False Positive
Lucy (Ilana Glazer) and Adrian (Justin Theroux) have been trying for about two years to get pregnant, with no luck. Adrian manages to land them an appointment with Dr. John Hindle (Pierce Brosnan), a highly noted fertility specialist who was Adrian's teacher in med school. He assures them they are in good hands and he will do everything he can to assure them a baby through IVF. Before long, Lucy is pregnant - with triplets! Two boys and a girl.
Dr. Hindle suggests that three babies will be too much, considering Lucy's previous history, so suggests he perform a selective reduction and suggests keeping the twin boys, who share a placenta. Lucy is appalled, already having named her unborn daughter Wendy, after the girl in Peter Pan. She wrestled with her conscience and finally agrees to the reduction, but they have to save Wendy, which the doctor agrees to.
Lucy's career seems to be taking off, for which she is ecstatic, although Adrian encourages her to be a stay-at-home mom. But she begins to feel off, not herself. The other expectant mothers in her group attribute this to mommy brain, but Lucy doesn't think so. Plus she finds Dr. Hindle's nurse, Dawn (Gretchen Mol), more than a little creepy, and definitely a fervent admirer of the doctor and his work.
Lucy sees an advertisement for a mid-wife named Grace Singleton (Zainab Jah) and despite knowing
Adrian wouldn't approve goes to see her. She is comforted by the woman's manner, and decides to go with her instead of Dr. Hindle. As predicted, Adrian is angry but Lucy's mind is made up. However, when the time comes, things don't go as planned, and Lucy has to be rushed to the hospital, where a huge surprise awaits her.
I noticed this Hulu exclusive movie and decided to give it a try, primarily because I just love Pierce Brosnan. There is a lot going on here, more than just the pregnancy. The film seems to tackle broader issues, such as male dominance, the role of women, and more. It has definite Rosemary's Baby vibes. I have to confess I figured out the twist but not the ending. It was a sufficiently creepy film that could have been a little better. Gretchen Mol was creepy in the way she played the nurse, and Pierce was very creepy as well. It was worth watching. I'll give it 3.5 Stars.
See No Evil (2006)
A routine call goes horribly wrong for two police officers when they are attacked by a psychopath with an axe while attempting to rescue a young woman whose eyes have been cut out. The rookie ends up dead while the other officer is maimed, but only after shooting the killer in the head. Four years later, he's working at the Detention Center for troubled youth. A group of them have been offered a chance to shave a month off their sentences. All they have to do is a little community service.
The teens end up at the Blackwell Hotel, which has definitely seen better days. But the owner intends to renovate it as housing for the homeless. Kids being kids, they intend to party as much as possible. After all, not obeying the rules is what got them there in the first place. And they didn't exactly volunteer for this duty, they were impressed into it. The hotel is in terrible shape, and bugs and rats are not uncommon.
Unfortunately for them, the psychopath is hiding in this hotel, and he sees them as fresh meat, and he is more than happy to kill and kill again. With no way to contact the outside world, can the teens survive long enough to tell about it?
I have to say that this film is long on blood and short on most everything else, including actual plot or
character development. Granted, that's not necessarily a requirement in a horror film, but it helps. I would call this movie an example of horror porn. It moves from one bloody scene to another for the sake of blood and death.
Which is all well and good, if that's what you're looking for. But I had other issues with the movie. Such as these so-called teens looked older than that. What, couldn't they find actual teen actors? Also, I can't believe they could just arbitrarily assign these delinquents to that kind of duty without at least notifying their parents, if not getting written permission.
As I said, the hotel is in deplorable state. Three days of work from these kids is not going to put a dent in what needs to be done. Not to mention, none of them seem to have any experience with this sort of things. Furthermore, I would think before the hotel is ready to be cleaned, they would need to send in an exterminator to help with that pest problem, ie rats and bugs.
Finally, none of the teens seem horribly disturbed by this place, or the thought of sleeping there for three days (I don't think any of them brought a change of clothes or anything). Someone should be at least a little freaked out here. And one couple chooses to have sex in a maid's room. God knows how long since those sheets - or anything else in this hotel - have been cleaned. The very thought is disgusting.
We get some glimpses into the motivation of the killer, Kane,and his overly religious fanatic of a mother who made his life as a boy a living hell. His actual reason comes to light at the end of the film.
The acting is tolerable, nothing to write home about. Most of the horror is of the gory variety, and it's of the kind that thinks it's better to be watching it than living it. There is a sequel, which I'll review once I get it from the library. In the meantime, I'll give this one 3 Stars
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