Cinema Crazed

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2006

Rated: R for graphic violence, adult language, and nudity.

Genre: Suspense Thriller Drama

Directed By: Michelle Maxwell MacLaren

Running Time: 1:32

Review by: Felix Vasquez Jr.

Review Date: 9/10/06

DVD Features:
None.

POPULATION 436

The rule of nature is that if it looks too good to be true, it probably is. Mr. Cady has just been given one hell of a lesson on that rule in “Population 436,” when he visits the small town of Rockwell Falls. The town is basically Rockwellian, hence the name, and heavily resembles a pastoral Utopia made of apple pie, and the American flag. MacLaren’s “Population 436” is an interesting mix of “Wicker Man” meets “The Lottery” with a healthy dose of “The Stepford Wives” thrown in for good measure.

Steve Cady’s paradise away from home never actually seems to be what he wants it to be. People sing, and dance, and greet him, he feels comfortable even though he’s being plagued with horrible nightmares. MacLaren’s film is pretty atmospheric as Sisto puts his best foot forward and really drives the performance home as this man who has no escape and either has to adjust to his scenery, or die. Jeremy Sisto is a much underrated actor even when playing Jesus Christ and it’s a shame he never really caught on.

In “Population 436,” the reason to chance it is because of Sisto. Though his character is pretty thinly drawn as a Census taker whose wife died, Sisto takes it home and makes his character all the more appealing as he notices the slowly escalating lunacy of this seemingly beautiful town of Rockwell Falls. In the end, “Population 436” is basically just another adaptation of “The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson, but it’s drawn out with slightly more interest with odd methods of which the doctors in the town dispense of people’s infection with “the fever.” MacLaren’s direction is very good and he knows how to alleviate and mount the tension over and over to the point where we feel a sense of urgency for Steve’s attempts to find a way out of the town.

Even Sisto couldn’t keep “Population 436” from being awfully unfocused. The writer seems to want to push the film in all sorts of directions and can never keep itself in one road long enough to feel coherent. The writer wants to push for a mystic and or psychotic angle and he can never decide in the end. One time the town is possibly a Stepfordian community, while the next it may be the act of a god. What was especially lazy about the film was that it was never clear what it was trying to accomplish, especially in the final scenes. Was this town actually protected by god, or was it all one self fulfilling prophecy? Was there an actual fever? Were the dreams showing them what could happen if they weren't careful, or was it just a warning?

The movie was hazy on those facts. It's a shame it didn't cover too much ground on the themes here. And we’re never given enough of a sense of the demented security in the town, so instead it comes off feeling more like “Deliverance” than “Wicker Man” where we immediately catch on to the character Steve’s fate. “Population 436” is not as morbid or creepy as it likes to think it is, thus it feels a lot like an episode of a “Twilight Zone” revamp, extended and padded over an over. Through that time we’re subjected to an awfully predictable climax, and a lot of cheesy jump scares. Meanwhile, Fred Durst reminds us that his career fizzled long ago with a performance that’s awfully phoned in and never as fleshed out as it could be.

With much more menace and extrapolation, this would have been excellent. But it seemed to be working in half gears most of the time and comes off as unfocused and hazy. However, as a fleeting dose of horror, “Population 436” works because of Jeremy Sisto’s intensity, the atmosphere, and the creepy story behind it.

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