Psychological

The Last Will and Testament of Rosalind Leigh

January 11, 2014 by Eric S. 1 Comment

Synopsis: An antiques collector inherits a house from his estranged mother only to discover that she had been living in a shrine devoted to a mysterious cult. Soon, he comes to suspect that his mother’s oppressive spirit still lingers within her home and is using items in the house to contact him with an urgent message

My Quick Review: It’s tough to be too negative with a movie that shows a lot of heart and is trying something new with the genre.

With that being said it’s also hard to recommend a movie that should have been a short segment in an anthology and that is stretched way past the point of boredom.

The Last Will is all atmosphere and rests on the shoulder of his main character, perfectly played by Aaron Poole and voiced by Vanessa Redgrave. This is a movie about loneliness and fanatic religion and as such it works and makes you think. That is, if you can stay awake and get involved with the story.

Because if you’re looking for genuine scares, you might have already turned off your screen before anything really exciting happens.

Rodrigo Gudino (founder of Rue Morgue) shows talent behind the camera but The Last Will should have been another short of his since it does not have enough meat to sustain a full length feature.

My Rating: 5/10

Director: Rodrigo Gudiño

Origin: Canada

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The Dirties (2013) Review

January 9, 2014 by Eric S. Leave a Comment

Synopsis: Two best friends are filming a comedy about getting revenge on the bullies at their high school. One of them isn’t joking.

My Quick Review: I have to admit, I feel kind of cheated by The Dirties. The whole movie teases you of a big impending doom that never completely comes and, as such, the ending is a big letdown.

The Dirties takes a found footage approach to tell this classic story of High School Bullying. The use of POV shots is justified by the movie within the movie trick and, it kinda work at the beginning but, as the film moves on, you’re just wondering about the mute cameramen and why they are always there shooting.

Both main characters are immediately sympathetic and the dialog never feels forced. It’s therefore very easy to connect with and get attached to them.

The tension slowly rises when it becomes obvious than one of the duo is getting more serious about filming an actual shooting and his sense of reality starts to blur away.

The problem with The Dirties is that this creates a lot of buildup but not much reward in the end and therefore, seems pointless.

So, while The Dirties has 2 main leads with great chemistry and a skillful blend of dark humor and dread, it ultimately fails to deliver anything new or original to the genre . Skip it if you’re looking for something grittier and with more horror/violence.

My Rating: 5/10

Director: Matt Johnson

Origin: Canada

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YellowBrickRodad (2010) Review

January 2, 2014 by Eric S. Leave a Comment

Synopsis: In 1940, the entire population of Friar, New Hampshire walked up a winding mountain trail, leaving everything behind. 2008: the first official expedition into the wilderness attempts to solve the mystery of the lost citizens of Friar.

My Quick Review: YellowBrickRoad (YBR from now on) is the first feature from writers/directors Jesse Holland and Andy Mitton, whose segment in Chilling Visions: 5 Senses of Fear, was one of the highlight of the movie.

Music, and its influence on people, is a recurring theme in both of those stories. In YBR, the music is a conduit that drives people to madness while they are hiking on a secret trail through the woods.

While not getting into too much details, it’s never really explained how or why the music is being played on the trail but it doesn’t really matter since YBR is more about the journey than the destination (there are plenty of The Wizard of Oz references throughout the movie, another journey-type movie).

The movie itself is about human relationships and the slow slip into madness. It’s the story about what might happen to a group of people who start to lose their bearings, as well as the story of the perpetual search for life’s answers.

While the scope of YBR is ambitious, and the first half of the movie entertaining, the plot is already running on fumes by the two-third mark. At that point everything has been said and there is nothing much left to keep viewers engaged.

Jesse Holland and Andy Mitton might have bitten more than they could chew since YBR could have benefited from a shorter length (75mn or so maybe) and better editing near the end, but for a first full feature, YellowBrickRoad shows great potential and I’m looking forward to what they have in store next.

My Rating: 6/10

Director: Jesse Holland, Andy Mitton

Origin: US

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Miserable Marnie & The Shut In (2013) Review

December 27, 2013 by Eric S. Leave a Comment

Synopsis: Miserable Marnie Strauss (17), a lonely teenage girl, lives alone with her reclusive mother, Matilda in a small town. She dreams of nothing more than to befriend the popular girl, Spencer, but the feeling is not mutual. After a cruel prank breaks her spirit, Marnie embarks on a violent rampage, exacting revenge on all who have wronged her with the help of her new friend, Crystal.

Quick Review: Right off the bat the intro to Miserable Marnie sets the tone for the rest of the movie. The music, the colorful tones, the photography all announce a creepy little tale of teenage angst.

For an indie movie, Miserable Marnie puts a lot of effort into its style and the acting is above par as well. Special mentions to Ray Wright and Suzie Vincent who play Marnie and her mom respectively.

Unfortunately, this all make it more painful when, midway into the movie, Miserable marnie turns into a predictive high school revenge plot with mostly subpar acting from the rest of the cast and weak practical effects.

While I can’t recommend Miserable Marnie to everybody, I believe Colton David Coate is a director to watch in the future, when he can work with a more polished script and higher budgets.

My Rating: 5/10

Director: Colton David Coate

Origin: US

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Funny Games (2007) Review

November 14, 2013 by Eric S. Leave a Comment

Synopsis: Two psychopathic young men take a family hostage in their cabin.

Quick Review: I can’t believe I actually wasted almost 2 hrs of my time on this patronizing, self-satisfied exercise in style.

Love him or hate him, Michael Haneke’s movies won’t leave you indifferent. So. kudos for him to create a movie that will have many people talk.

Since I haven’t seen the original movie I won’t be commenting on it but apparently the US version does not differ in any ways in terms of script and direction.

While I have to praise the actors for their work (Naomi Watts has found her best role yet and Michael Pitt is just delightfully creepy despite his angelic face) and, to some extent, Haneke’s quite brilliant camera work, I can’t go past the obnoxious 4th wall break and the whole hypocrisy of the proceedings.

Haneke wants us to believe Funny Games has a purpose behind the psychological and physical torture of this family. But it is just your typical torture movie disguised in art.

People can criticize movies such as I Spit on Your Grave or You’re Next all they want, but those movies aren’t pretending to be something they aren’t. They give us what we expect without judging us, the audience.

Funny Games is just an empty shell of a movie who wants to shock its viewers while making them feel guilty for doing so. Shame on you Mr Haneke.

My Rating: 4/10

Director: Michael Haneke

Origin: US

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