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marcusgrant-86630's rating
College student Samantha (Jocelin Donahue) is desperate to move out of her dorm and into an apartment to escape her inconsiderate roommate. After finding the perfect place, she must secure the deposit to move in and that's when she finds an ad for a babysitter that'll give her just enough money to secure the apartment.
Once she gets to the house, she's met by the Ulmans (Tom Noonan and Mary Woronov) who let her know that this won't be an ordinary babysitting job, but instead more of a caretaker job for Mrs. Ulman's elderly mother. Uneasy, she agrees to take the job and the rest of the night will be an evening of horror like she'd never imagine.
The House of the Devil is heavy on mood and tension without ever getting too silly or bloody or filling the screens with over the top effects. It's also not a body count movie, so anyone expecting a trail of dead coeds leading up to the finale will be incredibly disappointed.
Writer/director Ti West shows us a masterclass in tension with Samantha walking around the darkened halls of this house. We know something evil is lurking around her, but we have no idea when it might leap out and grab her and that keeps us in suspense.
Once she gets to the house, she's met by the Ulmans (Tom Noonan and Mary Woronov) who let her know that this won't be an ordinary babysitting job, but instead more of a caretaker job for Mrs. Ulman's elderly mother. Uneasy, she agrees to take the job and the rest of the night will be an evening of horror like she'd never imagine.
The House of the Devil is heavy on mood and tension without ever getting too silly or bloody or filling the screens with over the top effects. It's also not a body count movie, so anyone expecting a trail of dead coeds leading up to the finale will be incredibly disappointed.
Writer/director Ti West shows us a masterclass in tension with Samantha walking around the darkened halls of this house. We know something evil is lurking around her, but we have no idea when it might leap out and grab her and that keeps us in suspense.
Mystery writer Sian Anderson (Meg Foster) goes on vacation to Greece to get a little writing done in a secluded village. She immediately gets on the bad side of a handyman Phil (Wings Hauser) when she sees him burying a human body. From then on, Sian is on the run from the crazed mad man who wants to get rid of the witness.
While The Wind has a great concept, it's not very involving or exciting in spite of some nice visuals and game performances by Foster and Hauser who seem to be giving it their all. The script feels rushed and a little on the bland side. There's a completely useless subplot involving an American couple who are on their honeymoon that kills too much time and a story thread involving Sian's boyfriend (David McCallum) ends up being a waste of time as well.
There's an almost interesting idea that tells you that Sian might be making all of this up due to her overactive writer's imagination, but they don't hold on that long enough to make it very compelling.
For viewers expecting gore, you'll be very unimpressed as The Wind keeps things in a very PG territory which gives the film a slight made for TV quality until Foster unleashes a few F-bombs and you're reminded that it's an R rated film. At best, The Wind is something to have on in the background.
While The Wind has a great concept, it's not very involving or exciting in spite of some nice visuals and game performances by Foster and Hauser who seem to be giving it their all. The script feels rushed and a little on the bland side. There's a completely useless subplot involving an American couple who are on their honeymoon that kills too much time and a story thread involving Sian's boyfriend (David McCallum) ends up being a waste of time as well.
There's an almost interesting idea that tells you that Sian might be making all of this up due to her overactive writer's imagination, but they don't hold on that long enough to make it very compelling.
For viewers expecting gore, you'll be very unimpressed as The Wind keeps things in a very PG territory which gives the film a slight made for TV quality until Foster unleashes a few F-bombs and you're reminded that it's an R rated film. At best, The Wind is something to have on in the background.
Gretel & Hansel starts out promisingly, but soon falls into the recent tradition of having to over-explain its villain's evil to the point where they stop being frightening. The idea of a hungry, child-eating witch lurking deep in the woods who lures two children into her den of terror is an effective premise and has been since the original story was told hundreds of years ago, but by dulling a lot of the story's sharp edges, this adaptation feels a little anemic.
While the themes of child abandonment still linger in the background, they're not as present in this re-telling, which is also unfortunate. After failing to land a job at the home of a creepy lord, Gretel returns home to find out that her mother wants her and her younger brother, Hansel, out (presumably because she can't afford to feed them anymore). The two siblings set out on their own, through the woods, until they find a house that houses tons of delicious food and a devious witch who intends to fatten Hansel up and eat him. She takes a liking to Gretel and helps her unlock dormant powers she never knew she had.
Styled a bit like The Witch, Gretel & Hansel is brimming with opportunity right from the start. Every frame is gorgeously composed and dread drips from every single second of the film, but the script is what really disappoints, never really frightening us. Perhaps it's the PG-13 rating that keeps things safe and kid-friendly, but even the themes of child abandonment have been toned down. As mentioned earlier, we do meet the children's mother, but she's on screen for maybe a minute and we never get a good sense of why she feels compelled to kick them out of the house. This is quite a switch from the scheming parents in the original story who knowingly abandon their children in the woods due to their own selfishness, which would have been a far more effective way to begin the story.
The witch is also given an elaborate backstory that humanizes her somewhat, but also takes away a lot of her sinister edge, which is a shame. You never really know what her motives for Gretel are. Is she planning on eating her as well? Who knows?
Gretel & Hansel is far from perfect, but the beautiful cinematography, pulsating synth score, dread, and the performance of Alice Krige as the witch should keep your interest throughout.
While the themes of child abandonment still linger in the background, they're not as present in this re-telling, which is also unfortunate. After failing to land a job at the home of a creepy lord, Gretel returns home to find out that her mother wants her and her younger brother, Hansel, out (presumably because she can't afford to feed them anymore). The two siblings set out on their own, through the woods, until they find a house that houses tons of delicious food and a devious witch who intends to fatten Hansel up and eat him. She takes a liking to Gretel and helps her unlock dormant powers she never knew she had.
Styled a bit like The Witch, Gretel & Hansel is brimming with opportunity right from the start. Every frame is gorgeously composed and dread drips from every single second of the film, but the script is what really disappoints, never really frightening us. Perhaps it's the PG-13 rating that keeps things safe and kid-friendly, but even the themes of child abandonment have been toned down. As mentioned earlier, we do meet the children's mother, but she's on screen for maybe a minute and we never get a good sense of why she feels compelled to kick them out of the house. This is quite a switch from the scheming parents in the original story who knowingly abandon their children in the woods due to their own selfishness, which would have been a far more effective way to begin the story.
The witch is also given an elaborate backstory that humanizes her somewhat, but also takes away a lot of her sinister edge, which is a shame. You never really know what her motives for Gretel are. Is she planning on eating her as well? Who knows?
Gretel & Hansel is far from perfect, but the beautiful cinematography, pulsating synth score, dread, and the performance of Alice Krige as the witch should keep your interest throughout.