BARE BONES: A GOOD WOMAN IS HARD TO FIND (2019)

A GOOD WOMAN IS HARD TO FIND (2019)

Sarah (Sarah Bolger from Emelie) is a recently widowed single mother trying desperately to raise her children in a bad neighborhood. One night, low-level drug dealer Tito (Andrew Simpson) forces his way into her home to hide after stealing drugs from local kingpin Leo (Edward Hogg). He wants her to hide the drugs for him in her home to which he will give her a cut of the sales. She reluctantly goes along, till things start to spiral out of control and Sarah must violently confront Tito. Add to that, she is faced with the knowledge that it was Leo who killed her drug dealer husband and he knows where Tito was hiding his stash. How far will Sarah go to protect her two children?

British crime thriller is directed by Abner Pastoll from a script by Ronan Blaney and is completely routine and forgettable if not for a great performance by leading lady Sarah Bolger. There is nothing we haven’t seen before in this United Kingdom set drug/crime thriller and turning it into a revenge flick in the last ten minutes is jarring not clever. Bolger’s performance is the only thing that keeps one interested, as a troubled young mother trying to do what’s right for her kids and sometimes messing that up. The villains are generic street thugs and we get the usual graphic violence once things start to go terribly wrong for Sarah and her reluctant involvement with the local criminal element. Some of her actions were a little hard to swallow, but the actress is so good, we cut her some slack. Hope next time Bolger gets a meaty role she can show her acting skills in a better movie. Generic and forgettable low level crime drama elevated by an actress far better than the material and who gives strong emotional depth to her character.

-MonsterZero NJ

HORROR YOU MIGHT HAVE MISSED: THE MOTH DIARIES (2012)

THE MOTH DIARIES (2012)

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The Moth Diaries is a supernatural horror set at an all-girl boarding school where young Rebecca (Sarah Bolger from Emelie) is sent after the suicide of her writer father. She befriends the pretty Lucy (Sarah Gadon) and all seems well until the arrival of strange new student Ernessa (Lily Cole). Lucy is drawn to Ernessa and the more Rebecca tries to find out who this mysterious new girl really is, the more she begins to believe that she is faced with the very type of vampiric creature that she is reading about in her literature class. As the bodies pile up and everyone attributes Rebecca’s suspicions as a product of the troubled emotions left over from her father’s death, Rebecca decides she must deal with this monster herself. But is Ernessa truly a creature of darkness, or is Rebecca suffering delusions born of her grief over her father’s suicide?

Based on Rachel Klein’s novel, Moth Diaries is one of those movies that tries hard, but sometimes too hard for it’s own good. There is a very gothic mood to it and writer and director Mary Harron tries to give it the same period feel of a Dracula story despite being set in modern day. There are some nice visuals and effective scenes and the cast all perform well. But sometimes the film is a bit too obvious for it’s own good. Some of the scenes come across as a bit silly when maybe a bit more subtlety would have been better. Some of the voice narration by Rebecca comes across as forced, telling us things we already have figured out for ourselves. The film probably could have benefited from some of the sly humor that Harron used to perfection in the classic American Psycho, but here the tone comes across as a little too serious and it also can’t decide whether it wants to be a straight horror or something more along the lines of a Twilight movie with it’s melodramatics.

Moth Diaries is not a complete failure by any means and it has  entertainment value, but it could have been a lot better if the filmmakers weren’t trying too hard to create a goth classic in the same vein (sorry, had to) as Dracula, but with the melodramatics of the Bella and Edward saga. Maybe trying to appeal to both the Twilight crowd and the gothic horror crowd, but sometimes you can’t have it both ways. Certainly worth a look, just go in with moderate expectations. Also stars the Underworld saga’s Scott Speedman.

-MonsterZero NJ

2 and 1/2 fangs.

HORROR YOU MIGHT HAVE MISSED: EMELIE (2015)

EMELIE (2015)

(Remember, clicking the highlighted links brings you to other reviews and articles here at The Movie Madhouse!)

Babysitter from hell flick opens with a young girl being kidnaped, so we know from the first frames that something is wrong and it sets the mood. When the Thompson family’s regular babysitter Maggie (Elizabeth Jayne) can’t make it, the couple (Susan Pourfar and Chris Beetem) chooses a girl named Anna to watch over their three kids during their anniversary dinner date. But ‘Anna’ is actually Emelie (Sarah Bolger), who not only encourages the kids to misbehave, but does disturbing things like putting on their parents sex tape for the kids to watch and feeding little Sally’s (Carly Adams) hamster to older brother Jacob’s (Joshua Rush) pet snake. As Jacob realizes the new sitter has a few screws loose, he must find a way to protect Sally and youngest sibling Christopher (Thomas Bair) from her increasingly dangerous behavior. But Emelie has a far more sinister agenda and no one, not even Jacob’s parents, might be safe.

Directed by Michael Thelin, with a script from Richard Raymond and Harry Herbeck, the film is nothing new, but still very effective as it puts some likable kids in the path of a very disturbed young woman. It also isn’t afraid to break boundaries on a creepiness level by having Emelie not only show underaged kids a sex tape of their own parents, but giving the coming of age Jacob a first glimpse of lady parts. Obviously the deranged young woman has no problem putting little kids in harm’s way, or killing to get what she wants…and what she ultimately wants is a bit chilling once revealed. This isn’t a new story, but the filmmakers do make it work, especially when Jacob locks into protective older sibling mode and goes on the offensive against Emelie. It’s suspenseful and fun to watch the tween take on the psycho sitter and while it’s outcome may not be unexpected, we still cheer for him as he turns the tables on the pretty predator. The pacing is a bit more moderate here, but that serves the story as Emelie’s behavior slowly evolves from rebellious to scary and the kids realize the fun new babysitter is someone to be feared. There is also some violence and bloodshed which, while not unexpected, is used sparingly and effectively. Thelin knows how to generate tension and suspense and that helps make a familiar story work and work well and the script, in a clever way, gives us enough information about Emelie to understand how she got this way. This gives her a little backstory, so she has a bit of depth and isn’t just a random psycho without a purpose.

The cast is first rate. Sarah Bolger is very convincing as first, the girl-next-door babysitter, than full blown psychopath when her true nature is revealed. For a petite young woman she can be very intimidating and scary, especially towards the kids. Joshua Rush is really good as Jacob. He gets to play a wide range here as first he pretends to be dismissive of the new sitter…then when she teases, he reacts with budding and clumsy sexual attraction…then fear when she goes all Joan Crawford…and finally courage when comes time to fight back. Good work from the young actor. Carly Adams also is cute and likable, so we feel bad for her when things get ugly and little Thomas Blair is a typical hyperactive four-year-old and we also care when he is put in jeopardy. The kids are all good and avoided annoying kid syndrome. Susan Pourfar and Chris Beetem are effective as the unsuspecting parents and Elizabeth Jayne is courageous and feisty when original babysitter Maggie comes to check on the kids and visit ‘Anna’. Also stars Randi Langdon as the real Anna who, obviously, has little to do.

Overall, this thriller worked despite the familiarity of the story. The filmmakers made the most of the premise and weren’t afraid to put the kids in some disturbing and uncomfortable situations, as well as, physical danger. The cast are all good in their parts, both young and adult, with Bolger and Rush standing out strongly as psycho-sitter and protective sibling respectively. Another example of filmmakers taking a familiar scenario and making it work effectively. Not a classic but got the job done.

-MonsterZero NJ

Rated 3 (out of 4) ill-fated hamsters.

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BARE BONES: THE LAZARUS EFFECT, SOMETHING WICKED and WOLFCOP

THE LAZARUS EFFECT (2014)

I credit Blumhouse Pictures a lot for the recent horror renaissance, so it’s disappointing when they crank out a lazy, generic piece of PG-13 horror like this. The Lazarus Effect is a routine, derivative (Flatliners anyone?) and predictable story about some scientists and students who are working on a way to prolong the period of time in which a recently dead person can be successfully resuscitated. Predictably, one of the group is accidentally killed and the far from perfect formula is used to revive them. Also predictably, they don’t come back quite normal. Film is competently directed by David Gelb, but the script by Luke Dawson and Jeremy Slater reeks of been-there-done-that. We’ve seen all of it before and much better done. The film also wastes a good cast on top of that. Wasn’t completely bored, but wasn’t completely interested either. Stars Olivia Wilde, Mark Duplass, Sarah Bolger, Evan Peters, Community’s Donald Glover and Ray Wise.

SOMETHING WICKED (2009)

The most heartbreaking thing about this flick is that it is the last film starring the underrated and sadly gone too soon Brittany Murphy. it’s no surprise this convoluted mess was left on a shelf for five years before finally getting a minimal release. The barely coherent story follows pretty Christine Webb (Shantel VanSanten), who graduates high school and on the night of celebration and her announcement that she and her boyfriend James (John Robinson) want to get married, gets into a horrible car accident that costs the life of her parents. A year later Christine is married and in college and being stalked by a mysterious figure. She is also lusted after by her cop brother (James Patrick Stuart), her husband’s co-worker Ryan (Julian Morris) and apparently the director of this film as all the close-up shots of the pretty Miss VanSanten border on softcore porn. Murphy plays cop brother Bill’s psychiatrist wife whose barren womb sends the police officer into another woman’s bed…and to lust after his sister like we mentioned. There is a conspiracy of murder and shocking reveals and by the end of this badly edited soap opera level mess, I lost track of all the plots, sub-plots and double crosses and joined the cinematographer in staring at Shantel VanSanten’s shapely rear. Was there even a point to this movie?

WOLFCOP (2014)

I’m not a big fan of the Troma movies and this Canadian horror/comedy is definitely in the Troma-wannabe category. The story takes place in the rural town of Woodhaven and finds lazy, alcoholic cop Lou (Leo Fafard) being transformed into a werewolf by a group of cultists, who need werewolf blood for a ceremony to make themselves more powerful. Lou though, won’t let a slight case of lycanthropy keep him from catching the bad guys. The use of practical gore and make-up effects is about all this dull and unfunny flick has going for it. Most of the attempts at humor fall flat and the action sequences are very routine and strictly low budget…which would be fine if they had some energy or style. There are generous amounts of blood spattered, but the film is lethargically paced even for a movie that isn’t even 80 minutes long. That and it is just trying way too hard to be a midnight movie and the best of those types of flicks usually happen unintentionally. Not sure where all the internet hype comes from, as it lacks the style, originality, cleverness or outright manic over-the-top ferocity that makes a good cult classic.

 -MonsterZero NJ