The Eternal

...these are the words that came to mind after watching 1998's "THE ETERNAL Kiss of the Mummy," originally titled "Trance" and written & directed by Michael Almereyda. The story is about an alcoholic couple who travel to the wife's country manor in Ireland, supposedly to sober up and give their son the opportunity to meet her ailing grandmother. They discover that her weird uncle (Christopher Walken) has a 2000 year-old mummy of a Druid witch in the basement, which he's curiously trying to revive!

This is Gothic horror in the modern day and struck me as a Hammer flick if it were released in more current times. Alison Elliott is fetching in the starring role of the alcoholic wife. You can tell she has a sweet figure, but you'll only catch a glimpse here or there (not that I'd want to see nudity or sleaze; I'm just saying that there's a way to film beautiful women like Alison and this movie doesn't deliver enough on this front, but it does a bit).

"THE ETERNAL" is not your typical modern horror schlock. It doesn't shoot for conventional horror and gore, but it IS pretty creepy in a Gothic sense. I saw "Big Bad Wolf" (2006) before I viewed this one and, although "Big Bad Wolf" is thrilling and ultra-gory, it's not scary, mainly because the filmmakers & cast cop a semi-campy vibe. "THE ETERNAL," by contrast, plays it completely straight and the foggy Irish moors & centuries-old mansion add to the haunting ambiance.

There's also a quality soundtrack with a few stand-out alternative rock numbers, like the one that plays during the end credits, "My Head Becomes the Sky" by Tara Baoth Mooney.

Anyway, there's a Gothic beauty to the movie, which makes it a pleasure just to watch even if the story is "sluggish," as some criticize. It's clear that the writer/director was aiming for art more than common horror thrills. I'd compare it to "The Mothman Prophecies" (2002) in this sense, albeit not as good. It was limited by an obvious modest budget, which shows through here and there with awkward, amateurish filmmaking.

After viewing, I reflected on the seemingly nonsensical story, particularly the perplexing events in the third act, and certain things started to make sense: This is only a story about a Druid witch coming back to life on the surface; and all that might be figurative. It's really about a woman in bondage to alcoholism who comes face-to-face with her lower nature, her self-destructive side (her "id" or "flesh"), not to mention confronting her incestuous uncle, and trying to prevail. Going back to her heritage, her roots, enables her to see WHY she turned to alcohol for succor in the first place.

In essence, this is a Gothic tale about the purging of one's fleshly demons.

The film runs 95 minutes and was shot in Connemara & Dublin, Ireland; New York; and Miami Beach, Florida.

GRADE: B-/C+

Upon concluding my viewing of "Trance," or "The Eternal," or whatever the producers are calling this film, I wondered to myself, "Out of all of the bad movies I could have seen, couldn't I have at least seen one that was entertaining?" Even if a film is not well made in terms of acting, directing, writing, or what have you, it can at least be fun, and therefore worthwhile. But not only is this film bad in artistic value, it's incredibly boring. For a plot of such thinness, it moves awfully slowly, with little dramatic tension. At the very least, in a low-brow attempt at entertainment, the deaths of the characters could have been cool and/or gory, but the creators of this dreck failed in that department as well.

What does this movie have going for it? Pretty much nothing, unless you get entertainment out of watching Christopher Walken, who is capable of being brilliant, put so little effort into his acting that he falls into self-parody mode (WHY did he decide to do this film anyway?).

I give this film 3/10, because, God help us, there actually have been worse movies made before.

I watched 'Trance' on the strength of Almereyda's arty vampire flick 'Nadja' and the presence of Christopher Walken, a great favourite of mine. I shouldn't have bothered. The movie starts off interestingly enough with the New York sequences, and the all-too-brief appearance of the late Jason Miller ('The Exorcist'/'The Ninth Configuration'), but as soon as they hit Ireland, it all goes rapidly downhill.

To add insult to injury, Walken's role is basically nothing more than a glorified cameo! Bigger than 'Sleepy Hollow' say, nothing to get your teeth into. I've liked Jared Harris in the past, in 'Happiness' and yes, 'Nadja', but he's quite poor in places here, as is the main female lead who I wasn't familiar with.

Overall, mediocre and unsuccessful in holding your attention. I actually nodded off at one stage, which is always a warning sign! A major disappointment when compared with the potential Almereyda showed with 'Nadja'. Even 'Cherry 2000' is better!!

Beautiful looking and sedately handled, but immensely muddled independent art house horror feature by writer / director Michael Almereyda. Kind of similar in style to his film "Najda" four years earlier, which I don't think so highly of (other than the excellent soundtrack that accompanied it).

Nora and Jim (who are alcoholics) along with their son leave America and head to Ireland to visit Nora's grandmother. Despite the advice of their doctor not to go, as Nora one night with Jim got on the drink and she ended up falling down some stairs leaving her with a minor concussion. When getting there, she meets her uncle where he takes her down the basement to show her a decomposed body which he believes to a centuries old druid witch. Could this be the connections to the headaches and visions plaguing Nora's mind, as she'll find out when the witch is revived.

"Trance" is a touch better, but still engulfed by similar problems and nonetheless keeps the same positives. Again this atypically brooding fable is not for everyone, but it managed to hold my attention and I found the direction less concerned with its distracting artsy mechanics (than say in "Nadja")… although they're still evident. There are some delirious images, consisting of jaded visions rocking the main protagonist's mind. These stylised passages hold a certain arresting, if haunting charge. However this is when it's not in its nauseating head spin of mangled ideas. While the plot has a slight structure and little narrative drive, it's stretched out by its unfocused fabricated episodic developments with its dry, upfront and moody trimmings. Every one of these characters / including the witch / monster of the piece are damaged, but still humane vessels in the search of something to make them complete. Secrets are buried, to only be awoken.

It's messy and meanders, but strangely alluring like caught in a drunken, abstract state. I put it down to the performances. A breathtaking Alison Elliot (in dual roles) and narky Jared Harris acquit themselves to their lead roles. Lois Smith holds strong. Christopher Walken looking rather weary goes about things in a sober, but underlining twisted manner. Also Jason Millar's inclusion is merely a throwaway cameo with an amusing line. Almereyda's slickly calculative direction is switched on, making good use of the lush backdrop consisting of a stunning beach line and the Gothic interiors of mansion that the enclosed action mostly takes place in. Intimate photography is sharply engineered and well-intended. The brilliant soundtrack is notable with it tunes (that are perfect choices), and the music score is clinically alienating but whimsical in flight.

A good cast and they do their best with what they're given, but the story makes no sense, the characters' actions are inexplicable, and there are too many moments of unintentional humor, as when a man is killed by being pierced with pieces of a phonograph record or when they get the witch drunk to a hip hop beat and then hit her over the head with a bottle and she grabs her hostage and pouts off. The scene when the two witch and her victim (played by the same actress) are in the house together sets up like a 3 Stooges routine, and the plot begs the question: if the witch wants to possess this other woman's soul, why doesn't she just do it instead of leading these people on this elaborate chase? Not to be missed is Christopher Walkin's eyeglasses and his automotive explanation of the afterlife (paraphrased): "The ancient Egyptianas - they wee materialists. They expected the body to last through eternity, like a used car that you souped up. But the Druids, they knew you couldn't drive in the afterlife. You had to get out and walk." Huh? The ending is absolutely indecipherable. Seems like they just ran out of film.