Ed's Review Dot Com

Also Known As Pictures, Manis Film, Papagjika Salloway Productions,

Bella Thorne, Frank Grillo, Aaron Tveit, Kyra Sedgwick, François Arnaud

Hazel (Bella Thorne) is a young lady with very severe agoraphobia who hasn’t set foot outside her house in years, living with her mother (Kyra Sedgewick). Finally Hazel has agreed to go to a resort/treamtment center/sanitarium(?) way out in the middle of the desert. The driver is used to these kinds of patients, and has built a sort of cave in the back of the van where she can hide in darkness and hopefully silence in order to survive the journey. At the last minute, Mom decided to come along just in case of problems. Before they arrive at the destination though, some gunmen show up and stop the van out in the desert, and the only way to survive is if Hazel can escape and face her terror and hike out of the desert for help.

This is an unusual movie. This is basically a showpiece for Bella Thorne, and she has to carry the entire movie. It’s a very suspenseful story, though very simple and not overly complex. The condition that Hazel has to deal with is portrayed very expertly by Bella, and I felt she did an outstanding job. She carries the film on her own. Some of the characters are cartoonish, and rather shallow, but Bella is able to carry the weight of the script and character development problems and turn in an outstanding performance. The depiction of her crippling disability makes me finally feel what it must be like to be so terrified of being outside your safe place. The suspense is really edge of your seat stuff, and I really enjoyed this film. On the edge of horror, this is really a suspenseful drama and not quite a horror film, but still I was really frightened as I watched this film. I don’t stream a whole lot of films, but this was one of the ones I have seen lately that impressed me enough for a 4 star review.

EdG – EdsReview Dot Com – A Movie Review Blog

Abduction Films, Manis Film, Pink Buffalo Films,

Michael Ironside, Gill Bellows, Jesse Moss, Emily Perkins, Brittany Allen, Melanie Papalia, Sean Rogerson, Anja Savcic, Freddie Stroma

April (Brittany Allen) is a young woman whose parents have divorced. Mom is planning to sell the cabin in the woods for the cash, and asked April to go out there to take some pictures to help sell the place. She invites her boyfriend Kyle (Freddie Stroma) to go along, but he invited two other girls and guy who are their friends to make it a fun weekend where he planned to propose to April and throw a celebration party. But strange things are happening in the woods, and a crashed space ship creeps them all out until they realize that this is the real thing and their time is limited in this sci-fi horror film.

This is not a great film by any means, but it is what it sets out to be. It does not have high hopes for Oscar worthy performances. Basically it’s a little sci-fi horror film with scary aliens and lots of suspense. It’s a low budget film, put together with a lot of love of the genre, and it pulls it off pretty well. It takes a while for us to actually get to see what’s really going on, which helps build up the suspense as we get little hints and glimpses to let us know something is really wrong, but once the suspense has built up enough, the terror hits us full blast. Good performances by the whole cast, and certainly well done CGI and special effects make it a lot better to watch. This is the kind of little horror film that us horror fans love to pop in the DVD, pop some popcorn, and turn out the lights and enjoy. Yeah, it’s director more toward the teen audience perhaps, but I enjoyed it as well, and I haven’t been a teen in 40 years or so. Rather well done low budget scary movie that gives you what it sets out to do. Recommended for horror fans.

EdG – EdsReview Dot Com – A Movie Review Blog

Stage 6 Films, Manis Film, Breaking Ball Films,

Susan Sarandon, Gil Bellows, Ellen Burstyn, Topher Grace, Donald Sutherland, Christopher Heyerdahl

Hazel Micallef (Susan Sarandon) is a small town detective in Canada. Things are not too exciting there and she hasn’t had much to do lately, but when a killer starts leaving gruesome scenes all around the countryside, Hazel is convinced there is more to it than just random killings. With some help, she sets out to solve the crimes and search for the person behind all the horror.

This is a familiar story. It has Fargo written all over it, in fact. Same setting, same female detective trying to stop the killings, same quiet backwoods country town. Yes, this definitely has Fargo written all over it. But on the other hand, also has Susan Sarandon in it. She is really very good, as always, in this role. It is a simple little serial killer flick and “The Calling” has a very specific special meaning here, which you will learn as you watch it. All in all, it’s quite suspenseful, loads of fun to watch Ms. Sarandon nail this character, and though it’s quite suspenseful, it’s all in good humor and a pleasure to watch. Certainly points get knocked off for the obvious stolen material, but the setting is beautiful, the acting is top notch, and it’s an enjoyable film. I enjoyed it, and found it was quite enjoyable, and I can recommend this movie for a great evening watching a crime drama on the couch.

EdG – EdsReview Dot Com – A Movie Review Blog