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Devil – Review

reviewed by Skot
directed by John Erick Dowdle, 2010
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“If the devil is real, God, also, must be real.”  So says the narrator of Devil, the latest addition to the body of work of M. Night Shyamalan.  Shyamalan is the auteur behind Sixth Sense, The Village, and Signs, among others.  In this case, he neither wrote nor directed the film.  Instead, he came up with the idea and then produced it.  According to reports, Devil is the first in a series of films under the heading of The Night Chronicles.

One of the film’s promotional posters shows the outside of an elevator door.  A red light seeps through the cracks in the door in the shape of an inverted cross.  The image comes with this tagline: “Five strangers trapped.  One of them is not what they seem.” The red upside-down cross along with the title of the movie implies that one of the strangers trapped in the elevator is Old Scratch himself.  That is, indeed, the premise of this film.

Five people, each with something to hide, are stuck together in an elevator.  The mood darkens as the authorities attempt their rescue.  One at a time, the passengers start getting mysteriously injured (and worse) during intermittent light outages.  Building security officers notify the police when it appears a homicide has occurred.  The officers can watch on security cameras but the communication only goes one direction.

It’s a horror film with a whodunit twist.  Others have remarked on the similarity to the 1939 Agatha Christie book, And Then There Were None in which a group of people with guilty pasts are stuck in an isolated location and begin to die one by one.

According to a survey of the Pew Research Center dated September 28, 2010, Americans score poorly on general knowledge about religion.  While people seem to have less and less understanding of religious teaching, some basic religiosity still underlies our culture.  What can we make of it when one of Hollywood’s top filmmakers uses a verse from the New Testament to open his much anticipated latest release?  Before the first credits appear on the screen, the audience is given this passage to ponder: Be self-controlled and alert.  Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour (1 Peter 5:8). Is this just a prop to effective storytelling?  Or it could also be that, in spite of other evidence, Americans remain a God haunted people.

With the verse from 1^st Peter in mind, the story follows the notion that the Devil comes into our midst, clothed in the garb of humanity, in order to torment those who have done evil.  Significantly, the one character who is able to see things clearly is the man of faith.  Not the man of science.  Not the man of evidence.  Science and reason can take you a long way, but only so far.  The man of faith was mocked and laughed at for his outdated superstitions.  But when the evidence was missing or misleading, it was the man of faith who could still connect the dots.  Like The Last Exorcism, another recent horror film, Devil also makes the claim that the reality of the devil is proof of the existence of God.  Looking into the darkness becomes an occasion to consider the light.

At the film’s promotion at this year’s ComicCon in San Diego, audience members giggled when the screen said, “From the mind of M. Night Shyamalan.”  Not the intended reaction, I’m sure.  When Sixth Sense came out in 1999, fans and critics were excited by this new creative talent, a stylish horror director who created stories with twists to baffle Alfred Hitchcock.  As Shyamalan wrote and directed new tales, audiences had mixed reactions.  Some appreciated his trademark plot turns and his soft pedal approach to spirituality.  Others complained that he lost his horror edge and still others were just confused.  The question for many people has been whether Devil would mark Shyamalan’s return to chiller cinema or be just another misguided bait-n-switch attempt to appeal to large audiences while appearing to throw the horror fans a bone.

Personally, I have liked most of Shyamalan’s movies.  The exceptions being Lady in the Water and The Happening. Lady was just bad and wrong.  Happening had some cool moments but was dreadfully cast and fizzled miserably by the end.  I loved Unbreakable and have enjoyed all his other major pictures.  So I still get excited when I hear about his upcoming projects.  Devil was a good horror film.  It was contrived, but most things are.  And it was formulaic but I’m still open enough to be surprised by Shyamalan’s formulas.

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Circle of Eight – Review

reviewed by hallo
directed by Stephen Cragg, 2009
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Originally released in ten-minute segments on MySpace.com, Circle of Eight tells the story of a New Year’s Eve tragedy that continues to be re-lived day after day.  Director Stephen Cragg, best know for his work on television, creates a movie short on action and heavy on dialogue, where 90% of the film follows the wanderings of a young lady through the halls of an apartment building.  Although there are plenty of reasons I should have walked away from the film with a bad taste in my mouth, I actually give the movie a favorable rating and if for nothing else recommend it for its incredible ability to pull of a plethora of non-sequiturs every couple of minutes.

Jessica is a young lady who is moving from the boring farming country of the mid-west to a more exciting life out west in the big city.  She is also moving away from a tragedy that has plagued her life – losing her younger brother in a drowning accident.  We learn that Jessica, in fear for her own life, let her brother drown.  She moves into the “Dante” apartment building and from about the 5 minute mark, we are greeted with a host of bizarre, creepy, and at times funny characters.  These folks seriously have issues, not the least of which is an tremendous indifference to the private life of Jessica as they will barge in on her at any given time, even while she is bathing.  Much of the conversation is difficult to follow, tipping the viewer off that we might have to wait till the end of the film for it all to make sense.  Evan is the love interest for Jessica, and although he certainly is not quite as whacked out as the rest of the apartment residents, he nevertheless comes across as mysterious and unique.  The dialogue during a majority of the film is at times downright hilarious – including unbelievably random lines in the midst of great turmoil.  For example, only seconds after Jessica discovers another murdered body, she and a few other people are greeted by Ed, the eccentric landlord, and he asks if anyone wants half of his uneaten burrito.  Nevertheless, apart from the funny moments, there is also an overall feel of uneasiness throughout the film that works very well.

Essentially, Circle of Eight takes the “Groundhog Day” concept to the next level.  The apartment building name is obviously drawing from Dante’s Inferno, the famous first part of the epic Divine Comedy.  We are left to think of the apartment as a certain kind of purgatory where the only way its residents will survive is if Jessica makes the right decision.  Unfortunately, after 90,000 plus days, she has yet to do so.  Unlike Groundhog Day where the other characters were unaware of the repeated day, all the residents know exactly what is happening and this explains some of their incredibly “off” behavior.  After all, when you are experiencing the same day 90,000 times in a row, you begin looking for new ways to live it.

The film has way – and I mean way – too long of an opening credit sequence, followed by what can only be described as yet another opening credit sequence without the credits.  That, combined with a completely unexplained and pointless lesbian make-out scene from two characters we never see or hear from again, shows that the filmmakers were needing to add some “stuff” to their film to fill it out.

Still, the movie makes the viewer think.  It does a pretty good job of providing enough detail to explain what is happening but leaving just enough for us to figure out on our own.  It seems that the “8th circle” could be a reference to the 8th circle of Dante’s Inferno, pointing to the concepts of purgatory and fraud.  It is a movie of second chances, and third chances, and fourth chances, and so on, until Jessica finally learns what she needs to do.  Our past experiences should and must shape us into people who learn from them and have the discipline to do the right thing.  The film ends with Jessica finally figuring it out and saving the residents of Dante.  Mysteriously, her and Evan’s body are never found.

The movie speaks to a crucial aspect of spirituality, that being second chances.  The character of Jessica mirrors all of humanity by knowing full well what she ought to do, but failing time and time again to actually do it.  In this way, the film accurately describes a Christian position that it is “never too late” to change.  The film also deals with the reality of Hell, although it does so in a way that uses Hollywood liberties.  Although we certainly have second chances while on Earth, the same cannot be said of the afterlife.  Thus, the film aligns more with a Roman Catholic view of eternity than it does a Protestant view.

Overall, I enjoyed Circle of Eight much more than I expected.  Take a look when you have 90 minutes and nothing much else to do.

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The Last Exorcism – Review (second opinion)

reviewed by Skot
directed by Daniel Stamm, 2010
(read Melissa’s review here)
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If you believe in God, you have to believe in the Devil.”  Or so said the reverend Cotton Marcus in Eli Roth’s new movie, The Last Exorcism.  That’s even the tagline on some of the move posters.  Actually, I think he’s got it wrong.  It should be the other way around: “if you believe in the Devil, then you must believe in God.”  And this is the point the movie ends up making.

What should we make of the movie poster with a crucifix and the words, “Believe in Him” above it?  The girl in the poster is bowing in submission, though contorted into a grotesque version of a believer paying devotion before the symbol of the Lord.  Pictures mean things.  And I’m still wondering what this one means.

Cotton Marcus is the magnetic pastor of a pentecostal-ish congregation in the deep South.  He started preaching in his dad’s church when he was 8 years old.  He’s a born performer.  Doing exorcisms has been a family ministry, passed from father to son, for generations.  However, during a family crisis, Cotton discovers that his faith is lost.  He continued the charade of his ministry, even the exorcisms, because. . . well, it’s a living.  And besides, he figured he was basically helping people.  Things change again when he learns of an episode where a child is accidentally killed during an exorcism.  This is his turning point.  Cotton decides to blow his own cover by performing one last exorcism with a documentary film crew recording his spiritual warfare sleight of hand.  The minister randomly chooses one of the frequent letters he receives from troubled souls requesting his services and off they go.

They arrive at the Sweetzer farm in poor rural Louisiana where they meet Nell, an angelically innocent girl whose father is convinced she is inhabited by the Devil.  Cotton employs his usual tricks, allowing the camera see how he does things behind the scenes.  Things get interesting when the counterfeit demon slayer comes up against something real.

To say more about the plot would be to give too much away.  The central question is whether the devil is real and, if so, what implications should this have on one’s belief in God.

When I heard that Eli Roth was producing The Last Exorcism, I expected more than I got, which is not necessarily a bad thing.  Actually, I appreciate the comparative restraint this movie exercises.  Too many occult themed movies feel the need to top the last in terms of shock and awe, leading many into the realm of the absurd.  A general rule of thumb for storytellers is to show, not to tell.  But one can show too much.  Equally important to restraint and good editing is timing.  If you must show, then do so at the exact best time to have the greatest impact.

Many people I’ve talked to say they disliked the ending.  The director definitely took a risk.  In my opinion, the ending is not entirely satisfying, but it wasn’t  a total miss.  I needed just a little bit more.  The film is good, not great.  It takes the increasingly popular found footage approach, which still works for me.

Take a little bit Rosemary’s Baby, a little bit The Exorcist, a little bit Blair Witch Project and more than a smidge of The Exorcism of Emily Rose.  Stir them on a low heat and you get this new film.  The Last Exorcism is not nearly as good as any of the above mentioned projects, but is still probably better than most occult-themed films.

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The Last Exorcism – Review

reviewed by Melissa
directed by Daniel Stamm, 2010
(read Skot’s review here)
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The Last Exorcism is directed by Daniel Stamm produced be Eli Roth and stars Patrick Fabian and Ashley Bell.   It is the story of a disillusioned preacher who has decided to do a documentary showing how exorcisms can be faked.   The movie begins with Reverend Cotton Marcus being filmed for a documentary exposing exorcism hoaxes. Cotton has done over a hundred exorcisms and has decided to prove that they are a hoax after reading about a boy that was killed during an exorcism. Patrick has gathered a film crew for one last exorcism to expose how he fools people into believing he has exorcised a demon.

Cotton randomly picks a letter he has received about a girl who is possessed named Nell Sweetzer. Patrick and the crew go to the Sweetzer rural farmhouse where the sixteen year old lives with her older brother and father. Once they arrive Cotton realizes that Nell has problems. Having lost her mother to cancer she seems to be suffering psychological issues and is killing the family livestock, though she has no memory of these acts.   Cotton does a fake exorcism and then tells the family she is fine and leaves to go to a hotel for the night. Nell shows up at Cotton’s hotel room that evening in a catatonic state. Cotton and the film crew take Nell to the hospital and then back home. The next day Nell attacks her brother Caleb which prompts the return of Reverend Cotton and the film crew.

The remainder of the movie takes place with Cotton and the film crew trying to talk Nell’s father in to the fact his daughter needs counseling and her father convinced she is possessed by a demon.  While this debate is going on Nell is spiraling out of control with devastating results.

I was incredibly excited to see this movie and the first 80 minutes of it did not let me down. From the opening scene with Cotton I liked him. He was a fraud but I took to him and he made me laugh. He does seem to care about people and this is why he is out to expose exorcisms as hoaxes. He has lost his faith but through out the whole movie I was cheering for him and hoping he regained it.

I thought the cinematography was engrossing and felt like a documentary. I felt like I was watching something on the Discovery channel. The camera did an amazing job of searching out the rooms and catching a glimpse of what was going on beyond the camera lens. I would hear noises and was afraid what the camera was going to find, and there were really no cheap shocks in the entire movie. I also thought the movie built at a very good pace. I felt engrossed with the characters and I was involved with the plot. The movie kept building and building at a steady pace to the climax. That is where the movie takes a turn for the worse. The last 10 minutes of the film disgusted me as all this incredible build up was destroyed in one cheesy conclusion. I say that because I loved the film up to that point and was very involved, then they tied up the story line in 10 minutes and it was uninspired.

The movie was ruined for me with the ending but it is worth a see because Patrick Fabian and Ashley Bell do an outstanding job and the cinematography helps to propel the storyline.

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Splice – Review

reviewed by hallo
directed by Vincenzo Natali, 2010
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Vincenzo Natali’s 2010 sci-fi/horror release Splice provides a fascinating two-tier exploration for discerning movie-goers.  One the one hand, the movie must be evaluated on the rudimentary premise of overall theatrical quality.  In other words, is the movie well directed, does it make sense, does it keep your attention, does the viewer leave satisfied?  On the other hand, Splice provides a critical commentary on the underlying question of eugenics and the ongoing dilemma between innate moralism and the contemporary reality of a biological revolution.  There are issues raised in Splice that must be addressed, and in fact will be addressed within our lifetime.  For that reason, this film makes me shudder.

Splice is about a romantically involved couple, Clive and Elsa, who are also brilliant scientists leading a team of fellow biologists in the creation of two “self created” species.  Taking the DNA from a host of various animals, Clive and Elsa managed to splice together two creatures who have the capability to provide helpful biogenetic samplings that will increase agricultural productivity.  With their success comes their desire to take what they have “created” to the next level:  human DNA.  Clive and Elsa are convinced that if they are allowed to include human DNA in their process, then many health issues and diseases would be able to be instantly remedied.  Unfortunately for them, they are given the stop sign by the folks who have the money.  That, of course, will never do.  So, Clive and Elsa set out in secret to make their new human spliced creation.

Interestingly, Clive begins to have doubts.  He raises the appropriate moral questions about bringing the sanctify of human live into a test tube situation.  Elsa, on the other hand, is more concerned about the moral question of the millions dying from life-threatening diseases.  As we will discover, her desires are far more reaching, and soul stirring, than just science.

It was at this point in the film that I realized I was watching a different variety of the 1999 horror masterpiece Deep Blue Sea.  In that wonderful film, sharks brains are being altered in order to provide a cure for Alzheimer disease.  It is the lead lady that is fixated on seeing the study through to the end, even when that means going against the guidelines set forth by the pharmaceutical company.  As we all know, the end result is a bunch of people getting eaten by really smart sharks.

When the new human spliced creation is birthed, Elsa immediately begins treating it like a daughter, or as Clive cautiously puts it, a pet.  He, on the other hand, wants to remain in science mode and treat the creation like any other specimen.  Sensing the need to give the creation a name, Elsa comes up with Dren.  As Dren continues to get older, we begin to see a fascinating switch in roles.  Clive becomes more lovingly involved with Dren while Elsa begins to take step backwards into science mode.  This comes to a cringing climax when Elsa, in Clive’s absence, straps Dren to a table and cuts off part of her tail.  We learn that Elsa comes from a mentally troubled family and although the unknown factor of having a child has kept her from pursuing motherhood, she was able to find peace in the control forum of the laboratory.  When that control begins to disappear, Elsa becomes more and more fixated on science and experiment rather than life and nurture.  From that point, the concepts of normalcy, decency, and human dignity become blurred beyond the point of recognition, so that Clive ends up sleeping with Dren and correctly explains to an appalled Elsa that “we have changed all the rules.”  The movie reaches its conclusion with Dren experiencing a sex change and becoming violent.  Ultimately, after raping Elsa, he is killed.

Judging Splice based on its effectiveness as a good, entertaining movie is difficult to do because, in my case, the cultural, theological, and human issues carry great weight.  That, of course, is part of the director’s intent.  Yet, I found the movie to be poorly directed in certain points, especially when Clive and Elsa are working to create the new human DNA creature.  Those scenes came across as a couple of high school students studying for a science test the next day; it just wasn’t believable.  If folks are not able or interested in wrestling with the deeper undertones of the film, then it will fail to capture their imaginations.

On the other hand, Splice is a textbook example of why horror movies are extraordinarily important for not only increased cultural awareness on crucial issues, but more importantly for the continued need of a Christian worldview.  At one point during a presentation of Clive and Elsa’s first two created beings, the president of the company funding their work proudly announces that these creatures “were not born because of luck or fate, but by design.”  Embedded within her introductory remarks is the nerve-wracking, victorious implication that we are now able to “play God.”  From a Christian point of view, the Bible gives humanity the blessed dual-obligation of both dominion and stewardship over creation.  This certainly provides an interpretation that our use of animals can and should be for the betterment of humanity when possible.  At the most basic level, we acknowledge this when eat a hamburger.  Yet, we are not without limits on the dominion side of our rule and it must be coupled with proper stewardship before God.  Clive experiences a profound revelation of this fact when he acknowledges to Elsa that they have changed all the rules, nothing is sacred any longer, nothing is “right.”  Despite the scientific and technological advancements that make our world a better place to live, Splice solemnly reminds us that we are the created, not the creator.  Whenever our ambitions take us to a level beyond our created purpose and entice us to play the God role, the consequences will be disastrous.

Finally, both Splice and Deep Blue Sea (and others) force the viewer to wrestle with the “Robin Hood” ethical question.  Robin Hood, of course, breaks the law in order to serve a good purpose.  In both films, the motivating factor in playing God was to ease the suffering of humanity.  Yet, both films are built on the conclusion that such noble pursuits are not always the end-all be-all.  There are other, and at times more critical, issues to consider.  Besides, Splice demonstrates that the humanitarian reasons are actually a red-herring for Elsa who is instead motivated by her desire to conquer her family demons.  In a sin-cursed world, just how pure are the assertions of altruism?

Thus, Splice is mediocre when it comes to well-crafted story telling and directing.  It is powerful when it comes to critically thinking through human issues.  For that reason, I commend it to you.

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The Devil’s Rejects – Review

reviewed by hallo
directed by Rob Zombie, 2005
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In the world of gore and explicit imagery, the question that goes hand in hand with films of this nature is whether the over-the-top images tell a story that would fall short without them.  For most people, they can never see the purpose, and that is understandable.  Zombie’s sequel to House of 1000 Corpses falls well short of the original film, but still has something to offer.

I will admit, the first hour of The Devil’s Rejects had me thinking, “this is just Rob Zombie attempting to disgust as many people as possible.”  I am a huge fan of his first film, “House of 1000 corpses” (see below), granted, it is a Texas Chainsaw Massacre rip off.  But, it is a good rip off.

However, about 2/3 through the film, a scene happens that turned the movie around for me.  The leading police officer on the case, whose mind of revenge over the death of his brother finally takes him to the land of insanity, calls in the local leading movie critic to help the case with an explanation of Groucho Marx films, which helps the officer understand the methodology of the demented family.  He came to discover that all the names of the family were taken from Groucho Marx characters.  This particular film critic, such a huge fan of Groucho Marx, ends up turning his help with the case into a rant and rave on how the death of Marx was overshadowed by the fact that Elvis died just a few days previous.  His passion and obsession with his love shines through in a big way, almost to the point of getting shot by the local, Elvis loving police officers.

It was then that I understood the direction of the film, at least for me.  The Devil’s Rejects offers the viewer an exploration into the possibility that each of us has our own idea of what needs to be emphasized.  All the characters examined in the film were radically obsessed with their particular viewpoint on life, which ultimately led to ruin of each character.  A revenge driven police officer, a movie critic whose favorite actor doesn’t get enough credit, a psychotic family whose quest for the lust of life continues to bring them closer to death.

I suppose the explicit imagery says this to the viewer:  Anything taken to excessive limits can turn into a very nasty, dirty, ugly portrait of our own destruction.

Have a nice day.

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