Unseen Terror 2023: Rotting Crops (Days 9-10)

 *sigh*

I didn't fully anticipate returning to this fucking franchise so soon, but I'm going to be rather busy over the next couple of days. Thus, these have been bumped up in the watching order for the marathon. Seeing as how these films aren't exactly setting the world on fire, it's easier to just get these out of the way now rather than later.

Regarding the seventh entry in this franchise, Children of the Corn: Revelation's core plot is nearly identical to that of the previous picture. Swap out a missing mother for a missing grandmother, place a majority of the film inside of a dingy apartment building, and reduce the budget to something that looks like it would be easier to make on an iPhone.........an ORIGINAL iPhone. On the plus side, there is a scene wherein our heroine (who is thankfully nowhere near as idiotic as Part 6's was) runs into two of the atypical, mute creepy children at a convenience store and shows them how to play The House of the Dead. Why you'd be encouraging kids who already have murderous looks on their faces and who never speak to learn how to hold and wield weapons properly is beyond me, but it did make me nostalgic for that Arcade classic. Heck, watching a playthrough of that video game on YouTube would likely produce more excitement than the entirety of this flick. Also, we have Michael Ironside popping in for approximately five minutes as a priest and his presence is always appreciated (he's also the best Darkseid across all media depictions of the fictional villain. Do not argue with this).

I suspect that the "revelation" in Children of the Corn: Revelation is that apparently this is the first film in the franchise to feature nudity but seeing as how I'm not a prepubescent kid anymore, this ultimately means nothing in the long run. Oddly enough, the actress who bares most of everything (Crystal Lowe) has a weird connection to yesterday's entry: both her and Carrie (2002) co-star Chelan Simmons played ditzy best friends in 2006's Final Destination 3 and are both burned alive in tanning beds. Far from a perfect flick, but infinitely more watchable and competent than this pile of garbage.

Children of the Corn: Revelation is bad, cheap-looking (we're talking PlayStation 1-levels of bad computer graphics/CGI) , and dull as shit. Heck, it doesn't even have an overly boisterous, adolescent preacher as is seemingly customary for this series until its third act, and even then, he's overdubbed beyond belief. It's junk. Let's move on.

Over ten years had passed since the release of the dismal Children of the Corn: Revelation and Dimension Films were close to losing the rights to the franchise. Therefore, Part 8 of the series (subtitled Genesis) was rushed into production and spat out from the depths of hell to torment any individual who has yet to consider self-immolation as a way to avoid covering these movies. They also released it under their "Dimension Extreme" line in hopes that it would garner further attention. Said line covered multiple genres, including animal-related horror (Rogue, Black Sheep), horror-comedies (Teeth, Feast II & III), absolute nightmare fuel (Inside), sex comedies starring actors who should have known better (Extreme Movie), and infamous misfires (DOA: Dead or Alive, Hellraiser: Revelations). I could be here all night recanting tales of how many of these studios employed this tactic around this time period, but suffice to say most of those flicks are either collectors' items now or buried somewhere in a Big Lots warehouse. This is all to say that the 8th entry in this franchise (save for a remake/new adaptation of the short story released on SyFy two years prior), despite featuring leads that seem to have decent chemistry, a smaller scale, and a mercifully short running time, is ultimately a waste.

Perhaps the greatest of sin of Genesis is how badly rushed it feels. If you were to tell me that this script was laying around Dimension's offices and it was picked out for a slight retooling, it'd be hard not to believe you. The same thing was prevalent with another Dimension-owned property: Hellraiser. A large chunk of that franchise's sequels were never originally written as Hellraiser films, but with a couple of tweaks here and there, they were dumped onto home video just so they wouldn't run the risk of losing the cenobites to someone who genuinely wanted to make a great movie again (I still haven't seen the 2022 update, though I imagine it can't be as catastrophically bad as Hellworld). Because of that, so little time is dedicated to what even makes the prior entries...well, I suppose I'd say "popular" with its fans. For starters, no kid preachers. Hell, this film barely features any children whatsoever. A majority of its running time is spent watching our heroes (a young couple who seek shelter after their car breaks down) argue with one another, with the late Billy Drago and Hostel's Barbara Nedeljakova chewing the scenery like it's fresh tobacco. Perhaps more baffling is the lack of actual cornfields to be found (unless you count the one seen in actress Kelen Coleman's dream). As lowbrow as this series can be, those are two staples of the series that have to be present. It's like having Jason Voorhees battling campers outside of Camp Crystal Lake or Freddy Krueger without the sweater and dream sequences.

God help me I just lectured these filmmakers about how they're doing the Children of the Corn series incorrectly.

Not much else to say. I'm fairly disappointed in myself that this is the final film I've watched as a 37-year old sad sack who spends too much time on the internet (though it is somewhat fitting). Let's hope better things are on the horizon for this marathon and for the next 365 days in general.

Unseen Terror 2016: Day 18

Paleontologist Kate Lloyd is contacted by one Dr. Sander Halvorson, who requests that she join him and his assistant in examining something unusual that has been unearthed by a Norwegian research crew in the coldest reaches of Antarctica. Though initially reluctant, she does agree to join, and upon arrival, finds out that the magnitude of this discovery was certainly not exaggerated: the collective has stumbled upon a space ship buried underneath the ground. Stranger yet, the group reveals the remains of what appears to be an extraterrestrial that is frozen in a block of ice. Taking the still-encased body back to the base for studying, it isn't long before they are made aware of the creature's vital signs still being active, as it breaks free and begins slaughtering anything it comes into contact with. Even worse is the fact that it seems to be more than capable of assimilating and impersonating living, breathing material. The remaining members start to contemplate about who is still real, and who is secretly sporting terrifying, inhuman features.

Well, it is time for me to say something that will undoubtedly ruffle a few feathers: 2011's The Thing, a prequel to John Carpenter's 1982 remake of The Thing from Another World, which can be categorized as yet another adaptation of the influential story known as "Who Goes There?," is not that bad of a movie.

Phew. Now that I have gotten that off of my chest, let's get to the actual review, shall we?

When news first broke of an update related to the aforementioned John Carpenter classic coming to theaters, the internet was ready to unleash the purest form of hell upon those dared to touch such a sacred, beloved treasure. Heck, I will admit that I was one of them myself, as that movie holds a special place in my heart, and I would even be willing to go so far as to say that it is firmly in the personal list of my ten favorite horror flicks of all time. The question that remained on everyone's mind (other than "WHYYY?!") was whether this particular release will serve as a precursor to that picture or would be yet another reinterpretation. As it turns out, The Thing is a mixture of about ninety percent of the former, and ten percent of the latter. It sets out to expand the mythos and specialties of the alien creature itself, but isn't above throwing in some homages to its forefather. Do all of these revelations and facts come together to make a perfect film? Well, it's certainly far from achieving such a feat, but it isn't without some positives to talk about.

Cast-wise, there are some very commendable leads that were chosen to take part in this. I don't think that a day will come when I don't sing the praises of the ever-so-talented Mary Elizabeth Winstead (Scott Pilgrim vs. the World, 10 Cloverfield Lane), and though her character Kate lacks the bravado or general coolness of Kurt Russell's protagonist from thirty years before, she does do a commendable job with the role and seems genuinely invested in this project. Joel Edgerton (Warrior, Zero Dark Thirty) isn't too bad either, though you do wish that he received more screen time when the moment arrives for the whole shebang to wrap up. Sadly, the rest of the list of performers feels very interchangeable and readily available to swap out with one another. Kudos goes to making the wise choice to cast actual Norwegian or Scandinavian actors in these supporting roles (and for having most of them speak their native tongue without the addition of subtitles), but the fact that many are given such a small amount of dialogue or moments to establish a distinguishable personality does make for a disappointment, and gives off the impression that most of these guys are just to be meat for the beast.

One aspect of The Thing that caught my attention during its shooting process was the revelation of practical effects serving as the primary means of scaring the audience. If you have never seen John Carpenter's 1982 vision (and if you haven't, go buy the bloody thing already), some of its most memorable highlights come from the absolutely nightmarish designs of the monster and subsequent effects surrounded or caused by it. Most, if not all of these creations can be attributed to the extremely talented Rob Bottin, who though retired, leaves behind an incredible legacy in the realm of science fiction and horror. Even in an age where computer-generated material seems to be the norm for studios to settle with, those works still hold up tremendously well and can cause your stomach to twist into a knot under the right circumstances. Much to my shock and utter sadness, the efforts put in by his replacements (Alec Gillis and Tom Woodruff Jr. of Amalgamated Dynamics) are completely covered over and replaced by an ugly coat of CGI paint. From what I have gathered and heard, the studio felt that these transformations did not look frightening or convincing enough to scare audiences, even though I would strongly argue that the physical presence of animatronics and practical effects usually garners better performances and spirit from the cast and crew in the long run. The picture is brought down so darn much by this idiotic move, as no matter how creative the actual conceptions may look to viewers, they come across as extremely fake, cheap, and ridiculous when handled in this manner. It strikes me as no surprise that this sort of tampering was what ultimately made those in the technical department move towards spearheading and completing a film that was more akin to what they had in mind for entertaining the fans.

There are other tinier aspects to note about The Thing that keep one's interest from completely waning. As previously mentioned, there are some nice nods that pop up towards the middle and later portions of the flick, such as the idea of gathering the group together so that they may take a blood test in order to discover who is human and who isn't. Interestingly enough, they also bring up the revelation that this entity can not assimilate or imitate inorganic material, so they ask to check the fillings inside of people's mouths. The paranoia factor can still be felt throughout, but cutting the tension with a knife isn't as easy to do this time around as one hoped it would be. There are also several scenes which involve the exploration and examination of its space craft, though I do believe that giving away too much of its interior layout or schematics spoils the mystique of the terrifying antagonist. Lastly, it does pack a rather fitting soundtrack that features portions of a score which would make original composter Ennio Morricone proud (courtesy of Scream and Hellboy veteran Marco Beltrami). It's a nice bonus to hear snippets of THIS track appear towards the beginning and end as well. Still, it does feel like it borders on pandering, and some will just end up wanting to re-watch the 1982 story instead.

If you go into 2011's The Thing with an open mind, and are willing to just judge it on its own with zero bias or expectations, the whole picture is nowhere near as terrible as your more hardcore friends made it out to be. Unfortunately, it is still seriously flawed and morphs into more of a standard monster movie during its final third, though as stated above, I would attribute most of those problems and creative differences to studio interference and a lack of understanding of what made the 1980s version so respected and revered. As it stands, it might anger some to even admit that this film exists, but it doesn't really do much to help or harm Carpenter's iteration. It's perfectly fine and is just kind of.....there. So, perhaps it is time to calm down and maybe, JUST MAYBE, give it a try if you are even mildly curious or willing to let your guard down for two hours. Much like its thirty-year-old predecessor (well, technically sequel?), this is readily available to purchase on DVD and Blu-Ray in most establishments that carry such things.

And hey, even if you end up thoroughly despising it, know that it is FAR from the worst movie that handled a project originally concocted and helmed by Mr. Carpenter himself. That distinct dishonor belongs to THIS steaming pile of garbage.

Tomorrow, it's time to head back to the 1980s! Seeing as how I haven't eaten much today myself, I sure could go for something fried. Maybe even some fritters.....

Unseen Terror 2015: Day 27

40--year-old idler Juan seems to be fairly content with his life. He may not have a real, full-time job, but that doesn't prevent him from making ends meet or from killing time with his best friend Lazaro. While fishing on a small raft one day, the two accidentally snag a human carcass that comes to life and attempts to attack them. Lazaro manages to put it down, and they think of it as nothing but a random, isolated incident. Not long afterwards, things slowly start to go awry in Juan's neck of the woods, with numerous other reanimated corpses, being mistakenly identified by the media as products of America, swarming the republic and devouring anyone in sight. Disposing of several more "dissidents," the duo storm up an idea that won't just rid people of their undead problems, but may also make them quite a bit of money on the side.



You know, now that I have had a little bit of time to think about it, I don't recall ever seeing a zombie film set in or around Cuba. Even in the printed publications Fangoria and Horror Hound (where I first heard about this particular picture), they couldn't remember the last time that something has been set there, especially in terms of ones that deal with this fantastical, supernatural subgenre of horror. Then again, writer/director Alejandro Brugues' Juan Of The Dead (translated from Juan De Los Muertos) is apparently the first independent production to come from the country in quite some time, and it has the backing of a good number of notable Spanish and Cuban industries as co-producers on the project. Personally, I am all for film expansion from any and every country imaginable, since I believe that language barriers should not hinder one's enjoyment of a fun flick. If you are still bothered by having to read subtitles in 2015, you need to examine your head. Or better yet,

Yes, the irony of posting a Shaun Of The Dead clip in a review for a movie with an eerily similar-sounding title is not lost on me. Let's move on.


Thankfully, Juan does provide for a decent amount of fun considering that it was most likely not blessed with the largest amount of money at its disposal. And while the horror aspects of the production don't have anything too spectacular to discuss (save for one or two random occurrences towards the middle and final act), its sense of humor manages to keep the audience from getting bored. The titular character (portrayed by Alexis Diaz de Villegas) plays everything with a relatively straight face, melding slacker apathy with the hidden desire to do better for that one special person in their life (in this case, it's his estranged offspring). Yes, that aspect has been seen before in far too many flicks that I can name, and he may not be as easy to relate to as some of the other heroes that we've come across on this year's marathon, but he does have some semblances of humanity that keep the viewer from wishing he was gone. His interactions with close chum Lazaro (Jorge Molina) provide for some of the feature's more memorable moments, as do some of the more subtle nods to zombie films of prior years such as Lucio Fulci's Zombi 2. Most of the film's top laughs come from when is it at its zaniest or for when things quickly go south, such as when the group of survivors first attempt to decipher what the hell is going on, using various methods in the hopes of determining what fictional being is causing trouble and why every single person is morphing into "dissidents."


Not all of the humor hits though, and some of it just comes across as a bit on the mean and maniacal side. There's a crossdressing character named La China (who explains that this was chosen because you can't put up any walls around her) whose whole schtick seemed to be acting like a prude, and even when she isn't present, there does seem to be a bit of homophobia that permeates throughout the other characters' dialogue. Juan's equally lazy friend Lazaro also seems to have a tendency to attack the occasional familiar face over paltry things, and even resorts to beating innocents to death because they owe him money. Having never been to Cuba, I don't know if these are common to hear and witness down there, but I felt a bit more disappointed than I wanted to be.


By no means will Juan Of The Dead change the game when it comes to movies that deal with combating legions of the undead, but it doesn't appear that such a thing was its original intention. Thankfully, it still manages to get by on some charm, the amusing penchant to poke fun at its own protagonists' warped sense of morality, and a fair, clever way to disguise a lower budget (not to mention a nice use of Sid Vicious' "My Way," which is the first time that I've heard it since Goodfellas) . If you're feeling cheeky and up for a quick watch during your occasional day off, this newer entry into the horror-comedy genre is available to rent on sites such as Youtube and Amazon Prime, and the DVD/Blu-Ray from Focus Features can be purchased here.



Tomorrow, we have another Academy Award winner on the blog (our first since Halle Berry). Will she leave a lasting impression in the 2011 entry? Well, to throw in a hint, we have to talk about that...

Unseen Terror 2014: Day 11

Yes yes, I'm a day late on posting these. When one is attempting to celebrate the beginning of their 29th birthday, you tend to forget certain obligations. But I'm going to double up today, and my review for Day 12's picture shall be up within a few hours.

Raph and Max are your typical guns-for-hire, doing dirty jobs for the right amount of money, and only under the right circumstances. Outside of their rather busy work schedule, Raph is attempting to fix a marriage on the brink of divorce, and the fact that he almost forgets his own son's birthday isn't helping matters. While out and about, the two begin searching for a last minute gift, but soon receive orders to pull off a routine hit. The operation proves to be anything but basic, however, and the men find themselves holed up in a secluded area, grouped together with complete strangers and fighting for their lives against infected human beings.


So, this is a thing that exists. I had always assumed that whenever casting companies decided to let professional wrestlers take the lead, they'd attempt to pick out the biggest and/or most recognizable name that they could find. Last year, that thought was shattered following the release (plus my own review) of the fairly mediocre The Call, co-starring the modern king of "Why are you still employed?," Mr. David Otunga. During a random trip to the last Blockbuster Video that I'll likely ever see, I stumbled across Overtime, with legendary low-card standout Al Snow in the lead, and figured that for the cost of one whole American dollar, I'd give it a whirl.


From the get go, you can tell that Overtime has nothing but good intentions, wanting to be a mixture of Jingle All The Way and From Dusk Til Dawn (no, you didn't read that wrong). The only problem is that this film just seems to be trying a little too hard to be "cool" or "fun." Some of the more memorable horror-comedies in recent years didn't have to try hard per se, but the overabundance of cursing and exposition in Overtime shines brighter than a spotlight on the back of "Stone Cold" Steve Austin's head. Snow and his partner John Wells at least look like they were having a ball during filming though, as does the flick's villain, who is channeling her inner Jeremy Irons from the infamously terrible Dungeons and Dragons movie released in the year 2000.

There isn't anything necessarily terrible in Overtime, and heck, there are times when it's genuinely funny (inexplicably, any joke revolving around what kind of cake to get for a birthday party made me chuckle), but it reminded me too much of one of those movies that you would have seen collecting dust on the shelf of a video store, or worse yet, sitting in a pile of unsold copies near the checkout lane. I'm honest-to-god shocked that this took NINE WHOLE MONTHS to shoot, especially when you consider how cheap the movie can look during particular moments and with how not-so-subtle some of the pop culture jokes can be. For example, Snow searches for the hottest video game system, the YBox 720, to buy for his son. Don't even bother to groan, I did it for you in spades. Admittedly, I would have never even batted an eye towards this surprisingly short project (it says eighty one minutes on the back, but it's realistically seventy) had the six time WWF hardcore champion not been attached to it. But hey, you could do much, much worse than sit through this. For instance, you could watch Al Snow wrestle in 1999's now-infamous "Kennel From Hell" match.



Yeah, too easy of a shot. I think I'll let Mick Foley stick to the jokes in this case.

Hoping that it will reduce their prison sentences by an entire month, several troublemakers and hoodlums are given a temporary leave of absence in order to help clean up a vacated and dilapidated hotel. Unbeknownst to the assorted group of folks is that while they work, they are secretly being watched and stalked by a silent, disturbed psychopath. When the reclusive murderer, known only as Jacob Goodnight, starts to slaughter them one by one, the remaining youngsters must gather and find a way to stop this maniac, or to at least escape the premises with their lives.


If that description for 2006's See No Evil is a little too by-the-numbers for any of you readers, then I can only assure you that it was the best that I could come up with. Writer Dan Madigan (of WWF/E SmackDown fame) and former pornography director Gregory Dark aren't trying to break new ground with this fairly formulaic motion picture, but man, could they have at least tried to do something out of the ordinary? Speaking of Dark, I am a little amazed, if not slightly bothered, to see a good amount of former adult film directors show up in the former half of this year's countdown. It's pure coincidence. I hope.


There really isn't much that I can disclose about See No Evil, solely because you've seen everything it has to offer already. Let me count the ways: generic hot girls, go-to shower scene, generic douchebags, fairly decent gore and kills, predictable twist towards the end, slight attempt at humanizing the killer, and a washed-out look throughout. Perhaps the only thing that I can disclose is something that I feel is only a problem long-time wrestling fans such as myself will have: Kane (real name Glenn Jacobs), who plays the often stone-faced, eyeball-obsessed Jacob Goodnight, just isn't scary whatsoever. I imagine that should you have no connection or interest in the world of sports entertainment, you may find him to be slightly disturbing, but it's hard for the small part of the audience that IS crossing over from the WWE universe to even care. We've seen this man get stuck in some absolutely horrendous feuds since the character's debut in 1997, so it's pretty damn hard to suspend our disbelief. Yes, he's tall and can grimace awfully well when he needs to, but I can't take him seriously when I've seen skits like THIS over the past few years.


See No Evil made me slightly depressed. Mind you, it isn't because it's an emotionally powerful film, or because you sympathize with any personality in the cast, but because of discovering that it was surprisingly successful at the box office and on home video. True, WWE Studios didn't make an obscene amount of money from its performance, but the movie still over-performed when you consider how many horror and wrestling fans expected it to bomb rather hard. The fact that superior, more well-developed projects such as Behind The Mask: The Rise of Leslie Vernon or Trick 'R Treat have to revel in obscurity, struggling to get a sequel off of the ground or even to make back its full budget, is just a crying shame. Meanwhile, this basic slasher picture, while not entirely deserving of the 8% rating that it currently holds on RottenTomatoes.com, is getting a sequel with bigger stars (Danielle Harris, Katharine Isabelle) and promising directors (Jen and Sylvia Soska) attached to it. It just doesn't seem particularly fair to me.



Wait, Trick 'R Treat IS getting a sequel? Oh. Well, at the end of the day, this movie is still pretty disposable.



Coming up very soon, we're heading way, way back to the 1960s and into the land of Mario Bava with Black Sunday!

Unseen Terror 2013: Day 15

During World War II, two New Zealand soldiers, Grogan and Tane, make their way to the Nazi-occupied trap of Forau Island, in the hopes of drawing Hitler's attention away from Normandy. Once near a fort, the two men are drawn to screams for help, both male and female. Unfortunately, Tane is killed, while Grogan is knocked unconscious by a Nazi colonel. As he comes to, Grogan's assailant tells him of the true source of what these Nazi forces had been plotting: demonic conjuring.


I'd like to preface today's entry with a collective wag of the finger to Netflix. A mere hours after my viewing of The Devil's Rock, I've found that it has been removed from the "Instant Stream" option. Those of you who know me know that most of my past marathons consist of relying upon the usage of streaming sites such as Netflix themselves, along with sites such as Youtube, Crackle, and the like. Hopefully, over the next year or so, I'll attempt to organize next year's list, which will largely consist of home video releases, which are obviously free of removal and limited-time restrictions.


Right off the bat, The Devil's Rock won brownie points with me by setting itself during the time of World War II, something I don't see that often during many modern horror films. You would figure that a setting and time period such as that is ripe for the picking considering the fascination with the occult that Hitler had, and the atrocities that the Nazis themselves committed. But as the plot synopsis above would tell you, the plot background is a bit more alluring than just the simple "Nazis are evil" jargon.


The introductory fifteen minutes, in terms of dialogue, exposition, and even pacing, feel almost lifted from a video game, which may or may not be a bad thing. But after it passes, and we enter the "rock" in question, we get to the nitty gritty, which is meant to focus on our two main characters: New Zealand soldier Grogan and Nazi Colonel Meyer. Obviously, the two are nothing alike, but given the filmmaker's decision to predominantly focus on just the two of them for most of the film's running time, it helps to build character and develop their backstories. They make a decent mismatched pair, and before you can think about playing some sort of silly 80s buddy sitcom theme, make no mistake, this is clearly an "enemy of my enemy" situation, and in this case, one of them is still a filthy Nazi.


But the inclusion of the occult isn't something that should come as surprise to those more well-versed in fantasy cinema, or at least in films dealing with Nazis. The obsession and "link" between nazism and the occult began with my introduction to the Hellboy series, and before you cry "read a book that isn't a comic book you whippersnapper" or something like that, I'll just politely ask you to be quiet for the time being. The demon, which chooses to stay in one form throughout most of the film's fairly quick running time, looked a little similar to a female version of Satan from Legend, but maybe not as defined. She really does her damndest to tempt these two, and man does it take a lot for you to think "listen to the Nazi for once dude."


The Devil's Rock does feel somewhat short, and does suffer from a somewhat lower budget, but it is a pretty fine effort when it comes down to it, especially when you consider the somewhat misleading, though admittedly enticing DVD cover chosen for its stateside/Region 1 release. It might not be the most accurate comparison to make, but I felt the same way with this as I did with something like 2002's Dog Soldiers, though it obviously doesn't deal with werewolves and is nowhere near as gory (and like that film, you might benefit from subtitles once in a while). Still, like that picture, it is a pleasant surprise that seems to come out of nowhere, with little-to-no hype, no real plot holes, and a fairly satisfying ending. Be sure to stream....erm......find it somehow.



Tomorrow, the ladies are coming back to life with FRANKENHOOKER!

Like Water (2011) Review

Anderson "The Spider" Silva is the most prolific middleweight champion the mixed martial arts world has ever seen. Stringing together seven consecutive title defenses, without so much as having an ounce of trouble doing it, and even going above his own weight class to dominate former champions there, he can seemingly do no wrong. After his seventh title defense is negatively received, however, he finds himself challenged by a new, brash contender named Chael Sonnen, and we bare witness to the behind the scenes footage for what turns out to be one of the most talked about matches in UFC, or MMA, history.

This documentary finally solves the question I've had for several years now: where did Chael Sonnen's infamous "He couldn't be more wrong!" mini-speech (heard regularly on Sherdog.com) come from?

That bit of silliness aside, I've been waiting for several years to catch this documentary, and I'm glad that it didn't disappoint. I've had mixed feelings myself about Silva over the years, but this does convey him as not an arrogant fighting god, but rather a humble, grateful, and strongly family-oriented human being. Silva isn't treating this fight as a joke, and even through the glimpses we catch of his bout with Demian Maia (the man he defeated by unanimous decision prior to the first Sonnen fight), we begin to understand his own comments and philosophy towards the art of fighting. There's even a segment midway through Like Water where we see Silva's own skills as a coach on hand for fellow Black House fighter Damaso "Dan Dan" Pereira.

Silva himself isn't the only one humanized in the film's seventy six minute running time (which is criminally short for such a fascinating individual), as we also see focus on Silva's longtime manager and friend Ed Soares, who himself sometimes struggles with the champ's growing frustration with what can be simply referred to as "repetitive media questions." Soares is portrayed in a more positive light than UFC President Dana White, who appears briefly to comment on the champion's history and his own occasional frustrations with him. Hell, even Chael Sonnen isn't portrayed nearly as bad as one might think.

For those who have seen the now infamous battle between Silva and Sonnen, this might disappoint you, as while it may give you chills, this isn't exactly a biographical documentary on the Brazilian. True, we learn about his life growing up briefly, and we catch glimpses of his family and social life, but the primary focus is the buildup to the fight. I personally would have liked to see some footage of Anderson's tenure in the now defunct PRIDE FC, where he had two very notable defeats that almost had him hanging up the gloves for a teaching job, or to learn what led to him leaving Chute Boxe, the legendary Brazilian camp that spawned a murderer's row of champions.

Like Water is ultimately very satisfying to watch though, even if you don't particularly care for this oftentimes brutal sport. It showcases the very real issues and discipline involved that, sadly, is still sometimes looked down upon by mainstream media. Obrigado.