Film Filter: Off - Silent House

Film Filter: Off - This was one of those films that had a very vague synopsis, so it was pretty impossible to categorize off the bat.  After watching the film though, it's clear that although the movie is indeed a suspenseful horror film, there is a much deeper meaning and intent behind it.

Pros- This film definitely has a lot going for it.  I will say that it is impossible to make this type of film work without having a strong lead, which Sarah (Elizabeth Olsen) really delivered.  She was actually going about escape and hiding in an intellectual way, rather than the stereotypical running and screaming.
  This movie had a relatively small cast- about five characters total.  The cast did a very good job of making dialogue and interactions very believable, especially in the beginning.  It was easy to get involved with the characters, as they were acting like normal human beings, and felt real.  
   Although this movie had a stereotypical setting of an abandoned house with no electricity and no cell phone reception, the way they brought it up was more believable than I would have thought.
   Doing this film in one, single shot with no cuts must have been grueling.  The movie itself was good enough that you really didn't notice, but if you re-watch a scene or two and think about the job of the camera man and the actors...it's pretty mind-blowing.
   I certainly have my feelings about a scene or two towards the end of the film, but I thought where the film ended up in terms of content was pretty brilliant.  Did I think the evolution from beginning to end was perfectly executed?  Absolutely not.  In the end, though, the directors and screenwriter made a successful scary movie about something real, and something thought provoking.  Kudos.

Cons- While the single action shot was really cool and very well done, it made it hard to see things sometimes, and the directors themselves even stated that there was a symbolic item in the background of a scene that didn't get seen because of it.  It's also hard to, from an analytical standpoint, figure out the perspective of the film.  Is it third person, since Sarah is being seen on screen so much?  Is it first person, since we get to see things from her perspective at times?  It's a bit confusing to me, and while I'm glad they could make the film work in one shot (and am not sure if they could have maintained a single perspective with that goal in mind) it was annoying at times.
   There was WAY too much time spent on Sarah running and hiding from creepy people in her house.  There was also a lot of time spent on her trying to break out.  You may be thinking, "Well, Corri, it is a movie about intruders, after all.  That's what people do when strangers are in their house."  Yeah, I know, but pick an option.  Spend all your efforts on either escaping, or hiding and waiting them out.  Even though she wasn't an idiot about either, doing both just wastes time, and limits your commitment to one or the other.  Plus it's like watching paint dry to the audience.
   There is this one scene that I just don't get.  Everything in the film seems so realistic, but in one bathroom shot she is seeing weird people in the tub and a toilet on the wall spewing blood.  I think I know why the scene was so abstract, but to me it took away from the film's attempt to feel real.

Wrap up- Overall, I would highly recommend this film.  It is very different from what you will ordinarily get from a scary movie, and the cast does a great job.  Plus, it's based (veeeerrrrrry loosely) on true events.

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Film Filter: Off - The Human Centipede

Film Filter: Off-  I decided to watch this film based upon the fact that I seemed to keep hearing about it everywhere I turned.  It sounded like it was an extremely different film, so I ventured forth.

Pros- I will say, for reasons you will probably assume or figure out shortly, this film was pretty captivating.  As soon as you pressed play, you were pretty much committed until the ending.

In terms of characters, it was a little hard for me to decide if I liked them or not.  Upon actually thinking about the situations they were placed in I decided that, like it or not, it was hard not to get emotionally invested in some of them.  Despite the fact that the two leading ladies were stereotypically idiotic, most of the characters in the film were played as well as they could have been in their retrospective circumstances.

Cons- The first thing that jumped out at me as ridiculous was the very opening of the movie.  Two stupid girls are vacationing in Europe and decide to meet up with a stranger at a party.  They get lost in their car, run into a ditch and pop their tire, and have no cellular reception (this is a very unique plot so far).  Upon realizing that their car “broke down” (seriously?  It’s a flat tire…it didn’t break down, dumbass) they decide to just sit and wait it out for a bit, all the while freaking out and trying to figure out what their next course of action will be.  They decide to walk.  In the woods.  At night.  In the middle of nowhere.  For real?  If it were that severe of a life or death circumstance, couldn’t they just…drive on three wheels until they reached civilization?  Paying for a busted rental car sucks, but it’s definitely second rate punishment to rape, death, or whatever they are about to waltz into.  Oh, and neither of them know how to change a tire, obviously.  All these girls really need is a life skills 101 class, but since the two of them only have an ounce of common sense between the two of them, their fate is sealed.

Ok, on to the gritty part of the story.  Although the maniacal German doctor was actually played pretty well, it was pseudo annoying that he didn’t have any kind of back-story.  We clearly understand that the guy is nuts, but it would have been kind of empathetic to know why.

In terms of the two leading ladies, I feel as though one of them was enough of a fighter to try to get out of the situation, while the other one was sort of lethargic about it.  While begging and pleading seem like an instinctive option, it’s pretty clear that if you’re in the basement torture chamber of a mad surgeon, he’s probably not going to just release you because he feels bad.  (In fact, it’s pretty safe to say that he really doesn’t feel anything close to a human emotion.)  The smart girl did end up escaping, but then felt bad so she went back to save her dumb friend.  That’s a tough moral dilemma…I feel like if she had continued escaping and hadn’t gone back, she could have gotten the proper authorities to have stopped this psycho, which would have helped her unconscious friend more than pseudo dragging her outside and getting them both caught.  That may make me seem heartless, but you have to play to your strengths.  I’m a fast runner, and time is of the essence when you’re left alone in a torture chamber.  If you’re waking from being unconscious, you also have no idea how long it has been since the doctor was last present.  So, to then try to escape and drag your half-comatose friend along with you is just not playing the odds.  Plus, it’s going to piss off Dr. Crazy.

Oh, and the two detectives are STUPID.  If you’re visiting a person you suspect of kidnapping and possibly murder, don’t drink their roofie water.  And, when you come back with a proper search warrant, don’t stupidly burst into a room and just stand there.  There’s a gun-holding, door-kicking, flashlight-wielding protocol that even I know of from watching umpteen police dramas, and if you don’t follow it, you’ll get shot.  Der.

Wrap up- Everything else about the movie is pretty straightforward and gross.  If you want details, it’s something that you’re really going to have to watch, because I don’t have the mental endurance to be able to recreate it via blog.  Overall, because of its disgust level, it’s hard to take your eyes off of the screen, and you really want to know what happens to the victims, so you’re pretty much stuck until the credits.  Does the fact that you’re enticed to watch it from beginning to end make it a good movie?  No, and it’s still gross as hell, but if you’re making a bucket list you may want to add watching this film to it.  I can guarantee it’s unlike anything else you’ve ever seen.

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