After five years on the shelf constantly being rescheduled and postponed, “Amityville: the Awakening” is here and–makes apparent why it was postponed for so long. At ninety minutes, “The Awakening” feels like there are at least twenty minutes of good exposition missing. What we get is a pretty ineffective and monotonous horror film that feels very much like another run of the mill sequel in the oddly long running “Amityville” series. It has a lot of potential to really break out of the doldrums of being just another cash grab, and could have done some great things with its emphases on family, but every time it reaches out to become something different, it inevitably just pulls back again and seems intent on just making it to the end credits with no real effect.
Tag Archives: Drama
Gerald’s Game (2017)
Mike Flanagan is one of the best directors working in film today. His list of genre offerings have been impressive, not just because the movies have been great, but because he knows how to build a damn good narrative. Flanagan has consistently impressed me, and with “Gerald’s Game” he delivers a stellar horror drama from the works of Stephen King. Even the best directors have fallen under the weight of the difficult to adapt King tales, but “Gerald’s Game” manages to be an unnerving and complex dramatic thriller that is focused on character and the sometimes weird coincidences of life and fate.
1408 (2007)
Stephen King has always been less about ghosts and monsters, and more about the ghosts and monsters in man. “The Shining” and “It” were so much less about the supernatural, as they were the darkness that is already there in humanity that helps breed evil and allow it to thrive. The stay at the Stanley hotel, the experience that inspired “The Shining” also helped King garner a keen insight in to the human condition. “1408” is something of an extension of “The Shining” where a man is already doing battle on the inside and comes face to face with a presence that is only a mere extension of himself. That’s scarier than anything that anyone can conjure up.
Othello (1952, 1955): Criterion Collection [Blu-Ray]
Orson Welles had an obviously nightmarish vision in mind when approaching Shakespeare’s “Othello.” The story itself is a maddening depiction of betrayal, deception, manipulation, and death, and Welles emphasizes that back drop in every shot. Despite being a troubled production, “Othello” looks beautiful and depicts the world around Othello as a confused and jarring mess where nothing is ever what it seems; that’s emphasized by the dizzying editing and close ups. Othello is a man driven by his passion who finds that the one person he trusts has likely betrayed him. This makes him abusive and inevitably murderous, and Welles offers no quarter when it comes to the titular character.
Bug (2006)
William Friedkin’s adaptation of “Bug” is a clear and stark picture of how often it only takes a nudge to bring someone in to the deep pool of insanity and how they can drown in their own delusions. “Bug” is a slow burn horror thriller that pictures two people colliding in a perfect storm of misery and sadness that have convinced themselves that there are dark forces outside that have caused their sadness and misery. It’s not negligence, or ignorance, or just plain bad decision making, it’s “something else” entirely, and what’s haunting is how easy they are willing to bend to the notion that there is an elaborate force outside their door manipulating their lives, rather than own up to the fact that some of us can never truly learn from our mistakes and from our pasts.
The Osiris Child (2016)
Two men set on a quest to save a child during a volatile period of interplanetary colonization. As they do so, a global crisis is looming and they must learn about the world and themselves.
Trafficked (2017)
Three trafficked girls end up in the same house where they must learn to work or look for a way out without getting caught.