Rating: 
Summary: Modern "vampire-spirit" biker/punk subculture....
Review: ...living within the 20th century streets of Los Angeles(!?). This movie is a very unusual occult/thriller which mixes fantasy and reality with ancient Indian/Eskimo demon mythology. Destined for "cult" status if more folks checked it out,but it remains virtually unknown. Very creepy at times with it's off-kilter camera angles and looming violence. For whatever reasons it reminded me of Dario Argento's SUSPIRIA and Roman Polanski's THE TENANT, though not as seamless in style and execution. As a cult film I'd rate this 5 stars cause it is one-of-a-kind. Btw, the guy who in the music world is known as "Adam Ant" plays the leader of this gang of demon-spirits(!)
Rating:
Summary: Hitchcockesque
Review: For those who are old enough to remember Alfred Hitchcock's surprise endings this is a must! Also for the younger generations, too, who like suspense. This one will keep you on the edge of your seat (not for the faint of heart).
Rating: 
Summary: A classic horror film lost to time finally on DVD!
Review: From the opening breathy synth flutes of Bill Conti's score and the black and white image
of a faceless solitary Eskimo standing on a desert of ice. . .to the night-time
anthropological/photographic hunts of the obsessed Jean-Charles, Nomads draws you in
as you watch, and haunts you when it's over. This movie, similar to it's subject matter, is like a ghost; for some reason it slipped
between the cracks in horror movie history. I have seldom, if ever, heard it referenced in
articles, fiction, or any other media. And I don't think it has anything to do with people
dismissing it as a bad film, because I think that on a purely comparative basis, the acting
writing and directing in Nomads is at the very least average in the horror genre, if not
above average. So why is it some movies, like this movie, go unnoticed? Well, it looks
like someone somewhere finally noticed as we now have a DVD release (and my thanks
goes out to whomever that is). It is nice to see that after years of dealing with blurry vhs
copies and a substandard mono laserdisc version (both pan&scan) that a proper stereo
widescreen version is being released on dvd. Perhaps this film will finally be discovered
as the hidden ghost of a cult-worthy classic that it is and at last achieve some kind of cult
status deserving of its caliber of talent (in particular McTiernan's writing and directing,
and Brosnan's acting) and sheer uniqueness. Remember the 80's? Back when Michael
Mann and MTV had a strangle hold on visual style. Just before the "quick-cut" style came
about, back when long slow shots created mood and atmosphere and contrasts between
slow synthstrings and driving African beats punctuated scenes. I happen to like that style
now as I did then, and McTiernan's Nomads fits into that category keenly. Movies like
The Keep, TV shows like Miami Vice. Soft focus and dreamy twilight cityscapes. Mood!
That's what Nomads has, and plenty of it. Jean-Charles, a world known anthropologist who specialized in the field study of
nomadic tribes, becomes obsessed with a group of punks who stalk the streets of
California 24-7, no sleep, no food. A group that has no ties to the static culture it moves
through, not even to its laws. They kill for fun and with no remorse. And they seem not
only to be attracted to places of past calamity, but also to revere these sites as holy
shrines. Places like Jean-Charles's new house where a murder took place, or a derelict
convent which hides a terrible past. And Jean-Charles is attracted to these wandering punks, these city nomads, the same way
they seem to be attracted to chaos. He is drawn into their world further and further until
his world becomes such an enclosed box that he may not be able to escape. He develops his photographs only to find that the nomadic punks don't appear in any of
them. Is he going insane? Constructing a bizarre fantasy hunting these Nomads to avoid
the inevitable boredom he knows will settle in once he becomes a professor at the local
university tied to an office and a classroom, running from the ball and chain of the normal
American life his young wife craves. Is he chasing them towards the ultimate escape;
insanity? Or has he discovered an alternate real yet dreamy world of immortal ghosts?
Has he discovered the ultimate group of Nomads, wandering not only from place to place,
but world to world?
Okay, so I have yet to mention the parallel plot of the female doctor. A recently divorced
doctor has moved out to LA to build a new life, but while working the night shift at the
hospital she comes in contact with a beaten, bruised, and ranting man the police picked
up of the beach (Jean-Charles) who whispers something in her ear as he bites her and so,
somehow transfers the memories of his last days to her, the doctor.
The entire movie intercuts (distractingly so upon repeated viewings) between the doctor
walking around town looking dazed, and the real meat of the movie which is
Jean-Charles' pursuit of the Nomads. The only real use for this parallel story that I can see
is to inform the character of Jean-Charles' wife of what happened to her husband and so
set us up for the surprise ending. However, this could have just as easily been
accomplished through other means (like unfilmed scenes where Jean-Charles consults the
police concerning the Nomads). The female doctor plot is the only reason that I give this film 4 stars. That aside, I don't
really think most people will find the parallel plot that annoying (I didn't the first few
times I saw it). And it doesn't distract enough from the movie to make it unbearable to
repeat viewings (I've watched this movie at least 25 times and read the book twice!).
If you like moody bizarre unique movies like Jacob's Ladder, or the style of 80's films in
the vein of Michael Mann, or if you're just really into films that deal with horror and the
supernatural, this film won't disappoint.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent, A Great Ride
Review: I am so glad this is on DVD. I enjoyed Brosnan's excellent work in this film. A Superb French accent, and an amazing scene in the hospital.
The Mythos behind this film is excellent, eerie, and so haunting. Worth watching, and will, if you get right into it, inspire you to look up books on the Inuit.
This is a briliant, albeit low budget, supernatural /surreal thriller.
Well worth the watch, and may inspire you to see more in this type of genre.
Rating:
Summary: This one haunts me
Review: I first saw this movie about 10 years ago on VHS. I could not watch it alone or in one sitting. It scared the stuffing out of me. No, it doesn't serve up every answer neat and clean, it forces you to think. I don't care much for Adam Ant as a musician, but I think his casting here as an evil entity was inspired. The role played by Lesley Ann Downs would have been better served with a man in the role, making the blending of minds/spirits much smoother and the interactions a little cleaner. But overall, I've loved this movie and am happy to find it on DVD.
Rating:
Summary: This one haunts me
Review: I first saw this movie about 10 years ago on VHS. I could not watch it alone or in one sitting. It scared the stuffing out of me. No, it doesn't serve up every answer neat and clean, it forces you to think. I don't care much for Adam Ant as a musician, but I think his casting here as an evil entity was inspired. The role played by Lesley Ann Downs would have been better served with a man in the role, making the blending of minds/spirits much smoother and the interactions a little cleaner. But overall, I've loved this movie and am happy to find it on DVD.
Rating:
Summary: A GOOD SUSPENCE FLICK!!!!
Review: I saw this movie about 4 yrs ago and found it to be really really good.I have heard so many stories as to how this film bombed in the US Box office and how director John Mctiernan got his break to direct the sci fi classic Predator.The truth is this film stands on it own and Lasley Anne Down gives a superb perfomance as a derainged Doctor who posses the spirit of Brosnan. It's rare to see a suspense/horror movie like this but with films like Sixth Sense and The Others coming out these days audience might just love the film for it's origianlity. Brosnan is in top form here to play an accentric photographer trying to escape a group of punks who he believes to be nomads with dissastruos results.The director who usualy gives us steriod injected camera movements(i.e very fast moving)doesn't let us down one bit on his motion picture debut!
Rating:
Summary: They are not there. . .
Review: John Mctiernan's 1986 release, "Nomads", may not be a perfect film but in a genre (horror) cursed all to often with cliche, derivative story lines and stupidity in general, it is an imaginative, compelling, and suspenseful entry. The film opens with emergency room doctor Eileen Flax (easy on the eyes Lesley-Anne Down) being attacked by a madman (Pierce Brosnan, suave even as he froths and foams) who has been hauled raving in French to the L.A. hospital where she has recently begun work after a divorce and subsequent move from Boston. Soon thereafter she begins to relive - through some kind of telepathic bond with the dead man (the nature of which is not explained) - the last few days of his life. We learn that the mad Frenchman was an anthropologist named Jean-Charles Pommier, only just settled in L.A. with his wife (beautiful red-head Anna Maria Monticelli) after a decade or so spent tracking remote areas of the earth in the study of nomadic peoples. Unfortunately, the house they have moved into was the site of a recent murder and seems to be a magnet for a gang of wild and mysterious characters (Adam Ant, Mary Woronov and others) who drive around in a black van. Pommier follows this group into the night and the mystery that brought him to the hospital in the opening moments of the film begins. I understand that the narrative structure of the film, which shifts between past and present via the agency of the mysterious bond between Flax and Pommier, confuses many people. I hate to sound snobbish but for me this is more an indication of the general low level of the typical movie viewers intelligence than a failure on the film makers part. This is not an "easy" movie; it requires that some attention be paid and for me the reward is worth the effort. The film is not completely successful, however. There are times, for instance, when I (who appreciate the ambiguous element of a well crafted tale) would like a bit of elaboration or explanation - the telepathic bond, for example, or the scene in which Pommier, after being pursued by the black van bunch, finds himself in a deserted building with a strange old nun (who is she precisely?). Also, the rock soundtrack by Bill Conti and Ted Nugent is a bit of a mixed bag in terms of effectiveness, alternating between appropriate and annoying. But, on the whole, I find this a creative, engaging and, ultimately, satisfying ghost story.
Rating: 
Summary: Blame the editor.
Review: Nomads (John McTiernan, 1986) Having read Chelsea Quinn Yarbro's adaptation of this script a few months back, I was pleasantly surprised to see it crop up on a movie channel, and I sat down to give it a go. I concluded that Yarbro's above-average novel was written from the original script, not the finished product, and that some ham-handed editor had a field day with this thing between McTiernan and the big screen. I spent a few minutes being amazed that such a shabby cut-job made it to release, but then I remembered that McTiernan's second feature, _Die Hard_, lost almost an hour of the director's cut on initial release, too. Someone up there just doesn't like John McTiernan, even though his films have grossed something close to a billion dollars, all told. The story introduces us to Eileen Flax (Lesley-Anne Down), an ER doc who finds herself confronted with a violent nutzoid type who's on his way off this mortal coil (Pierce Brosnan). Before he dies, said nutzoid bites Dr. Flax, and in some way this causes her to relive his final days. Turns out said nutzoid is Jean-Charles Pommier, world-famous sociologist and studier of nomads, and his profession has gotten him in some rather hot water. Can Flax get herself off Pommier's track before she ends up facing the same fate he did? Read the novel before you see the movie. Whole subplots disappear. Flax's best friend goes from being one of the novel's major roles to being such a minor character in the film she's not even credited. (Not even on IMDB-- that's MINOR.) If you've read the novel, you'll at least be able to figure out what's going on; otherwise, you'll probably say "what just happened?" at least ten times while trying to piece together what's left of this. Unwatchable, unless someone bothers to release a director's cut. Since it's McTiernan, that's a distinct possibility, but it doesn't exist as of this writing. * 1/2
Rating:
Summary: Nomads
Review: One of those movies, like The Usual Suspects, that you have to see twice to reach a conclusion (maybe). Inigmatic to the very end. About the time you think you've figured it out you see, through the eyes of Lesly Ann-Down's character, something that takes you back to square one. A movie that has stayed with me for sixteen years.
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