Category Archives: Films Released in 2007
DEAD SILENCE
DEAD SILENCE-United States-2007
Ryan Kwanten as Jamie Ashen
Amber Valletta as Ella Ashen
Donnie Wahlberg as Det. Lipton
Bob Gunton (w/Amber Valletta) as Edward Ashen
Directed by James Wan
Screenplay by Leigh Whannell
Story by James Wan and Leigh Whannell
Ventriloquist dolls creep me out. James Wan movies such as Saw and Insidious creep me out. So what does Dead Silence, which was directed by Wan (Death Sentence) and written by collaborator Leigh Whannell do to me?
You guessed it; creeped me the fuck out. Let’s break it all down.
Jamie (Ryan Kwanten aka Jason Stackhouse, True Blood) receives a ventriloquist dummy from an unknown sender.
While Jamie makes a late night run for take-out, his wife is brutally murdered, her tongue ripped out. There is no sign of forced entry or any indication that there was anyone else in the apartment with her; only the ventriloquist doll and he’s not talking.
Jamie, now a person of interest in his wife’s murder, finds evidence that the doll belonged to Mary Shaw. He remembers an old rhyme about her that warns that if you ever see her in your dreams to never, ever scream.
He returns to his home town of Ravens Fair to find answers to the legend of Mary Shaw and answers to who murdered his wife. He comes home to a mother-in-law (Amber Valletta, Hitch) who’s young enough to be his sister; and a father (Bob Gunton, The Shawshank Redemption) who is as stiff and formal as he ever was. He also finds that the rest of the town is deathly afraid to speak the name of Mary Shaw.
Did I mention that Jamie was a person of interest in his wife’s murder? That means that he wasn’t supposed to leave town. Therefore, that means he’s tailed to Ravens Fair by a detective (Donnie Wahlberg, The Sixth Sense) who has a lot of doubts about his innocence and who doesn’t believe in all that legend of Mary Shaw crap.
I’m not going to say anything more about the movie. To do so would lead me to say too much and to give away a neat little twist of an ending that has to be seen to be believed. Dead Silence is one of those movies that I find to be ridiculous to write about. It’s about an old woman and her collection of dolls, for heaven’s sake. However, note that I said ‘write about’. Watching this was a beast of a different color altogether. Damn thing creeped me the fuck out.
I don’t creep out too easily.
TRIVIA
There are two different versions of the “Mary Shaw” poem. In the movie the poem goes, “Beware the stare of Mary Shaw. She had no children only dolls. And if you see her in your dreams, do not ever, ever scream.” On the trailer it was, “Beware the stare of Mary Shaw. She had no children, only dolls. And if you see her do not scream, she’ll rip your tongue out at the seam.”
“Billy” was not only the name of one of the dummies in this movie, but also the name of the puppet used by the Jigsaw killer in the “Saw” movies, also created by Leigh Whannell and James Wan.
During the climax, in the storage area with all 101 dolls, you can see Jigsaw’s doll from the Saw films sitting on the floor, and Edgar Bergen’s doll Charlie McCarthy on one of the shelves. The doll that Detective Lipton throws over his shoulder in this scene is a replica of ventriloquist Jimmy Nelson’s doll, Danny O’Day.
The film was made into a haunted house at Universal’s “Halloween Horror Nights” in 2007 in Florida.
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THE HITCHER (2007)
THE HITCHER-United States-2007
Neal McDonough as Lt. Esteridge
Directed by Dave Meyers
Screenplay by Jake Wade Wall and Eric Bernt
Based on the film written by Eric Red
Was a remake of the 1986 road terror flick “The Hitcher” really the right thing to do? Aside from the fact that there are two protagonists in the new film, for the first twenty minutes I thought I was watching an exact copy of the original movie. The set up is the same, the names are the same, and everything is the same. Jim Halsey (Zachary Knighton, “The Prince and Me“) and his girlfriend Grace (Sophia Bush, “One Tree Hill”, “Stay Alive”) pick up a psychotic hitchhiker named John Ryder (Sean Bean, “Silent Hill”, “The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King“) who terrorizes them at every turn. Everything about the new “Hitcher” is a near carbon copy of the old film but with one exception; the attention is focused more on Ryder and Grace than on Ryder and Halsey. I can kind of understand why; neither Knighton nor Bush adds anything new to their roles, but at least Bush is easy on the eyes. As for Bean, he does a decent job with what he has to work with, but he comes nowhere near the level of menace attained by Rutger Hauer in the 1986 film.
“The Hitcher” of 2007 doesn’t completely suck. It attains a level of gore that the original only hinted at, especially during the nearly shot for shot re-enactment of the ‘person chained between two diesels’ scene. But does all the extra blood and guts really matter? At the end of the day, what makes this remake a loser is that it was complete unnecessary in the first place. Once again Hollywood chews off its own arm and we’re the ones paying for it. Or something like that.
TRIVIA
The movie that Grace is watching in the hotel near the end is The Birds.
Rutger Hauer who played the character of John Ryder in the original was offered a cameo, but declined for artistic reasons. Hauer has since said in the press that he has yet to watch the remake, and according to some of his friends he shouldn’t bother.
Jessica Biel turned down the role of Grace Andrews while Britney Spears was considered for the same role.
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PARANORMAL ACTIVITY
PARANORMAL ACTIVITY-United States-2007
Katie Featherston as Katie
Micah Sloat as Micah
Written and Directed by Oren Peli
So, here’s the thing; I could swear that I’ve reviewed this movie before for this blog. I can remember finding the poster, the photos and the trailer. I remember posting it. So why is it that when I do a search for the post the only films that show up are “Paranormal Activity 2″ and “Paranormal 3 Activity”? I don’t delete my posts after I put them out there for all the world to see; so what the hell?
Anyway, I guess that’s not important. What’s important is this review. This marks the fifth time that I have watched “Paranormal Activity” and each time I’ve noticed something different. The first time I noticed the vocal just underneath Katie (Featherston’s) voice when she tells Micah (Sloat) that she thinks they’ll be okay. I noticed the chandelier moving the second or third time I watched and this time I noticed Katie’s hair move when she tells Micah that she can feel the entity breathing on her. It’s the small things that make this film as creepy as it is.
But allow me to expand on that a bit. It’s not the small things that you notice or expect to see that make “Paranormal Activity” creepy. It’s the things you expect to see that don’t happen. Every time I watch the movie I expect that when Micah and Katie first go downstairs to investigate the noise that the light from the camera will shine down on some perverse, terrible thing lurking in the darkness. When Micah opens the curtain to peer outside I expect to see a hideous visage staring into his eyes. I see neither; and that makes it even worse. I originally thought that Micah was a bit of a dick in the way he handled the entire situation; but I can also understand his reasoning. We fear what we can’t see and what we can’t understand. We are terrified when we want to protect our loved ones and don’t have the slightest idea as to what to do. “Paranormal Activity” is frightening because it makes us stare into the face of helplessness. Micah wants to protect Katie and in the end there’s not a damn thing he can do.
“Paranormal Activity” is similar to “The Blair Witch Project” in that it puts its characters in situations beyond their control. It’s no surprise that both films feature characters, Heather in “Blair Witch” and Micah in “Paranormal”, who are complete control freaks. It’s also no secret that it turns out bad for them. The thing is, sometimes you go up against something that’s in way more control than you are. The difference in the two films is that while “Blair Witch” stops at showing us that what we can’t see is more frightening than what we can see; “Paranormal” shows us that what’s even more frightening is what we expect to see and then don’t.
I still think I reviewed this movie already. I blame gremlins.
TRIVIA
The original ending was changed at the suggestion of Steven Spielberg.
Oren Peli got the idea for the movie from a personal experience. Late at night he was sleeping and a box of detergent fell off the shelf. The box was pushed too far back for it to just tilt and fall.
The actors weren’t given scripts but were given guidelines on how to behave or what to discuss in their scenes.
Dreamworks wanted to remake the movie with a bigger budget and better known actors rather than release the film as it was and use the original as a DVD extra.
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BORDERLAND
BORDERLAND-Mexico/United States-2007
Brian Presley as Ed
Jake Muxworthy as Henry
Sean Astin as Randall
Rider Strong as Phil
Martha Higareda as Valeria
Directed by Zev Berman
Written by Eric Poppen and Zev Berman
The DVD box for “Borderland” indicates that it was inspired by a true story. Wikipedia tells us that the film is loosely based on the true story of Adolfo de Jesús Constanzo; the leader of a religious cult that practiced human sacrifice. It goes on to say that Constanzo and his followers kidnapped and murdered Mark Kilroy, a University of Texas student, in the spring of 1989. I didn’t know these facts before I watched the movie. But now that I do I can understand why the film had a feeling of realism to it that is sorely lacking in other films cut from the same cloth. I found myself caring for the characters in this film and found myself rooting for them to survive. When that doesn’t happen I reacted with the same shock and sadness that they do.
Ed (Brian Presley, “Home of the Brave“), Henry (Jake Muxworthy, “I Heart Huckabees”) and Phil (Rider Strong, “Cabin Fever”) are recently graduated from college. They travel to Mexico to check out the local strip clubs and to get laid; as all young men are wont to do. Ed meets Valeria and falls in love and Phil falls for a prostitute with an infant daughter. On his way to take her a gift, he is kidnapped by a cult to be used as part of a sacrifice for one of their rituals. The film then begins a race against time for Ed and Henry to try and find Phil and bring him back to safety. Up to this point the film draws strong comparison to “Hostel”. Despite their feelings of youthful invincibility, the boys are helpless and out of their league in a foreign country whose traditions and ways of life they know nothing about. It’s not until the final act that the film slips into “Straw Dogs” territory in depicting normally peaceful men doing violent things to protect themselves and the people they care about.
“Borderland” was one of the films in the 2007 package of ‘8 Films to Die For‘ from the After Dark Horrorfest. Despite the film being disturbing, it is well written, directed and acted and is easily one of the shining moments for the Horrorfest series. Along with Xavier Gens “Frontier(s)”, I highly recommend it.
TRIVIA
Loosely based in a case occurred in Mexico in 1989 of a group called “narcosatanicos” who killed at least 20 people and their bodies were used in satanic cults. They were accused of the murder of Mark Kirloy, a student who disappeared in march 1989 and killed by this group during a spring break.
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TEETH
TEETH-United States-2007
Jess Weixler as Dawn
John Hensley as Brad
Josh Pais as Dr. Godfrey
Hale Appleman as Tobey
Ashley Springer as Ryan
Lenny Von Dohlen as Bill
Written and Directed by Mitchell Lichtenstein
How in the hell am I supposed to write a review about a movie that features a pretty, young teenage girl who just so happens to have teeth within the confines of her vagina? Don’t get me wrong; I am not afraid of the vagina. Hell, some men can’t even say the word without blushing or sounding like they’re four years old. It’s a word, for crying out loud! Vagina comes from as early as the 1680′s and it basically translates into ‘sheath’. VAGINA, VAGINA, VAGINA!! There, was that so bad?
What I do have trouble with is when that very same vagina comes equipped with its own set of teeth. You heard me right; I said teeth. Fangs, choppers, pearly whites, ivories; I mean it’s bad enough that the ancients believed that men were basically afraid of the vagina and felt that they had to conquer it; but now the damn thing has teeth? This is just way too damn much to comprehend!!
Actually, it’s really not that hard to comprehend. My wife summed it up best when she said that the idea of a vagina with teeth is every woman’s wish and every man’s nightmare. Men are stronger than women. Unless a woman has some sort of defense a man can pin her down. He can rape her. He can hurt her and he can even kill her.
“Teeth” is about a young girl named Dawn (Jess Weixler, “Somebody Up There Likes Me“) who is trying to stay sexually pure until marriage. In this day and age that’s not an easy thing to do. She receives advances from Tobey (Hale Appleman, “Oysters Rockefeller“), a boy in her purity group; from Ryan (Ashley Springer), the universal dork that every girl has had to put in his place at one time or another; and even from her scum bag of a step-brother. Dawn’s defense mechanism is what makes “Teeth” a cautionary tale. Her gynecologist says it best after she leaves him screaming with his fingers severed and lying on the floor. “It’s true! Vagina dentata! Vagina dentata! Vagina dentata! “
There are a few Cavity Creeps lurking in “Teeth”. In the aforementioned scene with the gynecologist there is no nurse present when the examination takes place. Even worse, when the doctor is screaming bloody murder no one runs in to see what the matter is. Other than that, “Teeth” is a fitting cross between “Fatal Attraction” and the ABC Afterschool Special. There’s a lesson to be learned here, buddy boy!
TRIVIA
During the filming of the first scene, many of the neighbors were protesting the film because they believed it to be a pornographic film.
No man was harmed in the making of this film.
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UNEARTHED
UNEARTHED-United States-2007
Emmanuelle Vaugier as Sheriff Annie Flynn
Luke Goss as Kale
Charlie Murphy as Hank
Beau Garrett as Caya
Tommy Dewey as Charlie
Tonantzin Carmelo as Nodin
Written and directed by Matthew Leutwyler
Matthew Leutwyler must have read the chapter of “Screenwriting for Dummies” entitled “Writing a Clichéd Horror Movie” quite a few times before making “Unearthed”. He knows the recipe by heart:
Take a one horse town in the middle of nowhere. Cut the town off from the outside world by some natural or unnatural occurrence. This time it’s an overturned tanker that just so happened to be delivering the fuel for the towns only gas station.
Take 1 female sheriff (Emmanuelle Vaugier, “CSI: NY“) who is now an alcoholic after an off-screen occurrence that has half the town behind her and other half screaming for her termination. Throw her in with a…
… black man (Charlie Murphy) who must get to his destination yesterday, two young girls (Beau Garrett, Whitney Able) on their way to Hollywood who don’t know how to read a map, a young good ole boy (Tommy Dewey) with a broken down truck, and an old Indian and his biologist granddaughter (Russell Means and Tonantzin Carmelo). Never mind that these people all came from outside of town; they’re just in the wrong place at the wrong time. For added flavor toss in a mysterious archaeologist (Luke Goss) who has some idea of what’s going on but is being extremely vague about the whole thing…stir occasionally and mix in a…
…900 year old creature that somewhat resembles the xenomorph from Alien, makes a galloping sound like a horse when it runs and is, of course, out for blood.
Shake well for 93 minutes until you have one excruciatingly stupid and boring movie.
NO TRIVIA
NO BLOOD DROPS
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ZODIAC
ZODIAC-United States-2007
Jake Gyllenhaal as Robert Graysmith
Mark Ruffalo as Inspector David Toschi
Robert Downey Jr. as Paul Avery
Anthony Edwards as Inspector William Armstrong
Brian Cox as Melvin Belli
Elias Koteas as Sgt. Jack Mulanax
John Carroll Lynch as Arthur Leigh Allen
Dermot Mulroney as Captain Marty Lee (Photo not from movie)
Directed by David Fincher
Screenplay by James Vanderbilt
Based on the book by Robert Graysmith
Zodiac is a semi-fictional account of the serial murders in the San Francisco area in the late 1960′s and early 1970′s. Unless you’ve read the book by Robert Graysmith that the film is based on, I would imagine it’s hard to tell the fact from the fiction in the film. That could have been a big problem had the film been helmed by a lesser film maker. Directed by David Fincher, however, it actually works in favor of the film. As you remember, Fincher is the director that gave us Se7en as well as The Game and Panic Room. What that means is that he’s honed his craft and is a master at building and keeping suspense during even the most mundane of moments. Fincher is also very gifted when it comes to getting great performances out of his cast. Mark Ruffalo is a prime example. I’ve always liked him as an actor, but I also always felt that he was holding back in the roles he took on. In Zodiac we get the performance from Ruffalo that I always knew he was capable of delivering. Another example is Jake Gyllenhaal. Here in the role of San Francisco Chronicle political cartoonist and eventual Zodiac author Robert Graysmith, Gyllenhaal is cast as the film’s Boy Scout, a name he is even called a few times in the film. He is every man who refuses to give up, the one who continues to dig even at the cost of losing his family and possibly even his life.
Other than the murder of the Black Dahlia, Elizabeth Short, the Zodiac murders is one of the most famous unsolved crimes in the annals of American history. One wonders if the killer were to strike today would police be held as inept as they were nearly forty years ago. Remember, police didn’t have DNA and all the other luxuries of technologies that they enjoy today. Times have changed, which is good. The bad part is that the evil that men do remains the same.
Trivia
Ione Skye appears in this movie in an uncredited cameo. “Hurdy Gurdy Man”, by her father, Donovan, is used prominently in the soundtrack.
Philip Baker Hall had also previously starred in The Zodiac, another film adaptation of the Zodiac Killer. He played Frank Perkins.
Robert Graysmith and Paul Avery were not actually friends. Their relationship is fictionalized for the film.
Dave Toschi in real life was the inspiration for Steve McQueen‘s performance in Bullitt. In the film, Graysmith mentions that Toschi wears his gun like Bullitt. Avery replies that Bullitt got it from Toschi.
VACANCY
VACANCY-United States-2007
Luke Wilson as David Fox
Kate Beckinsale as Amy Fox
Frank Whaley as Mason
Ethan Embry as Mechanic
Directed by Nimrod Antal
Written by Mark L. Smith
The concept of the snuff film has always fascinated me. I know, the FBI says that snuff films don’t exist. They can keep on saying that all they want but I’m not buying it. There is meanness in this world that is far beyond what we can comprehend. If people will pay money to see pornography in all its varieties, then why would people not pay to see another person being murdered? Come to think of it, they don’t have to pay anymore. I’ve been on the internet and saw three videos of men being beheaded. Many, many years ago I used to hang out with a friend of mine who worked in an adult book store. If you want to begin to learn about depravity, sexual or otherwise, just watch what the people come in and buy for their carnal entertainment. I saw people buy amputee, bestiality, fetish and sadomasochistic porn. When they got bored with one type they would up the ante and walk out of the store after paying for something even worse than the last time. So what does buying fucked-up pornography have to do with snuff films and whether they exist? It has to do with the fact that people will pay top dollar to get their thrills, even if that thrill is watching a film of someone being murdered.
In Vacancy, Kate Beckinsale and Luke Wilson is a married couple on vacation. Their car breaks down and they find themselves at a run-down motel run by a creepy hotel clerk played by Frank Whaley. Does Whaley play any other part other than creepy? Anyway, before you can say “Smile, you’re on Candid Camera!” the two discover that they are going to be the stars of a snuff film courtesy of the Pinewood Motel. What started out as a vacation now becomes a struggle to survive for the two of them. Will they get away, or will they be the recipients of snuff film Oscars, posthumously of course?
Vacancy has all the makings of a good, suspenseful horror film. The acting is good and the story is good, but it seems like the direction in the film is point, shoot and hope for the best. There never seems to be any part in the film that even startles, let alone scares. In the hands of a more capable director, Vacancy could have done for the off the beaten path motel business what Jaws did for swimming in the 1970′s. But it doesn’t have a more capable director behind the camera. All Vacancy has is a Nimrod.
Trivia
Shipped to theaters under the name “Temporary Arrangement.”
Sarah Jessica Parker was originally selected for the film, but dropped out and was replaced by Kate Beckinsale.
TRICK ‘R TREAT
Image via Wikipedia
TRICK ‘R TREAT-United States-2007
Dylan Baker as Steven
Rochelle Aytes as Maria
Leslie Bibb as Emma
Anna Paquin as Laurie
Brian Cox as Mr. Kreeg
Trick ‘r Treat is the film which breaks the mold for anthology films. With any luck, it will be the template by which the next generation of Halloween holiday films are based. It is an entertaining, ingenious and downright fun horror film. But don’t thank Warner Brothers for it. They completely dropped the ball on getting this film a theatrical release.
Four stories, one night; Halloween night. Dylan Baker is a father teaching his son how to carve the Jack O’Lantern just right. Anna Paquin is a virginal and beautiful Little Red Riding Hood in a new twist on the old tale. A group of kids become the unwitting victims of a prank gone wrong; and Brian Cox is an old man who suffers through a bizarre home invasion. Throughout it all the tales are tied together by an impish little monstrosity with a burlap mask and a sack full of something wet and slimy. With apologies to The Beatles and Mr. Kite, a splendid time is guaranteed for all.
Never does this film follow the traditions of anthology story telling. Each story is interwoven in some way to the one before it or the one after it. People who are main characters in one story may be supporting characters in the next. Protagonists become antagonists, and vice-versa. Those who kill in one tale may be killed in another. It is a testament to Michael Dougherty’s skills as a writer and director that he is able to weave a story, or stories, of this magnitude and keep them from tripping over each other. Trick ‘r Treat is as entertaining a horror film as you are likely to see. It’s too bad Warner Brothers couldn’t see that. What a bunch of dumb-assess.
Trivia
WRONG TURN 2: DEAD END
WRONG TURN 2: DEAD END-United States-2007
Erica Leerhsen as Nina
Henry Rollins as Dale
Texas Battle as Jake
Kimberly Caldwell as Kimberly
Directed by Joe Lynch
Written by Turi Meyer and Al Septien
Wrong Turn 2: Dead Ahead is the faster, meaner inbred brother to the original Wrong Turn. It is a happy little romp through cannibal land with a cast of relative unknowns to take us along for the ride. Gorier, uglier and more perverted than the first, it’s one of those films that you just know is going to be pretty hard to top.
The story this time revolves around six people participating in a Survivor-type television show called Ultimate Survivalist, led by former retired Marine Colonel Dale Murphy (Henry Rollins). Well, before you can say ‘Game show contestants sure is good eatin’, the six become the victims of the local inbred mutant piglets and their cannibalistic eating’ habits. Who will survive and what will be left of them? Wait a minute, where have I heard that before?
Yes, there are times when WT2 seems a bit like The Texas Chainsaw Massacre. It’s especially evident in the inbred dinner scene. All they needed was Grandpa trying to hit Sally in the head with a hammer. But, I digress. Wrong Turn 2 is a pretty good little horror film on its own merit. Besides Rollins, the cast includes Kimberly Caldwell and Erica Leershsen, who was a co-star in the remake of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (there’s your connection, folks.) The directing is tight and the gore is good. What more can you expect from a pseudo-Texas Chainsaw Massacre inbred mutant piglet clone?
Henry Rollins was the first official cast member announced.
Director Joe Lynch edited his own teaser trailer in March of 2007 with music from composer Bear McCreary and released it exclusively to DreadCentral.com after being disappointed with the first teaser FOX released a month before.
The opening scene with Kimberly Caldwell was originally supposed to involve Eliza Dushku playing herself in a cameo.
½
