The Lost

Thursday, June 19, 2008

We spent the last part of my vacation in Harrisonburg packing up Shenan's old apartment, and visiting with Patrick and Chris. And if you thought my other vacation posts were bad, it's gonna get really rough here, since I'm having trouble remembering what we watched. Alcohol consumption was liberal, and now the sequence of events is a little hazy for me.

This was the other movie in the Jack Ketchum set, and I was extra excited because it was directed by the fellow who did I Know Who Killed Me. If you haven't seen that one, it's a movie where Lindsey Lohan becomes a double amputee and has her first sex scene, and it's one of the most fascinatingly bad/good horror movies in recent years.

This is legitimately a better movie than that, and in fact it's got a much nicer visual polish than The Girl Next Door did. I liked it. The director is definitely a showoff, that was clear in IKWKM, and he could tone it down, but at least he knows how to point a camera in a dynamic way. That counts for something. Although, he does way overuse pop/rock/metal music blasting on the soundtrack to underscore nearly every scene. Knock it off dude, leave that shit to Scorsese.

I felt like there was potential for a better movie. It starts off with a bang, then slows down and becomes one of those movies where you know the main character is a nut and it's just a matter of time before he cracks, so there's a lot of suspense building under the surface. The buildup, sadly, takes way too long and the movie loses the tension as a result. Then, when he finally snaps, it doesn't have the same impact. We've been expecting it too long.

I think enough of it works, and I really liked the lead performance. The guy kind of looks like a better looking version of a young Crispin Glover, and is almost as good at going over the top. But mostly he's great at just creating this bizarre character and letting him simmer... it's a very peculiar and original kind of nutcase, and the movie is equal parts horror and character study, which I dug. I think the final result may be a failure, but it's an interesting failure that I mostly enjoyed. Count me in if this guy makes another horror movie... I'd like to see him try for a genuinely good one, but another crazyass I Know Who Killed Me would be good, too.