Canes

It takes a really bad film to make me want to switch off and this is the first in a long time. The plot line and special effects were 1980s quality and I was disappointed in the acting of Edward Furlong. It's the first time I've seen Chandra West and I did rate her efforts, although they weren't enough to drag this film up to any appreciative level.

Not Michael Madsen's best work either, although he's not the best character actor in the business, his skills as a "baddie" were never really exploited in the first half of this film - that's for sure. For a film to be this bad, you have to look at the Director. Either his budget was small or he wants to remain as anonymous as his films are!

Waste your time on something else, but not on this film!

The acting is bad. The main actor puts on a flat performance that entirely failed to convince me that it was anything more than an actor going through the motions. He did not show remorse when he spoke of it, though he played out the arrogant bits OK, as is he conveyed this puny little loser-man finding himself with more power than he knows what to do with. But he never explores the regret of the evil things he is made to do. Every scene seemed emotionally disconnected from the last. The supporting acting is not any better. the story is lame; Evil magic item possesses its owner to do bad things. It's been so overdone and there is no original new twist to redeem the worn out plot line. None of the characters have any traits to draw you in and make you care about them at all. The special effects were so-so. Don't waste your time on this one.

If you watch Mrs. Goodman drive around town, one second she is driving a BMW, next second it's an Audi. Also the license plate rotates from one to the next, never on the same car twice. Early in the movie she said Furlongs character bought a Porsche. Never did see it. I got this movie by mistake as there was two movies with the name "The Covenant". This one and the good one. I think the producers figured on riding on the name to get people like me confused and rent their video. If it wasn't for the name, it wouldn't make it on it's own. Michael Madsen really stooped low for this role. The make-up and wardrobe people should not quit their day jobs.

This is a truly sad display of movie-making from those behind it. Furlong is laughable as the lead, the supporting cast looks like they're choking back laughter half the time, and the slumming of Michael Madsen continues. There are so many plot holes in this 'horror' film, I found myself wondering what the heck the characters were thinking when they did certain things. The special effects are not horrible, but they're only propping up a really bad script. Whoever the wardrobe director on this thing was should be banned from filmmaking for a long time. Furlong's suits look like they were tailored for someone 4 or 5 sizes larger than he is. I watched this for free on late night TV when I couldn't sleep and I still regret losing those agonizing hours of my life. Avoid this garbage. YOU'VE BEEN WARNED!

I just saw "Canes" on the pay-TV channel here in British Columbia, and since it was also filmed here I guess that is fitting, and I can also recommend the beautiful scenery! The movie itself, however, was shot on a nothing budget, and contains average performances by all the leads except Furlong, who has not reached any of the potential he showed in his earlier films from the 90's. The most surprising thing about the movie is that the special effects - especially on this budget - are better than the plot (which I'll only describe as "horror"). Somehow, this film was shown at Cannes last month (Canes, Cannes, Uma, Oprah...), but I cannot imagine sitting and watching this film anywhere but at home, as it is slow and not very horrific either. But if you have nothing better to do, and it is free, then...