Ed's Review Dot Com

Media Rights Capital, Night Chronicles, Universal Pictures

Chris Messina, Logan Marshall-Green, Jenny O’Hara, Bojana Novakovic, Bokeem Woodbine, Geoffrey Arend, Jacob Vargas, Matt Craven, Joshua Peace

I’m starting to think like Night, I think.  I figured this out pretty fast, but surprisingly it didn’t take anything away from the enjoyment of the film.  This is classic M. Night Shaymalan!  There’s creepy, and suspense, and a surprise (hardly) ending.  Don’t let anyone tell you the ending, or it will spoil a lot of the fun, plus it makes you feel smart when you figure it out for yourself.

This is one of those very simple, yet very clever premises.  The “narrator” who you will get to know later in the film, repeats the stories that his grandmother told him of how the devil can come back,  and take the souls of those who are evil.   Not only that, but the devil can take human form and walk among us.

We have a cop, who has an alcohol problem.  The film opens with him, and one of those amazing shocks that catches you by surprise.  (Shock by sound effect, if you know what I mean).

The story develops quickly and soon we know that a group of strangers who are trapped in an elevator are not who they appear to be, and one of them is the devil.

The suspense is awesome, and you never quite know what’s going on.  A good deal of time when the folks in the operator are in the dark,  the screen is also completely dark.  The theater where I watched this had a lot of light from the stairwells and such, and this would have been awesomely terrifying if you saw it in a dark room.  In case you watch this later at home,  be sure to turn out all the lights.   The sounds of what is going on in the dark are really frightening, and then the lights come on and you see what you just heard.  Creepy!

This is a short film, all in all it’s only 1 hour and 20 minutes.  This is kind of a relief, as it is nice, for a change to go to a movie and get out in an hour an a half,  even with the 37 previews that come in front.  In fact, I’m not the only one annoyed by this.  You can hear half the audience groaning each time the “This preview has been rated for all audiences”  comes up at the front.   They are interesting to a point and then there another one, and another, and another, and then another.  It’s getting rediculous.

So anyway, this isn’t Night’s greatest achievement, and it’s not a blockbuster.  But it’s really a clever film, and a lot to think about.   Night has an interesting mind, and it’s good to see him writing again.  I’m sure he has a bunch of stories in him waiting to come out.  This was a refreshing night out.

Oh, and one of the previews I saw had the premise that an evil soul can be reborn into a newborn on the night they die.  The story is about Jack the Ripper coming back as a small child.   Hmmm.  I wonder if it’s possible for great people to do the same.  I wonder if it’s possible that Rod Serling was reborn as Night Shaymalan?   This would have made an excellent Twilight Zone episode!!!

EdG – EdsReview Dot Com – A Movie Review Blog

Warner Brothers

Mel Gibson, Ray Winstone, Danny Huston, Bojana Novakovic, Shawn Roberts

It’s easy to take shots at Mel Gibson these days.  He’s been in the news a lot lately.  But it was nice to see the old Mel in this movie.  He is great in these kinds of roles.

Mel’s an old cop, Thomas Craven, and very jaded on life, but very anxious for a visit from his daughter.  She has a secret and was looking for a chance to get it off her chest, when suddenly she’s killed.  The assumption is that it’s revenge on Craven, but in investigating who’s out to kill him, Thomas starts to learn that his daughter led a secret life.   Lot of things he didn’t know.  The more he unravels the more he is shocked to learn what it’s all about.  Now he may be in over his head trying to figure out what really happened.

Now Craven just doesn’t care, and is able to do anything legal or not, to find out what’s behind the murder of his daughter.  This is where the old grumpy bad-ass Mel takes control and it’s an exiting trip.

This movie was a surprise.  I really didn’t expent much from it.  I was very pleasantly surprised.  Usually I find myself losing focus, and occassional rewinding to find out,  “Hey, what just happened”, but this DVD kept me riveted in the story.  It was refreshing to have Mel back and many compare this movie to Payback, and I think that’s a fair comparison.

The story is similar to others, but fresh enough to stay interesting.   And Craven can get the truth out of just about anybody!  This film is based on a popular English Mini-Series also called “Edge of Darkness”.

Nice police drama.  Glad to have you back Mel, keep up the good work.