PutneyTrope

It seems to me that this would be a slight shock to serious Corner Gas fans. The animation style works with some characters - Oscar, for one. Some are just strange. The "Officer Karen Pelly" character has strange movements and always smiling. It's bizarre and unsettling. The voice acting and sound levels are just...bad. I adore the actors involved but the technical side of things let them down. The *swoosh* fantasy asides are obviously "inspired" by Family Guy and just embarrassing nonsense. This would be a disaster if not for the fact that Corner Gas has always worked well as audio-only entertainment. This is much better, in my opinion, as a radio show, with your imagination to fill in the visuals. One does get used to the animation after a while and some early rough edges are smoothed somewhat. No matter what - it's Corner Gas and essential for the completist.

As an unabashed fan of the series...I was apprehensive of a movie version and viewed it with an extremely cynical eye. It pulled me in immediately with the wonderful visuals. The aerial view of Dog River had me freeze framing early on. The story begins with explosive events and the film tells what led up to such bizarre occurrences. The characters are essentially the same as in the series with a few exceptions: the characters of Wanda & Hank. Both of their negative character traits, while whimsical in the series, are highly exaggerated here. While it's understood that their actions propel the story along, I never expected to be actively angry with beloved characters. The character of Brent also crosses the line into being infuriatingly obtuse. I have no idea if this was intended, but I was getting a Seinfeld finale vibe. One where you reexamine the characters you were once in the habit of rooting for when they're revealed to be self-centered to the point of toxicity. This was hammered home when we actually get to visit Wullerton and see the contrast. An expectant Tara Spencer-Nairn isn't featured much, but she makes the most of her time on screen. My favorite part of this whole movie? Having a scooter written into the film for Emma's mobility, insuring that Janet Wright wouldn't lose any screen time in her final film. So, yes. If you are a Corner Gas fan...I recommend this highly. You may be challenged in unexpected ways and have your expectations subverted a bit, but this was a super-fun farewell to Dog River.

This was completely unexpected. Much better than it appears on the surface. No new ground is broken, but this movie did exceed my expectations. One hour and 15 minutes long and not a lot of padding.

The basic story is a video log of supernatural occurrences afflicting the protagonist. The story gets going immediately and gets the viewer at least curious right off. Elizabeth Chamberlain is our lead and she does a solid and convincing job. The film is gently eerie and peppered with some surprisingly chilling moments. The viewer gets used to watching the lead actress speak and attention eventually gets paid to everything that is happening in the room behind her. The tension gets slowly ratcheted up as you find yourself studying the kitchen cabinets and hallways behind her while she speaks.

The bad news: The film loses a bit of it's impact when additional characters are introduced. The second half of the movie falters a bit. The story is all over the place, aspects are chilling, but there aren't really any rules established or much explained. Our lead character starts making odd decisions that don't quite seem to make sense.

All in all...it was a good watch. For such a short film, it was packed with interesting moments. Scary? Not really. Creepy? Definitely.