|
Movie Reviews An American Haunting Synposis: Review  The
Skeleton KeyBy Victoria Alexander FilmsInReview.com New Jersey native Caroline Ellis (Kate Hudson) is living in New Orleans and working at a hospice. She is burning off guilt for not helping her father when he was dying. Caroline accepts a position as a live-in caretaker in a rundown plantation house in the Louisiana bayou. Caroline goes to the mansion and decides she is not right for the job. Violet Devereaux (Gena Rowlands) deems her unsuited to care for her husband Ben (John Hurt) who recently had a stroke. He cannot talk and is partially paralyzed. But the Devereaux’s estate lawyer, Luke (Peter Sarsgaard), urges Devereaux to hire Caroline and then tells Caroline Ben needs her. Caroline, too curious for her own good – she is always walking into strange houses unannounced, moves in. The house is huge with many rooms. Each room has a door with a lock. Violet gives Caroline the skeleton key that opens every door in the house, except, of course, the one door Caroline finds. The house makes noises and Caroline starts having bad dreams. And where are all the mirrors? Caroline has a lot of free time and finds the hoodoo room in the attic. She starts to investigate hoodoo and soon realizes that Ben needs to be rescued. The twist ending was great fun and a big surprise, so THE SKELETON KEY, with its rich New Orleans backdrop and inspired hoodoo plot, is a winner for Hudson. Now, if only Caroline had been played by someone other than Kate Hudson, UNIVERSAL would be looking at THE SIXTH SENSE box office. Hudson is trying hard here, but lacks the facial expressions that telegraph Caroline’s intelligence. This is the real key, since Caroline uncovers a secret that has been rife in the house for 90 years. Hudson is just not strong enough to carry a movie like this. However, with the right projects and under the right director’s guidance, Hudson could be led into Nicole Kidman territory. It depends on how many RAISING HELEN movies she wants to keep making. (Come to think of it, Kidman has been making some poor choices, BEWITCHED, THE STEPFORD WIVES, herself.) These inane movies must be easy money for already bloated bank accounts. Being highly superstitious myself (Just in case, I have candles to Chango Macho and “Go Away Evil” oils I brought in New York’s Spanish Harlem), I enjoyed the hoodoo trappings, charms, and rituals that the screenwriter, Ehren Kruger, invested in the screenplay. (I immediately placed shavings from red bricks outside my front door. People who want to do us harm will not be able to cross the red line!) The director, Brit Iain Softley, and director of photography, Dan Mindel, give New Orleans a worn-out, steeped in it’s slave culture, atmosphere which is fascinating to those of us living in sanitized, model environments. With no truly authentic magical shops here in Las Vegas, I have to stock up on potions and charms at the Iquitos medicine market every time I go to the Peruvian Amazon. Universal Pictures Shadowcatcher Entertainment/Double Feature Films  WHITE
NOISEDVD Review by David Blackwell DETAILS: 98 minutes, threee featurettes, deleted scenes, and audio commentary for the movie (and deleted scenes). STUDIO: Universal RELEASE DATE: 5-17-2005 ANALYSIS: Electronic Voice Phenomenon is supposedly a way to record the voices of the dead, but it is debatable whether it actually does that. E.V.P. forms the basis for the movie WHITE NOISE. Architect Jonathan Rivers (Michael Keaton) loses his wife in a tragic accident. When he is contacted by someone that he is being contacted by Jonathan's wife from beyond, he thinks the guy is nuts. Attempts by his wife to contact Jonathan by phone leads him into the world of E.V.P. where he will cross into dangerous waters. Three mysterious figures start lurking nearby whether it is as shadows or through E.V.P. and his wife warns him. Are her warnings about other people who are going to die or does she fear for Jonathan's safety as he becomes obsessed in his quest to contact her? WHITE NOISE is a creepy and atmospheric thriller that sends chills down my spine. The mood projected through the cinematography, sounds, and music spin an atmosphere of foreboding- a sense of danger. Michael Keaton lives and breathes in the role of an obsessed man that neglects other people in his life including his son, his ex-wife, and those who try to help him. His single minded focus is a liability. WHITE NOISE is compelling and chilling. The only person he makes any type of connection is with a woman (Deborah Kara Unger) who works at a bookstore and has made connect with her dead fiancee through E.V.P. The ending never cops out and is one of those endings any good horror movie would be proud of. FINAL ANALYSIS: WHITE NOISE is a creepy thriller worth watching. It will chill you to the bones and make some go out to find out more about E.V.P. after they see it. Bobbie Atristain's Analysis: 
The remake of the Amityville Horrorby Albert Tyas of DCMAG. On April 9th, DCMAG deputy Frank I decided to catch the new Amityville Horror movie. We both really wanted to see how it stood up to the original as well as the Jay Anson book written several years ago. In my opinion this should have fell in the comedy section. I never laughed so hard at a movie. It did have some scary moments, but I was more scared the last time I was on the Beltway on a Saturday afternoon. The movie began, typically, with Ronnie DeFeo packin' lead and killing his whole family, even that's been proved wrong. (http://www.virginiaghosts.com/amityville_review.pdf.) They all sleep oblivious to the gunshots except Jodie Defeo...Yes, now Jodie, a pig back in 1977 is a living girl, at least for the first five minutes. She gets killed in the upstairs room with the quarter-moon windows. The Family is dead, and a random collage of images from the murder scene is shown to reiterate it, I guess. Then along comes the George (Ryan Reynolds) and Kathy Lutz (Melissa George), living in some crappy little house where the three children, Billy (Jesse James), now 12, Michael (Jimmy Bennett) 9 (who looks kinda special) and Missy/Amy/Chelsea Lutz, (Chloe Moretz) 5 are trying to accept George Lutz as their stepfather. Suddenly were on Lifetime, televison for women. Frank turns to me and asks if we accidentally slipped in chick flick. I sigh and we watch more. They pull up to the house, now three times the size of the original. They fall in love with it, are warned by the realtor about the murders, and buy it anyway. More scenes of a family acting happy and adjusting while unpacking...I start to wonder if it's a chick-flick myself. The screen flashed DAY 1. Finally, they get settled. A few scares here and there, many scenes of the fictional Jodie Defeo and some rotting corpse, chairs move, a toilet clogs (I think..or was that mine?) Some people in the theater jump. George acts strange, chops tons or wood. Jodie appears quite frequently to the Lutz daughter and really looks like the girl from the ring. I think it was a crossover. Suddenly its Day 15. I look at Frank, and ask "Did I fall asleep between days 2 and 14?" No, but I guess the Lutzes did. Then I notice wayyyy to much of shirtless George Lutz complaining it's cold. Its new York in January and he's outside and walking around that huge drafty house shirtless. I'm confused. I do have to say, however, the actor who played George was pretty good. He wasn't scary, but he was funny. One scene at the dinner table, Kathy Lutz blurbs out "this is hell!", while he calmly states "I thought it was meatloaf." Watch for other funny one liners like this..they'll keep you awake. Day 15...Kathy starts to suspect some something's not quite right. I guess she took a clue pill or something. George and Kathy go out and bring in the baby sitter. Remember the one from the 70s with the dopey retainer? We'll she grew up, believe me! In comes what looks like a porn star (Rachel Nichols). The movie started to finally get interesting. She reveals the Defeo story to the kids, smokes some weed, gets locked in a closet by Jodie "not a pig" DeFeo and eventually goes insane. After this scene, I advise you to leave. The call a priest in (philip Baker Hall), he gets his butt kicked by the flies. The flies were awesome actors in this and I hope they got paid well. I was in tears at this scene I laughed so hard. Then along comes Day 28. Yes, Days 16-27 were long nights of Scrabble and "The Love Boat". George Lutz nearly gets eaten by his bathtub (or was that earlier?) Regardless, make sure you feed your tub before you bathe in it. George discovers the "red room" only its about the size on Union station and full of dead Indians and some cult leader who, I guess, is trying to possess George. Im not sure at this point, and the movie turns into "Hellraiser" with people hanging on meathooks. Im not making this up people! George becomes possessed and chased the family around with an axe, then a gun, then an axe again. The family are outside running from him, and suddenly this is like the Shining. They knock him out, drag him away, and escape, but I wont reveal the whole ending. I do have one comment though. Ladies...If your husband tries to kill you and your kids with a gun or an axe or anything you really should consider a divorce...or at least marriage counseling. So that's my review. It was a funny movie. It had some scary parts, but it was nothing like first movie or the book with the exceptions of the DeFeos all getting killed in the beginning and George going nuts by the end. Gone are the bleeding walls, foul smells, reversing crucifixes, glowing eyes, well to hell in the basement, puking nun, and wacky psychic. See this one to satisfy your curiosity, but look at as Hollywood comedy opposed to horror and I think you may like it. I give it 3 out of 5 monuments! Got a Comment? Email Albert at webmaster@dchauntings.com 
Urban Ghost Storyby Del Harvey Part Poltergeist and part Exorcist, this film from Scotland benefits from a strong cast and a juicy little drama. Lizzie (Heather Ann Foster) is a 12-year old living with her mom Kate (Stephanie Buttle - Crimetime, Silent Cry) and younger brother in a Glasgow tenement. One reckless night of underage drinking and driving and Lizzie blames herself for the death of her best friend, since she was the one behind the wheel when their car overturned and burst into flames. After a car accident, Lizzie lies dead on the roadside - slowly she is taken into the light - but is pulled back to earth when she is revived by the doctors. Lizzie feels sure that during the 184 seconds that she lay dead, something latched on to her and came back into her world. The nightmares and visions that follow only crystallize her belief that she should have died in the crash... As a result of this traumatic event, Lizzie not only blames and hates herself, but her family is suddenly visited by a ghost who moves heavy furniture as though it were a feather and keeps them awake nights with bone-shaking sounds. Lizzie's first hurdle is convincing mom that this ghost is real. Once this has been accomplished they try to seek help in the usual places, but the police and civil services people chalk these occurrences up to a teenager's overactive imagination, and soon threaten to take her away if mom can't do her job right. The only person who seems genuinely interested in helping them is a staff writer for Scotland's version of The National Enquirer, a reporter named John Fox (Jason Connery - Shanghai Noon, Bullet to Beijing). His publication contacts a group that studies paranormal activities and together they try to identify the source of these ghostly phenomenon. The suspense builds as Lizzie's ghost's activities increase, until finally the highly confused teen is near suicidal. Urban Ghost Story's cast makes this taut little drama work, thanks to dedicated performance from the core group of actors (Heather Ann Foster, Stephanie Buttle and Jason Connery). The cinematography is typically British but in this case washed out works to good effect. The direction, by Genevieve Jolliffe, is supportive of this drama disguised as a ghost story, balancing the suitable mix of genres so we are frightened or concerned at the proper moments, and continually wanting to know what will happen next. Note from Bobbie Atristain Urban Ghost Story is available at your local video store , or available for purchase from MTI Home Video. Ghost Watcherby Teddy Skyler Released on 10/19/04 by Lions Gate
Note from Bobbie Atristain: No - we aren't even going to tell you where to get this movie. Personally I've witnessed better acting at a pre-school play. Copyright CPRI, Inc 2000-2008.
|
As a
ghost watcher myself I felt the urge to rent GHOST WATCHER the movie. Now most
horror movies are at best "B" movies and horror fans have come to expect that.
This movie however is a "D" movie. The acting is terrible. This is explainable
because the credits show that the stars and the creators are in fact the same
people, or relatives of the creators. It is obviously a back yard production.
The storyline is almost painful to real paranormal investigators. In the movie
the ghost expert is one of those people who installs cameras in their home so
that people can pay to watch their daily lives on the Internet. To earn extra
money she lists herself as a GHOST WATCHER. Although I personally don't care for
blood and guts nor gratuitous sex scenes common to "teen flicks" This film does
not even offer those two standbys. The only way a serious paranormal
investigator would enjoy this film is to present it as a comedy at an all night
horror movie marathon party.