I have use Tom idea for a marathon and let DVD Profiler decide what I'll watch for the next weeks. My rules for the selection was simple : everything except teleseries, recent blockbuster and adult movie.
This is the result :
The Devil's rain
An American Haunting
El Rey
I'll Always Know What You Did Last Summer
The Wicksboro Incident
House of Frankenstein
Hooked
Tormented
The Card Player
Cannibal Apocalypse
Psychomania (never watch)
Cannibal Ferox
Silent Night, Deadly night
Manos the Hands of Fate (not the MSTK version)
Hell of the Living Dead
The Molesters
Garden of the Dead
Maniac
Tombs of the Blind Dead
Killing Machine (never watch)
Looker
I'll start tonight with The Devil's rain
An American Haunting
(http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51DJIhdzp1L._AA240_.jpg)
Years : 2005
Director : Courtney Solomon
Stars :
Donald Sutherland
Sissy Spacek
James D'Arcy
Rachel Hurd-Wood
Synopsis :
The story takes place in the 19th century. John Bell in a trial is found guilty of having made a loan at usurious rates to acquire a portion of the land of Kathe Batts. She is not satisfied with the sentence and she curse the Bell family. Gradually an entity attacks Betsy Bell, the daughter of John Bell. The following is the struggle of the family to protect her and try to overcome the curse.
Viewing experience:
This is another film that I've bought without knowing anything about it, but the subject seemed interesting to me. I must say that I've enjoyed the film up to a certain point who unfortunately ruined the film for me. I think the fault lies with Solomon, who wrote the screenplay: the Bell Witch is a « true story », but the reason of why it's happen in the movie have nothing to do with nothing. For those who don't know Solomon the only other film he has done is Dungeons & Dragons (2000), not a great reference. I have not seen the unrated version (I own the PG-13 version), but I think that the PG version is corect to tell the story and this is not something that I say often.
Postive points :
- The two main players (Sutherland and Spacek) are worthy of their status in the role of both parents
- Rachel Hurd-Wood is one of the best young actress I have never seen
- The special effects during the attacks are grandiose
- The film is one of the best in this genre in the recent years.Certainly better than "The Exorcism of Emily Rose" who came out the same year.
Negative points :
I'm very serious about the spoiler don't look at it if you want to see this movie
The end : Everything happens because John Bell had sexually abused his daughter, nothing in the film conduct to this conclusion. This is a complete invention and serves only for one reason make a contreversy where there is absolutely no need.
Rating : 4/5
Movie trailer : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WxcfXDBqpUQ (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WxcfXDBqpUQ)
More about the Bell Witch : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Bell_Witch (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Bell_Witch)
I'll Always Know What You Did Last Summer
(http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51PHNX4WDEL._AA240_.jpg)
Disclaimer
I didn't want to take movie sequel in my marathon, but one is slip on the list and I will do it anyway. For those who ignore this film is the 3rd in a series who began in 1997 with "I know what you did last summer", as the film has been a success a sequel was made the next year (I still know what you did last summer). This sequel was poor and ridiculous and it was a failure. Eight years later a second sequel was release directly on DVD.
Years : 2006
Director : Sylvain White
Stars :
Brooke Nevin
David Paetkau
Torrey DeVitto
Ben Easter
Synopsis :
If you have seen the first film you almost know the story, but let's go anyway. On July 4, a group of young make a bad joke at the city fair by simulating an attack by the Fisher Man. The joke turns against them when one of the pranksters is kill. They later make a pact to remain silent on the truth about the accident. A year later, a member of the pact receives the message that someone knows what happened. Who is after them? Who will survive?
Viewing experience :
I will be fast with this part. The experience was painful, one of the worst films that I own (the worst is Return of the living dead 5). Is it really one person who really wanted a sequel to "I still know what you did summer»? Why I spent $ 20 for that? And a lot of other existential questions have passed trough my head during those 90 minutes.
Positive points:
At least the picture looks better than the one I filmed with my camera 15 years ago
Negative points:
- The cast is compose of nobody having only small TV appearances to their credits
- I hate the MTV editing
- A lot of illogical situations more than the norm in the horror film. For example the lead actress receives a text message on her cell phone, she shows it to somebody who is on a platform about twenty feet tall and wearing a welding helmet and he had no difficulty to read it on the screen. The first to die have is neck cut by a hook (???) and his friends think it is a suicide, wake up there is a killer who wants to make you pay for the last summer event.
- The only way to make the viewer jumping is the music (almost positive since I have fallen asleep)
- In the first two movie there is a logical (for this type of film) reason for the actions of the killer. Not on this one
- The killer is the zombie Ben Willis. It has nothing to do with the accident, why he wants to get a revenge on the teenagers?
Rating : 1/5 (I'm generous, watching the nightime infopublicity is more rewarding)
Movie trailer (if you really care) : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8NwP8MFZqlk (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8NwP8MFZqlk)