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ericmcmillan
Reviews
Seventh Moon (2008)
Interesting, but lost it's way
I originally gave this move a seven, but then changed my mind after having fallen asleep TWICE trying to watch this film.
The movie began well enough: newlywed Americans in China enjoying the sights and sounds of the region. They get a little tipsy, have their guide drive them back to their resort only for the driver to become "lost" along the way. The driver looks for directions in the middle of the night and does not return. The couple goes to the little town and are haunted by the darkness, the voices, and the animals left out for sacrifice.
Then they come; the moon demons(?), undead, "zombies"... whatever you call them they are scary. The couple come across a man, injured, along the road and decide to take him with them. The undead follow them to a small town and seek them out.
All of this is interesting: dead people chasing down alive people to satisfy their hunger for fresh flesh (hence, the animals for sacrifice), a young couple who are lost and must depend upon each other, a protagonist in the group who'd rather deal you out to the undead in order to save his life... then it all goes to Hell.
The movie lost it's way when the couple find a house where all of these people are just standing around. The couple then drink something, have sex, and wake up in cages. Now, they are sacrifices. I fell asleep here, twice... this sequence of events totally disrupted the viewing of this movie and ruined it for me.
When I awoke, the girl was in a cave system (i.e., The Descent) and gets away, after seeing her husband become one of them.
Up until the house scene, this movie had a lot of potential. It was whithered away by changing the action so abruptly.
The Brothers Grimm (2005)
Great effects, but not believable acting
Don't get me wrong. I love a good movie, even one as audacious as this one. Why is it that, as we are an English speaking society, our heroes should have English accents? The French general has a French accent; the Italian torturer has an Italian accent; however, the heroes Wilhelm and Jakob Grimm are German and yet they are portrayed with English accents. Not just playful accents, but blatantly English with hints of Cockney, at times.
Second, the first time I saw this I swore I had seen it before... where... oh, yeah! Peter Jackson's 1996 movie "The Frighteners". Not a whole lot of a re-make, but some elements were lifted with subtle undertones: lead characters are con artists who make money by "exorcising" ghosts, an Italian torturer in Grimm is an insane FBI agent here... etc.
Finally, Terry Gilliam fits into one of those roles as a director who is truly under-appreciated. I love most of his movies, from Brazil and Time Bandits to Brothers Grimm, however even though he has a reputation for going waaaaay over budget, I wish he would have been given a larger budget for this movie. The "gingerbread man" sequence is comical, but the scene where the stable girl is swallowed by the horse is as fake as it comes. Hence, a couple million more would have made it better. On the other hand, the walking trees are awesome.
I say the effects are great, but I'm lost on the acting. Angelika, played by Lena Headey, sucks. Not only did Matt Damon and Heath Ledger dislike her, her acting sucked. The lack of the German accents and the obnoxious Italian Cavaldi brought the movie down even further. I would have given it higher score based upon the previous comments, but acting is the role of making you believe in the movie.
Wild Country (2005)
Decent, but lacking...
An interesting movie, but the ending was extremely rushed. The movie begins with a teen giving birth and is forced to give the baby up for adoption in a strict Catholic hospital. Set in Scotland and laden with heavy Scottish accents, making some of the dialog as indecipherable, the teen girl sets forth with some other teens (and the same Catholic father who forced her to give the baby up) on a camping trip only weeks later. The priest drops off the teens only to meet them at a designated point on their maps. The father of the child meets up with the teens and they begin their trek into Hell. Most of the "were"-wolf scenes were hokey, at most. Another review noted the monster effects were created by the same individual who created the "Dog Soldiers" werewolves (a GREAT movie), but he must have been on an extended holiday and was rushed for this picture. The real neatness of the movie relied upon the explicit gore of the victims. Limbs ripped off, throats ripped out, all of it appeared realistic. However, with a running time of only 72 minutes, the ending was rushed and much of the movie could have been better explained. The ending is totally expected and nothing is left for surprise. The characters are engaging enough for you to hold some pity on them, but none are memorable. I give the movie a 7 based mostly upon the high quality of gore.