I am warning you up front that the first 15 minutes of "Fire City: End of Days" is confusing--so confusing that I was ready to turn off the movie. Fortunately, I resisted the impulse and what followed was a surprisingly good film--with a very inventive plot and awfully good prosthetics and make-up. While the film isn't for everyone, it is quite good and worth your time.
When the film begins, you see a lot of things that simply don't make sense. Don't worry and don't try to understand...just keep watching. Soon you come to realize that some of the characters living in this sleazy world are not humans after all but are demons disguised as humans...demons who literally feed off our misery. Seeing humans suffer and destroy themselves is what these creatures live for...and helping them do so is their job. However, something strange slowly begins happening to one of them. Atum Vine is a demon unlike any others because for the first time one of these horrible creatures begins to feel sorry for one of the humans...a young girl who reaches out to him for help. While he should take glee in her pain, Vine feels pangs of compassion. What's next and how this affects the humans and demon world is very interesting...but you'll have to see this for yourself.
The biggest surprises for me were that I usually hate films like this as well as learning that the director is actually a special effects guy who is now directing his first feature. While the make- up and look of the demons is incredible, I kind of expected this with the background of Tom Woodruff, Jr.. But I didn't expect a relatively low budget film like this to work so well. Now it isn't perfect--I do wish the beginning of the film had been less confusing and a little more to the point. But it is still darned good and well worth your time. My only reservation, and frankly it should come as no surprise, is that the film is NOT family-friendly. After all, it's about evil demons...and it does have some very explicit nudity and language that would make this a film for an older audience. So don't ask your mother or Father O'Malley or your kids to watch it with you!
