was to tell him that the movie sucked. But it didn’t. There’s no doubt that this will hated by some, as not everyone is a fan of the book, but I’m pretty sure fans of the book will see it for what it is. Ok, so it’s probably not the blockbuster we imagined while reading the book, but you have to take into account that this film was shot on a budget of two hundred and fifty thousand Canadian dollars, and they have done in my opinion a good job to stretch that. I really hope that the people who watched on-line will give it a second chance, and see the hard work and effort that went into it. I will stress that if you are after a 28 days later DOTD 2004 style film you will be very disappointed, not because the film didn’t have the budget, but because the first Autumn story was never meant to be that way. But if you’re looking for something different and a bit more thought provoking then this might be up your street. Had I have watched this film somewhere else, and not had the privilege of meting David Moody and Dickson Tolson would I have still enjoyed it. I think the answer would be yes. I’m looking forward to owning the DVD and seeing the extras.

   Posted 3 months ago #
2. 

   Dave
   Key Master

   Aaron - first off, it was great to meet you on Sunday. I'm still catching up so I hadn't yet had chance to thank you (and your other half) for driving up from the South coast to see the film. I'm glad you enjoyed it.

   I'll be posting another article about the Autumn movie on the site over the next few days. In the meantime though, I think you hit the nail on the head with your review. If you liked the book, chances are you'd enjoy the film. If not... well we've all seen some of the comments circulating on the net right now.

   As I said, I'll post more before the end of the week when I hope other people who've now seen the movie will join in with the discussion.

   Thanks again for the review Aaron. Glad you got back safely!

   Posted 3 months ago #
3. 

   Dawn James Kirby
   Member

   I thought I'd add my thoughts too..
   Unfortunatly I couldn't get to Grimm Fest so had to make do with zone horror. I think this probably meant the sound and picture quality wasn't as good as it could be.
   I also felt the main 3 were well cast and did a good job. I didn't feel the beginning was rushed but definatley felt the end was..I would've liked a much more creeping sense of threat that we experience in the book. Sadly I didnt like some of the directors choices in how he filmed some scenes and thought the clown was awful and the extra couple was a good idea going off to party but the end of their story was not well portrayed. I've always felt that Autumn as a series has the potential to be an amazing mini series and I think that the power and brilliance of the story was lost in a film.
   Totally loved Daves zombie cameo - so authentic!!!

   Posted 3 months ago #
4. 

   dmk
   Member

   Couldn't make Grimfest, missed it on Zone Horror, so ordered the Thailand DVD release.

   Overall, I was very pleased with the film. It's very faithful to the book and the tone is sustained throughout.

   I did have some niggles with the film; the freeze frames that the director put in didn't work for me either, there were also some early flashes of attacking zombies when the corpses hadn't evolved to that stage yet that weren't necessary and seemed out-of-place. I felt it was a little too dark throughout (after starting the generator Carl turns on a light, and it makes no difference?!). I was also disappointed as to how the idea to use music to attract survivors to the community centre was handled. It was only briefly explained after the fact and I only knew what was happening because I'd read the book. Lastly, the end credits are terrible (I would have preferred a fade to black with white scrolling text).

   On the plus side though, Fletcher (Michael), Tolson (Carl) and Carradine (Philip) are excellent. As mentioned, the tone of the film is spot on, and the zombies are possibly the best I've seen on film (really disgusting, black, slimy rotting things, you can almost smell them).

   Keeping in mind that this is a low budget, independant film, it's better than some hollywood horrors I've seen. It's certianly re-watchable and I'll be purchasing the UK DVD release when it happens.

   On a side note, I agree with Dawn, I think Autumn would make a great mini-series.

   Posted 2 months ago #

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