Zakes Mokae

It`s traveling fast...destroying everything in its path. The Motaba virus inflicts a swift, horrible death, and only one man can stop it from becoming a deadly worldwide outbreak.

A ship of dead men steers into Brooklyn harbor. It keeps going until it runs aground. A large wolf jumps from the ship. The wolf is the vampire Maximilian [Eddie Murphy], the sole survivor of the massacre of a tribe of vampires living on an island in the Bermuda Triangle. Max has come to Brooklyn to find Rita Veder [Angela Bassett], the half-vampire daughter born to a human and a vampire from his tribe. Meanwhile, Julius Jones [Kadeem Hardison] isn't having a good night. First, there was that ship that ran aground and plowed right through the building where he and Silas Green [John Witherspoon] were working. Then his woman kicked him out of the house for snoring while otherwise engaged. Now, two thugs are after him for his money or his blood. Then, just as Julius is about to meet his maker, the vampire Maximilian shows up, neatly kills off the two thugs, and informs Julius that he is to become his renfield and that the first thing he must do is retrieve Max's coffin from the ship. Ship and dock are crawling with the law, one of whom is Detective Rita Veder. Rita and her partner Justice [Allen Payne] have been sent to investigate the accident in the harbor and the 18 bodies aboard that were found drained of blood. While checking out the ship, Rita falls through a rotten floorboard and lands in the cargohold where she finds a coffin and gets a glimpse of Max, who recognizes her immediately. Rita chases him, but he disappears. When she returns to the cargohold, the coffin is gone, a human ear remaining in its place. Max and Julius take the coffin to Julius's house, an apartment he rents from Silas. The ship's log is retrieved, but it is written in some obscure language that no one at the university can decipher, so it is sent to Dr Zeko for translation. Zeko's turns out to be a nightclub, but Zeko [Zakes Mokae] is able to tell that the log speaks about a nosferatu on board. As Rita sits at a table, waiting for Justice to return from a phone call, she doesn't notice that a cobra in a nearby terrarium has escaped and is crawling toward her. Fortunately, Max is seated nearby and catches the cobra just in time, giving Max the perfect opportunity to introduce himself to Rita. He asks her to dance, believing that one dance with him will make her his, but Justice returns and Julius butts in with his jive talk, so Rita splits, not at all enthralled with Max. Rita and Justice go back to the apartment Rita shares with roommate Nikki [Simbi Khali]. Nikki comes on to Justice but he turns her down and leaves. Instead, Nikki picks up Max and brings him home. Rita overhears the bumping and screaming in Nikki's bedroom. The next morning, Rita finds that Nikki has split with all her belongings, and there's a note saying that she's getting an apartment with a man she just met. Rita assumes it is Justice, and she becomes very jealous. Time is growing short. Max has to start using drastic measures, like taking on the personas of other people, such as Preacher Pauly and stupid Guido in order to get closer to Rita. But Max's plans seem to backfire, so he takes the direct route and saves her from being run over by a speeding taxi. In gratitude, Rita accepts a dinner date with him. Max hurries back to Julius's apartment and casts every spell he knows to change it from a pigsty to an elegant lovenest, complete with candelabras, fireplace, and a baby grand piano. He finally manages to get his dance with Rita as well as a bite on her neck. Julius is enjoying the benefits of working for a vampire, e.g., driving the black limo with vanity plates that say 'RIP'. He is also having to adjust to the side-effects, e.g., acquiring a taste for bugs and losing parts of his body. First his ear, then his right hand, then his hair, then an eye, then his whole right arm. Meanwhile, Justice is following up a lead that suggests Julius might have been involved in the killing of the two thugs a few nights ago. The next morning, Justice pays a visit to Julius's apartment where he meets Silas Green who tells him that Rita was there all night with the new tenant, some suave guy. Just then, Justice receives a call from the dispatcher sending him to investigate a DOA at Brooklyn City Hall. It turns out to be Nikki. Justice goes to Rita's apartment to tell her about Nikki. As he is holding her, Rita's tears turn into fangs and she tries to bite his neck. Out of the corner of her eye, she notices that her reflection in the mirror is fading. She runs to Max, who tells her of her father, the vampire. Justice goes to see Dr Zeko, who tells him the story of Rita's mother, a researcher who was studying the vampires on his island and who succumbed to the powers of the "dark one." Rita is the result, he says. He warns Justice that he must kill Max and do it before Rita loses all of her humanity. Max attempts to teach Rita how to feed, but she refuses. When she tries to run away, Max retrieves her and brings her to his apartment, intending to leave for the island in the morning. He brings Silas to her, but Justice and Zeko arrive just in time to stop her from feeding on him. A fight breaks out, of course, but Max is easily able to dodge their fists and stakes. Justice searches out Max's coffin and opens it, prepared to stake him, but he finds Rita laying there. Rita begins to advance on Justice, her fangs showing. She stops long enough to share a kiss with Max and then stakes him, claiming that this part of her must die. Rita and Justice end up in each others' arms. Epiloque: Max is dead, and Julius doesn't have much left in the way of limbs, skin, arms, etc., but Silas reminds him that he does have the limo, and they decide to go for a ride. In the backseat, Julius finds a ring left behind by Max and places it on his finger. POOF! Julius has back all his parts (and then some). There's a new vampire in Brooklyn, and his name is Julius Jones. [Original Synopsis by bj_kuehl.]

After losing his arm in a car accident, a criminal psychologist has it replaced with a limb that belonged to a serial killer. When Bill Chrashank loses his arm in a car accident, the arm of an executed death row inmate is grafted on in its place. The only problem, as Bill soon discovers, is that the arm is possessed by a force he cannot control. —Michael Silva <silvamd@cleo.bc.edu>

While his mom recovers in hospital from a heart attack, John puts his busy life on hold to fly home and help his elderly dad around the house. John's son later joins them and they all truly bond for the first and, tragically, final time. John, a busy, "always-on-the-run" executive, learns during a meeting that his mother may be dying and rushes home to her side. He ends up being his father's caretaker and becomes closer to him than ever before. In the process, he teaches his father to be more independent which causes problems with the man's wife. Estranged from his own son, the executive comes to realize what has been missing in his own life. As John, his father and his son slowly bond, and even his mother returns from the hospital, everything starts seeming right with the world - until dad goes to have a minor surgery only to come out of it demented and a shadow of his former self. —Jerry Shannon <jlshan@ix.netcom.com> Someone helps his dad help his dad while his grandma is in the hospital. However, the situation changes in a way no one could expect. "Dad" offers an emotional, funny, and sad story to be enjoyed by everyone. Even though there are laughs, this movie will ensure an emotional roller coaster. —Christopher-147932384 Successful businessman, John, has to take care of his father after his mother has fallen victim to a heart attack. Although they've become estranged to each other, they finally succeed in coming together again, and even John's son gets involved. As John, his father and his son slowly bond, and even his mother returns from the hospital, everything starts seeming right with the world - until dad goes to have a minor surgery only to come out of it demented and a shadow of his former self. —Homme A. Piest <piest@pobox.leidenuniv.nl> John, an overworked business type, rushes home to be with his father after his mother has a heart attack. He helps his dad learn to live more independently and this ends up affecting the estranged relationship he has with his college aged son. As John, his father and his son slowly bond, and even his mother returns from the hospital, everything starts seeming right with the world - until dad goes to have a minor surgery only to come out of it demented and a shadow of his former self. —Nate Dogg <holtslander@hotmail.com>

An anthropologist goes to Haiti to research a drug that makes someone appear dead by suspending all vital signs. In 1985, after a successful research in Amazonas, Dr. Dennis Alan from Harvard is invited by the president of a Boston pharmaceutics industry, Andrew Cassedy, to travel to Haiti to investigate the case of a man named Christophe that died in 1978 and has apparently returned to life. Andrew wants samples of the voodoo drug that was used in Christophe to be tested with the intention of producing a powerful anesthetic. Dr. Alan travels to meet Dr. Marielle Duchamp that is treating Christophe and arrives in Haiti in a period of revolution. Soon Alan is threatened by the chief of the feared Tonton Macuse Dargent Peytraud, who is a torturer and powerful witch. Alan learns that death is not the end in the beginning of his journey to hell. —Claudio Carvalho, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil Dennis Allan is a scientist who visits Haiti on the strength of a rumour of a drug which renders the recipient totally paralyzed but conscious. The drug's effects often fool doctors, who declare the victims dead. Could this be the origin of the "zombie" legend? Alan embarks on a surprising and often surreal investigation of the turbulent social chaos that is Haiti during the revolution which ousted hated dictator "Baby Doc" Duvalier. Often a pawn in a greater game, Alan must decide what is science, what is superstition, and what is the unknown in a anarchistic society where police corruption and witch-doctory are commonplace. —Murray Chapman <muzzle@cs.uq.oz.au>

A deep sea fishing boat docks for the night near a seemingly deserted, uncharted island. As the cabin boy, Manuel, serves drinks, a pirate appears and kills the men in gory fashion by axing them to death. Sometime later in New York City, reporter Blair Maynard (Michael Caine), a British-born journalist, convinces his editor to let him investigate the latest vessel missing in the "Bermuda Triangle," claiming that 600 boats have vanished in that area in the last three years. In his office, Maynard is surprised to find his former wife has left their 10-year-old son, Justin (Jeffery Frank), with him for the weekend. Maynard cajoles the reluctant boy into traveling to Florida, promising a trip to Disneyland. However, when Maynard prioritizes the investigation first, Justin accuses him of backing out on another promise. Maynard and Justin arrive in Miami where Justin manipulates his father into taking him to purchase a handgun for him. They stop at a local gun shop where the owner Mr. Baxter (William Schilling) demonstrates a Walther PPK semi-automatic pistol and after testing it at the gun shop's firing range, allows Mr. Maynard into buying it for Justin. Elsewhere, two sailboats stop near the island as night falls. During the night, pirates climb out of the water and attack the boats, killing everyone except for a young girl. The next day, Maynard and Justin visit the Miami docks and learn of the two additional missing boats, which set sail from the island of Navidad. A sailor theorizes that drug smuggling is involved and explains it is common in that part of the ocean. Maynard hires a rickety cargo plane to fly to Navidad, but the plane's wheels do not descend and they crash land. The pilot, Maynard, and Justin escape just before the plane explodes. Later, Justin wanders the beach as Maynard is directed to Windsor (Frank Middlemass), who rents boats. Windsor refuses Maynard's request to take him to the area, but changes his mind upon meeting Justin. The boy is excited to deep sea fish and catches a barracuda. As they head further out and near the island, they see a girl floating near a life raft. Justin reaches for her, but the girl (the same one the pirates captured) pulls him into the water and attempts to drown him. As Maynard moves to rescue his son, a pirate boards the boat and attacks. Maynard shoots and kills the pirate, but the body falls into Maynard, knocking him unconscious as he hits his head on a jagged nail. Maynard regains consciousness on the island at night where he and Justin are prisoners of a band of pirates. The pirates have, amazingly, remained undetected since the establishment of their pirate enclave by the notorious French buccaneer L'Olonnais in 1671. The pirates have a constitution of sorts, called the Covenant, and have a cruel but workable society. They raise any children they capture to ensure the survival of the colony, but kill anyone over the age of thirteen years. When the pirates' leader, Jean-David Nau (David Warner), learns Maynard's name, he declares Maynard's ancestors killed the pirate Blackbeard back in 1714 and therefore, the boy has "good blood." They take Justin away, informing Maynard that the boy is no longer his son. Beth (Angela Punch McGregor), the dead pirate's widow, demands Maynard's death, but Nau determines that she needs a man who can impregnate her, and Maynard is sentenced to that task. Meanwhile, Justin's eyes are pried open with twigs to keep him awake as the pirates rename him "Tubar" and brainwash the boy to reject his father and embrace their way of life. Several days later, Justin practices target shooting with Manuel, the former cabin boy who is now Nau's protege. A gourd is placed in Maynard's hand and Justin shoots it, claiming he could have killed his father if he wanted to. Maynard claims people are searching for them, but Justin rejects his father and insists he is the pirate Tubar. Maynard is shackled and lead about by a chain, but glimpses the combination lock's packaging and gets the code. Late at night, as Beth sleeps, he unlocks his chains and sneaks outside. He sees Justin in another hut, being instructed in the pirates' history. Maynard runs to the beach and dives into the ocean to swim away, but is stung by a large jellyfish and forced to swim ashore. Beth finds him just before the others rush to the beach, and she claims they were bathing. The other pirates do not believe her, so they pull the jellyfish from the ocean and rub the stingers over her nude body as punishment. The next day, as Maynard works alongside Beth, he sees Windsor arrive in a boat. Beth chases Maynard as he runs to warn Windsor, but quickly learns the man is colluding with the pirates. A schooner approaches the island and, as the pirates prepare for battle, Windsor admits he reported Maynard and Justin as lost at sea, and reveals the pirates are an "anthropologist's dream," having preserved their culture by living apart from the world for hundreds of years. However, the pirates' inbreeding has created numerous problems. They need Justin to carry on their leadership, and since Beth is the only fertile woman on the island, they require Maynard's genes to replenish their line. The pirates take Maynard and Justin with them and sail for the schooner. They board the ship, and the gory slaughter begins as the pirates kill all of the young crew and steal anything of value, except for the large supply of cocaine being smuggled inside. Maynard spots a flare gun and places it among Beth's loot. When one of the ship's occupants climbs a mast to escape, Nau hands Justin a gun and orders him to shoot. Justin kills the man before the pirates leave the schooner, blowing it up behind them. At the pirate camp back on the island, Beth finds the flare gun and tosses it aside, but Windsor takes it. Later, in the hut, Beth informs Maynard that she is pregnant. Maynard asks to be set free, but she declines, drags him outside, and demands that they be married. After the wedding vows, Nau declares that he is taking Justin as his son, instead of Manuel, as originally planned. Manuel is furious and leaves camp. Later, as Beth bathes, Manuel frees Maynard and offers to help him leave if he takes Justin with him to warn the outside world about the island. Maynard sneaks to the campfire where everyone is asleep, gags his son, and carries him to Manuel's boat, but when he sets Justin down, the boy runs screaming for Nau. Maynard sets sail, but Manuel had sabotaged the boat by drilling holes in the bottom and filling them with molasses and it sinks, forcing Maynard to swim back to shore. The next morning, Justin asks to lead the hunt for his father, and Nau agrees. As the others search the island, Nau and Windsor observe a US Coast Guard ship arriving offshore to investigate the multitude of cocaine packets floating free from the schooner's wreckage. As Windsor heads to intercept them, he discovers that Maynard spilled gunpowder across the deserted camp. Windsor grabs an ax, but Beth shoots him dead, allowing Maynard to light the gunpowder and destroy the camp along with some of the pirate women, but Beth survives. Seeing the explosion, the Coast Guard sends a boat to investigate, but the pirates attack the men killing them all. Maynard swims toward the Coast Guard ship as Nau, Justin, Manuel and the little girl don Coast Guard life vests and pretend to be the returning landing party. At the ship, a dozen or so pirates hidden in the boat climb aboard and quickly kill all of the crew in a matter of minutes. An officer relays a "May Day" message before he is shot dead. As the rest of the pirates from the island row out to the captured Coast Guard ship and begin to loot and other toss supplies from the ship into their boats, Maynard sneaks on board. He attempts to radio for help only to find the radio destroyed. Now driven mad with frustration and rage, Maynard climbs to the upper deck, discovers a .50 caliber heavy machine gun hidden under a tarp, and opens fire on the pirates scattered on the stern of the Coast Guard ship, ruthlessly slaughtering all of them in a hail of bullets. Nau, Justin, and Manuel hide on the aft deck as the rest of the pirates on deck and in their boats are all gunned down. When the machine gun is empty, Nau orders Justin to kill his father, but he cannot, so Manuel reaches for Justin's gun. As the boys struggle, Manuel is killed. Nau takes the gun and pulls Justin inside the ship, but Maynard finds a flare gun and follows where a climatic cat-and-mouse chase begins. As Nau shoots out the lights and binds Justin with ropes, Maynard fires a flare and sees Justin's location. The boy calls for his father as Nau attacks with a knife, and Maynard shoots a flare at the pirate leader, killing him at last. Maynard rushes to his son as a Coast Guard rescue helicopter arrives on the scene as night begins to fall and the pilot radios the ship's location and of the island as the end credits roll.