[Freya-dæg] Shocktober Pt.3:Making some Noise about Silent House

{Silent House's movie poster, found on Wikipedia.}

Introduction
Plot Summary
The Good
The Bad
Judgment
Closing

Introduction

Based on Gustavo Hernández's independent horror film, Casa de Muda, this week's movie is a chilling one.

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Plot Summary

Sarah (Elizabeth Olsen), her father (Adam Trese), and her uncle Peter (Eric Sheffer Stevens) have returned to their old vacation house to prepare it for sale. But, if working in a big, old house isn't bad enough, there are stories of people who have been squatting in this vacation home while Sarah and her family have been away.

What's more, Sarah hears things as she works her way through sorting old possessions. Her father and her uncle say it's just an old house, but Sarah's ears aren't the only thing deceiving her when she begins to see people who, on second glance, appear not to be there at all.

When faced with strange stories, noises only you seem to hear, and things that only you can see what could be worse than a Silent House?

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The Good

The overlooked indie horror movie of 2012, Silent House, has quite a bit to offer.

Much like The Screaming Skull it shows its mastery of atmosphere early on, but rather than pumping up the tension to the point where our patience bursts and we wind up with something comedic rather than horrific, Silent House knows how to moderate its tension. In that regard, this movie is to The Screaming Skull as Edison's DC electrical system is to Tesla's AC system.

Helping to maintain this atmosphere is ace camera work by Igor Martinovic. His handling of angles and long shots is not only effective but convincing when it comes to showing us what perspective we're seeing everything through. Much of the movie is shot so that Sarah is the focus, and paired with the single camera approach, this is a dynamite movie for cinematography. In fact, it should definitely be looked at as a reference for communicating perspective through film.

{Throughout most of the movie the camera focuses on Sarah; putting Peter in front of her fantastically expresses his protective role.}

Of course, the bread and butter of any horror movie couldn't be moderated by cinematography alone. The movie's script and direction are also great at stringing out just enough frights throughout the movie to release excess tension and to make way for more.

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The Bad

However. Silent House's strengths are met by its major flaws.

As an experiment in what I'd consider first person film, we aren't given the same information that we'd get if we had different character perspectives or even a script that allowed for omniscient (or near omniscient) story telling/filmography. Because we lack the sort of information that could only be delivered explicitly if we were privy to another character's perspective, we're given an ending that is a shock, but not in an expected way.

At the risk of spoiling the ending - here I go - rather than a final moment that sends shivers up and down your spine (as Paranormal Activity did for me), we get something softer, more akin to the ending of Shutter Island, or Inception even.

It's not a bad ending in and of itself, but it's not what's expected from a horror movie, especially one that tries so hard to combine jump scares with more psychological frights. Ultimately, however, the movie's attempt to balance these two makes it much more lopsided.

It also doesn't help that one of the actors simply has a presence that suggests his/her involvement in some unsavoury activities.

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Judgment

Silent House is a sleek, and considerable horror/thriller.

It makes effective use of camera work to tell its story and to create atmosphere.

It withholds a little too much information, and its ending suggests that the next scene could be more interesting than everything that came before it.

This movie's a strange beast because it's really quite a strange movie when considered. Much like Shutter Island it plays with perspectives, and there are twists throughout, but the thing is that despite its admirable attempt to be a story told mostly in the first person, what's lost as a result leaves us to piece far too much together.

This challenge that Silent House presents is a welcome one, and can make for an engaging movie experience, but it's not engaging if you're not willing to do some speculating throughout your watching of it.

Nonetheless, it still offers some chilling scares and an ending that, as far as soft, conversation-generating endings go, is better than Inception's. And for that, as well as Igor Martinovic's masterful work behind the movie's single camera, this is one to save, I say, Freya.

So swoop low and lift this one from the muck and mire - it's a movie to be seen and to be talked about for what it does right as much as what it loses in trying to do too much.

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Closing

Check back here tomorrow for Annotated Links #22!

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[Freya-dæg] The (Good) Samaritan

{The Samaritan's movie poster, found on IMDb.}

Plot Summary
The Good
The Bad
Judgment
Closing

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Plot Summary

Foley (Samuel L. Jackson) has just finished his 25 years in the joint and he's eager to start fresh. He meets with his parole officer, gets himself a job - and reconnects with his old partner's son, Ethan (Luke Kirby).

But Foley's chance meeting with Ethan almost causes his undoing, as it introduces the fiery Iris (Ruth Negga) into his life and threatens to pull Foley back into the very world that he wants so dearly to escape.

But meeting Iris quickly becomes a great thing for Foley. The two become more and more intertwined as a couple. In fact they become so close that there are no secrets between them. Except, as Foley finds out from Ethan, one. It's a secret that could tear Foley and Iris apart and twist the knife that knowing the secret himself has thrust into Foley's heart.

Ethan uses this secret as leverage to bring Foley in for one more big score. But will Foley go along with it? Will he be able to keep Iris in the dark or will she be able to handle the terrible truth? Most importantly, even if forced once more into the world that he vowed to leave behind, can Foley emerge once more as The Samaritan?

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The Good

For a Canadian film, The Samaritan is a slick picture that weaves a wondrous atmosphere around its viewer. From the dank streets of Toronto to a moody, Peter-Gabriel-esque sound track, this movie is one that offers more than just an escape, it offers a rewarding journey through the darkest of places.

Samuel L. Jackson gives a much more muted performance than in most of his other movies, as his is a character who's more reflective than violent. But this works well with the other elements of the movie and really helps to sustain its atmosphere. Also, Luke Kirby plays a perfect slime ball, while Ruth Negga does well as an addled lost woman.

{Foley, confronted by Ethan's questions of why he killed his father.}

But slick production values and strong casting aside, this movie pulls out one of the few trumps in the noir genre: the Oldboy card.

The twist that Oldboy deploys in its narrative is more elaborately delivered, but the pared down version found in The Samaritan is incredibly effective. What's more, it also takes some extra time to give greater depth to the entanglement between characters. Further, this device is such a rarity in Western cinema that it comes as a welcome surprise.

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The Bad

At the same time, The Samaritan is not without its problems.

The pacing of Foley and Iris' relationship is too fast, for starters. Not that a guy who's just gotten out of prison wouldn't fall for a girl like Iris as quickly as he does, but rather there's very little chemistry between them until Foley takes the initiative.

This makes sense, since Foley plays as the world-weary and in-control ex-con all the way through, while Iris is very much caught up in the world of the pimp's fist: opening to dispense coke, and closing to dole out cruel slavery. This dynamic later becomes something more, as Foley strives to help Iris get herself straightened out, but their bumpy start can't be ignored.

The movie's initiating moment, the one that sets up Ethan's and Foley's motivation for the whole of the movie, is also questionable.

In this moment, Foley is faced with the choice of seeing his best friend and partner being killed before being killed himself, or killing that friend, taking the fall, and having to live through prison. The way that this moment is introduced and then developed over the course of the movie does nothing to show us why Foley chose to live rather than die a Roman death.

After all, when he comes out of prison everything has changed, everyone he meets from his old life says that what they did was "1000 years ago," and he has no connections on the outside whatsoever. We don't even see any reason for Foley to have killed Ethan's father aside from his own cowardice (or, in Ethan's words, "to save his sorry ass").

It could be argued that this is how we're supposed to regard Foley throughout the picture, but this doesn't jive with his actual character as we see him. Throughout the movie he's calm, collected, and entirely together - he knows exactly what he's doing, how to do it, and how to keep calm while doing it. His is not the shakey hand of the coward, but the steady one of the expert.

Maybe there was some pivotal, off-camera moment in prison that turned him from craven to maven, but we don't see it and this creates a distracting disconnect between his apparent motivation for saving himself rather than just dying with his friend. And since the moment in which Foley made this decision is what leads to the rest of the movie, the plot itself is undermined.

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Judgment

The Samaritan is a movie that very clearly explains its own lukewarm reception.

Samuel L. Jackson is famous for starring in movies that grab your attention, shake you for an hour and a half and then leave you reeling. Likewise, film noir is a genre known for characters and plots that seize your interest and sweep you around from situation to situation until things conclude in a twist of some sort. Combine these two together, and you rightfully expect a twisted thrill ride that delivers atmospheric, hard-boiled action.

However, this just isn't the case.

The thrills are there, as are the twists and the characters, but nothing necessarily grabs and holds you. The whole movie is better described as a film that very clearly proclaims "I'm noir! ...and I'll just be right over there, okay?"

To really appreciate this movie, you need to be willing to take an active role. Not so that you can follow its complexities, but becuase the movie's not going to do much holding for you. It's a movie to get lost in rather than to be lost in. And that is a very refreshing change from movies in the action/noir genre that try to bludgeon their viewers with madcap sprees.

So, Freya, find this one brooding in the Field of Fallen Films, and bring it up, for it's truly a one that deserves to be seen.

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Closing

Tomorrow, watch for Annotated Links #19, and on Sunday for a look back/look ahead entry.

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[Freya-dæg] Nicolas Cage Month Pt. 4: Seeking Justice Review

{Seeking Justice's movie poster, found on Wikipedia.}

Introduction
Plot Summary
The Good
The Bad
Judgment
Closing

Introduction

We close off Nicolas Cage month with a movie very similar to the one with which we opened. Seeking Justice, though not film noir and not a movie featuring a terribly over-the-top Nicolas Cage, is strikingly similar to Deadfall in that it's plot also tries to be a complex of twists and deceptions.

Both of these movies were veritable flops (taking in $12,355,798 out of a $30 million budget and $18,369 out of a $10 million budget respectively), but let's see just what's so bad about Seeking Justice - and what's good about it.

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Plot Summary

Wil Gerard (Cage) is just another high school English teacher in the modern city of New Orleans. He's married to the musician Laura Gerard (January Jones), friends with his school's principal (Harold Perrineau), and an all-around good guy.

But then the unthinkable happens - his wife is brutally attacked and raped. A strange man (Guy Pearce) asks a shaken-up Wil if he wants to wreak vengeance on the criminal responsible for his wife's condition, and he says yes. The hit happens and Wil has his vengeance, but the man who offered it can now ask a favor from Wil whenever one is needed.

As the mild-mannered English teacher gets deeper and deeper into this network of vigilantism, will he be crushed by its ever-encroaching presence or will he come out as the only one who's truly Seeking Justice?

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The Good

Seeking Justice is definitely an action/thriller that runs very much by the book. But, it has rigorously highlighted some key parts of that book.

Most rigorously of all, perhaps, the movie does a great job of making the viewer despise its villain. The precise moment when he reveals himself for what he is comes fairly late into the movie, but not so late as to make his getting his comeuppance any less satisfying. This underlines the hatred stored up for the character throughout the film.

The movie's major twist is also amazing, though if you're familiar with Lost it might be less of a surprise, since Perrineau is at the twist's center.

Also to the movie's credit, though it plays by the book, it knows well enough how to keep an audience's attention even amidst its clichés. For example, it becomes clear that Wil is going to be blackmailed at one point, but how the blackmail plays out is quite ingenious.

The movie also uses what it establishes, namely the network of vigilantes, in an excellent way.

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The Bad

Yet, at the same time, Seeking Justice does little to keep its pacing even.

The first and third acts are fine, but things sag in the movie's middle. This sag is caused mostly by things becoming too convoluted - it becomes unclear just who is a part of the network that Wil stumbles into and who isn't, not to mention why this should continue to matter as much as it does.

While this convoluted storytelling is definitely a good way to show the character's confusion, it isn't useful when it lasts as long as it does and makes little effort to connect with the rest of the movie. The second act would be greatly helped by a line like: "That Simon guy is no good, we want to get him out - permanently." Instead of being given such a signpost though, things just remain unclear.

Although his English teacher cred is definitely restored by a scene late in the movie, all of the other scenes involving this aspect of Wil's character just aren't that great. Instances of him teaching especially seem only to be used to show aspects of the character but without any kind of subtlety.

Ultimately, the movie's ending also lacks subtlety, as loose ends aren't tied off so much as they are cauterized. Major details that should have been addressed for proper closure are entirely ignored. In particular, Wil isn't called in to clarify the circumstances of a death that turns out to be a suicide and not a murder.

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Judgment

Seeking Justice is a fine example of a movie that can really reach an audience. It's also an example of a movie that doesn't try to remain aloof from the audience in that characters are easy to relate to. Though, empathy and sympathy are generated more by their situations than characters' individual traits or personalities.

Nonetheless, it's a movie that presents a good use of the elements that it introduces, and that can get you empathizing with the characters and their plight - if you let it.

It's not a great one, but it's messiness can be excused. So, Freya, when next you swoop for one nobly worthy, also grab this worthy one from the field of fallen films.

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Closing

That's it for Nicolas Cage month, but don't miss next week's short fantasy tale, editorial, and the search for the good in a generally frowned upon flic. Plus, watch for Annotated Links #12 and #13.

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[Freya-dæg] Nicolas Cage Month Pt. 3: Trespass Review

{Trespass's movie poster, found on Wikipedia.}

Introduction
Plot Summary
The Good
The Bad
Judgment
Closing

Introduction

For part three of Nicolas Cage Month Trespass is on the block. A film that came out to terrible reviews peppered with a few passing grades, Trespass was pulled from American theatres after only 10 days (in which it made back less than $25 000 of its $35 million budget). Let's see just how bad this movie is, and how Cage fares.

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Plot Summary

The Miller's are a wealthy family, living on a secluded wealthy estate where security is tantamount. Not just because Kyle (Nicolas Cage) is a diamond trader, nor just because Sarah (Nicole Kidman) is an architect - it's all about family.

But the Miller's notion of family comes under threat when a group of thieves invade their home, demanding that Kyle make the most dangerous trade of all - his money for his and his family's lives. Does he do the deal? Or do the robbers double cross him? Just who is in the right and who is in the wrong is hard to tell when everyone involved is bound to Trespass.

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The Good

Trespass offers some chilling moments that showcase the brutality of people when they're at their most desperate. It includes some strong performances from Kidman and Cam Gigandet (Jonah). But, most importantly, it showcases Nic Cage's specially adapted variety of acting.

{Move over, John Hodgman, there's a new Deranged Millionaire in town.}

Cage really shows what he's capable of in this movie. Every line of his dialogue is excellently delivered, and pitched excellently. Plus, Cage gets matched with a line that must have been written for his special brand of over-the-top acting: "That your filthy lust invited them in?"

The film is also plush with style and a smooth finish that are the result of the soundtrack, lighting, and camera work.

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The Bad

But, beneath those performances, and that style, beneath the lovely veneer, this movie is rotted through.

The core elements of any thriller, are suspense and tension. Trespass offers neither.

Aside from the home invasion element of the movie, its other focus is the strength of the Miller family.

Throughout the movie the bonds between Kyle and Sarah and them both and Avery are tested. Mostly, however, the fact that Kyle is always away on business is thrown at the audience and through the use of oddly placed flashbacks, we're told that Sarah may just have gotten a little too involved with the security system maintenance guy, who just so happens to be Jonah.

This could make for a compelling family drama, except for the fact that there is never anything at risk.

The flashbacks show nothing that is explicit about Sarah and Jonah having an affair, except for one picture which is shown to be the result of a set up shortly after it has first been displayed.

What's more, in an early scene Sarah wonders aloud about how much longer she'll have to wait before she stops caring that Kyle is never around - an indication that things aren't going well between them, but that she, up to this point, still cares enough about him to not cheat on him.

The movie's plot is also sluggish and built on a shakey foundation. The introduction to the Millers is fine, but the thieves are simply a group of ne'er-do-wells when they first arrive on the scene. They do a good job of this, definitely, but they constantly change their story, and this not only clouds their motivation, but frustrates rather than interests.

By the time the invaders' true reason for being there is revealed it's hard to really care.

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Judgment

Trespass scores high on two fronts: Acting and being very aptly titled. For this movie is indeed a trespass against interesting, suspenseful storytelling.

It has a handful of moments, both legitimately good and so bad that they're almost good, but so few moments do not a movie make.

Though it may try to talk you out of it, fly high over this one, Freya. Let it linger longer in that field of fallen films - perhaps a green shoot or wide-boughed tree will raise from where it lay.


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Closing

Next week is the last week of July, and so, the last part of Nicolas Cage month. The set of special reviews will be rounded off with a look at Seeking Justice, the story of how far a grief-stricken man will go to exact vengeance.

Plus, next week there will be a new piece of creative writing, an editorial article, and Annotated Links #10 and #11.

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[Freya-dæg] This Movie's Going, but not quite Gone

Plot Summary
The Good
The Bad
Judgment
Closing

Gone's movie poster from IMDb.}

The 2012 movie Gone is a curious, teen thriller – a mix of serious acting and general performance, and of overblown and interesting story telling.

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Plot Summary

A young woman named Jill Parrish (Amanda Seyfried) is convinced that her sister (Emily Wickersham) has been abducted by the same man who abducted her earlier. She brings this to the police, but they don't believe her as after her own incident she was put into a mental hospital and could never describe her assailant. So, since she desperately wants to get her sister back and put an end to a killer on the loose, she sets out on her own to try and find her sister.

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The Good

As far as thrillers go, this one is a little slow to start, but in the movie's final act the suspense is immense. This is true if you've ever driven down a lonely country road at night, with trees rushing by on either side, and the only side aside from crickets being the gradual crunch of the gravel under your wheels.

The way in which Jill goes around investigating her sister's abductor is also quite well done. It may not be the most believable, or the most realistic, but it's an interesting portrayal of the power of storytelling.

Much of the movie features Jill's going around town, essentially conducting a criminal investigation all on her own. But she doesn't just ask questions of those that she meets, she always introduces herself with a different story. And leading into questions with some sort of fabricated background detail (my bike was stolen, my grandma's car was stolen, my grandfather knows him, etc.) also does a lot to make you wonder about Jill's mental state.

However, it also might leave you with the unshakeable feeling that the scriptwriter, Allison Burnett, or producers, has a strong belief in the charm of blue eyed blondes.

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The Bad

Gone's biggest flaw is that it pushes the boundaries of believability. Yes, a large part of any thriller is suspending your disbelief, but there's too much in this movie that makes it difficult to really take too seriously.

First, the premise that she doesn't remember the killer's face. We see several flashbacks to her time in the killer's clutches and in all of them his face is obscured in shadow or he's turned away. And it is possible that because of whatever mental condition she may or may not have, she's blocked this face out of her mind. But, since we're never really sure about her mental state, we're never really sure if she's just lying about being able to remember his face.

Further, the movie is supposed to take place over the course of a day. And though Jill doesn't range all over the country or state or county, she does a whole lot of traipsing about the city in one day. Almost as if she doesn't need to worry about transportation between her destinations. Like the ability to suspend disbelief itself, a small time frame is essential to a good thriller, but here it feels like she does in what's supposed to be one day, the work of two or three.

And, most damning of all, is the way the movie ends. Yes, this will contain spoilers, so just carry on to the Judgment if you'd rather skip them.

At the end of the movie Jill's sister is rescued, the man behind her kidnapping is killed, and Jill returns to as normal a life as she can. However, the movie's final scene shows an anonymous package being opened by one of the cops that Jill dealt with earlier and him looking over various photos of the women that had been killed by the man who abducted her.

We also see that this package includes a map showing where all of the bodies are. This is definitely great evidence for the police, and a big help to the law, but it suggests that she's either entirely selfless or entirely lacking foresight. She killed the man responsible for all of the crimes that the movie focuses on in the place marked on the map as well, and when they find his body they're going to wonder what caused him to be at the bottom of that pit and sorely burned.

Even though leading the police to the bodies might not lead to a conviction since Jill could cite self-defense, it still means that she'd be called into court and risk some jail time. Her murder of the movie's killer is definitely satisfying, but showing what happens next turns that sweet taste much too sour.

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Judgment

Gone is a flawed movie with a story that is complete, but could use some solid direction. Is Jill mentally unwell or isn't she? If she was then why was she living alone? How did her case actually go when originally brought to the police after her initial abduction? Why are the police so reluctant to believe her? And what happened with the investigations into the other missing young women?

However, the suspense in the final act is genuine, and having the power of storytelling come to light throughout the movie really makes it an interesting thing to watch. It's flawed, but worthwhile.

So, Freya, drape down your hand and pull this one from the pit, it deserves a finer bed.

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Closing

Next week, check back here for the fourth part in my five part series on North Korea and the media surrounding the Bombardment of Yeonpyeong, an opinion on some of the newest news, and a hunt for the good in another critically declaimed movie.

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