My most recent '09 viewings:
The House of the Devil - a college student who has just finalized a deal for her own place needs money, so she takes a babysitting job. However, it turns out that the gentleman who hired her lied. She won't be babysitting children, but instead the man's mother... or so he says. She thinks of leaving, but is offered $400 dollars and stays. She'll wish she'd just trusted her instincts. The poster for this thing is a beauty. Truly a throwback to the older posters made for genre films in the 70's and 80's, it alone was enough to interest me in this movie. Alas, it doesn't live up to it's poster, though I guess that was often the case. Things start out well enough, but this is yet another film from the director of The Roost that takes a pretty threadbare plot and does little with it. After the initial setup, the film drags on and on as the lead feels uncomfortable with her surroundings. I'm a fan of slow build as much as the next guy, but there's a difference between that and being plain dull. Once we do get to the action, it's over almost as quickly as it began and it's nothing particularly out of the ordinary. Not really worth waiting that long while nothing happens. I also feel that the girl would have split pretty quickly, even if the house was in the middle of nowhere. On the upside, Jocelin Donahue is a solid, appealing lead. I'd love to see her in more things. The atmosphere is also pretty thick at times and the thing does feel like an older style horror film. I wanted to like this one more, but Ti West needs to do a better job with pacing in the future.
The Fourth Kind - through archive footage and reenactments, this film explores the account of several unexplained occurrences in the town of Nome, Alaska. Following her husband's murder, Dr. Abigail Tyler decides to continue his studies in Nome, which has to do with several patients being unable to sleep and witnessing a strange owl outside their bedroom windows. Suicides, disappearances and possible alien abductions are also involved. I actually thought this was quite effective. The split screens and intercutting took some getting used to at first. It's a unique way of telling a story, and I felt that it paid off. Redundant? Sure, but refreshingly ambitious at the same time. Milla Jovovich was very good here. Will Patton is an underrated actor, but he goes a bit too over the top as Nome's sheriff. Elias Koteas is just sort of there. The mood is very eerie throughout, and there were two scenes that hit me pretty hard, the first one quite unexpectedly. That one was when Jovovich plays back the recording she made in her bedroom. The whole thing sent a literal chill through me, particularly the scream. That is without doubt one of the most piercing screams I've heard. The other was briefly shown in the trailer, what the cop sees above the house. I've said before that I'm a sucker for catching brief glimpses of something unnerving, and this is a perfect example of such an instance. The film isn't without fault. The plot point with Tyler's son felt cliche and the resolution to the husband murder storyline is underwhelming, but I was pretty impressed with the film as a whole. The fact that it's all fiction didn't detract from my enjoyment.
The Box - based on Richard Matheson's story, Button, Button. A man (Frank Langella) delivers a box to a family's doorstep. In it is a "button unit", a contraption that will bring about the death of a person that no one in the family knows, but only if either the husband (James Marsden) or wife (Cameron Diaz) pushes the button. Why would they do such a thing? Because pushing the button will also see them rewarded a million dollars. Richard Kelly's latest directorial effort is quite entrancing. It's interesting that this film is titled what it is, as Kelly makes films that are very much outside the box and I hope he doesn't change. While I feel that this is the weakest of his three works, it's still full of intriguing ideas. I will say that this is Kelly's most elegant film to date. The look lends it a certain class. I loved the 70's decor and particularly the NASA sets. The atmosphere as a whole comes of as rather ethereal in feel. There's also Langella, who has an air of elegance about him even with half his face missing. The story itself has a few hiccups, perhaps due to being cut down from the director's nearly three hour original. That said, I don't think this material warrants such a lengthy running time, and what's here works well enough in spite of the flaws. Exploring themes of morality and altruism, Kelly heads off in directions that could only come from the mind of the man behind Donnie Darko and Southland Tales. The library scene especially is so Kelly-esque that I'm sure I would've guessed the director had I not known beforehand. Another thing I liked was how the film plays with your expectations at one point in reference to the 80's Twilight Zone episode that also adapted this story. And hey, Cameron Diaz wasn't as irritating as usual. That in itself is some accomplishment.
Edited by Justin_S - 11/9/09 at 5:58am
