Day of Reckoning (2017)

Touches You

Captivating movie !

I cannot think of one single thing that I would change about this film. The acting is incomparable, the directing deft, and the writing poignantly brilliant.

By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

This is a SyFy made for TV film. Fifteen years ago there was a "day of reckoning" when carnivorous creatures flew and ran out of the earth. Apparently they ate only humans. The fact that the earth was almost destroyed did not stop deep well drilling and fracking, making an unspoken message is here somewhere. An eclipse triggers another event and using the Asylum formula, the film concentrates on one man to unite and save his family, even the ex-wife. Now we know the creatures don't like salt or cold, yet we can't seem to avoid or fight them very well even with a new new Homeland Security to advise us.The film is aimed at the younger male audience who won't attempt to try to make any sense out of this, just enjoy the special effects and occasional human being attacked and consumed. They managed to recruit seasoned actors such as Raymond J. Barry and Barbara Crampton for lesser roles. Don't look for anything deep in theme, just breakout the popcorn.Guide: No sex or nudity. There was a whisper that sounded like an F-word.

Fifteen years ago evil creatures from the underworld plagued the Earth with the intent of eliminating mankind. Called the Day of Reckoning by survivors of the nightmare event, warriors of mankind again must battle the forces of darkness......Just so you know, the best thing about this film is the one sheet that you clicked on, because like me you thought 'hmm that artwork is nice, I'm stupid enough to fall for this trap again', and yes, I fell for it.As soon as I saw the SyFy watermark appear, my heart dropped a little, not because I knew the effects would be bad, the effects are laughably bad, and that gives the film an extra point, it's just when it's obvious when the film stops for a commercial break, it's irritating and just stops everything dead in its tracks.Other than that, it's your atypical invasion movie. Estranged husband looking after his cheeky son, son runs off, mother becomes concerned, and father and son bond. It was a wonderful part of the narrative, in Spielberg's War Of The Worlds, but here, there was no need to introduce this, we are here to see very amateurish extras running away from terribly designed CG monsters.As always we have a couple of special guest stars. One is the bloke who played the Vice President in Van Dammes Die Hard homage Sudden Death, and the other is the wonderfully walking cult that is Barbara Crampton.She adds class to any film that she is in, and this why it gets another star.So all in all, it's a terrible film, funny when it should be shocking, and although it's a must for bad movie aficionados, it gets a little bit boring toward the end.

Not quite as bad as those from the 1950/60's, but surprisingly poor CGI for 2016: The monsters are visually obvious additions. At one point, a dog-like creature attacks a man who - instead of trying to use his hands, throws them up! The acting was OK, as was the dialogue. The plot had reasonable promise but only for about a half-hour. The interactions between good and bad guys was believable for the most part. I don't think any interaction between the monsters and anything else - buildings, humans or other monsters - was believable. Shocking when almost all films rely heavily on such nowadays. Perhaps Sc-Fi channel has too rigid production schedules, or lousy quality control?

I've given up on the SyFy Channel. This is typical of all their productions. Terrifying and spectacular scenes involving CGI monsters/aliens/whatever separated by deserts of arid narrative with little or no purpose other than taking the characters to the next scene involving CGI. It's just crap. Some visual engagement but zero intellectual value otherwise. The suits at SyFy either are idiots or venal purveyors of weird trash -- or both. Don't waste your time. There's so little artistic value, other than the yeoman efforts of the put-upon casts, that I honestly believe SyFy is soliciting scripts from middle-schoolers. With a title like "Day of Reckoning" and the very rare religious references made in dialog, one might suspect that some attempt at rationalizing the cause of a disaster threatening the existence of the human race might be made. One would be mistaken in that assumption. There's nothing here. Watching while drunk might improve the experience.