Movie Review: THE AWAKENING (2011)

I love Rebecca Hall!  There I said it and it’s out there and so now I don’t have to apologize later.  Ever since I saw Hall’s performance in The Prestige (2006) I’ve been totally captivated by her.  The same can be said for her work in The Town (2010) which for me was the only reason to watch the film (although Jeremy Renner was also pretty damn good), so it should not come as any surprise that when I heard that she was taking center stage in the film The Awakening (2011) I was there.  Or at least I thought I would be.  The film never played theatrical near me so I never got the chance to see her take control on the big screen (yet, at least) so instead I had to wait for the film to finally make its way to disc. 

The film concerns a debunk-er of the supernatural by the name of Florence Cathcart (Hall) who has seen her fare share of charlatans but never a real supernatural event.  Troubled by memories of her own past as an orphan she soon finds her way to a prestigious London school for orphaned boys to help them dispel the rumors of the school being haunted after a young boy is found dead on the school grounds.  Thinking at first that the whole incident can be dispelled away by a couple boys whose prank went a little too far, Florence begins to see and feel things that shouldn’t be there and soon she begins to wonder whether or not the school is really haunted and that she is experiencing something truly supernatural that will ultimately change her forever.   Along for the journey is Robert Mallory (Dominic West) and Maud Hill (Imelda Staunton) who work at the school and hold secrets of their own and who try to help Florence uncover the truth.

Written by Stephen Volk and Nick Murphy (who also directs) this film is very tight in structure and moves at a brisk pace despite the haunting imagery.  It’s not just the characters that hold secrets but the place itself and Florence finds herself discovering details about herself that she had thought had long since been buried.  Despite the fact that the film offers very little for people versed in ghost stories and haunted house films, Hall does a terrific job in allowing the audience to discover everything from her perspective and her performance is so genuine that you can’t help but be captivated.  Also (just so you know I don’t just love Hall) Stauton gives another great supporting performance.  This film has a little bit of The Haunting (1963) mixed with The Others (2001) and for people who loved those films they will find a lot to love about this one as well.

Movie Review: SPIDERS (2013)

Spiders (2013) is one of those films where the trailer advertises it in 3D and its gets you excited because giant spiders coming out of the screen is the perfect way to spend an evening.  Too bad all the excitement was left in the trailer as this is a subpar horror film mainly because the film makers forgot that any film about a giant spider should first be fun and entertaining.  

 

When a Russian lab in space comes crashing down to the city a deadly breed of spider that has been genetically altered takes up residence in the city sewers and subway system.  The spider starts to breed uncontrollably feeding at first on the street people before moving onto bigger prey.  Only an estranged husband (played by Patrick Muldoon) stands in the way of a military cover-up that will see the birth of a super-spider which will advance military weapons division by decades (by producing virtually indestructible webbing).  Sounds like B-movie giant spider goodness to me except the film makers decide to play the material too serious by making Muldoon’s character trying to save his wife (Christa Campbell) and teenage daughter before the giant spiders completely over take the city.  

What’s missing from the film is any sense of fun – it’s a giant spider movie!  The breed of spider crafted for the film is actually interesting but like the remake of Piranha (2010), which was a fun movie, there has to be more than just a cool creature to carry the film.  There was lots of entertainment and fun to be had in the Piranha film but here the whole film is uninspired and cliché with very little thought put into crafting interesting scenes.  This is surprising considering that the director Tibor Takacs was the man behind the better than expected The Gate (1987) and I, Madman (1989) which were both fun and entertaining.  Even Takacs subpar sequel The Gate II (1990) was more fun than this dud.

Another annoyance is that the film is filled with dumb characters that do dumb things which if it happens once it’s fine but if it continuously happens throughout it’s just the film makers being lazy and not dotting the “I”s and crossing the “T”s.  A case in point is the fact that the main characters are constantly passing by guns and weapons left behind by dead soldiers (killed by the spiders) but never picking any of them up to defend themselves from the spiders.  The main character also continuously enters into the subway where he knows the spiders are breeding with complete disregard and let’s not forget that by the end of the film the city should be ravaged by giant spiders but once the big bad mama spider is defeated the rest of them just disappear as if it was all just a nightmare.  Where did all the other spiders go?  These may seem like small details to some but it’s these small details that become more annoying as the film drags along (and it does drag).  The CGI is laughable at times, which means that the 3D version probably wouldn’t have been that good and to make matters worse is the fact that none of the actors seem like they’re having fun in the film.  The film is about GIANT SPIDERS!  How can you not see the fun in that?  Eight Legged Freaks (2002) and Tarantula (1955) and even Arachnid (2001) were more fun that this film and if you want normal sized spiders then there’s always Kingdom of the Spiders (1977) and Arachnophobia (1990).

This is a film to bypass and just wait for the more fun and entertaining (at least title wise) Big Ass Spider (2013) which will see release later this year.

2013: FIRST QUARTER BOX OFFICE SMACK DOWN!

As usual with the first quarter of the year the Box Office sees a healthy amount of genre releases that tend to disappear just before summer Hollywood Block Buster time.  This year has had a couple of Box Office champs with the success of Mama and the Paranormal Activity spoof A Haunted House as well as the rom-zom-com Warm Bodies.  Early opening weekend success for Texas Chainsaw 3D did not translate to a complete success story nor did it bold well for Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters (although this film has done very well in the International market).  Despite the fact that Dark Skies and The Last Exorcism Part II underperformed they too had a little success if you take into account their meager production costs ($3.5 and $5 million, respectfully  ).  On the limited release front (where many of the films had a VOD release before a limited theatrical release) there was the success of John Dies at the End, Room 237, The Monk, and The ABC’s of Death.  There are also a couple of titles that defy explanation which includes Midget Zombie Takeover (with a production budget of only $2,000!) and Eddie the Sleepwalking Cannibal.  Surprisingly horror hasn’t disappeared yet from the Box Office as the success of the remake of Evil Dead and the re-release of Steven Spielberg’s Jurassic Park 3D so maybe there’s more of the summer horizon than we think.  Below is a list of the Box Office performance of this year’s film (figures gathered from Box Office Mojo – www.boxofficemojo.com).

1. MAMA - $71.6 MILLION

2. WARM BODIES - $65.7 MILLION

3. HANSEL & GRETEL: WITCH HUNTERS - $55.5 MILLION

4. A HAUNTED HOUSE - $40.04 MILLION

5. EVIL DEAD - *$35.2 MILLION

6. TEXAS CHAINSAW 3D - $34.3 MILLION

7. JURASSIC PARK 3D - *$25.5 MILLION

8. DARK SKIES - $17.2 MILLION

9. THE LAST EXORCISM PART II - *$15.2 MILLION

10. STOKER - *$1.7 MILLION

11. JOHN DIES AT THE END - $141,951

12. ROOM 237 - *$113,032

13. THE ABC’S OF DEATH - $21,832

14. THE SORCERER & THE WHITE SNAKE - $18,759

15. THE MONK - *$13,472

16. MIDGET ZOMBIE TAKEOVER - $6,251

17. EDDIE THE SLEEPWALKING CANNIBAL - $1,294

18. STORAGE 24 - $72

Movie Review: EARTH VS THE SPIDER (2001)

If you’re looking for the PG version of David Croneberg’s The Fly (1986) then Earth Vs The Spider (2001) will be right up your alley.  When a comic book nerd security guard botches a thief of the biochemistry lab that he’s paid to protect he decides to become the superhero he’s always read about - “The Arachnid Avenger,” by injecting himself with an experimental super drug.  At first the drug gives him superhuman strength and the ability to hear vibrations with a single touch of an object but when he starts being able to shoot webbing from his stomach he comes to the realization that he is continuously changing and evolving into something dangerous.  Soon he is a danger not only to himself but everyone around him especially when he begins to crave the taste of fresh blood.

Instead of being a serious take on the idea like Cronenberg’s The Fly this film goes more for the tone of its ‘50s predecessor.  This would all be a detriment to the film if not for the movie makers planting tongue firmly in cheek by having this the reverse of Peter Parker transformation into Spider-Man or if Parker had eventually turned into a giant man-spider.  The SFX make up are top notch especially with the final transformation when complete.  The film is fun for the crowd not looking for something too thought provoking despite all the cliché and old motifs and dated dialogue (which is part of the film’s overall charm) making it an entertaining and easily digestible film but not a film that will stay with you.

Movie Review: THE AFFLICTED (2010)

There’s one thing I have to hand it to the film makers behind the “Based on a True Story” The Afflicted (2010) and that is that they know how to use Leslie Easterbrook.  Easterbrook has made a comeback which started with Rob Zombie’s The Devil’s Rejects (and continued with the remake of Zombie’s Halloween and the 2008 version of Ted Dekker’s novel House) but now she’s popping up everywhere but in this film she takes center stage as an overzealous religious fanatic who starts to lose control when her husband (played by horror icon Kane Hodder) decides to leave her.  Being a horror film Easterbrook doesn’t let her husband leave quietly and she spends the rest of the film torturing her children whom she keeps locked up in the house.  Easterbrook puts Carrie White’s mother to shame and the film is better for it. 

Despite Easterbrook’s manic performance the rest of the film is not as interesting as from the beginning the audience wonders why the four children stuck in the domineering household just don’t get up and run away or pick up any of the household items available to use against their mother.  In the film Carrie (1976) we understand why she never leaves home which is because she has no friends and nowhere to go,  but Easterbrook’s children are not awkward or outcasts but seem “normal.”  By the time one of them decides to run away it’s too late and she doesn’t even run far enough away to actually get away but instead stops to hide in a shed where she is easily recaptured.

The film lacks any real focus and is meant to be a decent into madness and chaos but it really comes off as timid and unbelievable especially towards the final moments of the film.  Directed by Jason Stoddard, the film does a good job of letting Easterbrook do what she’s good at.  When she is not on the screen the film lacks the immediacy and carnage that she does so well.  Just imagine the scenes in Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer (1986) when Michael Rooker is not on the screen and you know what I mean.

The Afflicted is not a horrible film but it could have been one if not for Easterbrook.  This is a film for Easterbrook fans while much everyone else will probably just dismiss it as another anemic horror film.