DeathTheCrow : FanFilms : PurgatoryII

Purgatory II

the sequel Purgatory II can't be downloaded yet.

but you can download...

• the trailer
• a teaser

Review

now, throw away any pre-conceptions you may have of what a crow film should or should not be. Purgatory gives us an alternate vision of the crow myth where angels and demons battle over souls in the afterlife (ok... so most of that line was ripped off!)

on the dvd is a nice simple menu (i hate complicated dvd menus!) with the option to watch the main feature or the trailer. it might have been nice to have been able to select either the first or second films, but at the end of the day, that would have detracted from the fact that they are really two parts of the same film. selecting to watch the main feature reveals a cool 70's cheesy intro displaying (something like!):

O U R		F E A T U R E		P R E S E N T A T I O N

first we get to see Purgatory 2004, the first film, which runs in at around 17 minutes.

"The Luckiest Man who walks on this earth is the one who finds True Love"... Vlad, the Impaler 1462

it describes there being a place called the Guff which is a place between our world and the afterlife for lonely souls to wait for a crow to take them to salvation. while demons walk with the living, stealing souls to prolong their life force.

desciples stand in the way of the demons. desciples are sworn to protect the innocent until they are rejoined with their loved ones.

at the start of the film we see a woman running down a street, then up to three gothic looking characters, desciples, on top of a building, one female and two males.

the main, lead, desciple is called raphael.

a woman dives onto the pavement having entered via some kind of gateway, dropping an obelisk. the lead desciple (raphael) is just about to kill her when the woman claims to be alexis, his soulmate.

he has no memory of her. she puts her hands around his head to give him his memories back. apparently he commited suicide when he found out she was turning tricks. the other male desciple kills her.

"i had a life, i intend to go back to it!" - raphael

he kills both the other desciples and then the crow... see i told you this was a different kind of crow film!

the acting is brilliant and so are the fight scenes, two things that so often let down a 'fan film'. it is obvious that a lot of work has been put into the production and direction and the editting is flawless. also, there are just enough special effects, not too many, just when they add to the experience rather than detract from it.

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the presentation then moves onto Purgatory II 2007 which lasts about another 50 minutes!

"Fuck damnation, fuck redemption, we are God's unwanted children, so be it" Tyler Durden

at the start of the film a strange character appears through a portal along with a crow. after the credits we go to a coroners office, autopsy on two women. once of which, who turns out to be alexis. her spirit appears to jump to the other woman, who then comes back to life, kills the doctor and then escapes.

then we see raphael with DEATH, a girl, between heaven and hell, surrounded by bright white lights. DEATH offers raphael to leave it all and die in peace with the one condition of letting "her" go.

"oh God, what have i done?..." - raphael

"what you did was romantic" - death

"what the fuck are you talking about?" - raphael

"you know, boy meets girl, boy commits suicide over girl, girl commits suicide to follow boy, boy becomes angel, girl becomes demon, boy falls from grace to be back with girl" - death

(how many times have we heard that old story!?!?)

raphael has to choose between going back to the land of the living or stay i heaven/guff (?) with this girl that he is talking to. he then chooses to go back back to earth, to the land of the living.

i think of this film as a bit like "the crow" meets "blade". he is even given a drink that is like "redbull for demons".

it turns out that alexis is now the Anti-Christ. on the way to see her, he has to kill some demons

raphael often gets into tangles with other demons and pretty much all of the fight scenes are excellent. you really believe that they are beating the living crap out of each other.

reading more into the "crow + blade" thing than i should be, during a clip of the inside of a club they're even playing the same song that was used in a club scene in "blade 2"! (a song based on an old "New Order" riff)

"i've come back from the dead to kill my soul mate who just so happens to be responsible for the end of the world" - raphael

the Anti-Christ and her minions escape the club once she realises that raphael (the Arkangel) is coming for her. raphael comes face to face with alexis. another desciple has come for raphael, the strange character we saw come though the portal at the start of the film. raphael must then deal with him.

alexis sees a way to escape but stays. raphael is knocked unconsious (dead?) by the other demon, who then uses an amulet to bring him back. alexis wants to use the power for her own ends. raphael hits her. at the end of film we just see raphael and alexis standing together.

"Your move... Arkangel!" - The Anti-Christ

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THE END

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well all in all i loved this (these) film. it's great that it's adding to the mythology behind the crow and not just another boy or girl X or Y die and the other comes back to avenge their death. that's not to say that i don't love those too! for me nothing could hope to beat the original film and also i love Salvation. basically, if you love or even just like the crow (well... why would be on my site if you didn't!) and like all things Goth, then you should love Purgatory i+ii.

make sure you visit the Official Website.

and the drunkard after the credits!

this so far is just a rough draft and i'm sure i'll add to and correct bits of it as i rewatch the film.

/Pete 25th November 2007