The Edison Death Machine (2006 Video) User Reviews

Creative, Fun, Great

[coldshadow31 · 8/10 · 23 August 2006]

Before I saw the movie, I didn't know what to expect. I had watched the trailer a few times and was interested in what I saw. But, I received the movie in the mail today and JusT finished watching it, and I have to say, this is one of the most creative story lines I've seen in a long time. George Bonilla brings a movie to you that you can sit and enjoy over and over if you wanted. I also LOVE movies about the undead, so thats working double for me! All of the characters are great and unforgettable. Everything needed to bring together a good movie is here. I would definitely recommend this movie to anyone willing to watch it!

2 THUMBS!!! (and a big toe)

Calling This a Film is Going too Far...

[japonaliya · 1/10 · 21 April 2010]

The other 2 reviews at this time must have either been posted by the film makers themselves, or were on some kind of heavy drugs!

This isn't even a movie in the strictest sense.

First, it is done on low, VHS resolution video tape. The sets are cardboard, as is the acting. My son was in a few film classes in HS and this "film" is not even as good as the few short subjects he shot.

Special effects? give me a break..there is none, unless you thing a bunch of quasi-historical characters, including an Elvis zombie, and a 17th c. samurai wearing the same latex Halloween mask is "special effects" !!! The budget of this film could not have been much over $5.00 and that would be for the bag of pot those involved were smoking.

Another example:

Girl is shot in head by rival gang..slumps onto desk filled with papers...Blood starts oozing from her head, spreading out UNDER the scattered papers, WHICH MYSTERIOUSLY, DO NOT GET SOAKED WITH BLOOD EVEN THOUGH THE "BLOOD" IS COMING OUT FROM UNDERNEATH THE PAPERS!!!!!

That's special effects for you...

Think of SNL sketch that goes on for a bit over an hour that is not supposed to funny, but is...and then again..not all that funny.

The film's website claims winning best SiFi pic of 2007,Best sp. effects, and other film awards at various film festivals....

I bet those "festivals" don't even exist, or if they do, they most have bought off the judges with a bucket of KFC.

I won't even comment on the insipid plot...

Actually, there was one really great scene now that I think of it. In Elvis's tomb (of course they couldn't even call the character Elvis, for some weird reason) They use the Edison machine to bring Elvis back to life...Besides the bumbling gang of thieves and the captive museum director, somehow a bunch of Elvis groupies made it into the cramped cardboard tomb with them.. You just HAVE to see the bad acting, worse than my 5 year old daughter's nursery school play, as they run screaming...(I said screaming with artistic license) out of the crypt..

My last thoughts....unbelievable as this may sound...

This film makes" Plan 9 From Outer Space" seem like "Citizen Cane"!!!

Oh... the machine was cool....

See the 1998 TV movie Nightworld:Lost Souls if you like the Edison spirit Communicator machine.

Incredibly Original

[seveng · 10/10 · 27 September 2006]

We had the opportunity to see The Edison Death Machine at the Kentucky Theater recently. George Bonilla has outdone himself this time with a wonderfully original story. The film opens with a three minute silent film that is claimed to have been found in a vault. While there are a precious few things that give away the fact that the silent film isn't truly authentic, I can see if fooling numerous viewers. It has the look and feel of a 1920's film. The pasty makeup, the over-acting, the grainy quality, the music - it's all there. The silent short was a truly unique way to open the film.

Once we get into the film itself, the story is slow to get moving. But once it does, there is non-stop action until the finale. Henry (Stacey Gillespie) is the down-on-his-luck museum director who is set up by the beautiful Karen (Ashley Arkels) and unwittingly become part of an international crime ring led by Renee (Billy Blackwell).

The interesting thing is that while Renee is technically the villain here, he becomes this odd sort of anti-hero that we find ourselves rooting for when the cold-blooded mob boss Dominic Contessi (Frank Santoroski)comes onto the scene. Renee, Henry, Karen and the gang have decided to retire from a life of crime when Dominic surfaces. We are nearly an hour into the film before we meet Dominic, but we soon realize that he has been there the whole time, watching Renee's every move. Dominic forces them back into using the machine, putting the retirement on hold. The way Dominic chooses to express his seriousness on the issue will shock you. You'll have to see it.

Of course, the real stars of this film are the resurrected corpses brought back to life by the Edison Machine. The make-up effects are top-notch; the work with foam-latex translates to film very well. This is almost becoming a lost art with many big-budget films using CGI these days.

The Edison Death Machine is a well-done independent film. Bonilla presents a thoroughly professional look and feel on a small budget. Of course, it's the story that really makes this project work.