PutLocker
Short Review: When Duffy, an exotic dancer is murdered. Her sister, an TV newscaster goes undercover to find out what exactly is happening. The problem is that Duffy is resurrected from the dead
Full Movie on PutLocker
Tuesday, September 30, 2014
After Midnight
PutLocker
Short Review: When Duffy, an exotic dancer is murdered. Her sister, an TV newscaster goes undercover to find out what exactly is happening. The problem is that Duffy is resurrected from the dead
Full Movie on PutLocker
Silent Retreat
IndieGoGo
Project Summary
Silent Retreat is Tricia Lee's first film. In December 2011, she attended a 10-day silent meditation retreat. Her writing partner Corey Brown told her "think of a thriller while you're there". And when the kernel from Tricia's experience was fertilized with the creative juices from Corey's mind, so Silent Retreat was born.
Logline:
In this quiet horror film, Janey is sent to a silent meditation retreat in the middle of the woods for rehabilitation, only to discover that the men who run it are brainwashing women to be quiet and submissive, and if she breaks the rules, she'll discover what lurks beyond the trees ...
Your contribution will help us share the theme of this movie with audiences around the world. This isn't just a bloody, scary creature feature. It's about women letting their voices be heard and standing up because they matter in this world.
We raised just enough money to finish shooting the movie. It was a bare bones budget and everyone came out and worked (crazy long hours, over night, in the cold) for free. We are looking to raise $30,000.
MEDITATION MAY LEAD TO DEATH ‘SILENT RETREAT’ – MOVIE REVIEW
Ever since Jason Voorhees stalked the residents of Camp Crystal Lake in the original Friday the 13th movie, isolated retreats have been a firm staple of the horror genre. We’ve had summer camps and bible camps but what about meditation camps? What ghoulish new fun can we have there?
The answer can be found in Tricia Lee’s film Silent Retreat in which Chelsea Jenish plays Janey, a young woman who is sent to a silent meditation retreat for a course in social rehabilitation to avoid spending time in jail. Whilst there, Janey quickly realises that there is more to the camp than meets the eye; it becomes apparent that the men in charge of the camp are using brainwashing techniques to control the women on the course and make sure that their strict rules are adhered to. Janey starts to formulate an escape plan, but first she’ll have to confront the shadowy presence that lurks in the surrounding woods.
Silent Retreat is very atmospheric from the beginning. The setting is eerily peaceful, an effect achieved with lush cinematography and a sombre, subtle tone which provides a bold contrast to the menacing screen presence of the sinister Doctor who runs the camp, played by horror stalwart Robert Nolan. Nolan gives a captivating and screen stealing performance throughout the film which is genuinely chilling to watch.
The film is also heavy on subtext; the strict rules of the camp seem to mirror the constraints of the larger world outside and the rulers of the camp send out a familiar message – conform or be punished! The women in the story are being oppressed by a male hierarchy that is run with the iron fist of traditional right wing Christian values. It’s not too much of leap to say that this could be a metaphor for misogynistic attitudes that exist in certain groups in America today. The film could also be viewed not only as a statement of how women are treated in society, but how they are portrayed in horror films; eye candy to be leered at by a predominantly male audience.
Another aspect of the film is how the imposed silence of the women at the retreat echoes the inability of women to speak out against injustices committed by tyrannical male regimes. Unfortunately, this promising premise struggles to live up to its potential because the film feels as if it’s trying to do too much at once. There are just too many ideas vying for attention and it doesn’t help that although the film’s lead is relatable, she is outshined by the supporting actors around her.
The film finds its way in the second half however, as the mysteries of the first half are explained and muted preposition gives way to thrilling action packed set pieces. One particular scene at this point is genuinely harrowing and emotionally powerful and this alone provides a satisfying climax to the preceding drama.
Silent Retreat is an accomplished film; what Tricia Lee does best is inject new life and fresh ideas into tried and tested horror genre staples and this film is no exception. If that sounds like something you want, then I’d urge you to give this film a watch. You’ll be pleasantly surprised.
SILENT RETREAT is currently available on VOD. It is directed by Tricia Lee and stars Chelsea Jenish, Robert Nolan, and Sofia Banzhaf. For more information on how you may see SILENT RETREAT visit their official website
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As Above As Below
Rotten Tomatoes
MOVIE INFO
Miles of twisting catacombs lie beneath the streets of Paris, the eternal home to countless souls. When a team of explorers ventures into the uncharted maze of bones, they uncover the secret of what this city of the dead was meant to contain. A journey into madness and terror, As Above, So Below reaches deep into the human psyche to reveal the personal demons that come back to haunt us all. Written by John Erick Dowdle and Drew Dowdle (Quarantine, Devil) and directed by John Erick Dowdle, the psychological thriller is produced by Thomas Tull, Jon Jashni, Drew Dowdle and Patrick Aiello. Alex Hedlund serves as the executive producer. (C)Universal
RogerEbert
I wish I could recommend "As Above, So Below" more strongly. It's that rare found-footage film with a strong premise, a memorably eccentric style, and plenty of energy to burn. It's also poorly conceived, and hard to watch. Normally, that's not such a terrible thing when it comes to B-horror films, the kind of genre fare that handily coasts on chutzpah alone. Then again, the novelty of exploring an already-confined space—subterranean Parisian catacombs—shot through a conspicuous fish-eye lens is only so endearing. That's the biggest stumbling obstacle preventing viewers from enjoying "As Above, So Below," a movie that's as close as recent horror films have come to approximating the feel of a haunted-house attraction. The film's violent, Richard Simmons-worthy shakey-camerawork evokes "Saving Private Ryan"'s Omaha Beach sequence. There's some great impressionistic visual cues throughout the film, as when dust and rubble scatter around the camera during the film's introductory scene. And the movie's cramped setting makes the film atmospheric enough to be frequently creepy. But when the film's protagonists finally put their rinky-dink digital head-rigs down, you will cheer, and it won't be for them.
Since it's a movie-shaped theme park ride, "As Above, So Below" is bogged down by way too much narrative baggage. Human-shaped plot point Scarlett (Perdita Weeks) is our guide through the French tunnels. A super-smart explorer in search of the Philosopher's Stone, Scarlett enlists the help of fraidy-cat language expert George (Ben Feldman, or Ginsberg from "Mad Men"), stoic cameraman Benji (Edwin Hodge), and full-of-it urban explorer Papillon (Francois Civil). Together with Papillon's companions Souxie and Zed (Marion Lambert and Ali Marhyar), Scarlett's group searches the French catacombs for the Stone, and inadvertently discovers what may or may not be a gateway to Hell. Along the way, they're improbably confronted with a laundry list of goofy ghosts and creepy objects, including a haunted telephone, an impossibly deep pool of blood, a burning car, and a malnourished—and probably undead—French raver named La Taupe (Cosme Castro).
This gruel-thin scenario is perfectly reasonable when you think of it in the context of crass real-life attractions like Berlin's Grusellkabinett, a haunted house attraction built on top of preserved Nazi bunkers. It's garish and excessive, but seeing stone gargoyles, anorexic witches, and hanged men in the midst of an already creepy setting can be fun when you accept that the name of the game is sheer overkill. Morever, Weeks and Feldman don't have to do much to sell their stick figure protagonists' enthusiasm. Feldman and Weeks are charming enough to make you believe that their characters really want to explore, and are therefore always thinking of new, moronic ways to discover the next secret chamber, push through the next tiny hole, and sneak past that one corpse that looks suspiciously like the Bad Seeds' Warren Ellis. You actually won't find fault with their generic need to see and do things that normal, semi-intelligent people know not to, like take the hood off of a hanged man's face. It's a bad idea, but not an offensive decision in a film that sometimes feels like a series of video-game cut scenes you cannot fast-forward through.
Then again, "As Above, So Below" falters most when it tries to be a movie. When Scarlett's group tries to assert themselves as people (!!!) haunted by personal trauma—dead dads, brothers, guys in cars, etc.—the film drags needlessly. Like, I'm sorry, but if you're going to wander around teeny-tiny tunnels that may or may not be the path to an infernal plane of existence, I don't really care what your pre-Hellmouth life was like. That stuff is for your therapist, not a 93-minute survival-horror adventure.
Still, if I could get a clear view of the ghost of your dead gallic buddy, or the aforementioned gargoyle that possibly (?) has took a bite out of your face, you could throw any number of dead friends, relatives, and notary publics at me. The makers of "As Above, So Below" earn points for trying to make their film look different than the preponderance of found-footage junk. But their distinctive, impressionistic camera-work is also head-splittingly alienating. Even viewers with cast-iron stomachs will want a barf-bag, a bottle of Dasani, and a strong shoulder to rest their head on just to prevent early on-set car-sickness. "As Above, So Below" is novel enough to be worth the price of admission, but you'll think twice before getting back in line for a second visit.
Full Movie on SolarMovies
Monday, September 29, 2014
Way of the Vampire
Rotten Tomatoes
MOVIE INFO
Dr. Abraham Van Helsing is granted immortality by the Catholic Church until he can hunt down the last vampire prince.
DreadCentral
Bram Stoker’s Way Of The Vampire (2005)
Starring Rhett Giles, Andreas Beckett, Denise Boutte, Paul Logan
Directed by Sarah Nean Bruce and Eduardo Durao
You know that old saying about how certain things being a dime a dozen. In the case of direct-to-video vampire movies, they’re a nickel a gross. Is there any single genre that has been done to death more than the vampire genre? The fact that vampire flicks are usually so cheap to produce makes it easy for them to get made, which in turn ups the ratio of good vampire movies to really, really bad vampire movies in the favor of the exceptionally sucky ones. Having sat through the abysmal Reign in Darknessand the damn near intolerable Frost: Portrait of a Vampire I can honestly say that my patience for such low budget vampire films has become so low that when I see a new direct-to-video vampire movie at the video store I barely give it a thought before moving on. Nonetheless, I decided to give Bram Stoker’s Way of the Vampire a try and much to my surprise, it turned out to be a halfway decent entry in this overdone genre.
Late 1800’s, Abraham Van Helsing sets out for one final showdown with Dracula, who is played by a guy that looks more like the kind of studly Dracula they would have cast on the soap opera Port Charles than the European count Bram Stoker conceived. While he’s off having his final showdown with the Lord of the Vampires, it turns out the man Van Helsing left behind to protect his wife was actually a vampire prince named Sebastian. He seduces her, feeds on her, and ultimately turns her into a vampire, whom Van Helsing is forced to kill. In order to save her immortal soul from eternal damnation, Van Helsing makes a pact with the Knights Templar to become immortal himself and will never be allowed into the kingdom of Heaven until he rids the world of all of the remaining vampire princes. Not all vampires mind you, just the really important ones.
Now in modern day Los Angeles…
Uh, the movie is called Bram Stoker’s Way of the Vampire. Did Bram Stoker back in the late 1800’s write a vampire tale set in 21st century California? I’m going to take a wild guess and say this movie isn’t really based on any of Stoker’s writing but they decided to slap his name on the title since it’s marketable and justify it because the film features characters he created. Well, it has a character he created. I don’t count Dracula since he gets killed off in the muddled prologue that opens the film, and in a most unspectacular fashion considering he is supposed to be the ultimate vampire. It’s so unspectacular that I honestly kept waiting for him to show back up again before the end of the movie. He doesn’t.
Anyway, it is now modern L.A. and Van Helsing is working undercover as a hematologist in a big city hospital. If you’re looking for vampires I guess it helps to work in and around blood. From the looks of things, his game plan is to continue working in the hospital and wait until vampire bite victims start showing up in the ER giving him leads to go on. That doesn’t really strike me as an effective preventative strategy to hunt down vampires.
Meanwhile, the vampires have become a sad lot forced to live like homeless drug addicts due to a combination of lack of leadership and fear of Van Helsing. That all changes when the bootylicious Nubian vampiress Arianna gives the ailing vampire prince Sebastian a good pep talk and a wee bit of blood to get his, well, blood pumping. Before you know it, Sebastian is growling like a werewolf to alert vampires everywhere else that he is back in charge of them and giving football coach-like pep talks about how it is their time again. He also begins dressing like a maestro. Taking a cue from their suddenly revitalized and flamboyant leader, the vampires begin to kill people at random while Arianna plots to do in Van Helsing. Sebastian would be on top of the whole kill Van Helsing thing himself if not for the pile of naked women currently on top of him for an orgy that seems to go on for days.
It isn’t long before the first vampire victim, a prostitute in the process of becoming a vampire herself, turns up at the hospital and Dr. Van Helsing proceeds to do away with her in a manner that makes one wonder how he could possibly explain her demise to hospital administration. He then visits the local Catholic priest and explains his situation via a series of flashbacks. It appears the whole vampires exist deal is common knowledge in the Catholic Church because the priest doesn’t bat an eye when being told any of this. Van Helsing needs some volunteer vampire hunters and the church provides them in the form of a group of random people that all look like they showed up to audition for a deodorant commercial but would up getting recruited to hunt Nosferatu instead.
I know I’ve spent much of this review so far ridiculing its cheesy nature, but the truth is that an honest effort was clearly made to tell an actual story and even develop a few characters, namely Van Helsing, Sebastian, and Arianna. Rhett Giles as Van Helsing is so reminiscent of Alexis Denisoff’s Wesley towards the end run of “Angel” that it’s almost uncanny at times, and Andreas Beckett’s Sebastian is amusingly over the top, sort of like a pro wrestling version of Lestat. Denise Boutte’s Arianna comes across like a Buffy villain, especially during the big battle where she promptly rips off her dress to reveal her skintight leather fighting gear. Even the overall quality of the acting here is surprisingly good save for one or two characters. That’s a rare thing indeed.
Don’t get me wrong; there are plenty of complaints and frustrations to go around. The film practically comes to a halt while we are treated to a series of lengthy vignettes of Van Helsing training these novice vampire hunters, most of which are played for laughs even though they aren’t even remotely funny. The movie would have been much better off if it had just stuck to dealing with him as the lone vampire hunter. The vampires’ plot against Van Helsing involving taking his girlfriend hostage would have worked better if I had actually been aware that female nurse was supposed to be his love interest, a fact I was unaware of until the vampires said so. And outside of the three main characters, none of the other characters are given anything even resembling character development or at the very least a distinct personality.
Oh yeah, my biggest frustration goes out to either the filmmakers’ that could use a few audio lessons or the people that authored the DVD because the dialogue track was several notches lower than the rest of the film’s audio. I had to crank up the volume real loud just to hear what was being said, and even then I still couldn’t make out certain lines. This also became annoying when the sound effects or the score got loud and would be blasting because I had to turn the volume up real high in the first place. Not cool, folks. Not cool at all.
In the end, Bram Stoker’s Way of the Vampire isn’t completely satisfying but still blows away the majority of the vampire flicks turning up on video store shelves these days. It may have been too ambitious for its meager budget and really could have used one more rewrite to flesh things out a bit more, but I’ve seen so many godawful low budget vampire flicks and Buffy/Blade rip-offs that Bram Stoker’s Way of the Vampire almost seems like a minor triumph just for being as enjoyable as it is despite its numerous problems.
Full Movie on PutLocker
Monday, September 22, 2014
And it goes
Rotten Tomatoes
Movie Info
There are a million reasons not to like realtor Oren Little (Michael Douglas), and that's just the way he likes it. Willfully obnoxious to anyone who might cross his path, he wants nothing more than to sell one last house and retire in peace and quiet -- until his estranged son suddenly drops off a granddaughter (Sterling Jerins) he never knew existed and turns his life upside-down. Clueless about how to care for a sweet, abandoned nine-year-old, he pawns her off on his determined and lovable neighbor Leah (Diane Keaton) and tries to resume his life uninterrupted. But little by little, Oren stubbornly learns to open his heart - to his family, to Leah, and to life itself - in this uplifting comedy from acclaimed director Rob Reiner. (c) Clarius
"And So It Goes" does what it needs to do for its target audience in thoroughly sufficient, mediocre ways. An unlikely romance between widows in their 60s, it aims to charm older, underserved moviegoers—those who get a "The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel" or some such only about once a year—but it does so with barely a trace of wit, verve or inspiration.
It’s fine. It’s just not good.
It’s also not "As Good As It Gets," even though both films share the same screenwriter (Mark Andrus), misanthropic male protagonists and interchangeably forgettable titles.
Rob Reiner is firmly in late-career mode here, playing it safe and hitting all the expected notes as he directs veterans Michael Douglas and Diane Keaton, who are nothing if not total pros as they try to breathe life into such strained material. During the moments when "And So It Goes" isn’t overreaching for wacky laughs or going all gooey and soggy—when Douglas and Keaton’s characters have the opportunity to open themselves up to each other, quietly—Reiner’s film can be effective and even enjoyable. But those moments are rare.
More often, they’re bickering or awkwardly flirting as they reach their inevitable destination of canned romantic bliss.
Douglas, as longtime Connecticut real estate agent Oren Little, is very much in the mode ofJack Nicholson’s curmudgeonly "As Good As It Gets" character, Melvin Udall. He’s turned cranky and cruel since his wife’s death from cancer a decade ago, unleashing his vitriol on children and the elderly, strangers and longtime colleagues alike. He’s a casually racist drunk and he hates dogs. Surely he is due for a change of heart.
Keaton co-stars as Leah Hartman, Oren’s next-door neighbor in the quaint, waterfront fourplex where he’s living while he tries to sell his $8.6 million mansion. Her husband also died a while ago; since then, she’s tried to reinvent herself as a lounge singer and serves as the building’s de facto den mother. (Reiner stops the film for large portions of time to let Keaton warble classic tunes in a heartfelt whisper. It is very uncomfortable to watch.) Basically, she is every character Keaton has played for the past decade or so: flighty and full of supposedly lovable tics and quirks. Surely, she will facilitate Oren’s change of heart.
Actually, they change each other in speedy, implausible ways: He helps her toughen up, she helps him soften. Nothing here is a spoiler. The outcome is evident from the poster alone.
Here’s what forces the feel-goodery: Oren’s estranged son (Scott Shepherd), a recovering heroin addict, shows up one day out of nowhere and announces he has a 9-year-old daughter (Sterling Jerins). He also needs Oren to care for said daughter while he goes off to prison for the next nine months (for something he didn’t actually do, naturally). Do you think it’s possible that Oren and Leah will learn how to come together and function as a makeshift family for this shy, sweet little girl?
Oren has a penchant for saying the wrong thing at the wrong time—that is, until he promptly turns around and says the most perfect, poignant thing when it’s needed most. Similarly, in a moment that’s meant to be a sad goodbye, Oren will crack a terrible joke and ruin the mood. Reiner repeatedly makes these jarring shifts in tone, but mostly is working in sitcom mode. Whenever a Rottweiler appears, for example, you know it’ll either a) take a dump on the lawn or b) hump a giant, stuffed teddy bear.
Reiner himself actually appears in a small role as the supportive, toupeed pianist who accompanies Leah as she performs at a local restaurant. At one point while picking her up for a date, he accidentally steps onto a Slip ‘N Slide, falls flat on his butt and gets soaked. It’s an apt metaphor.
Full Movie on PutLocker
Survivor
IMDb
During their search for a habitable planet the last living humans crash-land on a barren world, inhabited by bloodthirsty aliens and mysterious post-apocalyptic war.
CinemaCrush
Survivor Synopsis
During their search for a habitable planet the last living humans crash-land on a barren world, inhabited by bloodthirsty aliens and mysterious post-apocalyptic warriors.
Full Movie on PutLocker
Community
PutLocker
Short Review: Right off the bat, the first minute starts with an excruciating scream that pulls you right in to the story. I don't want to give too much away, because this is one of those disturbingly entertaining horror thrillers that are better when you go in not knowing what to expect.
Full Movie on PutLocker
Sunday, September 21, 2014
The Maze Runner
Rotten Tomatoes
Movie Info
When Thomas wakes up trapped in a massive maze with a group of other boys, he has no memory of the outside world other than strange dreams about a mysterious organization known as W.C.K.D. Only by piecing together fragments of his past with clues he discovers in the maze can Thomas hope to uncover his true purpose and a way to escape. Based upon the best-selling novel by James Dashner. (c) Fox
The Maze Runner” is so clearly an attempt to cash in on the craze for YA adaptations that you may feel your standards drop almost immediately. The movie sits somewhere between “The Hunger Games” and “Divergent” in quality — and rips them both off thematically, with a little “Lord of the Flies” thrown in for extra literary cred.
Fortunately, though, director Wes Ball and his outstanding young cast work unusually hard to counter the derivative feel.
Dylan O’Brien is Thomas, a teen who wakes up to find himself in a strange land populated only by boys. Alby (Aml Ameen) is the leader, who keeps order with steady Newt (Thomas Brodie-Sangster) and hot-headed Gally (Will Poulter).
As Thomas’s bunkmate Chuck (Blake Cooper) explains, they have been kidnapped and dropped in a lush glade, with no instructions other than to survive. So they grow their own food and make their own laws until they figure out why they’re there.
The primary rule is to respect the towering wall that surrounds them. Every morning, the wall opens and the fastest boys — the “runners” — explore the stone maze beyond, in hopes of finding an exit to the outside world. And every night they return before the wall closes, and the maze’s hideous monsters come out to hunt.
Thomas is doubtful about this plan. It hasn’t worked so far and answers none of his questions about the labyrinth or its unseen creators. But as he pushes limits, luring the monsters and exploring their territory, the dangers increase.
There is no complex subtext here, no engaging base on which to rest this simple plot. The maze’s evil creator (Patricia Clarkson) exists solely to move the action forward. The group’s only girl (Kaya Scodelario), who arrives toward the end, is so underused she feels like a token gesture.
But the actors are exceptionally strong, especially for unknowns starring in a young adult thriller. Each one finds a way to make his stock role stand out, and feel real. Making his feature directorial debut, Ball tries hard to keep us engaged, with deft pacing and urgent action scenes that seem smartly tailored to the movie’s teen audience.
No, there’s nothing new here. But sometimes it’s enough to be merely entertained, rather than amazed.
Full Movie on Pubfilmno1
No Good Deed
Rotten Tomatoes
Movie Info
Terri (Taraji P. Henson), a devoted wife and mother of two, lives an ideal life that takes a dramatic turn when her home and children are threatened by Colin (Idris Elba), a charming stranger who smooth-talks his way into her house, claiming car trouble. The unexpected invitation leaves her and her family terrorized and fighting for survival. (C) Sony
Summary:
House of the Witch Doctor
IMDb
- Evil wreaks pure havoc and bloody murder upon Leslie Van Hooten, a beautiful young girl, and her unsuspecting fellow grad students as they make their way to her family's extravagant and yet isolated estate. Peter (Bill Moseley- Texas Chainsaw Massacre 3D, House of 1000 Corpses) and Irene Van Hooten (Leslie Easterbrook- The Devil's Rejects, Police Academy), the young girl's mother and father, leave the group alone for the weekend, so that she may mourn the anniversary of her boyfriend's shocking murder. But the peaceful weekend soon turns to hell when they find themselves being savagely terrorized by Cliff Rifton (Allan Kayser- Night of the Creeps, TV's Mama's Family), a crazed and recently released career criminal, and Buzz Schenk, his drug addict side kick whom are hell bent on raging a torturous killing spree. But as the horrifying acts begin to unfold, the killers soon realize all is not as it seems in this house. And when some strange people from the neighborhood show up, Rose (Dyanne Thorne- Ilsa She Wolf of the SS) and Emmett (Howard Maurer- Ilsa Harem Keeper of the Oil Sheiks), the tables are turned. Now everyone is trapped inside and as the unheard screams and the body count begins to rise, it seems that death is now the only real escape from the "House of the Witch Doctor".- Written by Chazz Demoss
The all-star cast of Bill Moseley, Leslie Easterbrook, and Allan Kayser isn't enough to redeem this movie about a home invasion that takes a Satanic turn. Director Devon Mikolas has only one previous directorial effort, and it's a short called Salvation by Blood. To his defense, I can't say that House of the Witchdoctor is just poorly shot, because it lacks a lot of everything and comes off like no one involved wanted to bring their A game to this project.
With Bill Moseley and Leslie Easterbrook involved, I expected a more gratifying experience. I mean, these two have become horror icons amongst fans due to their quantity of horror movie involvement, and because of the roles they play that have become famous. You know Bill Moseley primarily from his work in The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2 as 'Chop-Top', and Otis from Rob Zombie's cult classic's House of 1000 Corpses and The Devil's Rejects. Actress Leslie Easterbrook is known for her role as Mother Firefly in The Devil's Rejects along side Bill Moseley. Easterbrook is also known for her work in television likeMurder, She Wrote and Fantasy Island. And, you all know Allan Kayser as Bubba Higgins on the TV series Mama's Family. Since Mama's Family, Kayser has been hardly involved in the movies and TV business, but he's done a few small projects here and there, mostly within the last few years. Now I can't say that I honestly expected a grand master performance from Kayser, but for Bill Moseley and Leslie Easterbrook to both drop the ball as couple Peter and Irene Van Hooten, puts this films standing in treacherous territory. First of all, they're hardly in it. They're names are simply used front and center on promotions like the poster and DVD/Blu-ray covers to simply gains sales off of their names because they're so well known and respected. They appear in the movie for only moments here and there at the beginning and the end, so the movie was rested on the shoulders of the remaining cast. The problem is, it's carried by people who simply aren't fit for the job. That on top of disappointing performances by the "big names" really puts this movie in shambles. The dialogue and it's deliverance is peculiarly horrendous and really pulled me out of the movie and into a defeated gazing stare at the screen.
The whole concept and storyline are mundane at best. There's a lot of ex-con stereotyping as Cliff (Allan Kayser) spends his first night out of prison getting drugged up and looking for trouble. He Beats up a drug dealer for no reason other than to start trouble, and he physically abuses the dealer's girlfriend on top of raping her and stabbing her. Then we see him and his partner in crime (quite literally) go after a group of young adults who just so happen to be the so-called supporting cast. We see some gore at the end of the movie involving Peter and Irene, but it's mostly done off screen with cheap sound effects to try and build the illusion that they could afford the effect they're attempting to pull off. The decapitation scene towards the movie's conclusion is honestly the worst one I've seen in a very long time. It's just not believable, and it's done very lazily. What FX we do see, like torso skin removed and a human heart removed, are terrible and look like glorified props that you can buy at the local Jokes R Wild store. The worst part about it all is that there isn't even a payoff at the end. There's no plot twist, or some sort of really cool special effect, or anything that vindicates watching it.
The thing that killed this movie's potential, equaled with the acting, is how expected everything is. We've seen movies of this caliber done better, like House of the Devil, Kill List, and Malevolence. All of which start off as one kind of flick, and take a drastic turn (via some killer plot twist) and totally transition into another. And it's totally cliche too. Like when a call gets made to the police about there being two rapists and murderers tormenting the house guests, only one cop by his lonely self shows up to access the situation. Yeah, that's realistic, especially nowadays when you'll get two cop cars full of cops on you just for speeding. There's also the old crazy psychic routine we've seen before countless times in which a geriatric person warns the innocent not-yet victims about impeding doom. Just look at Ralph from Friday the 13thfor a prime example of what I mean. However, in this case it's an elderly African American woman who's homeless. Either way, she goes ignored and no one heeds her warning, which is also typical. One of these days, I'd really like to see a genre picture where someone actually listens to the advice they are given and avoids the trouble. Only thing is, we wouldn't have a movie if the characters were smart. Maybe that would have been for the better, quite honestly. To top it all off, the satanic crew at the end are adorned in farm clothes and wear sacks on their heads, which again we've seen before. You can countFriday the 13th Part 2, and The Strangers down as two movies that share this idea of sack-headed villains. But there's many more, including The Town that Dreaded Sundown. The whole idea is just so exhausted it bores me just thinking about it.
Tally that up, and you get a whole lot of uneventfulness with a ton of cliches that honestly left me wanting the 90 minutes of my life back that I wasted watching it. There's no reason I can think of that could possibly make me ever view this again. I can only hope that Bill Moseley and Leslie Easterbrook either pick better projects to be a part of, or give more of themselves in the future. Just having a semi-household name isn't enough to keep a career in good stature, you do actually have to put forth some sort of effort. And as they say, you're only as good as what you've done lately.
Full Movie on PutLocker
Ghost Son
Rotten Tomatoes
Movie Info
Devastated by the recent loss of her husband and convinced that her newborn child is the product of a disturbing supernatural encounter, a suicidal American woman living on a remote ranch in South Africa turns to the local shamanistic traditions in a desperate bid to exorcise the evil that surrounds her. Stacey (Laura Herring) and Mark (John Hannah) were starting a new life in South Africa when Mark was suddenly killed in a violent car accident. Later, lost in her grief and intent on taking her own life, Stacey is cast into the throws of ecstasy during a nocturnal visit from her husband's disembodied spirit. Shortly thereafter, Stacey gives birth to a baby boy who she becomes convinced is Mark's child. It's not long before the single mother begins to suspect that the spirit of her late husband has taken possession of her young child's soul in an otherworldly attempt to kill her from beyond the grave. As the young boy's behavior grows increasingly disturbing, his widowed mother realizes that the Shamanistic traditions of Africa may provide the only means of saving their endangered souls. Pete Postlethwaite and Coraline Cataldi-Tassoni co-star. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi
A widowed newlywed stays on her deceased husband's South African farm, then bears a child who seems to be possessed by the dead man.
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