Did you ever have a dream when you were young? I bet you did. There was probably a few half-cooked ideas lingering in your brain, ideas of grandeur. You probably wanted to be an astronaut or a writer or a veterinarian. And, like most childhood dreams, you probably put these ideas away on a shelf. You were stopped by money or time or yourself, so you hid these sad little dreams away and let them fade away.
I had quite a few of those. One of them was to be a film director. I wanted to make a wide variety of films, but I always wanted to specialize in horror. As with many, it started with Alfred Hitchcock's 'Psycho'. After seeing that film for the first time, I couldn't shower for over a week. I developed habits that eventually turned into lifelong quirks (locking the bathroom door even if I was alone, turning on the light before entering a room, etc). And though that movie scarred me for a brief period of time, it taught me so much about horror. So in the back of my head, there are a thousand ideas for terrifying pictures but for now they'll stay in my head. And I'll try to show others some "good" horror films. They're rare and rather hard to find, though.
The people I know seem to either love or hate Abigail Breslin. I happen to be a fan, and I think she's going down the positive road that Dakota Fanning did - cute kid, talented adult. (Thank god she's staying away from the Lindsay Lohan track, child stars with wrecked lives make me terribly sad.) You may know her from her first "breakout" role in 'Little Miss Sunshine', and more recently she was incredible in 'The Call'.
I happened upon 'Haunter' through Netflix. Bless Netflix. I'd say it's definitely the best luxury in my life at the moment. I never understand these complaints about how it's too much money or how people can never find anything to watch? I'm having the opposite problem, I've completely filled my queue!
I went into this with some hesitance. I'm always wary of any horror films, but especially the more recent ones. People really like to be flashy and they keep trying to outdo themselves when in reality it's the simplicity of imagination that truly scars people. While I don't mind the occasional monster, I prefer to be left in the dark. I prefer to frighten myself. I don't know why so many directors insist on giving themselves more work by creating such intricate monsters when just a simple flash of flesh or a quiet noise in the dark will give you a greater effect.
This film surprised me. It's definitely not a classic, let me emphasize that right now. There are large flaws within this film. But I expected this to be a stinker, so this is still far above my expectations.
Lisa (Breslin) is living the same day over and over again. Think 'Groundhog Day' but with more death and crazy paranormal stuff. As she realizes that she has died, she goes on to discover how she died and fights to get herself and her family out of this never ending day.
Now, I really like slow films. But there are times where things need to move. Where things need to actually progress. This film is just a smidge too slow in the beginning. I like the Groundhog Day concept but we get it, okay? You don't have to do it over and over and over again. We GET IT.
Breslin does a wonderful job as a desperate woman trying to wake her family up and show them the truth of their deaths. But honestly, her acting was pretty much the only incredible thing about this film. No one else really "stands out" and the slow yet interesting idea of this film is not strong enough to float on its own.
I recommend seeing it once if you're a fan of horror films just to gain some perspective on the genre, but overall I feel as though this is going to be a forgettable film for me.
Have a movie you want me to review? Leave a comment or send me an email!
xo, Kate
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