Home Media Magazine - March 23-29, 2008 - (Page 19)

www.homemediamagazine.com REVIEWS $18 million budget to make these creatures not only believable, but scary. By the time the plot takes the viewer into the fog, what lies underneath is both frightening and fits the story. The most interesting aspect of the plot is that as it evolves toward a shocking ending, the horror within the human beings takes center stage. This is one of the most intelligent and well-made horror movies I’ve ever seen and may be the best adaptation of a King horror story. Both the single-disc and two-disc collector’s edition offer engaging commentary from Darabont, who reflects on his numerous collaborations with King and offers thoughts on why he cut the eight deleted scenes (which were smartly excised from the final film). They also offer a nice featurette called “A Conversation With Stephen King and Frank Darabont,” who clearly are on the same page when it comes to translating tales from print to film. Hardcore horror fans and aspiring film students will get plenty of depth on the second disc’s behind-the-scenes program, which goes beyond the typical Hollywood featurettes. – John Gaudiosi I THE MIST Street 3/25 Genius/Weinstein, Horror, B.O. $25.6 million, $29.95 DVD, $32.95 two-DVD collector’s edition, ‘R’ for violence, terror and gore, and language. Stars Thomas Jane, Marcia Gay Harden, Andre Braugher, Laurie Holden, Nathan Gamble. N o one translates Stephen King stories to celluloid better than writer-director Frank Darabont. Following up The Shawshank Redemption and The Green Mile, Darabont adds plenty of human drama to the truly horrifying The Mist. Based on the 1980 novella by King, The Mist focuses on a mysterious fog that blankets a small New England town and unearths an assortment of monsters. While the fog comes in right away, what lurks beneath it is slowly revealed, which gives the excellent cast plenty of time to dig into their characters, trapped inside a grocery store. Harden as the crazy Christian lady Mrs. Carmody really steals the show, slowly gaining a congregation of desperate locals to combat what they believe to be beasts from hell. It’s refreshing to see that Darabont put aside plenty of cash from the film’s I THE HAUNTING OF REBECCA VERLAINE Street 3/25 MTI, Horror, $24.95 DVD, NR. Stars Bela B. Felsenheimer, Natacza Soozie Boon, Daryl Jackson, James Matthews-Pyecka. I WAR MADE EASY Street 3/25 Disinformation, Documentary, $19.95 DVD, NR. Narrated by Sean Penn. E anything. This is not unfamiliar territory for director Paul Schraeder, who touched on some of these same themes in the iconic American Gigolo in 1980. Although The Walker doesn’t quite rise to that level, it is an interesting look at how sex and power are inextricably linked. – Anne Sherber xtreme horror filmmaker Olaf Ittenbach strikes again with the release of this gorefest on DVD. From the opening credits of this ghost tale of revenge, the body count is high and the blood flows like wine. It begins one fateful Christmas evening at renowned musician Gabriel Verlaine’s commune, which houses about a dozen hippies and his young daughter Rebecca (Boon), when a mysterious killer breaks in and goes on a deadly rampage. The only survivor is Rebecca, who falls into a two-year coma from the trauma of the event. When she finally wakes up, Rebecca suffers from retroactive amnesia, so her aunt and uncle decide to adopt her as their own and hide her horrendous past. A decade passes without incident, allowing Rebecca to blossom into a successful college student in a loving relationship, still unaware of the massacre. But her life is upended when she starts seeing disturbing visions of her real father from beyond the grave, forcing her adopted parents to come clean about her past. With this newfound knowledge, and the continued cryptic messages from her father, Rebecca is compelled to visit the site of the Verlaine Massacre so she can help crack the commune’s unsolved murders and finally set the victims’ spirits free. However, what Rebecca uncovers is a horrifyingly elaborate plan involving those closest to her, including the lead detective responsible for investigating the murders. This uncut and unrated version of The Haunting of Rebecca Verlaine is horror at its most gruesome — the film features graphic scenes of people being ripped apart, which is Ittenbach’s specialty. Like most low-budget horror films, the acting and special effects aren’t spectacular, but its strong plot and campiness make for an entertaining shocker. – Matt Miller W ar Made Easy is based on a book of the same name by Norman Solomon, who targets the spin that takes the United States into war over and over again. The key question here is: How many wars does it take before we start asking the right questions? Solomon could be just another talking head, but it’s much more effective interspersing his comments with newsreel clips dating back as far as President Lyndon Johnson and his speech using a naval skirmish in the Gulf of Tonkin as the justification for fanning the Vietnam War. The film makes a reasoned case that the government repeats its rationale for war, and the media not only does little to question it, but also often becomes a cheerleader for impending attacks. The clips speak for themselves, and the strength of this film is pulling them together where people can see the similarity. Just as nearly every rabble-rousing battle speech in drama is a rewrite of the St. Crispin’s Day speech from Shakespeare’s Henry V, politicos rewrite the same script to sell military action of every proportion, from Vietnam to Grenada to Iraq. No threat is too small to fuel a justification for conflict. The left wing news media doesn’t escape criticism, especially regarding Iraq. Newsroom generals rush to assemble their teams of experts, often active in or retired from the very institutions most essential to war: military, defense contractors and politicians. Those teams must be in place in case of an offensive, which — intentionally or otherwise — the media helps to sell. Most reporters didn’t question the underlying claims that took us into Iraq. The few who questioned — notably Phil Donahue – were stricken from the airwaves for their heresy. Faced with a decision about who should lead the country for the next four years, it’s a good time to watch a film like this and ask ourselves what we should be asking our leaders and whom we should believe. Whether or not you agree with Solomon, this film offers signposts to watch for the next time around. – Holly J. Wagner March 23–29, 2008 Home Media Magazine 19 http://www.homemediamagazine.com

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Home Media Magazine - March 23-29, 2008

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