INSOMNIAC SONG
MOVIE AND TELEVISION REVIEWS
HORROR
My Soul To Take
Starring: Max Thieriot, Emily Meade, Danai Gurira, John Magaro
Directed by: Wes Craven
Rating: R
Running Time: 107 minutes
Synopsis: A serial killer returns to his hometown to stalk seven children who share the same birthday as the date he was allegedly put to rest.
I have to give Wes Craven credit where credit is due. The idea behind this film isn’t bad. He just wasn’t able to follow through as smoothly as he could have. Seven children were born on the night that the Riverton Ripper was put to rest by police. Sixteen years later, the teenagers begin being picked off one after another. Has the Ripper returned to claim them like he vowed to?
There were some good points. The idea that the split personalities of the Ripper had been transferred into the seven children born on the night he died was quite interesting. The questions about whether souls move on and migrate as well as predetermined fate were numerous. The issues that main character, Bug, has with his peers and sister, Fang, are treated well by Wes Craven. Bug’s migraines and dissociative moments seem as if he may have something quite wrong with him. No one seems to really understand him or quite tell him the whole truth.
Where the film really fails is in Wes Craven’s script and directing. He hasn’t been able to concoct a really good horror film in ages. Emily Meade and Max Thieriot were good as Fang and Bug. Their scenes were often better than that of the adults in the film. If the script had been reworked a little, those two characters would have been allowed to truly shine.
Rating: 1.5/5
THRILLER
The Call
Starring: Halle Berry, Abigail Breslin, Michael Eklund
Directed by: Brad Anderson
Rating: R
Run time: 94 minutes
Synopsis: When a veteran 911 operator takes a life-altering call from a teenage girl who has just been abducted, she realizes that she must confront a killer from her past in order to save the girl's life.
The first half of the film was decent at building suspense. Halle Berry handled being a 911 operator dealing with difficult calls day to day believably in the beginning. It was easy to be empathic with her character and the people she was dealing with calls from. Once she gets the call from the abducted girl, things continue on a course that seems like it will lead to a typical ‘cops get the bad guy’ resolution. However, the deviation from that potential ending is where the film begins to falter. I simply couldn’t fathom the 911 operator making the choices that she did. Regardless of my feelings on that choice, I do believe that both Halle Berry and Abigail Breslin did well in their roles with the script they were given.
Rating: 2.5/5
THRILLER
The Purge
Starring: Ethan Hawke, Lena Headey
Directed by: James DeMonaco
Rating: R
Run time: 85 minutes
Synopsis: In the future, a wealthy family is held hostage for harboring the target of a murderous syndicate during the Purge, a 12-hour period in which any and all crime is legalized.
I saw this film after a recommendation from a good friend. The plot seemed very interesting for a thriller. What would happen if all crime was legalized for 12 hours a year? It’s certainly thought provoking. Would you lock your family away? Would you get out your aggressions on the people who’ve slighted you? Those questions were foremost in my mind as I started watching.
During this 12 hour period, all emergency services are suspended. James Sandin has locked down his family with a security system that he invented. He hopes that this will protect his family from the people participating in the purge. Sadly, that doesn’t go as he planned. His son, Charlie, disarms the system to allow a man into the house to protect him from the masked people chasing him. The Sadlins are given a choice to hand him over or be murdered along with him. It’s rather suspenseful as the characters try to hide and protect themselves.
There have been other movies that have amped up that suspenseful feel with similar themes of home invasion. The strength of this film lies in the performances. Ethan Hawke does a standup job as the concerned, protective father. Lena Headey is as always quite the force of nature to watch. She does quite well in the role of the strong, determined mother. Rhyes Wakefield was quite creepy as the leader of the masked group.
The film does have its flaws and issues. There aren’t many films that are without them. There were some unintentionally amusing things (like the son’s charred baby spy tank). Those things don’t really take away from the overall enjoyment of the movie. I thought it was well done for what it was. Go into it with your popcorn and enjoy.
Rating: 2/5
