Exploitation pictures goes forth:THE TURNING (2010)

Dillon and Stacey are having an affair. Stacey's husband Michael hires a P.I. to spy on her.
Soon the lovers are caught in flagrante. Michael attempts to strangle Stacey and Dillon accidentally kills him. The two stick the corpse in the boot of the car and drive off. Once they reach the woods the film shifts into zombie horror territory with Michael coming back to life a zombie. Various other shady characters also drift into the story.

Such is the plot of Jason Impey's THE TURNING, a film starring and produced by
Kemal Yildirim. Yildirim, himself a prolific director/cinematographer has collaborated with Impey on a string of films, including TORTURED a.k.a SEX SLAVE and TORMENTED.

THE TURNING is a more ambitious project from these guys at Exploitation Pictures.
Levels of violence and action have been upped in comparison to earlier works, while the sleaze have been dispensed with altogether. Eileen Daly (CRADLE OF FILTH) co-stars as Ilsa, a mad Hitler-worshipping scientist.

Jason Impey stays true true to his roots, once again setting his film in Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire. Some of the B/W flashbacks offer you a sort of a guided tour of the city,
from the Shopping Centre to the Milton Keynes Pagoda (previously featured in director's HOME MADE).

There is a decent amount of obligatory zombie gore in THE TURNING

What works:

-There is a lot of great fighting and editing during the action scenes is way slicker than what you'd expect from a self-funded film where lead actors do their own stunts. THE TURNING generally feels more polished than Impey's previous work.

-Epic fight between Kemal Yildirim and Rami Hilmi is a definite highlight.

What doesn't work:

- Dialogue scenes could do with a little trimming. As it is, characters end up saying the same thing over and over again.

-THE TURNING cannot decide what type of film it is -a crime drama, a zombie film, or an over-the-top martial arts epic. These elements, while interesting in their own right, do not blend well to create a whole.

Scenes of Leon and Quaid getting into scuffles are among the
most amusing and hilarious in the film.

Not all the acting in the film can be called great, but THE TURNING compensates for that with sheer energy and some great zombie kills.

My favourite bit of the film (apart from all the action) is a scene inside the shack.
Dillon and Stacey listen to the tape record trying to figure out the reason behind the zombie outbreak. The scene is a little overlong but the distorted voice and all the the Nazi symbols adorning the walls help create an unsettling mood.

So we have a pretty mixed bag here.
On the one hand, a definite step up in terms of action and overall production value.
On the other hand, characters are sketchier than we have come to expect from Impey after
such solid work as, for example, TORMENTED. We never learn exactly what Dillon is. Presumably, just a 'good gangster' type. It's also unclear how the foul-mouthed townie Leon ended up working for the demented Ilsa. It's a shame, but these little things distract from the overall enjoyment of film. Still, the TURNING would make a great introduction to works of Impey and Yildirim for those still unfamiliar with the films of Exploitation pictures. Recommended to those who don't need their zombie horror to be high-budget, studio-funded stuff.