Castle Rock

Here is yet another obscure film that literally nobody knows about. In case anybody is wondering, I am watching all of the films in the Echo Bridge release of 8 Adventure films which includes this film along with the previous films that I have reviewed. Most of the films are really crappy and this film is no exception. This film stars Alana Austin (whoever that is) but most notably Ernest Borgnine (and yes I made a few Escape from New York jokes while watching this film).

The follows Andy who is a troubled teen. (How original). She apparently disobeyed curfew and is on probation. The only way to keep her out of trouble is by sending her with her grandpa in the middle of nowhere. When their dog runs off, Andy goes and looks for the dog and gets lost. There is also a guy who is an illegal immigrant and is running from the officials and finds Andy and so the two must rely on each other for survival.

This movie is possibly worse than River's End (and I hated that movie). Both films are pretty similar. I mean, you have a troubled teen who acts like a jerk to everyone goes into the wilderness and is reformed by the whole experience. But in this film, there is no apparent lesson(s) being told and well, the acting and characters are even worse. The only thing that barely makes this film from getting a one star review is Ernest Borgnine who actually gives a good performance even though the lines he was given are absolute trash. There is a fairly emotional scene that involves his character and not because I felt anything for his character but only because it was Ernest Borgnine. That is another thing. The characters are just awful. I have seen this types of characters in several movies. They are not interesting and I do not know how I am supposed to even be invested to these characters let alone anything that happens in the film. The film sort of drags slowly when Andy and the illegal immigrant are in the desert and that's because largely nothing happens. They talk, but the conversation is uninteresting. I know there is supposed to be a connection being made between the characters, but I honestly don't care. Everything that does happen is fairly predictable as well. Like when an injury occurs or something of the sorts. Which reminds me, HOW DOES FALLING DOWN A SAND DUNE MESS UP YOUR LEG?!?!?! The cinematography is not very good and I would have expected a little bit more from this film. There are several opportunities of having some shots focused on the beautiful scenery that is all around. But we get none of that and what every shot of the film appears to be more focused on is a living thing whether it be dog or human. One other complaint is a rather minor one here. There is one instance that I found (though it would not surprise me if there was more instances) where Andy is calling for the dog. She calls for the dog once. For some reason, to save money they follow that bit up by just repeating the clip of her calling for the dog. Trust me, it was very noticeable.

Honestly, I have nothing much more to say. Castle Rock is bad. If it was not for Ernest Borgnine, this film would have definitely recieved a one star rating from me.

Castle Rock opens with a juvenile delinquent daughter. She is so rude, self-centred and obnoxious, you find yourself hoping she gets eaten by a bear in the first reel. Her mother is a harpy and her grandfather is a bully. The carping goes on and on. I could barely stand the movie. Was this rudeness supposed to be amusing? Then finally some relief, there developed an unrelated back-story about a handsome illegal Guatemalan teen on the lam.

The basic story requires the girl to walk home 12 miles through the desert, gradually coming meet, then trust, rely on and even help the Guatemalan boy.

Though you hear rabid coyotes, you never see them. The perils are getting lost, medical, gangrene, snake bite, lack of food and water. There is no sudden adrenal rush, just slow feeling of increasing distress and doom. The boy limps, screams, yelps and suffers and suffers and suffers. It is quite distressing watching him and studying and attempting to treat his infected wound.

The ordeal gradually transforms the girl, beating the selfishness out of her. Oddly there is no romantic attachment. By the end she became a completely reasonable and kind person.

This is not a movie for small children. There are two tear-jerker deaths and protracted suffering.

In one scene, a German shepherd runs off then comes back wounded. The pair presume the dog has rabies. To my eyes, the dog just wanted to be patted, but the pair were terrified and scrambled to get away. Everyone seems to assume the dog is rabid, even though it looks perfectly normal and behaves normally. The movie makers could have done something to at least make the dog growl, froth, or stagger. Even with the technology available back in the day of "To Kill A Mockingbird", they produced a completely convincing rabid dog.

The end of the movie has two out-of-the-blue surprise happy endings. One of them caps the transform of the girl's dropping selfishness. It gives you a very happy buzz.

This girl goes through the worst weekend ever. It is comical the number of things that happen to her in two day's time.

I was in fear of watching this. I more or less had to. I actually found myself drawn in. By no means do I think this was great. I'm just saying that if there is nothing else on or you have nothing else to do, you could do worse than this movie.

If all else fails, the lead actress is easy on the eyes.

This is the most excellent movie I had ever seen,I really enjoyed this movie,a good ending also,It's a good movie on how they knew how to survive,this movie makes a perfect 10,I hope this movie is out on video,I would really love to see it again.