Film Filter: Off- I can remember watching a preview for this movie, and being intrigued. Much like The Woman in Black, this is a period horror flick that depicts a less chaotic time in regards to technology and resources. Unlike other "based on true events" films, this one almost necessitated some research, as it is about a historical, dark writer that nearly everyone is familiar with. For my own personal satisfaction, I needed to know the lines between fact and fiction, and if you have watched, or will watch this film, I would encourage you to do the same.
Pros- It's pretty near impossible to do a Poe story in modern times, but the time period the film takes place is definitely critical to the film's pace, and ultimately resolve. Those unhappy with the speed of the plot I think forget that we are witnessing a time period void of any modern technology. Every discovery and communication is thus slowed down to a believable degree to, in my opinion, enhance the films believed authenticity. Did it make it an edge of your seat thrill ride? No, but if that's what you're looking for you should have done a little research before you jumped into this movie.
The jury is still out for me on whether or not I am in love with John Cusack as Poe. I really do like Cusack as an actor, but there's something I can't put my finger on regarding his performance. Granted, I think he did as good a job as one could do with Poe, but I'm not sure the director found the best balance for the direction of Poe's character. I could be way off base, but he seemed a little quirky and antagonizing, but almost in a teasing manner. It could just be my perception, but I just viewed Poe a lot more serious than I think was portrayed in this film. Despite those notions, I really loved the pompous nature of Poe that was portrayed, along with his poetic and articulate line deliveries that made him look more intelligent than those he kept company with, which is why Cusack ultimately goes as a pro.
After having looked up a lot about Poe and his death, it made me appreciate the fine line this film tread in regards to fact v. fiction. It was pretty obvious when things were made up for cinematic reasons a lot of the time, but I really like the idea of taking a historical figure's untimely, and mysterious death, and creating a fictionalized account of what could have happened to yield the result. It's almost like writing a story with the ending first.
Cons- One of the big issues I had with this story was with the intermittent unbelievable moments. Unlike The Woman in Black, where we're dealing with supernatural beings out of our control, this movie is clearly dealing with supposed real life scenarios. Since the film does a very nice job of making 90% of what's going on feel realistic, the 10% of scenarios where it doesn't feel that way stand out. For example, the killer standing on the roof jumping down onto a police officer and slitting his throat as he pounces on him. I mean, his feet aren't even on the ground when he cuts him! It's just slightly fantastical, and I didn't really buy it. Or when the bricks are slightly different colored, which tells us the killer recently replaced old bricks with new ones when he hid the body inside. I didn't go to brick laying school, but I'm pretty sure that process would have taken a reeeaally long time, and the mortar wouldn't have dried and looked like the same mortar that the old bricks used.
Wrap up- I didn't think this movie was half bad, although there were a sprinkling of things I didn't enjoy or that I disagreed with. If you're into period thrillers or like dark historical horror movies, you would enjoy this. If you are a die hard Poe fan looking for 100% accuracy, this probably isn't for you.
Monday, April 1, 2013
Monday, December 31, 2012
Film Filter: Off - In Dreams
Film Filter: Off- I had seen parts of this movie a long time ago and remember it being the first film in which I had seen Robert Downey Jr. I saw it on Netflix and thought it might be nice to have a refresher on it.
Pros: One of the things that I found very interesting with this film was the cinematography. There were many scenes that took place in a dream-like state in an orchard, and they did an excellent job of making the scenery have an eerie feel to it, but also a sense of wonderment and mystery.
This movie also has a lot of symbolic color to it, using red quite frequently. They even go as far as to name the character in peril "Ruby". Add that to the red hair of the antagonist, the red dress seen in the dreams, and the constant references to orchards and apples and you have an abundance of the rosy hue. I'm not sure what the direct relationship with red is in films with symbolism, other than the obvious representation of blood. There have been many films that have had this common theme, and not just gory ones. It could possibly represent control, as red is a majestic color and is also seen as a power color.
As I mentioned, this is the first film I had seen Robert Downey Jr. in (minus Weird Science...but who counts that one in his repertoire?) and I have to say I didn't have a great first impression. Not because of his acting ability, but because he creeped the hell out of me in this role. He plays a very mentally unstable adult who was clearly mistreated to a foul degree as a child. He seems to have issues identifying with his sexuality as a young boy, but seems to be pretty clever when it comes to escaping from and covering up his deviant activities. Overall, having now been able to compare his roles in various films from his career to this one, I have a much greater appreciation for him as an actor. I think the true testament of a good actor comes when/if they have to play a crazy person. To do the job justice takes an extreme amount of dedication and patience, but the outcome usually justifies the means, a la Heath Ledger.
Cons: Annette Bening? Yikes. There were about four times that I thought she did a good job in this film and that's saying something, as she was just about in every shot. I can't really put my finger on what was irksome about her performance, other than she seemed really inconsistent and illogical. You might be saying, "Well, she was crazy..." but that's the thing- she WASN'T! It was hard for me to take her seriously, even though I knew the whole time that she was sane.
The other incredibly frustrating part of this film comes on the behalf of the stupid-ass psychiatrist who was responsible for Annette Bening's well being. Maybe I'm just privileged from my experience with B.D. Wong as the Law & Order SVU psychiatrist, but there comes a point where you have to put the "my patient is a nut job" aside and actually look for validation in their story...especially if they have had not past of mental illness. The fact that she was spouting off information about the killer and predicting her own husband's death seemed to not matter to the psychiatrist, and it wasn't until a few days later that any of her story was looked into. Someone should revoke his license.
And lastly and MOST frustrating(...ly?) was the unexplained connection between Claire Cooper's (Bening) brain and Vivian Thompson's (Downey). Anyone? Nothing. There was one shot where it almost alluded the link to the fact that she wrote children's stories, but nothing more was brought up on it. I'm all for supernatural connections between murderers and victims, but please have it be rational.
Wrap up- This movie is a tough one to peg. What it lacks in characterization and explanation, it almost makes up for with creativity and cinematography. Almost. I wouldn't really recommend this to anyone mainly because it lacks focus.
Pros: One of the things that I found very interesting with this film was the cinematography. There were many scenes that took place in a dream-like state in an orchard, and they did an excellent job of making the scenery have an eerie feel to it, but also a sense of wonderment and mystery.
This movie also has a lot of symbolic color to it, using red quite frequently. They even go as far as to name the character in peril "Ruby". Add that to the red hair of the antagonist, the red dress seen in the dreams, and the constant references to orchards and apples and you have an abundance of the rosy hue. I'm not sure what the direct relationship with red is in films with symbolism, other than the obvious representation of blood. There have been many films that have had this common theme, and not just gory ones. It could possibly represent control, as red is a majestic color and is also seen as a power color.
As I mentioned, this is the first film I had seen Robert Downey Jr. in (minus Weird Science...but who counts that one in his repertoire?) and I have to say I didn't have a great first impression. Not because of his acting ability, but because he creeped the hell out of me in this role. He plays a very mentally unstable adult who was clearly mistreated to a foul degree as a child. He seems to have issues identifying with his sexuality as a young boy, but seems to be pretty clever when it comes to escaping from and covering up his deviant activities. Overall, having now been able to compare his roles in various films from his career to this one, I have a much greater appreciation for him as an actor. I think the true testament of a good actor comes when/if they have to play a crazy person. To do the job justice takes an extreme amount of dedication and patience, but the outcome usually justifies the means, a la Heath Ledger.
Cons: Annette Bening? Yikes. There were about four times that I thought she did a good job in this film and that's saying something, as she was just about in every shot. I can't really put my finger on what was irksome about her performance, other than she seemed really inconsistent and illogical. You might be saying, "Well, she was crazy..." but that's the thing- she WASN'T! It was hard for me to take her seriously, even though I knew the whole time that she was sane.
The other incredibly frustrating part of this film comes on the behalf of the stupid-ass psychiatrist who was responsible for Annette Bening's well being. Maybe I'm just privileged from my experience with B.D. Wong as the Law & Order SVU psychiatrist, but there comes a point where you have to put the "my patient is a nut job" aside and actually look for validation in their story...especially if they have had not past of mental illness. The fact that she was spouting off information about the killer and predicting her own husband's death seemed to not matter to the psychiatrist, and it wasn't until a few days later that any of her story was looked into. Someone should revoke his license.
And lastly and MOST frustrating(...ly?) was the unexplained connection between Claire Cooper's (Bening) brain and Vivian Thompson's (Downey). Anyone? Nothing. There was one shot where it almost alluded the link to the fact that she wrote children's stories, but nothing more was brought up on it. I'm all for supernatural connections between murderers and victims, but please have it be rational.
Wrap up- This movie is a tough one to peg. What it lacks in characterization and explanation, it almost makes up for with creativity and cinematography. Almost. I wouldn't really recommend this to anyone mainly because it lacks focus.
Tuesday, December 18, 2012
Film Filter: Off - Slither
Film Filter: Off- This movie had popped up on my Netflix suggested list several times, and I had disregarded it until the other day. After looking at the cast, I'm surprised I didn't select it to view sooner.
Pros- As I just mentioned, there were more than a few members of the cast that were actually pretty well known. As you know from several of my reviews, I really like Nathan Fillion, and he certainly did not disappoint in this film. In all of the movies I've seen him in, he has definitely portrayed a very different type of character, but has done them all justice. Elizabeth Banks was also a pleasant surprise to the cast, along with Michael Rooker (Merle in The Walking Dead).
One of the things I liked the most about this movie was the comedic interruptions, which allowed the movie to feel more realistic. They weren't even blatant comedic attempts, but the dialogue felt so realistic and sort of pessimistic, which allowed for the subtlety of the humor to be expressed.
Although this is more or less a zombie movie, it doesn't really go about the cliche zombie movie recipe, which is nice and refreshing. It adds a lot of new elements, and ties them all together in a nice, neat package which allows the audience to enjoy the movie without any stereotypes or distractions.
I will say it was pretty brilliant to have one of the girls get a worm stuck part way down her throat, but was then able to pull it out. It gave her an inside look at what the alien's existence has been, and as soon as she frees herself from its grasp she now knows enough to be helpful to the rest of the survivors.
Lastly **SPOILER ALERT** it's assumed that as soon as the host alien is killed, the town and its infected people will resume normalcy. Wrong. All the infected people die, which I like. Not saying I like death or anything like that, but it's unrealistic to become possessed by an alien worm, have it live inside your brain, and then just survive when its host dies. I mean, it's in your brain.
Cons- One of the things I disliked about the movie was the ludicrous amount of slithery, disgusting worms and how inconsistently they attack. They seem to sense human flesh, since they gravitate toward it constantly throughout the film, yet when there are hundreds of worms that explode from a body, and only 10 or so humans in the room, there are like 5 or 6 humans that don't get attacked. The odds don't seem right to me on that one.
Also, when the host alien sticks his pointy umbilical cords into you, he sucks you dry and inserts the worm disease instead. We don't find out, though, until the end of the movie that you must have both pointy extensions inside of you to get infected. It's just another circumstance of making something happen, and then validating it later with a statement like, "Oh by the way, that is supposed to happen."
Wrap up- This was one of those movies that definitely had me pleasantly surprised. I laughed a lot more than I was frightened, but overall it was one of the better movies I've seen in a while, considering I prejudiced it with some pretty low expectations.
Pros- As I just mentioned, there were more than a few members of the cast that were actually pretty well known. As you know from several of my reviews, I really like Nathan Fillion, and he certainly did not disappoint in this film. In all of the movies I've seen him in, he has definitely portrayed a very different type of character, but has done them all justice. Elizabeth Banks was also a pleasant surprise to the cast, along with Michael Rooker (Merle in The Walking Dead).
One of the things I liked the most about this movie was the comedic interruptions, which allowed the movie to feel more realistic. They weren't even blatant comedic attempts, but the dialogue felt so realistic and sort of pessimistic, which allowed for the subtlety of the humor to be expressed.
Although this is more or less a zombie movie, it doesn't really go about the cliche zombie movie recipe, which is nice and refreshing. It adds a lot of new elements, and ties them all together in a nice, neat package which allows the audience to enjoy the movie without any stereotypes or distractions.
I will say it was pretty brilliant to have one of the girls get a worm stuck part way down her throat, but was then able to pull it out. It gave her an inside look at what the alien's existence has been, and as soon as she frees herself from its grasp she now knows enough to be helpful to the rest of the survivors.
Lastly **SPOILER ALERT** it's assumed that as soon as the host alien is killed, the town and its infected people will resume normalcy. Wrong. All the infected people die, which I like. Not saying I like death or anything like that, but it's unrealistic to become possessed by an alien worm, have it live inside your brain, and then just survive when its host dies. I mean, it's in your brain.
Cons- One of the things I disliked about the movie was the ludicrous amount of slithery, disgusting worms and how inconsistently they attack. They seem to sense human flesh, since they gravitate toward it constantly throughout the film, yet when there are hundreds of worms that explode from a body, and only 10 or so humans in the room, there are like 5 or 6 humans that don't get attacked. The odds don't seem right to me on that one.
Also, when the host alien sticks his pointy umbilical cords into you, he sucks you dry and inserts the worm disease instead. We don't find out, though, until the end of the movie that you must have both pointy extensions inside of you to get infected. It's just another circumstance of making something happen, and then validating it later with a statement like, "Oh by the way, that is supposed to happen."
Wrap up- This was one of those movies that definitely had me pleasantly surprised. I laughed a lot more than I was frightened, but overall it was one of the better movies I've seen in a while, considering I prejudiced it with some pretty low expectations.
Film Filter: Off - Identity
Film Filter: Off- One of the first things I look at when choosing a horror movie is the cast. Seeing as this one had a pretty well known group of actors, I figured I would give it a go.
Pros- I really like John Cusack, and despite his tendency to always play the same type of role, I always enjoy seeing him on screen. In addition to his performance, I think most of the cast held their own and portrayed their characters well.
I would definitely have to say that the premise for the story was pretty unique as well. Despite the fact that human psyche films are popular, this one definitely took a different look at it. It also did an excellent job of making one world out of something that was actually two. Eventually it became clear that there were separate stories, but the two fit very nicely together until that time.
The ending does a nice job of tying up some loose ends while also throwing in a bit of a twist. It was one that I sort of saw coming, but dismissed right after I thought about it. I think it's one that would be a surprise for most, as it's really not all that predictable.
Cons- One of the things that I thought was pretty irritating was Amanda Peet's character and her inability to follow simple directions. I get that she's an independent woman who doesn't like to take orders, but when people are dying and a former police officer is telling you what to do to make the situation better or calmer, you should probably heed him.
Another thing that I found a little jarring about the film, was the moment the viewer realized that there were indeed two stories going on at one time. It took me a while to figure out what was happening and who belonged where, and then it upset me that some of the characters I had grown to like ended up not being real. I suppose the film was supposed to force you to take a minute to figure it out, but there was a definite WTF moment for me mid-way through the film.
Wrap-up- This film isn't bad, if your looking for a psychological drama with limited scary moments.
Pros- I really like John Cusack, and despite his tendency to always play the same type of role, I always enjoy seeing him on screen. In addition to his performance, I think most of the cast held their own and portrayed their characters well.
I would definitely have to say that the premise for the story was pretty unique as well. Despite the fact that human psyche films are popular, this one definitely took a different look at it. It also did an excellent job of making one world out of something that was actually two. Eventually it became clear that there were separate stories, but the two fit very nicely together until that time.
The ending does a nice job of tying up some loose ends while also throwing in a bit of a twist. It was one that I sort of saw coming, but dismissed right after I thought about it. I think it's one that would be a surprise for most, as it's really not all that predictable.
Cons- One of the things that I thought was pretty irritating was Amanda Peet's character and her inability to follow simple directions. I get that she's an independent woman who doesn't like to take orders, but when people are dying and a former police officer is telling you what to do to make the situation better or calmer, you should probably heed him.
Another thing that I found a little jarring about the film, was the moment the viewer realized that there were indeed two stories going on at one time. It took me a while to figure out what was happening and who belonged where, and then it upset me that some of the characters I had grown to like ended up not being real. I suppose the film was supposed to force you to take a minute to figure it out, but there was a definite WTF moment for me mid-way through the film.
Wrap-up- This film isn't bad, if your looking for a psychological drama with limited scary moments.
Saturday, November 24, 2012
Film Filter: Off - Don't be Afraid of the Dark
Film Filter: Off- I had intended on watching this film some time ago, but never really got around to it. When I saw that it was on Netflix, I jumped at the opportunity, because I like a lot of Guillermo del Toro's films.
Pros- I won't say that the entire cast was well selected, but many of them were. I especially like Katie Holmes in the maternal type of role, because I feel like it fit her personality pretty well. Guy Pearce was ok as the dad, but I definitely wasn't in love with his character or the way he played it, and I really wasn't fond of how the little girl was cast, but we'll get to that later. Also, many of the minor characters were cast very well and played into the realism of the film.
Possibly what del Toro does best is use his imagination to create a world much more magical than reality, with fascinating creatures that are interesting to watch develop on screen. This film is no exception, as he makes his little antagonists unique and realistic. In this particular film, it seems that he leaned toward quantity more than quality, but that is understandable when you see how many of them there are. That's certainly not meant to be a slam, but you often see a little more detail and ingenuity with his creatures, and these ones are more lackluster.
I had a love/hate relationship with the ending. I think it provided a necessary aspect of the film that was begged to occur throughout the film, but I was also torn personally because of who it happened to. I didn't quite understand the last statement made, but perhaps I missed something and it made perfect sense.
Cons- My first beef with this movie is that, even from the previews, you assume that Katie Holmes is the young girl's mother. Why? Because she looks just freaking like her. It's pretty annoying to endure the entire film knowing that she is not the biological mother, but being frustrated because she looks more like her than she does her father. Grrr! Poor casting decision. I also wasn't fond of the way the character was portrayed, which has more to do with the directors that characterized her than the young girl herself. She's sad, lonely, and feels like nobody loves her, so immediately we are meant to pity her. So, she wishes to befriend unknown creatures hiding in the furnace of a locked basement in an old, creepy home? That seems a little irrational. Maybe befriend your father's girlfriend instead, as she is eager to get to know you and clearly cares about you...but nah, hungry mythical creatures seems like a better bet.
In terms of del Toro's magical world being created, I felt it gave a little bit of a schizophrenic vibe. The house was lovely, and the mystical garden in the back with the beautiful ponds felt like that's where the movie should have taken place. Instead, as the creatures are antagonists, the movie takes place mostly in a dark, dingy basement. It was interesting, and a little visually confusing, to have the mythical creatures and the mythical garden not be intertwined.
One of my biggest cons, in any film, is the lack of common sense. Anyone who has suffered through the Gingerdead Man will understand my complaint with small, evil beings less than a foot in height. Seriously? They're going to get the better of you? How about a flame thrower? Or, if you know their weakness is bright light, how about you sleep with all the lights on, instead of a flimsy night light prone to breaking. Or when they attack you in your bathroom, instead of looking for the door, maybe look for the light switch? There were so many frustrating, easily fixed circumstances that I lost track.
Lastly, the ending was a little confusing. In the past, when the evil faeries had taken someone down their sewer 'o death, that person was dead. Duh. It was a pretty long fall, and I don't think that anyone could survive it. **SPOILER ALERT** When Katie Holmes' character, Kim, gets dragged down, you hear her voice at the end all creepy-like saying "Don't worry, she'll be back..." Ummm, anyone care to explain to me what happened? Did she turn into one of them? Even if she was alive, she sacrificed herself to save the little girl, so why is she now evil? I don't get it!
Wrap up- I wouldn't recommend this movie, unless you are very interested in seeing what the creatures look like. The plot is unique, but the little nuances that don't make sense trump whatever good is left in the movie.
Pros- I won't say that the entire cast was well selected, but many of them were. I especially like Katie Holmes in the maternal type of role, because I feel like it fit her personality pretty well. Guy Pearce was ok as the dad, but I definitely wasn't in love with his character or the way he played it, and I really wasn't fond of how the little girl was cast, but we'll get to that later. Also, many of the minor characters were cast very well and played into the realism of the film.
Possibly what del Toro does best is use his imagination to create a world much more magical than reality, with fascinating creatures that are interesting to watch develop on screen. This film is no exception, as he makes his little antagonists unique and realistic. In this particular film, it seems that he leaned toward quantity more than quality, but that is understandable when you see how many of them there are. That's certainly not meant to be a slam, but you often see a little more detail and ingenuity with his creatures, and these ones are more lackluster.
I had a love/hate relationship with the ending. I think it provided a necessary aspect of the film that was begged to occur throughout the film, but I was also torn personally because of who it happened to. I didn't quite understand the last statement made, but perhaps I missed something and it made perfect sense.
Cons- My first beef with this movie is that, even from the previews, you assume that Katie Holmes is the young girl's mother. Why? Because she looks just freaking like her. It's pretty annoying to endure the entire film knowing that she is not the biological mother, but being frustrated because she looks more like her than she does her father. Grrr! Poor casting decision. I also wasn't fond of the way the character was portrayed, which has more to do with the directors that characterized her than the young girl herself. She's sad, lonely, and feels like nobody loves her, so immediately we are meant to pity her. So, she wishes to befriend unknown creatures hiding in the furnace of a locked basement in an old, creepy home? That seems a little irrational. Maybe befriend your father's girlfriend instead, as she is eager to get to know you and clearly cares about you...but nah, hungry mythical creatures seems like a better bet.
In terms of del Toro's magical world being created, I felt it gave a little bit of a schizophrenic vibe. The house was lovely, and the mystical garden in the back with the beautiful ponds felt like that's where the movie should have taken place. Instead, as the creatures are antagonists, the movie takes place mostly in a dark, dingy basement. It was interesting, and a little visually confusing, to have the mythical creatures and the mythical garden not be intertwined.
One of my biggest cons, in any film, is the lack of common sense. Anyone who has suffered through the Gingerdead Man will understand my complaint with small, evil beings less than a foot in height. Seriously? They're going to get the better of you? How about a flame thrower? Or, if you know their weakness is bright light, how about you sleep with all the lights on, instead of a flimsy night light prone to breaking. Or when they attack you in your bathroom, instead of looking for the door, maybe look for the light switch? There were so many frustrating, easily fixed circumstances that I lost track.
Lastly, the ending was a little confusing. In the past, when the evil faeries had taken someone down their sewer 'o death, that person was dead. Duh. It was a pretty long fall, and I don't think that anyone could survive it. **SPOILER ALERT** When Katie Holmes' character, Kim, gets dragged down, you hear her voice at the end all creepy-like saying "Don't worry, she'll be back..." Ummm, anyone care to explain to me what happened? Did she turn into one of them? Even if she was alive, she sacrificed herself to save the little girl, so why is she now evil? I don't get it!
Wrap up- I wouldn't recommend this movie, unless you are very interested in seeing what the creatures look like. The plot is unique, but the little nuances that don't make sense trump whatever good is left in the movie.
Monday, November 12, 2012
Film Filter: Off - Paranormal Activity 2
Film Filter: Off- Since the fourth one just recently made its debut in theaters, I figured it was about time for me to succumb to the pressure and try watching the series.
Pros- One of the things that is up and coming in the horror biz is the use of music, or sometimes lack thereof. As a found footage genre film, it's pretty clear that this one doesn't utilize music. This oftentimes becomes a pro, as music is usually one of two things in horror movies: foreshadowing something about to happen, or false foreshadowing an event only to result in silence...and THEN the event becomes more effective in the silence. Having no music whatsoever allows the scary moments in the film to be taken as they would naturally happen, as opposed to pumping up a moment with good sound or music.
Not unlike the pros I noted with the original film is the ability to scaffold the intensity and the scary moments within the film. I will say I was a little disappointed with what the moments were, and I didn't find this movie to be all that different from the first one, but they (sort of) utilized a good technique that was exhibited in the original.
This sequel to the original is actually pretty well known to be a prequel. What you don't realize until the end, however, is that it covers both the events before the first movie, and the ones immediately following it as well. As someone who doesn't enjoy loose ends in movies, I found this to be pretty gratifying.
Cons- As I stated above, this movie is really not any different from the original. It layers the events of the haunting in the same way, it even is the same family and demon responsible for the haunting. The only difference is that it adds information that we did not have about the events of Katie and Micah prior to their encounters, and right after as well. While I did say that was gratifying, it was also about 10 minutes of information that could have easily been added to the first one. To include a movie that is almost a carbon copy of an original just to add a parallel perspective of events and 10 minutes worth of new information seems a bit wasteful to me.
Wrap up- This movie wasn't bad, if you look at it on its own, but in conjunction with the original it pretty much felt like a waste of time. I'm assuming that's why the third movie starts to focus on the family at a much older time period. God forbid they tried to use the same one again, as they seem to be running out of ideas...maybe they should make a movie from the dog's perspective.
Pros- One of the things that is up and coming in the horror biz is the use of music, or sometimes lack thereof. As a found footage genre film, it's pretty clear that this one doesn't utilize music. This oftentimes becomes a pro, as music is usually one of two things in horror movies: foreshadowing something about to happen, or false foreshadowing an event only to result in silence...and THEN the event becomes more effective in the silence. Having no music whatsoever allows the scary moments in the film to be taken as they would naturally happen, as opposed to pumping up a moment with good sound or music.
Not unlike the pros I noted with the original film is the ability to scaffold the intensity and the scary moments within the film. I will say I was a little disappointed with what the moments were, and I didn't find this movie to be all that different from the first one, but they (sort of) utilized a good technique that was exhibited in the original.
This sequel to the original is actually pretty well known to be a prequel. What you don't realize until the end, however, is that it covers both the events before the first movie, and the ones immediately following it as well. As someone who doesn't enjoy loose ends in movies, I found this to be pretty gratifying.
Cons- As I stated above, this movie is really not any different from the original. It layers the events of the haunting in the same way, it even is the same family and demon responsible for the haunting. The only difference is that it adds information that we did not have about the events of Katie and Micah prior to their encounters, and right after as well. While I did say that was gratifying, it was also about 10 minutes of information that could have easily been added to the first one. To include a movie that is almost a carbon copy of an original just to add a parallel perspective of events and 10 minutes worth of new information seems a bit wasteful to me.
Wrap up- This movie wasn't bad, if you look at it on its own, but in conjunction with the original it pretty much felt like a waste of time. I'm assuming that's why the third movie starts to focus on the family at a much older time period. God forbid they tried to use the same one again, as they seem to be running out of ideas...maybe they should make a movie from the dog's perspective.
Friday, November 2, 2012
Film Filter: Off - Sinister
Film Filter: Off- I vividly remember seeing
this movie trailer as an advertisement on a youtube video I was watching, and I
was instantly interested. Above
and beyond the fact that it was made by the same people who brought you
Insidious and Paranormal Activity, the story seemed interesting and I am always
a sucker for the supernatural.
Pros- The
acting definitely helped this movie feel pretty realistic. Ethan Hawke hasn’t been in much
recently that I can recall, but I feel like he did a commendable job in this
film. The effectiveness came from
a mix from his character alone, and almost more importantly, the way the locals
treated him and the interactions between him and his family. They helped characterize his role
sometimes even more so than he did.
There were many moments in the characters where they had a conflicting
persona than they had originally started with, and I think that most of them
played both sides of their characters well.
Despite the fact that this movie and Insidious have pretty
much the same type of story line, I actually found myself enjoying this one
more. Some of the differences that
made this one stand out in my mind were the scaffolding of the antagonist’s
face. Although Insidious did the
same thing, I found that Sinister didn’t overdo it with special effects like
Insidious did. This film also did
a better job of creating something that felt a tad more realistic. While both focused on paranormal entities
that we can choose to believe or not, it became a little too incredulous in
Insidious when he went into the “other realm” and I sort of checked out after
that. This one, while still
remaining a fantasy at times, felt more believable for a longer period of time.
One of the things that this movie did very well, which in my
opinion is an important staple of a good horror movie, is the scare
factor. Sure, some of the scares
were cheap shots, and almost ALL of them were predictable but it didn’t change
the fact that pretty much all of them were effective. Going hand in hand with the scare factor in this movie was
the use of music/sounds in the film.
A lot of times something that may not have been visually frightening
became so with the proper use of music and sound occurring in the background. This was pretty much the root of why
predictable moments became effectively scary, despite the fact that most of the
audience saw them coming.
Cons-
Overall, I didn’t have many qualms with this film, other than the
run-of-the-mill persnickety comments. I found it slightly annoying that Ethan Hawke’s character ignored
phone calls from the deputy, especially given the circumstances of their
situation.
It was also frustrating that the demon spirit was
intangible, but able to move things.
I mean, maybe he was tangible but it seems that, since he was a demon
that was killing people by using children, he needed them in order to carry out
tangible tasks. Otherwise,
wouldn’t he just do it himself?
On a side note, I (selfishly) would have liked a little bit
more information on the Pagan Deity Maghoul, Bagool…whatever his name was. I tried looking him up online, but he’s
pretty elusive. Must be he’s never
heard of Facebook.
Wrap up- This is an excellent movie choice if you are
looking for the following: good scares, interesting story line, good character
interactions.
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