Saturday is Horror Day #158 - The Other Side of the Door

 The Other Side of the Door

Sarah's (Sarah Wayne Callies) world collapses when her young son Oliver (Logan Creran) dies in an accident. She's having a difficult time accepting what happened, despite the best efforts of her loving husband Michael (Jeremy Sisto) and her daughter Lucy (Sofia Rosinsky). They live in India, having fallen in love with the country while searching for antiques for their business and relocated there. Sarah's housekeeper Piki (Suchitra Pillai), knowing how devastated Maria is, tells her that there is a way in which she can communicate with Oliver one last time, in order to get closure. But she warns Maria that there are strict rules that have to be follow. Whatever happens, she tells her, do not open the door.

Despite the warnings, Maria can't help herself, and she opens the door. Has Oliver really returned? And what will the consequences of her actions be?

This wasn't a bad film, and I think it could have been better, having a different twist on horror. But it 

wasn't great either. I think one of the problems is that the underutilized Jeremy Sisto (whom I really like) overshadows the main actress. I think this movie might resonate more with parents, who can identify with the grief of losing a child and wanting to see that child so badly you'd disobey the rules to do so. I admit I didn't see the ending coming either. I'll give this movie E for effort and 3 Stars

Saturday is Horror Day #157 - The Barrens, May

 The Barrens

Richard Vineyard (Stephen Moyer) is trying to bring his family closer together. He has a daughter Sadie (Allie MacDonald) by his late first wife. He's married to Cynthia (Mia Kirshner) now and they have a six-year-old son Danny (Peter DaCunha). Sadie doesn't respect Cynthia and finds Danny annoying. He decides to take them on a camping trip to a place called The Barrens, in New Jersey, where his late father used to take him. The trip will also serve to scatter his dad's ashes in this place where they once bonded. Danny doesn't want to go because his dog Oscar is missing, but he is persuaded to go.

Along the way, they pass a sign advertising the Jersey Devil. Richard assures Danny that it's just a story, nothing to worry about. They arrive and check in to the camping area, then head to a site to set up. To their dismay, a number of people are there, not quite the idyll he had anticipated. That night, there is a campfire and ghost stories, and a young man scares Danny, which angers Richard and he overreacts. The same young man makes friends with Sadie, which doesn't sit well with him either.

The family ends up leaving the the next day for another site. But so far this trip hasn't helped in any 

way, and Richard is acting more and more oddly, favoring his arm. But he won't let his wife look at it. And he is not only overprotective of his daughter and paranoid about his wife. Things go from bad to worse when they run across an abandoned camp with a couple of dead bodies. Richard becomes convinced it's the work of the Jersey Devil, and he's been after him ever since he was a child.

I'll be honest, I was primarily drawn to watch this because of Stephen Moyer, but I really liked this movie. It kept me guessing the whole time as to what was going on, whether Richard was imagining things because he was ill or was there really a monster known as the Jersey Devil? The acting was good, it felt like watching a family disintegrating in so many ways, but it's also about the love that ultimately keeps them together. Plenty of suspense and scary moments. This was written and directed by Darren Lynn Bousman, who also brought us Repo the Genetic Opera and a couple of Saw films, including Spiral, which I plan to rewatch soon. This was a good film. I'll give it 4 Stars.

May

As a child, May (Angela Bettis) had few friends because of her lazy eye. Her mother gives her a strange doll in a glass case, warning her not to remove it from the case, and she becomes May's only friend. May grows up socially awkward and lonely and becomes a veterinary assistant at an office where she works with Polly (Anna Faris). May is still shy, but Polly is always nice to her, and May is good with the animals. One day she spies a good-looking young mechanic named Adam (Jeremy Sisto). she develops a crush on him, especially his hands, and goes out of her way to insert herself into his life. She is ecstatic to become his girlfriend, but things don't work out. Then May and Polly get together, and once again, things don't work out. So May decides to take the best parts of the people who have wronged her and make herself a friend.

May is a quirky and unusual film, not your run of the mill horror story. I found it hard to actually root 

for May, because she is not very tightly wrapped, when you get down to it.  You gotta worry about someone who takes advice from a doll, and holds conversations with it. And though Adam was good to look at, he wasn't necessarily nice inside. Polly really cared about May but she wasn't serious enough to settle down. It is an interesting film, but sometimes I found my mind wandering, so it didn't completely catch my attention. It is worth watching, though, even if not exactly my cup of tea. Worth it to see Jeremy Sisto.  I'll give this film 3.5 Stars.

Jesus (TV Miniseries) Review

 Jesus

Starring: Jeremy Sisto, Gary Oldman

American release date: March 2, 2010

Format/Genre/Length: DVD/Biblical/176 minutes

Overall Personal Rating: A

Similar series or titles to check out: Jesus of Nazareth, King of Kings

When I first began to watch this particular production of the life of Jesus Christ, I was honestly not sure what to expect. I’d caught glimpses of it on TV when it first aired, but not enough to get a feel for it, and back then it was shown with commercials, which never add to one’s ability to enjoy a film or mini-series. To be even more honest, the basic reason I watched it was to see Gary Oldman, who is my favorite actor and whom I’ve adored for years. Adding to my potential confusion, though, was the fact that I had just recently started watching Six Feet Under, which also features Jeremy Sisto as the crazy Billy Chenoweth. And now I was going to watch him play Jesus? I wasn’t sure how well I could wrap my head around that.

Well, I was totally unprepared to be blown away. Jeremy Sisto brings a freshness and realistic approach to his portrayal of Jesus that is almost as good as Robert Powell’s version. He makes him human, as he undoubtedly was, and he makes him playful—there are some really cute scenes with Jesus and his apostles. I wasn’t necessarily as taken with the actor who played Judas, his was a more traditional portrayal. It wasn’t bad, I just didn’t find it above average. Also, I recognized one of the apostles, Thomas as being in the new Showtime series The Borgias. He plays Micheletto, the assassin.

Debra Messing as Mary Magdalene was an interesting choice—don’t look for her to play Grace here. She plays Mary M in a traditional way, as that of the prostitute who turns her life around for Jesus. I think that is a stereotype started by the church, and that the real woman was not a prostitute, but she has been vilified for years by the church for its own reasons. Regardless, her performance is better than I expected, and shows that Debra Messing can play more serious roles. Jesus’ mother is played by veteran actress Jacqueline Bisset, who does a fine job of it.

GW Bailey is Philo, a character that helps to unify the plot in terms of the Jewish side and the Roman side, becoming a confidante of the new governor, Pontius Pilate, played very well, as always, by Gary Oldman. He beings humor as well as cruelty to the role. You might remember him as the less than bright but entertaining Rizzo, from the MASH series.

One of the interesting aspects of this series which isn’t normally brought out much in films concerning Jesus is the relationship between himself and his earthly father, Joseph, played here by Armin Mueller-Stahl. It also shows Jesus in his role as a carpenter’s apprentice, and portrays a close bond between the two men that I have no trouble believing existed.  Also there is mention of a love between Jesus and Mary, Lazarus’ sister, which is also believable. Jesus was 33 when he died, how hard is it to believe he had feelings for a woman at some point, even if he realized nothing could come of it? There are some realistic scenes where Lazarus gets upset with Jesus for seeming to lead his sister on and breaking her heart.

All in all the nearly three hour mini-series flies by. I enjoyed watching it, enjoyed Jeremy Sisto and Gary Oldman very much. I would watch it again without hesitation.