Daily Archives: 07/17/2012

CRAZY EIGHTS-United States-2006

Traci Lords as Gina Conte

Dina Meyer as Jennifer Jones

George Newbern as Father Lyle Dey (Image not from film)

Gabrielle Anwar as Beth Patterson

Dan DeLuca as Wayne Morrison (Image not from film)

Frank Whaley as Brent Sykes

Directed by James K. Jones

Written by Dan DeLuca and James Jones

Additional screenplay rewrites by Patrick Moses, Ji-un Kwon and James K. Jones

I watched “Crazy Eights” at 4 o’clock in the morning. It’s now 2:25 in the afternoon and other than the film having a fairly talented cast I still can’t think of one good thing to say about it. The film is so muddled that I’m really not even sure what the plot of it is. I believe it has to do with six people who get together after the death of a friend. At the request of the deceased they find and open a crate containing a bunch of old toys and items of their childhoods. Oh, and they also find the decayed body of a small child at the bottom of the crate. After that they find themselves trapped in a place where they appear to have all been before (they have), where they committed a terrible act (they did) and where they will now die at the hands of a vengeful spirit. Where have I seen a plot like that before? Right, I forgot; in a hundred other movies with the same premise. There is nothing original about this film. To name a few films there are elements of “The Big Chill“, any of the “Saw” films, and countless Japanese films where the angry ghost returns to get revenge. What the hell? I thought the After Dark Horrorfest was supposed to be about giving us something new and exciting. I could stand in the middle of an empty room and have more to be excited about.

Alright, now that I’m through ranting, let me give praise to the cast for doing as much as they could with what little they had. I’m not talking about Oscar-winning performances here; I’m talking about B-movie actors rising above the material that they’re given. Traci Lords and Dina Meyer give the best performances of the females. Frank Whaley is at his best when he plays smug little pricks and this role is no exception. Gabrielle Anwar and George Newbern are decent in their roles as well. The weakest performance comes from Dan DeLuca. DeLuca also doubles as one of the screenwriters. His character is the first to die in the film. It’s like he knew.

NO TRIVIA

Related articles

• Summer Sales: Get an entire kids’ outfit for under $10! (dailysavings.allyou.com)
• Southridge lands Bachrach, Crazy 8, Journeys Kidz (jsonline.com)
• New stores to open at Southridge Mall (wisn.com)
• Crazy eights and a big daddy bird (artfulparent.typepad.com)
• Make eight1six Your New Affordable Jewelry Destination (fabsugar.com)
• James Darle Jones Wants You to Learn How to Earn a “Cornucopia of Cash” How to Profit from the Billion Dollar Credit Card Processing Industry (pr.com)
• Roger That (voicesofmarines.com)
• Crazy! Week 8 (mbhealthystudents.wordpress.com)
• Crazy Curved keyboard Concept Coming in WP8? (mynokiablog.com)
• Documentary of Inspiring Teen Entrepreneurs to Receive Worldwide Screenings During Global Entrepreneurship Week (kauffman.org)
• The City Fashion: A Closer Look at Episode Eight’s Style (fabsugar.com)
• The Crazies (2010) (jmountswritteninblood.com)
• NZ’s burgeoning social media industry (stuff.co.nz)
• Csima, Canadian eights set world record (insidehalton.com)
• Oakland-based U.S. rowing team lands Olympic spot (mercurynews.com)
• Easy Peasy Necklaces: Winning the Challenge, and Making Your Own Chain (bsueboutiques.typepad.com)
• California Rowing Club and Brown Advance at Henley Regatta (nytimes.com)
• Brown to meet California in coxed eights final (sacbee.com)