Voodoo Apocalypse
Voodoo Apocalypse is a Spanish buddy cop action thriller by Vasni Ramos that replicates the style of 1970s exploitation grindhouse features. Similar to films like cult classic Black Dynamite, Voodoo Apocalypse is purposefully made to appear as if it had been produced with a micro-budget. It is an intended result and a part of a niche subgenre that caters to an audience that understands the film’s objective. While it is clear that Ramos has a genuine love for the aforementioned genre, the majority of Voodoo Apocalypse fails in delivering an old-school charm.
The two lead actors, Sergio G. Ramos and Jose J. Ramallo, who also co-writes the screenplay with Ramos, clearly understand the type of film that they are replicating. However, at times it feels as if the cast are not delivering a performance that follows the type of humour the film is attempting to create. Instead, they seem like genuinely bad actors that are also giving a poor performance. The screenplay includes some excellent flair that would require the actors to deliver such a theme effectively, however, since Ramallo and Sergio G. Ramos lose themselves in playing “bad” actors, good jokes end up being delivered poorly. Ramallo is undoubtedly the greatest actor in the cast since he has the most character and brings the most personality to his role. He is given the most to do in the screenplay and reflects the goofy nature of his character in his body movements and line deliveries. It’s also clear that he understands his character the most. While Sergio G. Ramos also understands his character, he isn’t given enough to do in the script with his character to be interesting.
The first half of Voodoo Apocalypse is dull and repetitive. There are two very similar bar fight scenes less than ten minutes apart from each other. The voodoo aspect of the film is not introduced until fifty minutes into the runtime. The long wait until the scene where it’s introduced causes the film’s gimmick wears off. From that point on, the plot becomes significantly more intriguing and berserk, however it is not enough to compensate for the lacklustre first half.
There is some remarkable cinematography in the film by director of photography, Gabriel García, especially toward the finale. Unfortunately, the unbearable amount of digital film overlays and grain effects cause a plethora of great shots to decrease in quality. If these effects were used in moderation, then the picture on screen would be significantly more digestible for the audience. The colouring in the beginning of the film is constantly oozing yellow and is often very unpleasant to look at since it does not match the settings that they take place in. The colouring is also very inconsistent. Half of the time, the colour scheme looks consistent with the rest of the film, but the other half is corrected to look like a vapid sepia shade. The appearance of the beginning of the film is significantly worse than the end, since the final sequence has some excellent camerawork. In particular, one involving a gunshot and another involving a sliding door both look stunning. Those shots fit the time period in which the film takes place and are both visually appealing.
In the moments where the characters aren’t delivering dialogue, Voodoo Apocalypse relishes. The action scenes are perfectly ludicrous and look like they come straight out of the era that the film attempts to replicate. In the third act, there is a car chase that simultaneously balances being amusing and seamlessly recreating genuine 1970s grindhouse film. Since the production can’t afford to actually hit the bumpers of the car, sound effects and camera shakes from the interior of the car sell the illusion. It’s also very clear that when Ramallo’s character gets on top of one of the cars, he isn’t faking it, since the cars are moving incredibly slowly. These effects bring the film down to earth and make it clear that the filmmakers care about the genre they are replicating here. It has sentiment and demonstrates that anyone can create a film.
One can respect and appreciate the effort that Vasni and Sergio Ramos and Ramallo put into creating Voodoo Apocalypse. However, more often than not, the cast and crew ultimately miss the mark in creating the cult classic that they intended on making here. Audience members will garner some enjoyment out of the film, but there is not much to be remembered or taken away from the viewing experience.
