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| Roadshow (Australia). Region 4, PAL. 1.78:1 (16:9 enhanced). English DD 5.1. English (FHI) Subtitles. 85 minutes |
| The Movie |
| Cover Art |
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| Credits |
Director: Stephen
T. Kay
Starring: Barry Watson,
Emily Deschanel, Skye McCole Bartusiak, Lucy Lawless
Screenplay: Eric Kripke,
Juliet Snowden, Stiles White
Country: USA |
This is a film full of influences. The well-versed
horror fan will spot the quick-cut editing of Se7en,
the shots that mimic Argento or Raimi and the general
feel of the whole J-horror phenomenon, to the point
that it almost seems like it is deliberately trying
to mix all those things that horror fans like together
to make a more delicious parcel. Director Stephen
Kay (Get Carter), along with Ghost
House producers Rob Tapert and Sam Raimi, have created
an original ultra glossy Hollywood horror flick,
instead of yet another remake, which comes as somewhat
of a relief. The director has imbued this film,
using jump-cuts and sudden loud noises, with a constant
feel of dread and unease that is prevalent in good
modern ghost stories such as The Eye or The Grudge.
Poor 8 year old Timmy (Aaron Murphy) is a scaredy
cat. At night, everything in his room scares him:
his dressing gown, a mobile of a bird hanging
from his roof…everything. One night his
Dad (Charles Mesure) comes to his room and opens
every door to prove to Timmy that there is nothing
hiding there, until his father is dragged into
the wardrobe and is never seen again. 15 years
later, a grown up but still irrationally fearful
Tim (Barry Watson), after a terrifying vision
while staying at his girlfriend Jessica's
(Tory Mussett) parent's house, learns that
his mother (Lucy Lawless) has died. He rushes
to his hometown for the funeral, a place he has
not returned to since that fateful night and is
reunited with childhood friend, Kate (Emily Deschanel).
His meeting with a local child Franny (Skye McCole
Bartusiak) and his re-entry to his old house opens
wounds long since closed and brings about a series
of strange occurrences, or is it all in his mind?
If you are looking for a gore-fest you will be
disappointed, but if you want good atmosphere
and solid acting, you will be pleasantly surprised.
Barry Watson (Teaching Mrs Tingle)
puts in a great Vincent D'onofrio-styled
performance that is really effective. Another
point of note is the great flashback sequence
device; Tim actually watches the flashback events
unfold in front of him. Unfortunately some of
the CGI seems to be of a Van Helsing standard, which seems to have become the Hollywood
norm, but not really acceptable when you consider
other CGI effects like those in Star Wars
Episode 3 or Starship Troopers.
It proves that sometimes just because you CAN
do something, it does not mean you should do it. |
| Video |
| A really nice and clear 1.78:1 transfer. The color
has been digitally dulled but the picture quality
is excellent. |
| Audio |
| Spectacular Dolby Digital 5.1 that will scare
the pants off you. |
| Extra Features |
| Crew/ characters/ cast is a 19 minute 30 second
documentary with interviews with director Stephen
Kay, producer Rob Tapert and cast members Barry
Watson, Tory Mussett, Lucy Lawless, Emily Deschanel
and Skye McCole Bartusiak. Like all of these sorts
of documentaries, it does tend to turn into a
self-love festival at times.
There are 6 deleted scenes and one alternate
ending, the quality of these suffers as the special
effects have not been finished, but there is enough
there for you to get the idea of what is going
on.
Visual Effects is a montage of scenes shown from
scratch with the scene repeated with more of the
effects finished off.
Storyboards are a selection of semi animated
storyboards.
There is a Theatrical Trailer.
Evolution of the Horror Film (14 minutes 55 seconds)
starts off as though it is going to be an interesting
comparison of films like Evil Dead to the post millennium J-horror influenced style
of film making but ends up being more self-congratulation. |
| The Verdict |
It has been a while since a straight non-violent,
non-bloody, non-nudie horror film has made me investigate
a creaking sound halfway through. Not up to the
lofty heights of movies like the Japanese Ring or Tobe Hooper's Poltergeist,
however Boogeyman is very creepy
entertainment. It is unfortunately let down by some
average quality CGI. This is original popcorn horror
at its best.
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