Beginthebeguine

A remake should bring something to the table and I was hopeful when they started out with the usherette singing Science Fiction which is the high point of the movie. Everything goes down from there as the most miscast movie struggles to not look like the worst amateur dress rehearsal ever of The Rocky Horror Picture Show. Poorly staged, directed and some of the worst acting I have ever seen. It seems that the producer (Adler trying to milk Rocky for whatever is left) Casts Cox (OITNB) for what I can only guess is to exploit her own personal, sexuality. It is a colossal mistake since she is far to opposing of a presence to gain sympathy as Frank N Futter which is necessary to sell the end of the play. She is not the worst in the film, that would probably be the actor who plays Brad, with Magenta a very close second (I do not want to mention Columbia since just reading off your lines with no emotion is not acting at all.) The thing that really brings the show down is Ben Vereen and Tim Curry, two wonderful stage actors, who now in various stages of illness, seem pathetic in these supporting parts as they struggle against a senseless, and poorly executed production that should have been aborted before the first set was built. My suggestion is to watch the first number and then watch the classic Rocky Horror...

What should be an atmospheric horror movie about a young child and her mother caught on a lonely highway and attacked by a "monster" tries desperately to be a tale of the emotional conflict of mother and daughter relationships. It jumps back and forth to past conflicts between the two, yet never gives any depth to the relationship. The acting is hollow, except maybe for the child who delivers her lines with some confidence, unlike her co star, but mostly they are stuck with pointless dialogue and changing visual perspectives that might reflect either bad directing, bad photography or maybe just bad editing.

In the end it is obvious that the "Monster"-- looking like a tiny Godzilla --is a man in a suit crawling around on his hands and knees.There is no menace whatsoever and the confrontation between the child and the monster is laughable..especially since the "monster" has already dispatched a number of adults with little fanfare.

I see so many positive reviews on this page for this pathetic entry into the man in a suit monster genre, that I must wonder how many of these posters are related to the writer/director.

Not worth your time

At first viewing I really didn't know what to make of this movie. I thought perhaps that it was an attempt at an art house horror film. Some of the scenes made me think of the art of John Atkinson Grimshaw and others of Fuseli. Almost at times too disturbing to look at, and too disturbing to look away. The story is of some mad fairy tale, as if puritan America had be somehow correct in their witch-madness and crones haunted the woods in search of babies in which they might steal for their unholy rituals.

I had to watch it again.

The second time I realized that it was not really an attempt at an art house horror film, but rather beautiful in itself as a piece of art. It lacks compassion however and views the harshness of life as the horror itself as this family comes apart in the situation they find themselves. They really are good people, for their time at least, and they try to love each other as their fantasy of life-- where good conquers evil-- erodes over the course of a few weeks.

A Stylized fairy tale with no clear moral, though exceptional photography and acting. My biggest criticism would be the black-outs that the director uses to change certain scenes. They are quite long. That is a pretty petty complaint and really not worthy of this beautiful, yet disturbing film that has long lingered in my thoughts well after the final credits.