WAS1 Productions

Originally Written 09/29/03

We went and checked out Cabin Fever last night. I wasn’t expecting a lot from it, but it was kind of a neat, fun movie. It had it’s problems, and some things about it were just plain strange, but it was also kind of clever and had a nice dark humor and satire to it. It obviously referenced other movies, but it cribbed from the best, such as Evil Dead and Night of the Living Dead, and it copied the films in a good way.

Like NotLD it had some comments on a study of society in a microcosm. It wasn’t perfect, but it was fun to watch. It was effective with the visceral horror in a couple of places too. I liked how it was a slasher/horror movie without any monsters or supernatural events, it was all biological. First 28 Days Later and now this, I wonder if we’re seeing a new trend?

We also saw Matchstick Men on Friday night. That was pretty good as well. I originally had some mixed feelings on it, but the more I thought about it after the movie was over, the more I appreciated the story and how things were set up. It was certainly an interesting situation and cast of characters.

I liked some of the visual effects they used to show Nicholas Cage’s character’s mental states when he was suffering from acute attacks of OCD, but at the same time, that got a little overwhelming, which was no doubt the intention of the director.

Originally Written 08/23/03

Watched Dark Water last night. It’s a VCD I got from a friend in Singapore awhile ago and had been meaning to watch it. It was directed by the guy who also did Ringu, which was later made into the domestic release, The Ring.

I can’t remember a lot about watching Ringu a few years ago, but from what I remember I liked the mood and atmosphere and the story, but did not find it all that scary. Creepy yes, but scary no. But my friends Steve and Yuan, both of whom are Chinese, found it more frightening than I did. So I wonder if it’s a cultural thing. From what I can remember comparing the two films, the American version was more scary and effective, but not as cerebral as the Japanese one. Cerebral is not quite the right word, but I found it more metaphorical andy lyrical.

The same thing could be said for Dark Water. It had a nice mood and atmosphere to it, and there were some creepy moments, but I was never really scared. I did like the idea and theme of the story though, and while the ending was anticlimactic, it gave some good closure and explained the characters motives. And while the film dealt with universal concepts: a lost child, mother-daughter bonds, sacrifice and protection, it felt more Eastern than typical American films. I guess that’s what I find interesting about it, where it shows the difference between the cultural mindsets and narrative styles.

I’ve also heard about this film, Audition, which I have mixed feelings about. The narrative sounds very clever how it twists perceptions to turn it into a psychological thriller, but it sounds like it might be more extreme a film than I’d want to stomach.

Update 04/20/10

Dark Water, the American version is probably my favorite remake of the Japanese films. It captured the creepy mood and atmosphere of dread from the original and gave it some powerful drama.

Originally Written 04/23/03

When I first saw the trailer for Holes, it looked like a really interesting film. It held up to its promise and was thoroughly enjoyable. The story had one of the more complex plots I’ve seen in a family movie, weaving together the destinies of the the three central charcters’ family lines. While it was a little predictable how things were utlimately going to work out, the story was still quite intelligent, and entertaining.

The narrative of the film flowed nicely, using flashbacks to flesh out the backstory. It combined comedy and drama with mythos and the friendship of a buddy story. It was a delight to watch and a nice change from the standard fare. The book it’s based on has gotten great reviews too.

Originally Written 04/13/03

Tuck Everlasting is an interesting family-friendly fantasy/drama story. It centers around a girl who discovers a family living in the huge woods on her family’s estate. They have a secret and are hiding from the outside world. It turns out they found (by accident) a spring, the water of which will give anyone who drinks it eternal life.

The downside of immortality of course is that they’re frozen in time at the age they drank the water and have been living like that for near a century. Themes of watching the world change around you and losing ones you love to old age and disease are shown, much like in Highlander.

The girl falls in love with the youngest son, whose frozen at the age of 17, and at the end must decide to drink from the water and live eternally with him, or go off and find her own life. The movie was not only a nice period piece (set in the early 1900s) but also a really nice bittersweet story.

Originally Written 04/13/03

I’ve been trying to catch up on Vincent Price’s old movies as they come out on DVD and The Abomidible Dr. Phibes sounded fun. The plot of a madman exacting revenge on the nine doctors he blamed for the death of his wife, all with deaths planned after the curses of the Egyptians from Exodus in the Bible, had great promise. Unfortunately the pacing of the film was very tedious and distracted from its enjoyment.

The film was very showy and gimmicky and had a bit of flair to it which was amusing though, so it wasn’t all bad. I also got a chuckle from the death of rats, where a guy was freaking out from having what were obviously just tame pet rats crawling over him, and how they tried to edit it to make it seem like they were attacking him.

Unfortunately, the character who Price played had been injurred in an accident, and could only talk through a mechanical device. He spent most of the film mute, so his usual pressence was dilluted. I’ve heard Theater of Blood is a movie that uses a similar idea of thematic murders, so I may check that out sometime.

Update 04/20/10

I’ve watched Theater of Blood and it was a better movie. It was pretty goofy like Phibes, but it had more of a devilish sense of glee in dispatching the reviewers who spurned a mad Shakespearean hack actor. Vincent Price had more of a presence in that film as well.