Director Patrick Johnson’s horror thriller wants to be an amalgam of “Fatal Attraction” and Takashi Miike’s “Audition,” and while both ambitions are admirable, neither of those classics rise to the surface to add entertainment value to “She’s Crushed.” While Natalie Dickinson is infinitely sexier than Glenn Close, “She’s Crushed” is never quite sure what to do with itself nor is it clear which character we’re supposed to be following. At times we’re told the entire ordeal is Ray’s where he’s forced to deal with alcoholism and memories of his days serving in the military, all the while coping with a new neighbor who gets the idea Patrick may be in love with her after a torrid one night stand. Apparently Ray didn’t receive the all too important memo that women can get that impression.
Tag Archives: Thriller
I Spit On Your Grave: Unrated (2010)
Was this remake entirely necessary? Actually no. Especially when you consider Meir Zarchi’s 1978 revenge film continues to be a widely revered, and critically reviled piece of volatile grindhouse cinema that not only set the stages for future revenge films, but was already remade subsequent its theatrical release where we saw no end of women on a rampage revenge films in the late seventies in to the eighties. “I Spit on Your Grave” is still one of the most heavily discussed and angrily debated cult masterpieces to this day inspiring hatred and praise from many film buffs and to this day inspires pure vitriol from iconic film critic Roger Ebert who despises Zarchi’s film so passionately, he banishes anyone who enjoyed it.
The Green Hornet (2011)
Yes, I’m sure when Bruce Lee came to America, he dreamed of having the American remake machine take what was once a dignified television property that made his career and turn it in to a bonafide vanity project for someone like Seth Rogen. I’m sure he’d love the fact that rather than take his entire project seriously and transform the Green Hornet in to a truly adult and complex superhero epic like “The Dark Knight,” it would instead become another version of “Rush Hour.”
The Cape
It’s almost as if someone from NBC got together with writers and thought “Okay, we tried superheroes as real world individuals and we all saw how that worked out. Now how about we just drop the pretenses and dive head first in to the superhero genre?” And that’s exactly what happened. Even I as a major “Heroes” fan in the day–and trust me “Heroes” was all I talked about during the first season–can admit that after the season finale of season one, the show fizzled and deflated with startling speed. So it is only natural NBC would want to go for the superhero fad yet again, but this time diving in to the cheese without the attempts to recreate the success of “Lost.”
Troll (1986)
I remember the moment in “Best Worst Movie” where one of the stars of “Troll 2” are looking at a DVD box of “Troll” and “Troll 2” at a video store, and the clerk explains that the movie meant for the bad movie section of the shop is “Troll 2.” After finally watching “Troll” I can safely say that this absolutely unbearable film should also be in the same category as the film that ventured in to the town of Nilbog. Harry Potter and his family have just moved in to a mysterious apartment complex directly near a small wooded area. Upon discovering their surroundings, irritating little sister Wendy entering the basement, she’s captured by a troll, and the monster takes on her form. Rather than playing it cool and sneaking about the apartment building, the troll of course begins wreaking havoc acting like a hyperactive child for reasons never actually explained, and biding its time by venturing around the building making mischief.
Sleepwalking (2008)
Director William Maher’s drama is not so much a story about Anna Sophia Robb’s character nor is it particularly about Charlize Theron, but a story about Nick Stahl’s protagonist James. Beaten down by life to the point where he is perpetually inept and in a funk, James is a man who gets through life as much as possible by soaking in the bile life hands him with a casual shrug and enduring about as much from the people in his life as possible. He is so absolutely immune to personal pain and stress he is constantly mistaken as mentally disabled. He sadly has to deal with Joleen and Tara, his sister and niece, both of whom are consistently in the pits of life. Joleen is a reckless neglectful mom who relies on James too much to get her out of trouble while Tara is her petulant daughter forced to deal with her mom’s indiscretions. But when Joleen leaves one night, she never comes home and now James and Tara are left all alone.
The Taint (2010)
After reading the press materials for Dan Nelson and Drew Bolduc’s “The Taint,” I expected almost anything to happen while watching it. And that’s pretty much what I was given when watching “The Taint.” Just about anything and everything that you can imagine happened. And some things you were too afraid to imagine happened. It’s almost impossible to describe the film that was made by directors Dan Nelson and Drew Bolduc, but it’s an experience that no one will forget after watching it. And surely enough it has Troma written all over it. It’s compelling while also entertaining. It’s trashy but it’s clever. And it’s completely abundantly moronic, but also has a wit to it that makes it entertaining.