Film Review: ROSEWOOD LANE (2011)

Going back home is never easy especially for radio psychiatrist Dr. Sonny Blake (Rose McGowan) whose father just died due to an accident in which he fell down his basement steps supposedly in a drunken stupor.  Now Sonny must come to grips with the memory of her father, a man she partial hates.  This is starting off point for the tense thriller Rosewood Lane (2011) in which Sonny moves into her father’s home only to realize that nothing is what it seems in the neighborhood especially in terms of the local Paperboy (Daniel Ross Owens) who suffers from a medical condition which leaves him without white pupils in his eyes giving him a haunting dead stare and look.  Where she see a rare medical condition her neighbors see pure evil as Sonny will soon find out when the Paperboy becomes fixated on her. 

Whenever she turns he seems to be to the point that he can be in multiple places at the same time and soon she starts believing that maybe he is pure evil and that he had something to do with the death of her father.  It’s only a matter of time before the Paperboy’s advances become deadly violent and she soon believes that her own life is in danger.

Written and directed by Victor Salva this is a tense thriller similar to his previous film Nature of the Beast (1995) and just as thought provoking as both films pit two strong characters against each other in a battle of wills.  I’m not a particular big fan of McGowan but she does a really fine job in this film and has an equally supportive cast in Owens not to mention Lin Shaye, Lesley-Anne Down, Ray Wise and Lauren Luna Velez.  This is a very satisfying thriller with several twists that I wasn’t expecting.  A very enjoyable film.

Film Review: INSIDIOUS: CHAPTER 3 (2015)

Actor and writer Leigh Whannell finally steps behind the camera for Insidious: Chapter 3 (2015) a prequel to the immensely popular franchise about astro-projection, ghosts, and other things that go bump in the night.  Whannel has written all three films and takes over directing from frequent collaborator James Wan (who is only producing this film). The two started the Saw franchise together before moving onto Dead Silence (2007) and even Death Sentence (2007), in which Whannell has a small part.  Now Whannell has decided to tell the story of how it all began. 

Quinn Brenner (Stefanie Scott) is about to graduate high school and her dream is to get into the perfect theater school.  Unfortunately, she’s still not over the death of her mother from a year previously and after she is unsuccessful with talking to the spirit of her mother she seeks out help from psychic Elise Rainier (Lin Shaye), who has become a recluse following the death of her own husband and the fear of a vengeful spirit that wants to kill should she ever use her gift to venture out into the spirit world.  Elise warns Quinn that contacting the spirit world is dangerous because when you speak to one of the dead they all can hear you.  When Quinn is hit by a car and almost dies.  Instead she becomes bed ridden due her broken legs and is left at the mercy of her father (played by Dermot Mulroney).  The only problem is that upon almost dying she gets a glimpse of The Further (the realm between the Light and the Darkness) and an angry spirit The Man Who Can’t Breathe (an amazing Michael Reid MacKay) latches onto her and refuses to let her go.  Now Elise must conquer her fears in order to save Quinn from a fate worse than death.

For fans of the franchise this is a great way to give Elise (and Shaye) her due as she was a small character in the previous films.  This is a film about a woman trying to pick up the pieces of a broken life and find a way to overcome her fears to order to battle great evil.  Returning from the previous films is also Specs and Tucker (Whannell and Angus Sampson, respectfully) as Elise’s “sidekicks” and even her old friend Carl (Steve Coulter), from Chapter 2.  There are also many links to the previous two films (which should make fans really happy) but none of these take away from the enjoyment of this film for those that may not have seen the first two films.  This film stands on its own two feet in the same way as Underworld: Rise of the Lycans (2009) did for that franchise.

Now, this film may have lost some of its surprises due to it being the third film in the series but this does not diminish the fact that this is a strong film because all the performances are spot on (and it’s great to see Shaye given the opportunity to finally shine) and Whannell has learned a lot from Wan as the style between the films is consistent.  Fans should not be disappointed as this is a great way to see where the franchise goes from here.