Home Media Magazine - June 8-14, 2008 - (Page 22)

REVIEWS www.homemediamagazine.com I BONE EATER Prebook 6/11; Street 7/8 Lionsgate, Horror, $26.98 DVD, ‘PG-13’ for some violence. Stars Bruce Boxleitner, Michael Horse, William Katt, Gil Gerard, Walter Koenig, Veronica Hamel, Clara Bryant. I THE SITTER Street 6/17 Genius, Horror, $14.95 DVD, NR. Stars Gail O’Grady, William R. Moses, Mariana Klaveno. I t is a true testament to a particular scenario and its conventions when a film with such a by-the-book screenplay such as The Sitter (also known as While the Children Sleep) can be engrossing, compelling and entertaining while also being almost completely devoid of originality. The point here is that audiences love this kind of thing, innocents unwittingly welcoming evil into their lives and then banding together, patching up differences and becoming stronger people in order to face the threat, and the makers of this film totally exploit this dynamic to good effect. First off, it is simply impossible to avoid the long shadows cast by one of the giants of the cop/teacher/neighbor/spouse/child/ fill-in-the-blank from hell genre, Curtis Hanson’s The Hand That Rocks the Cradle, from which The Sitter liberally borrows. Therefore, it’s better to accept and ignore this minor detail and appreciate this film for what it has. Klaveno, little known except for a handful of appearances in television shows and small films, leads an earnest and capable cast. She sinks her teeth into her role as Abby, a livein babysitter who is troubled but usually in control of her considerable issues. I PHILOSOPHY OF A KNIFE Prebook 6/10; Street 7/8 TLA, Horror, $19.99 DVD, $29.99 two-DVD set, NR. Stars Tetsuro Sakagami, Elena Probatova, Yukari Fujimoto, Anatoly Protasov. hilosophy of a Knife is the gruesome four-hour docu-horror film from experimental Russian director Andrey Iskanov. Broken into two parts, the film blends documentary footage with shockingly realistic re-enactments of the horrific experiments that took place before and during World War II in the underground Japanese research facility known as Unit 731 — from its beginnings in the 1930s, to the subsequent Khabarovsk war crime trials that implicated several members of the Japanese army. Despite its controversial nature, Philosophy of a Knife sets out to accomplish two things: Show, in graphic detail, the extreme torture methods that were used to kill thousands of Chinese and Russian civilians and POWs in order to develop competitive biological and chemical weapons. And, simultaneously, reveal the internal struggle of the nurses, surgeons and soldiers who were responsible for carrying out these heinous acts as a duty for their homeland. P Though the subject matter in Philosophy of a Knife is horrendous, Iskanov manages to produce a beautifully shot and edited low-budget masterpiece that is best viewed in small doses. He pushes the limit on everything from its unsettling sound effects and music to its incredible special effects that make every torture scene look genuine — you really feel like you’re in the room watching the experiments take place. Adding to the film’s authenticity is the one Eater is Sci Fi Channel’s latest original supernatural thriller from ‘B’-movie veteran Jim Wynorski (using the alias Bob Robertson). This time around, the monster takes the form of an evil American Indian spirit known as the Bone Eater — a giant skeleton with a headdress made of bones — who is resurrected when a construction company unknowingly begins building a swanky new resort on a sacred burial ground. As the crew fights to conceal the ancient artifacts they’ve uncovered, the Bone Eater starts carving his way through the sleepy desert town, vaporizing anyone who crosses him and growing stronger with each of – David Greenberg his victims. The only one taking notice of these unexplained disappearances is Sheriff Evans (Boxleitner), who isn’t afraid to step in and unravel the mystery. Fortunately, the sheriff is part American Indian, which allows him to seek help from his fellow tribesmen, even though they don’t have much sympathy for the greedy developers who continue to desecrate their land. Sheriff Evans soon learns about the legend of the Bone Eater and the magical ax that must be used to destroy the creature before it reaches full strength. This forces the sheriff to embrace his Indian roots to save the townspeople and send the Bone Eater back into the Earth. Sci Fi Channel has become a breeding ground for outlandish, low-budget sci-fi thrillers such as Bone Eater, which audiences continue to eat up. While not one of Wynorski’s finest films, it still accomrunning dialogue throughout by Protasov, plishes what it sets out to do: entertain. It a former doctor who translated the topdoesn’t hurt that the film features a cast secret documents during the war-crimes of tried-and-true genre actors such as Boxtrial. leitner (Tron and “Babylon 5”) and Gerard Fans of extreme horror films such as (“Buck Rogers in the 25th Century”), who Hostel and Faces of Death, as well as hardhelp compensate for the film’s poor special core history buffs, will find Philosophy of effects. a Knife much easier to watch. For the rest The filmmakers also manage to deliver of us, the film is a shocking, educational an original twist on what could have been journey into the atrocities behind perfectan otherwise tired storyline by creating an ing the technology of death. unforgettable demonic skeleton that looks – Matt Miller like it stepped out of an “Evil Dead” film. – Matt Miller Klaveno is utterly convincing and appealing as both the dark and the light sides of the character struggle for dominance within her. Moses, who famously had more conventional babysitter issues (i.e., a fling) 20 years ago in Mystic Pizza, is quite good as the vulnerable father, as is O’Grady as his wife. Veteran director Russell Mulcahy (Resident Evil: Extinction) broke into the feature film business on the strength of his stylish Duran Duran music videos from the 1980s, and he thankfully injects this runof-the-mill film with much needed visual panache. B 22 Home Media Magazine June 8–14, 2008 http://www.homemediamagazine.com

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Home Media Magazine - June 8-14, 2008

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