ALL SUPERHEROES MUST DIE

(A.k.a. VS)

Four superheroes awake in four separate locations, each one bloodied and bruised from individual ambushes that they can't quite remember. Upon regaining consciousness, the first thing each one notices is that they're wearing a fresh plaster upon their wrists. Underneath, they bear small circular wounds.

Slowly but surely, each costumed crusader finds their feet and starts to get a grip of their situation. Surrounded by carnage, they each soon discover a TV monitor which has been conspicuously placed in their vicinity.

Each are confronted by a manic villain on their TV screen: the all-too-familiar old adversary, Rickshaw (James Remar). He tells them he's sick of being thwarted by them all the time, and so has developed a series of games for them to partake in that he aims to win. Each time they fail a challenge, innocent civilians die. He has 100 of them held at his mercy, at various destinations around their unnamed city.

Reluctantly, the four superheroes - John (writer-director Jason Trost), Charlie (Lee Valmassy), Jill (Sophie Merkley) and Ben (Lucas Till) - reconvene for the first time since their crime-fighting partnership dissolved acrimoniously a few years earlier. They soon realise they must cast aside their differences if they are to save the innocent pawns of Rickshaw's demented games.

It soon becomes apparent that Ben and John have issues. And yet, Rickshaw - via the TV screen - pairs them off as he sets them their first challenge: fight and conquer a burly tattooed thug in 90 seconds, in order to save 5 unwitting victims. They fail their task, and the civilians are blown apart in front of them.

As events unfold, we learn more about this group, their origins and the reasons for their eventual disbanding. But can they put all of that on hold long enough to defeat their common foe? That is, if they all survive to do so?

A very cheap, quick production indeed, Trost's film still manages to look good despite some lo-fi necessities (bombs made out of microwave ovens, for example). But at least it takes the overbaked superhero genre and offers it something darker than the trite mainstream 'indie' of Jane Goldman, and more cerebrally satisfying than the otherwise thematically similar WATCHMEN.

Though performances are uneven and the script a tad crass at times, Trost's film has to be commended as a whole because it manages to rise above its menial origins and emerge as a thoughtful, stylish deviation from the norm. Just don't expect any big explosions or car chases: this is superheroes on a shoestring!

A sequel, A WORLD WITHOUT SUPERHEROES, is already underway.

Monster Pictures have taken a change of pace with this release. It deviates from their horror manifesto and ventures more into dark fantasy. However, come its denouement, you can see how it fits into their overall oeuvre.

Their DVD presents the film uncut and in its original 2.35:1 aspect ratio. The transfer is 16x9 enhanced and looks good. Blacks and colours are solid, detail is fair and images are clean throughout. There are some soft scenes - probably inherent of the film's low budget origins - but it looks decent for the most part.

English 5.1 audio offers a reliable playback. Any dialogue that's difficult to make out is due to mumbling actors, rather than any flaw in the audio mix provided (Trost, that's aimed at YOU!).

This disc opens to an animated main menu page, From there, a static scene-selection menu allows access to the film via 8 chapters.

Extras begin with an optional 2-minute introduction to the film from Trost. This is breakneck, but he does manage to tell us he shoot the film in 15 days for $20,000 - a couple of times, in fact. His trusty eye-patch is very much in place here.

There's also the option to open the film with a 6-mintue "Cultastrophe" promo reel for cheesy Grindhouse flicks such as ARGOMAN THE FANTASTIC SUPERMAN and INFRAMAN. Come on, Monster |Pictures, you're not Cheezy Flicks - nor do you want to be, I'd hope.

A 12-minute Q&A session from 2011 finds Trost fielding questions from the "Toronto After Dark" audience. This finds the director in a more natural mode, and he comes across well. There were no stunt doubles, no-one got hurt, Remar was a star on set, the film was shot on digital ... we get quite a bit of trivia from this fast-paced chat.

The film's original "theatrical" trailer follows, clocking in at 78 seconds in length.

Finally, we get treated to four episodes of "Blood Beasts". This is a post-Apocalyptic web serial shot on primitive digital equipment by Trost (who once again stars). I admire its ambition during each 7-minute episode but, really, this isn't much fun to sit through.

Not the KICK ASS or SUPER rip-off I initially feared, ALL SUPERHEROES MUST DIE is pretty engaging stuff. Low budget, yes, but interesting and creative enough to merit your attention.

Trost may be a name to watch in future.

Review by Stuart Willis