D4 is Not a Horror Movie, but Certainly Has a Horrible Creature
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D4 has a great story, performances and direction; we could have done without the CGI, but for sci-fi excitement it’s a good one.
Written by The Horror Czar, Don Sumner
May 28, 2011
Movie Trailer
Image Gallery
Release: July 7, 2010 (U.S. DVD)
Written and Directed by: Darrin Dickerson
Starring:
Vicki Askew as Dr. Lark
Eric Berner as Sloan
Clay Brocker as Brocker
Darrin Dickerson as Smoke
Jeff Hime as Cutter
Ted LeGarde as Old Man Dalton
Jaimee Gray Simon as Snipe
The son of a billionaire widow has being held prisoner in a forgotten military base, and sloan (Eric Berner) is strong armed out of retirement to help get him out. Although this “man who does not exist” has gone into retirement and wants nothing more to do with dangerous covert operations, an untold debt owed to a General prompts him to action. Sloan calls his militia buddies for one last, very well paid romp into the countryside to slip in and slip out with the prize, killing people along the way as necessary.
The crew assembled for the assignment is a virtual A-Team of specialists and general bad-asses who are accustomed to getting the job done. They are in for a few surprises however in this mission, and a seemingly simple rescue operation turns into a fight for their lives.
D4 is not horror, which makes it strange that I would include it in the Best-Horror-Movies.com database. When I first became aware of this film I chose not to review it actually, sensing from the promotional materials that it would not be an appropriate fit. After seeing a very well appointed booth at a couple horror conventions in a row, and watching the film loop of a huge monster coming after soldiers with a CGI-enhanced snarl on his face, I was intrigued. After meeting Writer/Director Darrin Dickerson and hearing the inspiration of the story as being his own experience with an epileptic in his family and his frustration with how the drugs to treat the condition bring about behavior changes, I was convinced that I would give this one a watch.
The fact is, D4 is good. The production quality, actor performances and editing are all fantastic. I don’t remember the budget of this film, but seem to recall it was really low – like $30k low. I’ve seen films for 20 times that that weren’t nearly as professional and slick. The actors all 
bring their A game, and considering they are reminiscent of the A-Team, that is a good thing. I enjoyed the Rambo-like performance of Clay Brocker as “Brocker” especially – I saw him at an event strutting around with his 3 foot long fumanchu and numerous tattoos and wondered who the hell he was… now I know. Great performer.
D4 is brought together by editing that causes all interactions and action shots to flow perfectly. As a jack of all trades Darrin Dickerson is quite talented as he did the editing himself along with the writing and directing. The one downside was the CGI used in the film. It was used sparingly, which is a good thing, and worked extremely well in a few places like gunshot blood splats and facial deformation of the monster, but in a few others it stood out as a bit goofy. Minor inconvenience at the most, but I don’t need to see synthetic sparks flying from an electric fence.
D4 is recommended, with the qualifier that we know it is not a horror film, in spite of the musclebound monster. This is an action film that draws from some of the zombie film standbys of government conspiracy and possible apocalypse – but not in a horror kind of way.
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