It has been far too long since I have reviewed anything for Bleak House, but with school starting and working two jobs, I haven't had the horror movie time that I crave, so I was chomping at the bit to get back here and since "Incident On and Off A Mountain Road" has been in my Netflix instant queue for months and it is less than an hour long, I figured it was a good place to start.
Overall, I thought that this movie was really good.
The intro to the Masters of Horror was pretty good, especially the drips of blood that were punctuated by the piano notes. I also liked the opening credits of the movie. They were very ominous and slow, which is something that I think a lot of horror movies don't handle all that well. Obviously things aren't going to go well, we as viewers know that we are in for a horror movie, but I liked the subtlety of Ellen driving past the "No Gas or Service for 75 miles" sign. The whole beginning of the movie, leading up to the accident, is also very slow and peaceful. It does well to make the accident, which in itself is not all that violent or destructive, all the more jarring as it comes very abruptly out of the peaceful serenity of the drive so far. I do wish that Ellen hadn't reached for the radio though, as that was a clear indication that something was going to happen, but I was expecting Moonface or a person to be in the road, so the accident was still good.
I also liked the use of the flashbacks with the boyfriend/husband throughout the movie. The initial one was a little confusing because it wasn't clear that it was a flashback until she woke up in the car after the accident, and I also was surprised that they made a point to say that this was the first date and then have them up at the cabin. Seems a little trusting, especially since they aren't going to his apartment in the city, but a cabin in the remote woods. I also liked the abrupt transition between the flashback and Ellen waking up at the wheel of the car. I especially liked that they used them before the scenes when she was setting the boody traps. She was very resourceful: the bent back branch with the scissors, using the hole as a deadfall and making the nail file sling shot with the panty elastic and her dress. Even from when she gets out of the car and initially sees Moonface, she dives over the guard rail and immediatley begins running through the forest.
The chase scene in the forest may have been my favorite scene in the whole movie. I thought that it was really well done with the lightning flashes punctuating things and I liked that they didn't rely too heavily on suspenseful music to keep the suspense up throughout the scene. The moonlight provided good lighting between the lightning strikes too. It showed good subtlety by the director when Ellen crawled under the log and the chase continued there. Obviously the speed element is eliminated from the chase, so here the music comes into the forefront to add to the suspense. Well done.
I also thought that they did a good job with Moonface. He was very reminiscent of the main hill freak from "The Hills Have Eyes" remake, but the metal teeth were a nice touch. In the beginning, especially when the chase was going on, he did a lot of grunting and growling which made him seem a little more primitive than he actually was, but I loved the shushing that he did. I also liked the psychology behind his digging out the eyes of his victims, that the eyes saw everything but often lied. The scene with the eye gouging machine was pretty wicked, especially since it was mostly sound and the visual of the bloody drill. It still made me cringe. I realize that every killer has to have a weakness, none are going to keep coming through all attacks, but Moonface seemed to get taken down and slowed down for pretty significant periods by pretty much anything that Ellen did to him. He even gets taken down by getting hit in the face with a baby skeleton.
I absolutely loved Buddy. I am honestly still not quite sure what he was doing there since he didn't seem to actually be restrained but also didn't seem like he was Moonface's father or anything like that. Buddy was funny and fun and he actually provided a lot of valuable information such as some of the eye lore and by giving the stats that 1 in 10 cars don't make the turn and at least one car drives the road most nights. I think that, even more than the number of bodies that we are shown, indicated how many people Moonface has really killed.
There was a nice fake out when Ellen left the cabin where she heard the owl and turned around. I was fully expecting Moonface to be standing there dripping wet, but I was glad that he wasn't because that would have been much to predictable.
What was not predictable, however, was Bruce's body being in the trunk. The flashback of the abuse and rape makes it okay that she killed him, but the fact that she took him back to Moonface's house and drilled out his eyes showed that the encounter with Moonface had pushed her over the edge into insanity that her life with Bruce had driven her to the brink of.
I thought the end gave the movie a wonderful cyclical quality. She sets off driving with the same song on the radio like nothing, not the ordeal with Moonface or the eye gouging of Bruce has affected her at all.
This was a great movie that didn't disappoint, especially for being less than an hour long. If you get a chance, check it out.
Welcome to Bleak House. If you're not a horror fan then you probably aren't going to enjoy much of what is posted here. I hope to generate discussion about horror movies in particular and the horror genre in general by reviewing and ranting about movies and books. In the reviews, I’ll try to keep the plot summary to a minimum so they will be better if you have seen the movie being discussed. Please keep the conversation going and check back in each week for new reviews.
Friday, September 9, 2011
Wednesday, July 13, 2011
"Heart Shaped Box"
Being the fan of Stephen King's that I am, I was very interested to learn that his son, Joe, is not only an author, but chose to follow his father's footsteps in terms of the genre of the fiction he writes.
"Heart Shaped Box" is Joe Hill's debut novel, although he has one of his own out and has the 4th coming out in a series that he co-writes, so I was optimistic that there could be something good here.
Strictly speaking, "Heart Shaped Box" is a ghost story, but I think the thing that I loved most about it was the way that Hill chose to describe the ghosts. In the book, the ghosts' eyes are blacked over with moving lines. Writing that here doesn't seem too impressive, and honestly, pulling a passage from the novel really doesn't do it justice to the effect that the novel makes when you read the whole thing and have the character and plot built around the first description. I think that part of what is so unnerving about it is that the first time the description is given it is from the perspective of a 12 year old girl. The two main characters each have separate occasions where they describe it too and it becomes increasingly unnerving. The ghost, who was a renowned psychic and hypnotists when he was alive, is able to takeover the T.V. and radio and also controls the characters, making them come close to killing themselves and each other multiple times.
Honestly, in many ways this redefined what I think of when ghost comes to mind, at least for the time being, and it kept me unnerved, especially working the night shift at the hotel, until I finished the book.
The book is also just really well written. I can relate enough to the main character that I forget he is a mid fifties rock legend who I really have very little in common with. Hill made me care about the characters more than most authors are able to and he handled the ending a lot better than I expected him to, giving the best of both worlds and having a nice sort of wrap up.
If you're looking for a good, fast-paced read, from a promising your writer that handles the ghost theme in a unique way, then check out "Heart Shaped Box".
"Heart Shaped Box" is Joe Hill's debut novel, although he has one of his own out and has the 4th coming out in a series that he co-writes, so I was optimistic that there could be something good here.
Strictly speaking, "Heart Shaped Box" is a ghost story, but I think the thing that I loved most about it was the way that Hill chose to describe the ghosts. In the book, the ghosts' eyes are blacked over with moving lines. Writing that here doesn't seem too impressive, and honestly, pulling a passage from the novel really doesn't do it justice to the effect that the novel makes when you read the whole thing and have the character and plot built around the first description. I think that part of what is so unnerving about it is that the first time the description is given it is from the perspective of a 12 year old girl. The two main characters each have separate occasions where they describe it too and it becomes increasingly unnerving. The ghost, who was a renowned psychic and hypnotists when he was alive, is able to takeover the T.V. and radio and also controls the characters, making them come close to killing themselves and each other multiple times.
Honestly, in many ways this redefined what I think of when ghost comes to mind, at least for the time being, and it kept me unnerved, especially working the night shift at the hotel, until I finished the book.
The book is also just really well written. I can relate enough to the main character that I forget he is a mid fifties rock legend who I really have very little in common with. Hill made me care about the characters more than most authors are able to and he handled the ending a lot better than I expected him to, giving the best of both worlds and having a nice sort of wrap up.
If you're looking for a good, fast-paced read, from a promising your writer that handles the ghost theme in a unique way, then check out "Heart Shaped Box".
Tuesday, June 14, 2011
Stephen King review/rant #2
So, on the item on my Stephen King plate right now is a book called Duma Key. I didn't really have any particular expectations when I started reading, I mean I expected it to be up to King quality standards, but I wasn't even really sure what the book was about. In a nutshell, the book is about Edgar, a man who loses and arm, a marriage and almost his life in a construction accident. He moves to a remote Key off the Florida coast and begins drawing and painting. As his skills progress, he is able to paint sort of telepathically using some phantom limb connections. That is a really rough sketch of what is going on in the book and I am speaking being only 347 pages into the 611 page novel. The style is really good. Edgar dealt with some memory loss and messed up head stuff after his accident. King expresses this really well in the way he writes and when the story is told from Edgar's point of view. A lot of the King that I have read has made me feel uneasy at points, especially Pet Sematary, but even though that was a book that I had to stop reading before bed, it never really kept me from sleeping.
Last night, Duma Key scared me to the the point that I could not get to sleep. The thing that scared me was not necessarily something that came out of the novel and scared me, but was, I guess, the shared fear that Edgar was experiencing. He sees the ghosts of two little girls and they slowly climb the stairs toward him. He is so frightened that he faints and when he finally comes back to consciousness he is scared to open his eyes once he goes to bed, thinking they will be standing on either side of his bed if he looks. I went to bed and closed my eyes the second the light was off and didn't open them again. Even then, it was like I could feel the girls standing there beside the bed. With my eyes closed, it still took me 20 or 30 minutes to fall asleep. Honestly, I am still feeling uneasy writing about this and thinking about it right now.
Moments like these are what make King's work so impressive to me. I am a horror veteran, I have seen hundreds or horror movies and read a lot of horror fiction. I like to think that it takes a lot to really scare me, to stick with me outside of the movie or the book. King is really the only creator of horror who can do this to me consistently. All the book gave was a few vague descriptions and the fact that Edgar was genuinely terrified that the girls would be there and I couldn't sleep. If you're looking for this feeling or something like it, I can tell you that Pet Sematary, The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon, The Shining, Bag of Bones and Duma Key have all done this for me so you may want to check them out.
I'm sure I will have more to say as I finish the book over the next few days and look forward to starting the next King novel. As always, suggestions are welcome.
Last night, Duma Key scared me to the the point that I could not get to sleep. The thing that scared me was not necessarily something that came out of the novel and scared me, but was, I guess, the shared fear that Edgar was experiencing. He sees the ghosts of two little girls and they slowly climb the stairs toward him. He is so frightened that he faints and when he finally comes back to consciousness he is scared to open his eyes once he goes to bed, thinking they will be standing on either side of his bed if he looks. I went to bed and closed my eyes the second the light was off and didn't open them again. Even then, it was like I could feel the girls standing there beside the bed. With my eyes closed, it still took me 20 or 30 minutes to fall asleep. Honestly, I am still feeling uneasy writing about this and thinking about it right now.
Moments like these are what make King's work so impressive to me. I am a horror veteran, I have seen hundreds or horror movies and read a lot of horror fiction. I like to think that it takes a lot to really scare me, to stick with me outside of the movie or the book. King is really the only creator of horror who can do this to me consistently. All the book gave was a few vague descriptions and the fact that Edgar was genuinely terrified that the girls would be there and I couldn't sleep. If you're looking for this feeling or something like it, I can tell you that Pet Sematary, The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon, The Shining, Bag of Bones and Duma Key have all done this for me so you may want to check them out.
I'm sure I will have more to say as I finish the book over the next few days and look forward to starting the next King novel. As always, suggestions are welcome.
Wednesday, June 8, 2011
Amusement
Amusement is one of those horror movies that I have looked at multiple times at the used DVD place here in town and finally broke down to buy. It was cheap and has one of the creepier looking clowns I have ever seen on the cover, so I figured it would at least be entertaining if not genuinely scary. The movie is broken up into four main segements so I will try to comment on each of those individually and on the movie as a whole.
I guess it makes sense to start with the beginning, which is something that I liked about this movie. As the opening credits are rolling, I thought that we got a really adequate explanation of what was happening. Three good looking, popular girls and a boy who had serious mental problems. We have the stalker and the victims so I was happy to move onward. Although I liked this explanation, I thought that things were over explained as we get the "why" both in the weird scene-in-a-box part and when Tabby is giving her monologe at the end, but we will get to those later.
In the first scene we are introduced to Shelby. Her boyfriend seems a little stereotypically douchey as he is doing 100 on the highway to "keep up with the convoy", a concept that I personally thought he took a little too seriously. For me, the scenario of following the convoy into danger was new enough to me that it didn't seem overdone at all. The guy in the car seemed creepy and kept referring to his family that we never saw which made me suspicious, but that is obviously erased when we see the girl looking terrified in the truck and especially once she holds up the "help me" sign. Once she holds up the sign, things really kicked into high gear. I really liked the shot of the "help me" sign hitting the windshield briefly and was not at all expecting it when the body hit the windshield. I thought that the rest of the scene did a really good job keeping suspicion on the trucker and making you forget about the creepy guy. He just seemed scared and doing his best to help. I thought that Shelby's boyfriend Rob was a little slow on the uptake when he first heard the girls moaning in the back seat, but I liked the moment of realization as the creeper is killing the trucker and the girls get unconvered. It was also nicely open eneded.
Now, we are introduced to Tabitha. From the get go, it is clear that the kids are in on something that they aren't telling Tabby, which for me was really unsettling. We know what kind of movies this is and the fact that the killer is using the kids to make his plan work is pretty messed up. All I have to say about that clown room is FUCK that shit. I don't are if there isn't the world's creepiest life-size clown in there, there is no way in hell I am sleeping in there for anything. That being said, the clown mask was really well done and it alone made the shots creepy and menacing. I think my favorite part here, and maybe in the movie for that matter, was the tension build as Tabby slowly builds the courage to pull tha mask off of the clown doll. It was really effective and well done. I didn't like, however, that they used the same tension builder when the T.V. turned on and she reached for the remote. Give me one or the other. I thought both were severly cheapened by the lack of originality in the second "scare". I don't know about anyone else, but even though I was expecting the clown to move from the second it came on screen, I was no less creeped out when it finally did. I thought that the slow head turns of the clown were really effective, especially when Tabby was on the phone and the focus was shifting between Tabby and the clown. The clown being gone was another good moment, and I didn't expect the violence of the knives through the door or the violent persistence of him hacking through the door and the wardrobe. After another open ended segment, I was just hoping that we would get some resolution at some point.
I said earlier that I thought there was some over explanation in the movie as to why it was all going on, and this next segment is one of those over explaining moments. Things cut seemingly randomly to a group of kids each holding a box. In Shelby's box there is a couple in a car by a cabin in the woods, in Tabby's there is a carnival scene with clowns a plenty and Lisa, the final girl has a slumber party set up. Inside the creepy boy's box is a rat that is cut open and still alive. Tabby sees, says it isn't funny and the boy looks and laughs as the girls run away. I just thought that this scene seemed really forced, especially Shelby's box which seemed a little unrealistic for something a young girl like that would come up with. I don't like the fact that we needed that specific of a why in terms of the scenarios that the girls get captured in. It takes something away from the deranged part of the killer that doesn't need a motive, or at least not one as specific as the scenes in the boxes.
Now, we move onto Lisa's scene, something that we now know will be slumber party/sleeping related. I didn't like how Lisa didn't seem at all suspicious that her celebate room mate was not coming home and just assumed she must be hooking up with someone. The whole hotel and the hotel "manager" were almost unbelievably run down and creepy for me. Would they really allow some completely run down building in town remain operational and would anyone actually stay there? I believed and liked the scenario of the boyfriend going in to investigate and although his fate seems bad, it is sealed when the creepy manager tells him that the maching will give him a "surprise". I couldn't believe that Shelby just sat in the gazebo all day waiting for her boyfriend and just kep leaving him messages. If he isn't answering don't you think that something may have gone wrong. I thought that the deaf guy was more weird and a little funny than creepy or sad which I feel they must have been going for. The face rising in the sheets was a nice moment, my only problem with is was that when the face came through the sheets it had a distinct mouth and the girl's mouth was gagged. The revalation of that girl and of the other girls sew into the beds was a nice twist on the "slumber party" scenario that Shelby's box showed was going to be hers.
Although the girls being strung up and cut open like the rat was a little forced when looking referring back to the boxes, it was pretty brutal and, best of all, the fake out of the girls not actually being cut up was awesome and totally unexpected.
I guess my big question with all of it is why Tabby? Is it because she looked in his box when they were kids and told him that it wasn't funny? I mean, her segment seemed the longest of the "kill scenes" and Lisa is alive once she is freed for maybe 15 seconds and Shelby for maybe 90 seconds. I did like that the cabin was connected to the labyrinth of tunnels that he was keeping the girls in and that the room she ran into was on a flatbed truck. The "now that was funny" line was cheesy in a good way and I liked that she stabbed him in the face with his own weapon.
As I said in the beginning, I thought that there was over explanation as to why , especially since it didn't go into the specifics of why Tabby was being singled out. Some of this explanation that seemed unnecessary and weak was Tabby's monologue at the end saying that they laughed at him and made fun of him and so this happened. Overall, it was a great movie, although I would almost prefer one that focused on Tabby and played out the clown killer scenario much more fully. Always good to have a obscure horror film come through.
I guess it makes sense to start with the beginning, which is something that I liked about this movie. As the opening credits are rolling, I thought that we got a really adequate explanation of what was happening. Three good looking, popular girls and a boy who had serious mental problems. We have the stalker and the victims so I was happy to move onward. Although I liked this explanation, I thought that things were over explained as we get the "why" both in the weird scene-in-a-box part and when Tabby is giving her monologe at the end, but we will get to those later.
In the first scene we are introduced to Shelby. Her boyfriend seems a little stereotypically douchey as he is doing 100 on the highway to "keep up with the convoy", a concept that I personally thought he took a little too seriously. For me, the scenario of following the convoy into danger was new enough to me that it didn't seem overdone at all. The guy in the car seemed creepy and kept referring to his family that we never saw which made me suspicious, but that is obviously erased when we see the girl looking terrified in the truck and especially once she holds up the "help me" sign. Once she holds up the sign, things really kicked into high gear. I really liked the shot of the "help me" sign hitting the windshield briefly and was not at all expecting it when the body hit the windshield. I thought that the rest of the scene did a really good job keeping suspicion on the trucker and making you forget about the creepy guy. He just seemed scared and doing his best to help. I thought that Shelby's boyfriend Rob was a little slow on the uptake when he first heard the girls moaning in the back seat, but I liked the moment of realization as the creeper is killing the trucker and the girls get unconvered. It was also nicely open eneded.
Now, we are introduced to Tabitha. From the get go, it is clear that the kids are in on something that they aren't telling Tabby, which for me was really unsettling. We know what kind of movies this is and the fact that the killer is using the kids to make his plan work is pretty messed up. All I have to say about that clown room is FUCK that shit. I don't are if there isn't the world's creepiest life-size clown in there, there is no way in hell I am sleeping in there for anything. That being said, the clown mask was really well done and it alone made the shots creepy and menacing. I think my favorite part here, and maybe in the movie for that matter, was the tension build as Tabby slowly builds the courage to pull tha mask off of the clown doll. It was really effective and well done. I didn't like, however, that they used the same tension builder when the T.V. turned on and she reached for the remote. Give me one or the other. I thought both were severly cheapened by the lack of originality in the second "scare". I don't know about anyone else, but even though I was expecting the clown to move from the second it came on screen, I was no less creeped out when it finally did. I thought that the slow head turns of the clown were really effective, especially when Tabby was on the phone and the focus was shifting between Tabby and the clown. The clown being gone was another good moment, and I didn't expect the violence of the knives through the door or the violent persistence of him hacking through the door and the wardrobe. After another open ended segment, I was just hoping that we would get some resolution at some point.
I said earlier that I thought there was some over explanation in the movie as to why it was all going on, and this next segment is one of those over explaining moments. Things cut seemingly randomly to a group of kids each holding a box. In Shelby's box there is a couple in a car by a cabin in the woods, in Tabby's there is a carnival scene with clowns a plenty and Lisa, the final girl has a slumber party set up. Inside the creepy boy's box is a rat that is cut open and still alive. Tabby sees, says it isn't funny and the boy looks and laughs as the girls run away. I just thought that this scene seemed really forced, especially Shelby's box which seemed a little unrealistic for something a young girl like that would come up with. I don't like the fact that we needed that specific of a why in terms of the scenarios that the girls get captured in. It takes something away from the deranged part of the killer that doesn't need a motive, or at least not one as specific as the scenes in the boxes.
Now, we move onto Lisa's scene, something that we now know will be slumber party/sleeping related. I didn't like how Lisa didn't seem at all suspicious that her celebate room mate was not coming home and just assumed she must be hooking up with someone. The whole hotel and the hotel "manager" were almost unbelievably run down and creepy for me. Would they really allow some completely run down building in town remain operational and would anyone actually stay there? I believed and liked the scenario of the boyfriend going in to investigate and although his fate seems bad, it is sealed when the creepy manager tells him that the maching will give him a "surprise". I couldn't believe that Shelby just sat in the gazebo all day waiting for her boyfriend and just kep leaving him messages. If he isn't answering don't you think that something may have gone wrong. I thought that the deaf guy was more weird and a little funny than creepy or sad which I feel they must have been going for. The face rising in the sheets was a nice moment, my only problem with is was that when the face came through the sheets it had a distinct mouth and the girl's mouth was gagged. The revalation of that girl and of the other girls sew into the beds was a nice twist on the "slumber party" scenario that Shelby's box showed was going to be hers.
Although the girls being strung up and cut open like the rat was a little forced when looking referring back to the boxes, it was pretty brutal and, best of all, the fake out of the girls not actually being cut up was awesome and totally unexpected.
I guess my big question with all of it is why Tabby? Is it because she looked in his box when they were kids and told him that it wasn't funny? I mean, her segment seemed the longest of the "kill scenes" and Lisa is alive once she is freed for maybe 15 seconds and Shelby for maybe 90 seconds. I did like that the cabin was connected to the labyrinth of tunnels that he was keeping the girls in and that the room she ran into was on a flatbed truck. The "now that was funny" line was cheesy in a good way and I liked that she stabbed him in the face with his own weapon.
As I said in the beginning, I thought that there was over explanation as to why , especially since it didn't go into the specifics of why Tabby was being singled out. Some of this explanation that seemed unnecessary and weak was Tabby's monologue at the end saying that they laughed at him and made fun of him and so this happened. Overall, it was a great movie, although I would almost prefer one that focused on Tabby and played out the clown killer scenario much more fully. Always good to have a obscure horror film come through.
Thursday, May 26, 2011
5ive Girls
The used movie store in town was having a ten movies that were priced $1.95 or under for $10.00. All other movies $3.95 or less were half off when you had 10 of the others. $20 and 15 movies later I have some horror ammunition for the next couple of weeks. 5ive Girls is the first these movies. For $1.50 with Ron Pearlman as a priest and a demonically possessed girl in a pentagram on the cover, sign me up. So, to keep the plot summary brief, five "troubled" girls get sent to a recently re-opened school for girls to get back on track. There is a crazy headmistress and the priest, Ron Pearlman.
One of the biggest elements of the movie was the special "powers" of the girls. I found this to be very hit and miss. I liked that Cecelia, who was blind, had a second sight through her tarot cards, but it played almost no part in the movie at all except for her to make a vague prediction of "I see you at the bottom of the stairs Alex, but someone is there with you" that comes true at the end of the movie. The same is true of both Connie and Leah. Connie is called a "conduit" and the similarity between that and her name is joked upon, but I was never clear if that was what gave her the awful bruises and scars or what. And with Leah, she phases through the filing cabinet and then phases through the door to get to Father Ron once she is possessed. For me, her "power" just seems unnecessary. Once she is possessed, there is no need for the power to get her into the room since Legion is more than capable of making anyone do anything. Mara's healing ability is much more prominent as she heals Alex after the beating from Ms. Pierce and heals herself after she is stabbed by Alex/Legion. Also, Alex's telekineses comes into play when she uses it to help her kill Legion at the end of the movie.I don't at all mind the idea of the powers, I just think that if you're going to do it then the powers need to be more prominent and not just a filler to make all 5 girls have power and not just 2 or 3.
Once they established that all of the girls had special powers and that Connie's were kicked into overdrive once she came in contact with Legion, I expected the powers to play a large role in each of their possessions. Unfortunately, the powers are relatively absent here. Connie takes on all sorts of terrible physical problems when Legion first leaks through the floor and possesses her, but once she is actually possessed Legion simply takes over her hand and makes her drown Leah. Her power plays no role in this at all. Leah does use her power when she does slutty and phases through the door to get into the chapel where Father Ron is. I liked where this scene was going. They had already established that she was unable to phase through objects like doors or walls both verbally and when they shower her trying to phase through the door on the third floor, so this makes it apparent that Legion makes her much more powerful. I also liked when Father Ron tries to exorcise Legion and Legion pretends that it is working than laughs at his feeble attempt. As much as I liked Father Ron, I was okay that he was going to die and while I liked his death in terms of its creativity, I didn't think that it fit for Leah. She is the one who can phase through stuff, this is amped up by Legion. Why the hell does she use telekineses to stab Father Ron with the crosses? I think that it would have worked much better thematically for Leah to phase the crosses into him or like phase into his chest and mess with his insides. I though that the possession transfer from Leah to Cecelia started off well also. Especially the moment when Leah first quickly walks through and takes Cecelia's walking stick. After a few minutes though, I thought the scene got a little tedious. We get it, Cecilia is bind and Leah is not so Leah can punch and kick Cecilia at will. I was okay with the transfer of Legion between them and Cecilia beating Leah to death with the huge book. Cecelia's possession was easily my favorite. I thought that she was the best at displaying a distinct contrast between herself when she was possessed and when she wasn't. I loved when she first walked out of the library and stepped aside to avoid something. I also liked that she slipped back into that innocent mode to get into the bedroom with Mara and Alex. I was expecting the "hey, she can see" moment when they realized that Cecelia wasn't Cecilia anymore, but I didn't mind it here since the movie itself was going pretty well so far and had avoided many of the genre cliches. One thing that tripped me up about the possessions was why the huge amount of stabbing that Mara did to Cecilia had no effect, but Alex stabbing Mara was able to take her down, even though she was possessed. I also wasn't sure why Mara was able to heal herself when she woke up but not Alex. I understand that she is only able to heal "fresh wounds", but wouldn't Alex's wound be just as fresh? Despite some inconsistencies in all of the transfers, I was a fan of the impalement by cross that killed Ms. Pierce.
I did like all of the spiritual and religious elements throughout the film. Obviously, the school is originally a catholic school for girls and the stuff with Elizabeth at the beginning shows that, but even there the detail that they go into with the the drawing she is doing about Legion and the 2,000 pigs and the fact that she is writing in Aramaic were nice touches. I also liked the spiritual elements in terms of the Wiccan and pagan elements throughout the movie from the stuff with Connie's amulet and the books that were confiscated to Ms. Pierce's
pentagram with the urine and blood to bind the girls to it. Even the prayers of defense that Father Ron says were accurate in terms of the prayers that priests say when dealing with possessions and performing exorcisms.
The ending was right about what I expected from this movie. I liked that the "janitor" was the father of Elizabeth and Ms. Pierce and thought that was a decent twist, but it was a little frustrating to put everyone through this, even bringing Elizabeth back from wherever she was, just to have Mara presumably escape and Elizabeth under the the mercy of her Legion possessed father.
I think that what bothered me the most about the movie was that we never find out what precisely happened to Elizabeth from the beginning. There is blood all over the floor and Father Ron is so shocked he simply sits in a desk and puts his head down. I wasn't surprised when we didn't see this at the beginning, but I thought that we would get a flashback or recreation sometime during the movie, but nope. I guess it was one of those leave it up to your imagination things, but all we get is she "disappeared" and it makes me question where all the blood came from and why her.
My favorite scene was probably when Ms. Pierce breaks all of the fingers on Mara's healing hand. It was very unexpected because, let's face it, Mara was right when she called her a bitch. I didn't think that there was a chance that Mara would get any of her fingers broken and the fact that all of them got broken was awesome and brutal. I also thought that they did a pretty good job of making her hand look sufficiently damaged. I mean, all of her fingers were broken and I believed it. It carried over well when she was possessed and Legion popped all of the breaks and dislocations back into place.
Overall, I though the movie was fun and a good watch, especially for a dollar fifty. It handled the classic group of girls vs. a supernatural/evil entity well and in a fairly unique way.
One of the biggest elements of the movie was the special "powers" of the girls. I found this to be very hit and miss. I liked that Cecelia, who was blind, had a second sight through her tarot cards, but it played almost no part in the movie at all except for her to make a vague prediction of "I see you at the bottom of the stairs Alex, but someone is there with you" that comes true at the end of the movie. The same is true of both Connie and Leah. Connie is called a "conduit" and the similarity between that and her name is joked upon, but I was never clear if that was what gave her the awful bruises and scars or what. And with Leah, she phases through the filing cabinet and then phases through the door to get to Father Ron once she is possessed. For me, her "power" just seems unnecessary. Once she is possessed, there is no need for the power to get her into the room since Legion is more than capable of making anyone do anything. Mara's healing ability is much more prominent as she heals Alex after the beating from Ms. Pierce and heals herself after she is stabbed by Alex/Legion. Also, Alex's telekineses comes into play when she uses it to help her kill Legion at the end of the movie.I don't at all mind the idea of the powers, I just think that if you're going to do it then the powers need to be more prominent and not just a filler to make all 5 girls have power and not just 2 or 3.
Once they established that all of the girls had special powers and that Connie's were kicked into overdrive once she came in contact with Legion, I expected the powers to play a large role in each of their possessions. Unfortunately, the powers are relatively absent here. Connie takes on all sorts of terrible physical problems when Legion first leaks through the floor and possesses her, but once she is actually possessed Legion simply takes over her hand and makes her drown Leah. Her power plays no role in this at all. Leah does use her power when she does slutty and phases through the door to get into the chapel where Father Ron is. I liked where this scene was going. They had already established that she was unable to phase through objects like doors or walls both verbally and when they shower her trying to phase through the door on the third floor, so this makes it apparent that Legion makes her much more powerful. I also liked when Father Ron tries to exorcise Legion and Legion pretends that it is working than laughs at his feeble attempt. As much as I liked Father Ron, I was okay that he was going to die and while I liked his death in terms of its creativity, I didn't think that it fit for Leah. She is the one who can phase through stuff, this is amped up by Legion. Why the hell does she use telekineses to stab Father Ron with the crosses? I think that it would have worked much better thematically for Leah to phase the crosses into him or like phase into his chest and mess with his insides. I though that the possession transfer from Leah to Cecelia started off well also. Especially the moment when Leah first quickly walks through and takes Cecelia's walking stick. After a few minutes though, I thought the scene got a little tedious. We get it, Cecilia is bind and Leah is not so Leah can punch and kick Cecilia at will. I was okay with the transfer of Legion between them and Cecilia beating Leah to death with the huge book. Cecelia's possession was easily my favorite. I thought that she was the best at displaying a distinct contrast between herself when she was possessed and when she wasn't. I loved when she first walked out of the library and stepped aside to avoid something. I also liked that she slipped back into that innocent mode to get into the bedroom with Mara and Alex. I was expecting the "hey, she can see" moment when they realized that Cecelia wasn't Cecilia anymore, but I didn't mind it here since the movie itself was going pretty well so far and had avoided many of the genre cliches. One thing that tripped me up about the possessions was why the huge amount of stabbing that Mara did to Cecilia had no effect, but Alex stabbing Mara was able to take her down, even though she was possessed. I also wasn't sure why Mara was able to heal herself when she woke up but not Alex. I understand that she is only able to heal "fresh wounds", but wouldn't Alex's wound be just as fresh? Despite some inconsistencies in all of the transfers, I was a fan of the impalement by cross that killed Ms. Pierce.
I did like all of the spiritual and religious elements throughout the film. Obviously, the school is originally a catholic school for girls and the stuff with Elizabeth at the beginning shows that, but even there the detail that they go into with the the drawing she is doing about Legion and the 2,000 pigs and the fact that she is writing in Aramaic were nice touches. I also liked the spiritual elements in terms of the Wiccan and pagan elements throughout the movie from the stuff with Connie's amulet and the books that were confiscated to Ms. Pierce's
pentagram with the urine and blood to bind the girls to it. Even the prayers of defense that Father Ron says were accurate in terms of the prayers that priests say when dealing with possessions and performing exorcisms.
The ending was right about what I expected from this movie. I liked that the "janitor" was the father of Elizabeth and Ms. Pierce and thought that was a decent twist, but it was a little frustrating to put everyone through this, even bringing Elizabeth back from wherever she was, just to have Mara presumably escape and Elizabeth under the the mercy of her Legion possessed father.
I think that what bothered me the most about the movie was that we never find out what precisely happened to Elizabeth from the beginning. There is blood all over the floor and Father Ron is so shocked he simply sits in a desk and puts his head down. I wasn't surprised when we didn't see this at the beginning, but I thought that we would get a flashback or recreation sometime during the movie, but nope. I guess it was one of those leave it up to your imagination things, but all we get is she "disappeared" and it makes me question where all the blood came from and why her.
Overall, I though the movie was fun and a good watch, especially for a dollar fifty. It handled the classic group of girls vs. a supernatural/evil entity well and in a fairly unique way.
Sunday, May 22, 2011
My Top 10(ish)
As I started to compile this list in my head, 10 seemed like a reasonable number, but honestly I just can't choose that few horror movies that I love. I am sure that I will review all of these at some point and I know that I could make the list 50 long if I gave myself 10 more minutes, but here are some of my all-time favorites, not necessarily in order of which I consider the "best", in highlight mode:
1. Pan's Labyrinth (2006). Written and directed by Gullermo del Toro. Okay, so this movie for me is the movie that changed how I viewed all other movies. It was grusome, it was fun, it was inventive, it was beautiful and it made me forget that I was reading subtitles. There is so much going on in this movie: you can watch it once just for the visuals alone and it does not fade with multiple viewings. This movie is Guillermo at his finest and one that any fan of horror, or of movies for that matter, should see.
2. Halloween (1978) Written by John Carpenter and Debra Hill, directed by John Carpenter. This was my first introduction to horror and it has stuck with me ever since. It defined what a slasher should be, not only for me, but also for the genre as a whole. Sure it spawned 9 sequels, only a few of which are any good (and the last of which is unspeakably bad, fucking Sheri Moon) but it was also the inspiration behind Jason and the jumping board for Wes Craven to re-imagine it all with Freddy. With Halloween it's simple, he is coming for Laurie and he isn't going to stop. He moves slowly and all he uses is a butcher knife, but it is enough. The movie uses the score so well (also put together by John Carpenter) and the fact that they could turn a William Shatner mask into the face of evil still amazes me.
3. Psycho (1960) Screenplay by Joseph Stefano, directed By Alfred Hitchcock. The shower scene, the house up on the hill and Norman Bates. If Carpenter's Halloween is the bottom floor that horror rises from, then Psycho is the bedrock beneath it all. There is so much that this film does that is ahead of its time. Its use of pacing, its use of the soundtrack mixed with silence, the shower scene, the final reveal and of course, the casting of Janet Leigh (mother of Jamie Lee Curtis) as the ill fated first victim. I could watch Psycho 100 times and still love it as much as I did the first time. An absolute must see in terms of horror and where it all comes from.
4. A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984) Written and directed by Wes Craven. Freddy was a whole new type of villain for the slasher/horror genre. He talked, he antagonized, he played with his victims before he killed them. Michael and Jason were always relatively unstoppable, but Freddy could even get you in your dreams. You can run and hide from Michael and Jason for a long time, but how long can you go without sleep? Robert Englund is masterful in this role, absolutely making it his own in all 8 of the original films.
5. Behind the Mask: The Rise of Leslie Vernon (2006) Written by Scott Glosserman and David Stieve and directed by Scott Glosserman. This movie is honestly one of my favorite movies of all time, probably in my top 5 overall. This mock-umentary follows a group of grad school students filming the escapades of Leslie Vernon who is claiming to be the next great serial killer (he puts himself in league with Jason, Freddy and Michael Myers, referring to them as Mike, Jay and Fred, in a world where Leslie's town is in a place where Elm Street, Haddonfield and Crystal Lake actually exist). The students think it is all a joke, but things take a turn for the serious and they are along for the ride. Throughout, Leslie breaks down what it takes to be a killer like the legends showing a wonderful knowledge of the genre and spoofing it in the best way possible.
6. Saw (2004) Written by Leigh Whannel and Directed by James Wan. Quite possibly one of the best/ most unexpected endings in not only horror history, but in film history in general. What Wan and Whannel do so well is again capture the human element. We don't have some terrible supernatural beast. We have a man who is bringing out the worst in people after he has been shown the worst. Jigsaw argues that he never kills his victims, they kill themselves or eachother, and while that is twisted it is also true. This is another franchise that has about 4 films too many, but the original is and will always remain amazing.
7. The Orphanage (2007) Written by Sergio G. Sanchez, directed by Juan Antonia Bayona. This film is produced by Guillermo del Toro and while he does not do any of the directing, his presence can be felt throughout it. It is quiet and slow paced but in the best of ways and the whole psychic scene as well as the scene where Laura is knocking on the wall to summon the children are terrifying. It shows the innocence of childhood and the fear of losing that very well.
8. The Last House on the Left (2009) Written by Adam Alleca and Carl Ellsworth, directed by Dennis Iliadis. Brutal, uncomfortable and brilliant are three words that come to mind for me when I think of this movie. I don't think I would have watched it with it being a remake but Netflix sent it to me on accident and I was amazingly surprised. The rape scene is one of the most uncomfortable, horrific moments I can think of in a movie and when the parents begin to take their revenge, I was rooting for them and happy to see how each of the bad guys would die. It suffers from bad-ending-itis but is good enough otherwise for that to be forgiven. Fire-poker, never leave home without it.
9. 28 Days Later (2002) Written by Alex Garland, directed by Danny Boyle. 28 Days Later took zombies, made them fast and angry and gave you a small group fighting against all of it. The whole film is set off by a fantastic score by John Murphy that is punctuated by the song "In the House - In a Heartbeat" that is incredibly effective in creating the feel of the movie and keeping the tension built. A couple of years before Zack Snyder's Dawn of the Dead remake, Boyle speeds up the Zombies and brings them back with a vengeance, and just a little bit of rage.
10. Paranormal Activity (2010) Written and directed by Oren Peli. Paranormal Activity took the first person camera and faux reality of the story that made Blair Witch so successful and amped it up like 3 notches. It personalized things in a way that Blair Witch didn't and, in my opinion, it improved on what came before it. Now I shope they don't take a successful sequel and turn it into a terrible saga of horror movies like they tend to do with so many others.
11. 1408 (2007) Based on the short story by Stephen King, this movie personalizes terror on Mike Enslin (played by John Cusack). I love this movie and the story because I feel like it is saying, "See non-believers, this is what happens when you challenge the supernatural". For me, watching Mike's descent into what could either be madness or the monstrosity that is room 1408 and not knowing which it is makes this movie incredibly unnerving.
12. Scream (1996) Written by Kevin Williamson, directed by Wes Craven. Scream is another re-defining moment in horror. It creates characters who know what to expect in horror villains and villains who know these expectations and try to operate outside of them. It is so good and Wes is able to successfully helm them, even into the fourth installment.
13. Insidious (2010) Written by Leigh Whannell, directed by James Wan. Insidious is last on my list only because it is the most recent addition. This movie is simply incredible. It is hands down the best PG-13 movie I have ever seen. It has jump scares, creepy scares, eerie scares, and it lingers with you long after the movie is over. There were multiple moments when I, a seasoned horror veteran, was having to force myself to look at the screen and was yelling out loud. The setting was limited and it played with so many fears. You have to see this movie.
1. Pan's Labyrinth (2006). Written and directed by Gullermo del Toro. Okay, so this movie for me is the movie that changed how I viewed all other movies. It was grusome, it was fun, it was inventive, it was beautiful and it made me forget that I was reading subtitles. There is so much going on in this movie: you can watch it once just for the visuals alone and it does not fade with multiple viewings. This movie is Guillermo at his finest and one that any fan of horror, or of movies for that matter, should see.
2. Halloween (1978) Written by John Carpenter and Debra Hill, directed by John Carpenter. This was my first introduction to horror and it has stuck with me ever since. It defined what a slasher should be, not only for me, but also for the genre as a whole. Sure it spawned 9 sequels, only a few of which are any good (and the last of which is unspeakably bad, fucking Sheri Moon) but it was also the inspiration behind Jason and the jumping board for Wes Craven to re-imagine it all with Freddy. With Halloween it's simple, he is coming for Laurie and he isn't going to stop. He moves slowly and all he uses is a butcher knife, but it is enough. The movie uses the score so well (also put together by John Carpenter) and the fact that they could turn a William Shatner mask into the face of evil still amazes me.
3. Psycho (1960) Screenplay by Joseph Stefano, directed By Alfred Hitchcock. The shower scene, the house up on the hill and Norman Bates. If Carpenter's Halloween is the bottom floor that horror rises from, then Psycho is the bedrock beneath it all. There is so much that this film does that is ahead of its time. Its use of pacing, its use of the soundtrack mixed with silence, the shower scene, the final reveal and of course, the casting of Janet Leigh (mother of Jamie Lee Curtis) as the ill fated first victim. I could watch Psycho 100 times and still love it as much as I did the first time. An absolute must see in terms of horror and where it all comes from.
4. A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984) Written and directed by Wes Craven. Freddy was a whole new type of villain for the slasher/horror genre. He talked, he antagonized, he played with his victims before he killed them. Michael and Jason were always relatively unstoppable, but Freddy could even get you in your dreams. You can run and hide from Michael and Jason for a long time, but how long can you go without sleep? Robert Englund is masterful in this role, absolutely making it his own in all 8 of the original films.
5. Behind the Mask: The Rise of Leslie Vernon (2006) Written by Scott Glosserman and David Stieve and directed by Scott Glosserman. This movie is honestly one of my favorite movies of all time, probably in my top 5 overall. This mock-umentary follows a group of grad school students filming the escapades of Leslie Vernon who is claiming to be the next great serial killer (he puts himself in league with Jason, Freddy and Michael Myers, referring to them as Mike, Jay and Fred, in a world where Leslie's town is in a place where Elm Street, Haddonfield and Crystal Lake actually exist). The students think it is all a joke, but things take a turn for the serious and they are along for the ride. Throughout, Leslie breaks down what it takes to be a killer like the legends showing a wonderful knowledge of the genre and spoofing it in the best way possible.
6. Saw (2004) Written by Leigh Whannel and Directed by James Wan. Quite possibly one of the best/ most unexpected endings in not only horror history, but in film history in general. What Wan and Whannel do so well is again capture the human element. We don't have some terrible supernatural beast. We have a man who is bringing out the worst in people after he has been shown the worst. Jigsaw argues that he never kills his victims, they kill themselves or eachother, and while that is twisted it is also true. This is another franchise that has about 4 films too many, but the original is and will always remain amazing.
7. The Orphanage (2007) Written by Sergio G. Sanchez, directed by Juan Antonia Bayona. This film is produced by Guillermo del Toro and while he does not do any of the directing, his presence can be felt throughout it. It is quiet and slow paced but in the best of ways and the whole psychic scene as well as the scene where Laura is knocking on the wall to summon the children are terrifying. It shows the innocence of childhood and the fear of losing that very well.
8. The Last House on the Left (2009) Written by Adam Alleca and Carl Ellsworth, directed by Dennis Iliadis. Brutal, uncomfortable and brilliant are three words that come to mind for me when I think of this movie. I don't think I would have watched it with it being a remake but Netflix sent it to me on accident and I was amazingly surprised. The rape scene is one of the most uncomfortable, horrific moments I can think of in a movie and when the parents begin to take their revenge, I was rooting for them and happy to see how each of the bad guys would die. It suffers from bad-ending-itis but is good enough otherwise for that to be forgiven. Fire-poker, never leave home without it.
9. 28 Days Later (2002) Written by Alex Garland, directed by Danny Boyle. 28 Days Later took zombies, made them fast and angry and gave you a small group fighting against all of it. The whole film is set off by a fantastic score by John Murphy that is punctuated by the song "In the House - In a Heartbeat" that is incredibly effective in creating the feel of the movie and keeping the tension built. A couple of years before Zack Snyder's Dawn of the Dead remake, Boyle speeds up the Zombies and brings them back with a vengeance, and just a little bit of rage.
10. Paranormal Activity (2010) Written and directed by Oren Peli. Paranormal Activity took the first person camera and faux reality of the story that made Blair Witch so successful and amped it up like 3 notches. It personalized things in a way that Blair Witch didn't and, in my opinion, it improved on what came before it. Now I shope they don't take a successful sequel and turn it into a terrible saga of horror movies like they tend to do with so many others.
11. 1408 (2007) Based on the short story by Stephen King, this movie personalizes terror on Mike Enslin (played by John Cusack). I love this movie and the story because I feel like it is saying, "See non-believers, this is what happens when you challenge the supernatural". For me, watching Mike's descent into what could either be madness or the monstrosity that is room 1408 and not knowing which it is makes this movie incredibly unnerving.
12. Scream (1996) Written by Kevin Williamson, directed by Wes Craven. Scream is another re-defining moment in horror. It creates characters who know what to expect in horror villains and villains who know these expectations and try to operate outside of them. It is so good and Wes is able to successfully helm them, even into the fourth installment.
13. Insidious (2010) Written by Leigh Whannell, directed by James Wan. Insidious is last on my list only because it is the most recent addition. This movie is simply incredible. It is hands down the best PG-13 movie I have ever seen. It has jump scares, creepy scares, eerie scares, and it lingers with you long after the movie is over. There were multiple moments when I, a seasoned horror veteran, was having to force myself to look at the screen and was yelling out loud. The setting was limited and it played with so many fears. You have to see this movie.
Stephen King review/rant #1
Along with my love of horror movies, I also love horror literature, especially Stephen King. So, from time to time, I will review the books of his that I am reading and just rant about his awesomeness as an author and a person. Today, it will be a review of the book Misery. I just finished the book yesterday and it was pretty incredible. It takes the completely natural fear that so many people have of being trapped or kidnapped. I think the most frightening thing about the book is the way that King captures Annie's plummet into the depths of her insanity. It is clear from the beginning that Annie isn't right in the head. She found her favorite author dying on the side of the road and instead of calling an ambulance she brought him back to her house and nursed him back to relative health without telling anyone. There are moments that Annie just blanks out mid sentence for minutes at a time and comes back to the real world as if she hasn't missed a beat. When Paul asks for different paper for the typewrite, Annie goes berserk and smashes his already destroyed knee before leaving him for over two days without any food, water or medication. He breaks out of his room to get medication and water. When she leaves again he finds a scrap book called "Memory Lane" that chronicles the killings that she has committed since the age of 11. All in all, she has killed over 30 people, culminating in a stint of infant killings at the hospital where she was the head maternity nurse that lead the media to call her the Dragon Lady.
When Annie finds out about the times Paul has left the room, she "hobbles" him by cutting off his left foot with an ax. A process that she goes calmly through. A little while later, when Paul complains about the missing "n" on the typewriter, Annie cuts off his left thumb with an electric knife. Annie kills a police officer and plans to kill Paul and herself once he finishes the novel and she has ready it. Paul is able to escape by pretending to burn the novel and killing Annie. Afterward, he keeps seeing Annie everywhere, but is always able to blink it away. The depth to which King describes this descent into complete insanity sticks with you long afterward. There were moments when I had to put the book down because the impending actions were too much for me to handle all at once. This is another King achievement that is scary in the way that makes most horror movies successful, it operates in a real of extreme reality that is all to easy to imagine happening in everyday life.
When Annie finds out about the times Paul has left the room, she "hobbles" him by cutting off his left foot with an ax. A process that she goes calmly through. A little while later, when Paul complains about the missing "n" on the typewriter, Annie cuts off his left thumb with an electric knife. Annie kills a police officer and plans to kill Paul and herself once he finishes the novel and she has ready it. Paul is able to escape by pretending to burn the novel and killing Annie. Afterward, he keeps seeing Annie everywhere, but is always able to blink it away. The depth to which King describes this descent into complete insanity sticks with you long afterward. There were moments when I had to put the book down because the impending actions were too much for me to handle all at once. This is another King achievement that is scary in the way that makes most horror movies successful, it operates in a real of extreme reality that is all to easy to imagine happening in everyday life.
Solstice
The most recent horror movie that I watched was Solstice, a 2008 movie written and directed by Daniel Myrick (of Blair Witch fame). Add that to the fact that it talks of voo doo in the Louisiana Bayou and has a cast filled with recognizable, decent young actors and I thought it was worth the $2.95 at the used movie store here in town. Megan (Elisabeth Harnois) and her friends go to spend spring break of their senior year at Megan's parents' house in the Bayou. Her mom is a cultural anthropology professor so they go every year to celebrate the Summer Solstice. This year is marred by the tragedy of the loss of Megan's twin sister, Sophie, who committed suicide over Christmas Break. Megan is already seeing and experiencing things that make her think that her sister's spirit is with them and when a local boy with voo doo knowledge leads them in a ceremony to communicate with the dead, all hell breaks loose. Eventually it is revealed that the spirit is not Sophie, but a little girl that Sophie and Christian (Shawn Ashmore) hit and buried the previous year. Christian is running from the spirit and gets hit by a car, killing him in nicely poetic fashion. Overall, the movie isn't very successful. The voo doo elements seem little more than ancillary as much of the supernatural events are happening before the ceremony that they perform. There is also the obvious red herring in the creepy "neighbor" (played by none other than R. Lee Emery) who adds some creepiness but nothing all too scary. The movie does use flashbacks and the "visions" that Megan has fairly well. Harnois is cast well as the lead. Her emotions, from fear, to anger to sadness all seemed genuine and I believed the ordeal that she was going through. The rest of the cast, however, seemed little more than stock horror movie characters and served almost no purpose except to drink and remind Megan that Sophie wasn't there anymore. Even the little dead voo doo girl is overdone at the end. Throughout the movie she has been little more than a black shadow, sometimes showing glowing white eyes and this worked well, but at the end she appears as the unharmed little girl and then "morphs" into the voo doo creature while making some screeching noise. I think though that the moment for me that sealed the deal and put this movie in the unsuccessful category was the dream within a dream sequence. For me, that is just something that shouldn't be done in horror. It plays with the audience too much and diminishes the trust I have in the movie from that point forward. Add in that it contained the movie's only legitimate jump scare and it was a sinking point for me for sure. Despite being oversold on the souther voo doo elements and lacking strong supporting characters, I would say Solstice was worth my $2.95.
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