'LOCKE' is a drive you won't forget

MILD SPOILERS THROUGHOUT

RATED- R
RUN TIME- 85 Mins
WRITER(S)- Steven Knight
STARRING- Tom Hardy, Olivia Colman and Ruth Wilson
DIRECTOR(S)- Steven Knight



Synopsis taken from IMDb
Ivan Locke, a dedicated family man and successful construction manager, receives a phone call on the eve of the biggest challenge of his career that sets in motion a series of events that threaten his careful cultivated existence. 

If there's one thing that we can trust, it's that Tom Hardy carries motion pictures on his shoulders with incredible ease. After his masterful performance in Bronson, Hardy has been on a tear of good movies, all with memorable performances including Inception,The Dark Knight Rises, and now Locke.

An American Crime (2007)

 ***S  P  O  I  L  E  R  S***

 "This has been the most terrible crime ever committed in the state of Indiana"

 RATED- R
RUN TIME- 97 MINS
WRITER(S)- TOMMY O'HAVER AND IRENE TURNER
STARRING- ELLEN PAGE, HAYLEY MCFARLAND AND NICK SEARCY

Synopsis taken from IMDb

The true story of suburban housewife Gertrude Baniszewski, who kept a teenage girl locked in the basement of her Indiana home during the 1960s.




STORY: I watch horror movies on a regular basis. All types of horror. As a horror fan, every now and again you find a movie that will push you to look away from the screen or at least make you think you're going to have to turn your head. I've got an iron stomach and have seen it all, but this is one that I found to be hard to watch. And this isn't a horror movie. It's a drama.

The movie starts off in a courtroom with the prosecution of Gertrude underway. As the movie goes on we get bits and pieces of the trial to tie in what we aren't shown throughout the movie.

Sylvia Likens (Ellen Page) and her younger sister Jenny (Hayley McFarland) are left with a single mom of several children named Gertrude (Catherine Keener) when their parents go on tour together on the carnival circuit. Sylvia and Jenny get along with Gertrude and her children right away, but Gertrude's financial status starts to disrupt the peace in the house. Sylvia and Jenny's parents made a deal to pay Gertrude for taking care of them while their away, but it starts to not be enough. Sinking Gertrude deeper into a stressful life of debt. The situation only gets worse when rumors start to spread that her daughter is pregnant and she fingers Sylvia as the culprit.

You can tell that the tension was building because for the first half of the movie Gertrude seems like an honest, church going lady who loves her kids. She comes off as a great mom who's dealing with hard times. As the movie goes on, we see her darker side and we realize that she's a monster. First she beats Sylvia and her sister Jenny with a belt because their parents check didn't arrive in time, Sylvia takes most of the punishment to spare her sister. Gertrude becomes obsessed with the idea that Sylvia is corrupt and a bad influence on her daughter, which couldn't be farther from the truth. Sylvia is a quiet girl with good manners and very friendly.

After hearing that Sylvia is spreading more lies about her daughter, Gertrude starts to make Sylvia's punishments public. Doing them in front of all of her many children and even some of the neighbors. She puts cigarettes out on her and goes as far as making Sylvia put a glass Coke bottle up her vagina in front of the crowd of children and neighbors. She makes them all watch as a means to "teach them a lesson", she uses Sylvia as an example of why not to be a bad kid. Only Sylvia is far from a bad kid and she's undeserving of everything she gets. Eventually Gertrude has Sylvia thrown down into the basement and locks her in.

Gertrude's children and all of their friends and neighbors start coming over to the house every day and they all partake in Sylvia's torture. They put cigarettes out on her and carve on her and beat her as well as mock her and make fun of her. All the while, Sylvia isn't fed or given anything to drink.

The ending of this film is deep and troubling. Sylvia breaks out of the house and finds her parents. Once she returns to Gertrude's house to get her sister, she walks in on Gertrude's children screaming that "she's dying!". We're lead to believe that they're talking about Jenny, only when the camera pans back we see it's Sylvia that's dead. She never escaped at all, it was all a dream or a fantasy. This was a major twist and shocker, I didn't see it coming but luckily her death is the downfall of Gertrude. 

Gertrude (left) has a heart to heart with Sylvia

ACTING/PERFORMANCES: The acting in this movie is really good and impressive. The casts performances are what sells the movie and makes it believable. Ellen Page and Catherine Keener rock it and Catherine Keener shows that she has some serious hidden acting ability that we should see more often.



TORTURE/GORE: There hardly was any gore and the violence was actually rare and not graphic. They don't show you what all they do to Sylvia, just bits and pieces to get the point across and they do it well. As I said earlier, I found it hard to watch at points and they hardly show anything! Just knowing what they're doing to this poor innocent girl is enough to make your skin crawl and it made me sick to my stomach.



OVERALL: This film boils down the basics. When the leash we wear for society comes off behind closed doors we're animals. When we think we can get away with it we'll do anything we can, regardless of how sick, twisted and bad it is. Any chance we get to exercise our sickness inside we take, even if it means joining in on the ongoing and undeserving torture of an innocent and sweet girl. It's a reminder of how sick people can be and how sometimes the undeserving have to get the wrong end of the stick. Knowing this movie is based on a true story sickens me and Gertrude got everything she deserved and deserved worse.

Gertrude should have gotten the death penalty. I was glad to see everyone who took part of this madness get their just desserts as well. An American Crime is a very good movie but not something I could watch very often. Give me a guy cutting people up with a machete at a camp site any day of the week, but torturing an innocent child? That's not my thing.

THIS FILM GETS 3 1/2 REAPER SKULLS OUT OF 5

The Ungodly (2007)

"a.k.a "The Perfect Witness"

*** S  P  O  I  L  E  R  S ***

"Do You Fit His Profile?"

RATED-R

RUN TIME- 100 MINS

WRITER(S)- MARK BORKOWSKI AND THOMAS DUNN

STARRING- WES BENTLEY, MARK BORKOWSKI AND JOANNE BARON

DIRECTOR- THOMAS DUNN

Synopsis taken from IMDb

Mickey is about to get his big break as an amateur film maker, from a serial killer who turns him and his camera into 'the perfect witness'.

STORY:  "The Perfect Witness" had me intrigued instantly by it's description. However, I wasn't sure how well it would hold up. There's a lot of movies out there that sound intriguing and when I put them on I shut them off 10 minutes later. So I was pleased that this film brought the good stuff. This isn't just a slasher movie. It takes you inside the mind of a killer, it's as psychological as they get.

 Mick (Wes Bentley) has been tracking down a local serial killer James Lemac (Mark Borkowski) and the movie picks up with him finding James in an alley talking to a woman. While Mick hides behind a dumpster with his camera he records James sweet talking the broad before stabbing her to death. This scene was shot very gritty and raw, so I knew this movie had some potential and wanted to see where this was going. James sees Mick behind the dumpster and is shocked. Mick has James meet him on a public bench in a park the following day to make a deal; Mick won't turn James in or show anyone the tape, in return James has to allow himself to be filmed and interviewed by Mick on camera.

James is is hesitant and doesn't open up immediately. He even tries to snake in some conversation to get Mick to say somethings about himself, like where he goes to school and where he lives. Luckily, Mick isn't stupid and sees right through it and keeps it professional. He just wants James to open his mind to the camera and show people how he functions. Most importantly, Mick wants to get to the root of why James murders women so savagely. Mick starts to get closer than he wants as James opens up with him completely and introduces Mick to his sister, Megan (Joanne Baron).

Mick interviews Megan and learns that James and Megan's mother was a wretched woman and extremely abusive. This is proven to him when James takes him into the basement where his mother used to keep him chained up to pipes. There's even old drawings and notes that James made stuck between the pipes from when he was chained up. Mick comes to the conclusion that James kills women because in his mind he's killing his mother for all the abuse and torture he endured. Only his mother's already dead and in an ern in the house.

When Mick gets home he finds out his mother gave a strange man their address. She said he was nice and charming. Mick knows it was James and that despite playing along with Mick's deal, James has been doing some digging on his own. Soon after, Mick's mother goes missing and James won't let her go until Mick plays along with his new game. To tag along with James during his kills and assist him as well as record them. The stress and insanity of the whole situation drives Mick to heavy drinking and pill popping. Mick re-evaluates the stories told by Mick and Megan about their mother and puzzles together that their mother isn't dead, Emma Lemac (Beth Grant) is alive.

After disclosing this information with James things go from bad to worse when James gets violent with his sister for lying to him all these years about their mother. Mick does some work and discovers where Emma Lemac is so James can finish his work and cut out the root of his evil. Once face to face with his mother, James is faced with the toughest choice of his life. And Mick is too far gone to save.

James (left) and Mick (right) pay Emma Lemac a visit

ACTING: The acting in this movie is good. Mark Borkowski does a great job at playing a twisted maniac. Wes Bentley did some overacting, but kept it on point. These characters really make you feel something psychological and emotional and that's what's so convincing.



KILLS/GORE: The kills are done in a gruesome way that not only makes it realistic but makes you uneasy as the viewer. James Lemac is a twisted, sick man and getting in his head isn't good for anyone. I love how they showed you his methods and how he gets the ladies to open up to him. It was well done and made it rough to watch him when he go going.



OVERALL: This movie takes you into a psychopaths head but what it really shows you is the extent some people are willing to go to make a name for themselves. Regardless of how egotistical and low he has to be, Mick gives up everything. Risks his life and the lives of those around him for the sake of his own potential fame. Ultimately it's all Mick's fault. James says something like, "if it wasn't for you we wouldn't be here. If you'd turned in the tape and done the right thing we wouldn't be here right now." and that pretty much sums it up.

THIS FILM GETS 3 1/2 REAPER SKULLS OUT OF 5

Mama (2013)

*** S  P  O  I  L  E  R  S ***

""A MOTHER'S LOVE IS FOREVER"

RATED- PG-13

RUN TIME- 100 MINS

WRITER(S)- NEIL CROSS, ANDRES MUSHIETTI AND BARBARA MUSHIETTI

STARRING- JESSICA CHASTAIN, NIKOLAJ COSTER-WALDAU AND MEGAN CARPENTIER

DIRECTOR- ANDRES MUSHIETTI

 Synopsis taken from IMDb

Annabel and Lucas are faced with the challenge of raising his young nieces that were left alone in the forest for 5 years...but how alone were they? 

STORY: Whenever Guillermo Del Toro's name is on something I'm always up for giving it a shot. However, with him being a producer, we all know that just means they wanted his name on it. How much he did or didn't partake in the making of this film I don't know, but it's still worth a viewing. Mama is the story of two young girls Victoria (Megan Carpentier) and Lilly (Isabelle Nelisse), who after a tragedy are left without parents and on their own in an estranged cabin in the woods. They end up becoming ferel children, animalistic and anti-social with other humans due to their being cut off from the world and left to fend for themselves at such a young age. They aren't alone though, an entity they call Mama has been watching and taking care of them.

Victoria and Lilly are found by some men that their uncle Jeffrey (Nikolaj Coster) hired to find them, Jeffrey has been searching for them the whole five years they were gone. When the girls are brought back into society they need a lot of therapy and aren't willing to trust anyone, they're completely wild. Once uncle Jeffrey gets injured his girlfriend Annabel (Jessica Chastain) has to take over taking care of the girls until he gets better. Even though Annabel isn't very excited about taking care Victoria and Lilly, it ends up being a good thing because the girls are able to warm up to her. Annabel begins to gain their trust slowly but surely and she begins to get used to them and like them.

Victoria and Lilly are talking to the walls and playing with something when Annabel isn't around. Someone they call "Mama", this same entity that took care of them in the cabin for five years. Annabel starts picking up on their weird behavior and even hears a grown woman's voice humming a lullaby coming from the girls room. Whenever she goes to confront the girls and ask them about their actions, they won't say a word because they say they don't want her to get hurt. And they also tell her not to go in the closet...

One thing that I was caught off guard by and didn't expect was that "Mama" wasn't Victoria and Lilly's actual Mom. Mama is the ghost of a woman named Edith, a mental patient in an asylum back in the 19th century. Edith killed a nun and stole her baby back from the church that separated them and is then given chase by the townsfolk. After seeing no alternative, Edith jumped off a cliff while holding her child so they'd die together. Only her baby got snagged on a tree and died from impact as Edith fell to her watery grave below. Since she died without her child, Edith's spirit can not move on and she's reliving that cycle over and over again.

Only now "Mama" has new children to look after...

Jeffrey, Annabel, Victoria and Lilly are all confronted by "Mama"

ACTING: The acting in this movie was pretty well done! There isn't Oscar winning performances but there isn't any really bad ones either. I like the cast chose for this movie. The little girls did an exceptional job for their age and for this being a horror movie. Jessica Chastain did a very good, grounded performance and she looked great.

SCARES/FX: This movie is a "less is more" type of horror film where they don't show you everything. A lot of the scares are in the general creepy feel the movie and there's some solid suspense. They rely a lot on these factors to scare you as much as what you do see and I tip my hat to this movie. Because if done right, you don't have to show everything, if you build enough suspense and give us characters we can relate to it'll take care of itself. Now, I'm not saying I don't like movies that show us everything, I'm simply saying it's stupid to judge a movie on how much isn't shown. You can show as much or little as you want and still get it done right. And Mama was pretty creepy looking if I must say so and I liked when they went into her backstory.

OVERALL: This movie starts off very strong and keeps that integrity until the end of the movie. However, the last 10-15 minutes of the movie become less horror and more drama. I think they spent too much time showing Mama at the very end, even though I can see how it was necessary with the story climax. This film is about isolation and the fear of loneliness and abandonment. And how now matter how good or how bad someone can be, as long as they're willing to ease our minds and our fears, we'll be loyal to that person. It's also about how not having parental figures can damage us.

THIS FILM GETS 3 1/2 REAPER SKULLS OUT OF 5

Sleepers (Book 1996)

Sleepers is an overwhelmingly powerful true story. Some would ask if "Sleepers" is considered horror, and to me you're damn right it is. Some of you may have never heard of this book or movie but it is a horrific tale. It's also a beautiful drama and a story about the power of friendship and the power of revenge. 

This is a book that has had critical appraise as "Undeniably powerful, an enormously affecting and intensely human story" and "A GUT WRENCHING PIECE OF WORK... Carcaterra's graphic narrative grips like gunfire in a dark alley."  

This is the story of four friends who grow up to fast. After joining a local gangster King Benny, they begin running mob errands, like running packages and dropping off  and picking up money. This soon leads to them acting out in more confident ways and gets them into trouble. They decide to hijack a hot dog vendor's cart and push it down some steps. And in doing so they severely injured a man and got time in a juvenile detention center.

The four friends find themselves rats in a trap when they arrive at the correction center. The guards are ruthless perverts and pedophiles. They're also even meaner bullies. Constantly running these boys down every opportunity that arises. They beat these boys up on a regular basis as well as take out their perverted desires on the defenseless kids.  

They degrade and humiliate these boys. They break these boys. All they have is the hope that one day they'll be able to exact some sort of revenge. They're lives were forever changed when they entered that hell they call a correction center.

One day years later two gangsters who used to be two of the kids in the correction center see the head guard/tormentor, Nokes. And they shoot him several times.

The rest of the story is the re-bonding of friendship after years of moving on and finding the strength to do what is necessary, to get their revenge and make all those who tortured them get what they have coming.

This book is gripping, and touching, it's scary because it's horrific what these kids have to go through.

Before I read the book I saw the movie and thought it was a true masterpiece. Shorty after I found the movie at a Farmer's Market very cheap. And so I watched it again shorty after buying it. Then I decided it was time to read the book. The movie was so well done that when I read the book I saw their faces and saw what was happening in the book in the movie. Jason Patrick, Brad Pitt and Robert De Niro and Dustin Hoffman all star in this movie and their acting sold me on the movie and giving the book a chance.

Overall I thought the book was very authentic and depicted old New York very well and that lets you know that this story is true. We see how the men treated women back then and how people acted in general. It's a remarkable tale. It's unsettling and it's tragic.

THIS BOOK GETS 3 REAPERS OUT OF 4