Undertow
The dazed, dreamlike world of director David Gordon Green remains intact, although Undertow has more story than his previous gems (All the Real Girls, George Washington). In the hot, green Georgia countryside, a man () lives with his two sons on a farm; their existence is shattered by the arrival of the man's Faulknerian brother (), a dangerous sort with an ulterior motive. The movie that follows is like The Night of the Hunter filtered through a Days of Heaven lens--there's even a Heaven-like narration provided by . That's what you get for having Terrence Malick produce your movie. The plot doesn't always sit comfortably with Green's uncanny style--sometimes it feels like an intrusion on a private world of childhood--and Josh Lucas is "actory" in a way that most Green actors are not. Green is at his best when noticing some stray detail (the younger brother likes to arrange his books according to smell), not when connecting the dots of story. Still, the images will stick in your mind, Tim Orr's cinematography is superb, and Philip Glass provides a suitably mysterioso score. --Robert Horton
The Skeleton Key
Steeped in rain, humidity, and eerie bayou atmosphere, The Skeleton Key is an entertaining supernatural thriller that makes excellent use of its Louisiana locations. New Orleans and the rural environs of Terrebonne Parish are crucial in setting up the creepy circumstances that find compassionate caregiver Caroline Ellis () newly employed at the backwater plantation home of Violet () and her invalid husband Ben (), who's been rendered mute and seemingly helpless by a recent stroke. The place is rife with mystery, shrouded in the secrets of a suspicious past and, under Violet's stern supervision, plagued by superstition involving the use of Hoodoo magic spells (not to be confused with Voodoo, as explored in the similarly suspenseful Angel Heart) intended to protect the house from harm. But Caroline soon discovers the source of the mystery, and why Ben (who can barely utter a word) is so desperate to escape his seemingly comfortable domesticity. There are a few loopholes in the screenplay by prolific horror writer Ehren Kruger (The Ring and The Brothers Grimm), but director Iain Softley (Wings of the Dove) expertly emphasizes the edgy air of mystery, pushing some effective shocks while encouraging fine work from Hudson, Peter Sarsgaard (as Violet's lawyer) and especially Rowlands, who's genuinely disturbing as Skeleton Key nears a twist ending that's undeniably effective. --Jeff Shannon
Product Description
A double bill of horror/thrillers. In 'Undertow' Jamie Bell plays Chris, a troubled teenager with a bizarre eating disorder, in this dark and lyrical thriller. Chris has moved with his little brother to his father John's (Dermot Mulroney) cabin in backwoods Georgia following their mother's death. Looking after his brother, Chris struggles with his own propensity to eat paint and dirt until he's sick. But then his violent uncle Deel (Josh Lucas) arrives, fresh from prison, and Chris finds himself on the run with his brother, trying to stay one step ahead of his deranged uncle. Whilst 'The Skeleton Key' is set in New Orleans where Caroline (Kate Hudson) is a care worker who moves in with terminally ill Ben (John Hurt) to look after him. Suspicious of his emotionally cold wife Violet (Gena Rowlands), and able to sense a strange atmosphere in the house, Caroline gets hold of a skeleton key that allows her access to the house's many locked rooms. In the attic she finds a room decked out with the grotesque remains of a voodoo ritual, although Violet claims not to have known of its existence. As Ben suffered his stroke shortly after discovering the room himself, Caroline is determined to find the secret to the sinister house, and its dark history as a centre of occult worship.
Zdjęcie poglądowe, okładki mogą się różnić.
AGBB000H5V9OE
