It seems like everywhere you look these days there’s Vampires. In the book stores and multiplexes there’s the Twilight Series. The books are doing so well that one independent bookstore that was sold out of the 3rd book told me the Publisher was out of the first three books all together. And at the box office the adaptation of the first book blew everyone away when it made nearly $20 million more than expected opening weekend, and crossed the $100 million mark in 8 days. And TV is even seeing a Vampire resurgence, after a few years off when Buffy and Angel ended there runs. SciFi recently announced it had picked up last seasons canceled before it’s time, Moonlight, and HBO’s Tru Blood, based on yet another series of books, just wrapped it’s first season with a second set to air this summer.

But there is one little gem that may get missed by most in this vampire frenzy, the independent Swedish film, Let the Right One In. The fact that’s it’s both independent and has subtitles will probably deter many people, but those that look past this will find a really great little film. Let the Right One In (LTROI) is essentially the anti-Twilight. Whereas Twilight is the sweet, romantic fairy tale of a girl and her vampire, LTROI is the darkly realistic tale of a boy and his vampire.

We are quickly introduced to Oskar (Kåre Hedebrant) a homely 12 year old boy who lives with his mother in a large apartment complex. Oskar spends his days being picked on by his peers, taking their torment without saying a word. But it’s quickly clear that Oskar is not your typical kid, he collects newspaper clippings of murders and other violent crimes and at night he dreams of getting his revenge on his tormentors with the help of his hunting knife. During one of his nightly “fights” Oskar meets Eli (Lina Leandersson), his new neighbor, whose arrival, with an older man, Håkan, coincides with that of a series of ghastly murders. It reveals nothing to tell you that it is Håkan that is committing these murders (although he is horrible at it) in order to feed Eli, who is of course a vampire.

The main focus of the movie is the relationship between Oskar & Eli. It is fascinating to see the changes that having a friend, especially a unique on like Eli has on Oskar, and it’s not long before the bullies see the change in him as well. Hedebrant and Leandersson do a wonderful job portraying their relationship and Leandersson especially does a fantastic job portraying Eli as creepy, yet sweet. But be forewarned this movie is not all darkly, sweet romance; there is also quite a bit of blood and gore.

All in all, LTROI, is an excellent film with a weirdly sweet, yet bloody romance at its center. If you’re a fan of the horror genre its essential viewing, and don’t let the subtitles keep you from seeing this film. Although if you absolutely can’t do subtitles, you can always wait until the American version coming soon from Cloverfield director Matt Reeves. (But it probably won’t be near as good as this near perfect gem.)

Labels: Halloween '09, Let The Right One In

Holy Crap! That's about all I could say when I finished The Strangers last night. But I'll get there eventually.

First off I have to say I was already scared as I sat down to watch the movie. I'd been waiting quite a while to see this one and I'd worked it up in my head as just about the scariest thing ever. Well it may not have been the scariest thing ever it did have me on the edge of my seat, yelling at the screen, and jumping at ever noise in the house. (All houses make noise but why, oh why did mine have to pop right by the front door just as someone banged on the front door in the movie?!?!)

And I have to admit it apparently shook me up more than I'd realized as I slept horribly last night, tossing and turning and constantly looking up to see if there were any masked faces in my bedroom. Clearly the movie had the desired effect: it scared me, a lot.

The movie begins with an ominous warning that it is inspired by actually events (something I'll get to later) and begins by showing us the aftermath of the evening, a bloody knife, blood on a wall, cars with large holes in the window, and lets us know that the exact nature of what went on is still unknown. Then we cut back to the previous evening.

James (Scott Speedman) and Kristen (Liv Tyler giving an award winning performance*) are returning to his families summer home from a wedding and a disastrous proposal attempt. As the couple tries to figure out how to act around each other following their fight we get a sense of the house and the open area around it. Writer/Director Bryan Bertino gives us plenty of time to get to know James and Kristen as we ratchets up the suspense and it works wonderfully making you care for the characters, unlike most horror movies. Once the couple answer a knock at the door the movie becomes a study in suspense and terror that does not relent.

Normally I'd go into lots of details about the movie, but to be honest its one that needs to be entered into without much information. Most of what you need to know can be found elsewhere on this blog or in the trailers but I'll do a quick recap. Before long James and Kristen are terrorized by three strangers, a man and two women, wearing masks that are honestly creepy as hell. The girls wear porcelain masks that look like dolls, while the man, clearly the leader wears only a burlap sack with eye holes in it.

I will say that the most terrifying moment in the film can be glimpsed in the trailer it's the moment, seen above in the poster, when the man enters the house while Kristen is there alone. For what seems like forever, but was probably less than 2 or 3 minutes we see him simply standing in the back staring at Kristen with her not having a clue that he's there, or that anything is wrong. It is a truly unnerving scene and left me curled up on the couch.

Included on the DVD is a short making of and I liked what one of the crew said. He described the movie not as a horror film but as a terror film. It's job is not to scare you with clever jump scenes, but instead to terrify you throughout the entire film. In this sense I felt it succeeded.

Now I would be remiss if I did not mention the fantastic score and sound editing for this film. These guys should win an Academy Award, not be nominated but win. Without the score and all of the sound this movie would not be a tenth as scary as it is. But the movie makes great use of the sound to play with your feelings, scare you, and keep you on edge. The numerous sound people did not miss a single beat in this film and the movie is seriously rewarded because of it. If you do not leave the movie haunted by the sound then something is seriously wrong with you.

Now about this "Inspired by True Events" warning: Some feel it's placed there to scare people more, and maybe it is. But, Bertino wrote the movie because of an incident in his life. Now nothing like what happened in the movie actually happened, but Bertino says that one night when he was younger he was home alone and someone knocked on the door asking for a person who didn't live there. The next morning he found out his neighbors house had been broken into. From there it seems he spun off this terrifying tale. And that's the extent of the "True Events"

I'd recommend this one to anyone who likes to be scared, but you might not want to watch it alone.

*She won the Spike Scream Award for best Actress in a Horror Movie

Labels: Halloween '09, The Strangers

The Changeling is a 1980 movie starring George C. Scott that’s as much of a murder mystery as it is a haunted house film. It is one of the best “horror” films I have ever seen and it’s one I keep coming back to year after year. I first saw the film on Halloween of 1999. The town I went to college in has an old, restored theater called The Paramount that shows classic films as well as some new ones, but every Halloween for years and years they showed The Changeling on Halloween. The film has some very iconic scenes including one with a wheelchair chasing Scott through the house and one with a red ball. But these scenes take on a whole new feel in the packed Halloween screenings at The Paramount. In the scene with the red ball there are always red balls thrown down from the balcony and usually a wheelchair can be seen going down the aisle in the pivotal scene of the movie. It’s definitely a place to go for the experience as much for the movie, as most people there have seen the movie several times over.

You can read the rest of the article on DVD Snapshot.

Labels: Flashback Friday, Halloween '09, The Changeling

When I was in 4th grade I had a friend named Jesse. Jesse and I used to spend the night at each other's houses all the time. Now, I remember playing cops and robbers (mainly because one time I had my hands handcuffed behind my back and fell and busted my face since I couldn't use my hands to stop me), but more than any of the games we played I remember the movies we watched, specifically the one movie we watched every time we stayed over together, The Monster Squad.


If you're not in the know, Monster Squad is basically The Goonies with the Universal Monsters. Except the producers couldn't get the rights to the Universal Monsters and had to make slight changes to make them just different enough to not be copyright infringement. So it's basically a rip-off of The Goonies and a rip-off of the classic Universal Monsters. And it's also amazing!


You can read the rest of the article over at DVD Snapshot.

Labels: Halloween '09, Monster Squad

Halloween is tomorrow and between being sick and getting ready to move and being out of town I haven't had a lot of time to do Halloween Blogs, so today and tomorrow I'll be posting a plethora of blogs from yesteryear starting with this one on Are You Afraid of the Dark? one of my favorite Nickelodeon series from my childhood, originally posted on April 10, 2008.

If you're roughly my age there's a good chance you spent the saturday nights of your middle school years sitting in front of the TV watching SNICK AKA Saturday Night Nickelodeon. SNICK was a 2 hour block of programing which ran from 8pm/7pm central to 10pm/9pm central. Over the years the shows featured on SNICK changed but for my tour of duty the last show of the night was always, my personal favorite, Are You Afraid of the Dark?

AYAOTD? was an anthology series that featured "The Midnight Society," a secret society who met at their secret location deep in the woods to take turns telling Ghost Stories. Each episode would open with The Midnight Society (Left) arriving at the site, usually with something funny happening that would lead into that weeks member beginning to tell their story by throwing some "birch bark powder" into the fire, producing heightened flames while saying "Submitted for the approval of the Midnight Society, I call this story "The Tale of..."

Each weeks the stories varied between subject matter. One week might be about a murderous ghost clown, the next might be about a group of kids playing hide and seek in the cemetery where there may or may not be a killer lurking, or it might be an adaptation of a fairy tale or urban legend. Whatever the tale it always involved a group of teens and something supernatural. Most of the time the story was just scary enough to make you look behind you during it, but not so scary as to give you nightmares. (Although "The Tale of Laughing in the Dark" featuring a clown, still frightens me today) And usually the tale ended with a happy ending. After the tale was told someone would dump a red bucket of water on the fire and the group would all leave.

Most episodes were stand alone, although there were a couple of multi-episode stories. Also there were a couple of recurring characters Sardo (No Mister, accent on the "Do!") owner of Sardo's Magic Mansion, who often appeared in Gary's tales and Mr. Vink ("Vink. With a Va-Va-Va") a mad scientist/magician type who would appear in Frank's stories. Both characters appeared in two-parter "The Tale of Cutter's Treasure" told by both Frank and Gary.

The show, based in Canada, was a revolving door of young Canadian actors, many of whom were either on other Nickelodeon series or have since gone on to have decent careers. Among those that appeared on the series over it's Seven Seasons were: Mia Kirshner (The L Word), Melissa Joan Hart (Sabrina), Eddie Kaye Thomas ('Til Death), Tatyana Ali (The Fresh Prince), Neve Campbell (Right, The Scream series), Will Friedle (Boy Meets World), Jewel Staite (Firefly), Ryan Gosling (The Notebook), Tia & Tamera Mowry (Sisters, Sister), Emmanuelle Chriqui (The upcoming Don't Mess with the Zohan), Elisha Cuthbert (24), Hayden Christensen (Jumper), and more I'm sure I've missed. I think it was a job you had to have in order to be a young Canadian actor.

The first Six Seasons are out on Region 1 with season 7 hitting on April 29. Although if you look on Amazon.com you can't find any of them new and will pay a hefty price for them used. (My I got my Complete Series on eBay a few years ago) But if you've never seen the show or can't afford to purchse the DVDs, there's good news. Apparently the show will be airing on The N starting on May 14th.

As for me I'm going to turn the lights down low, curl up in the chair in the corner (so nothing can sneak up from behind) and watch a few old episodes.

Labels: Are you afraid of the dark?, Halloween '09

As I said last time, watching the movie House turned me off from scary things for quite some time. But not too long, for a little over a year later another, far scary work would come along and scar me for life.

On November 18, 1990 the television miniseries "It" began broadcasting. Since I was only 9 at the time my parents, wisely, forbade me from seeing it. But alas I found away to see some of it, at someone else's house. I didn't see too much, because it scared me so bad. But I remember seeing the very beginning with the clown down the storm drain that pulls the little boy to his death. And I remember a scene with an old crazy lady. I'm pretty sure I saw other bits and pieces over the nights it was aired, but all I really remember is that clown.

Played by Tim Curry, Pennywise the Clown took something fun, clowns, and turned them into a demonic nightmare. This seemingly normal clown would quickly turn into this monster. From it's frightening smile full of sharp teeth, to it's horrific eyes, it's an image that struck a cord in me, that mad me hate clowns for life.

I say Hate because I'm not really scared of clowns. Sure at first it made me scared of clowns, but more than that it made me just want to bunch them in the face, a feeling I still get to this day. I abhor clowns, and think they are a truly awful plight on the human race. (I do have to admit, this may also stem from the fact that around this same time Jams were hugely popular and my mother, sewed some for me, made of a material covered in clowns, and I'm pretty sure I had to wear these to school. (I still love you Mom!) But I think Pennywise was a big part of it too)
House and It were very significant in steering me away from horror for a while, at least as far as movies go.

After these the next thing I remember is the first time I saw "A Nightmare on Elm Street." As I recall I was in middle school (around 12 or 13) and staying home alone for the night. As my parents left I told them of my plans to watch Nightmare, to which they responded "Are you sure?" and I of course being 12 or 13 said "Yeah, I'll be fine." And I was, at first.

I enjoyed the movie and thought it was pretty scary, but nothing too bad, nothing that I thought would disturb me after it ended. But then I went to bed, and that's when the trouble started. you see Freddy Kruger, the killer in the movie, invades your dreams and kills you. So unlike most killers, which you can climb into bed and get away from, getting into bed and going to sleep is what triggers Freddy. He comes in your dreams and kills you and terrorizes you in your sleep, and if you try not to sleep he confuses you by making you think you're awake when you're really sleeping. And that seemed to disturb me. So for a few nights I had some nightmares until i finally got over Freddy, but once again I kind of stayed away from Horror for awhile..

Coming Up: Part 3: "Here Comes The King!"

Labels: Halloween, Halloween '09

Back in 2007 I started a column on my love of horror, but while writing what would have been the third installments a fire in Malibu, where I was living at the time, kept me a bit too busy to finish the series. My hope is to finish it now, 2 years later. So enjoy Oh, The Horror! Part 1, originally published on October 12, 2007.

Oh October, how I love you so! You have my favorite Holiday of the year, and I don't mean Columbus Day. I'm speaking of course of Halloween. The holiday when the ghosts and ghouls come out of hiding and the scares happen all month long. The month when most studios release their horror movies and supernatural thrillers. The month when I curl up to watch things that will likely cause me to look over my shoulder constantly, and check every nook and cranny before going to bed.

I've loved the horror genre (which to me encompasses ghosts, monsters, supernatural thrillers, etc.) for as long as I can remember. As a kid I was enthralled by the books on all of the Universal Monsters, the My Teacher is an Alien series, and the Bruce Coville's Book of Monsters series.

Several of my favorite movies as a kid centered on the supernatural. At any moment I could have quoted to you my two favorite movies: GhostBusters and The Monster Squad! Ghostbusters was a perfect blend of humor and a few scenes that scared the bejeezus out of me, mainly with the demon dogs (or hell hounds), but it was enough to keep me on the edge of my seat, while having fun. Meanwhile, The Monster Squad was just some all around fun. It wasn't really scary but it had all of the Universal Monsters (even if they were slightly different to avoid copyright) and a band of kids teaming up to fight them (basically Goonies with monsters) and my friend Jesse and I would watch it all the time.

Next came two Disney Sunday Night Movies: Mr. Boogedy and it's sequel The Bride of Boogedy The movies centered on a family who move into a haunted house, and hilarity and creepiness ensue. It was slightly scary to my 6 and 7 year old self and I loved it.. In fact my Aunt and Uncle had recorded it on video and for years I would watch it every time I went to their house. (In fact I know have a copy on DVD which looks like it was transfered from a video from the original airings in the mid-80s, I still love it!)

But then I turned 8 and something happened that turned me off of horror for a while. My brother and I are 4 years apart, but our birthdays are 2 days apart. For my brother's 12th birthday he had a bunch of friends stay the night and they watched House. For those of you who don't know House starred the Greatest American Hero himself, William Katt, as an author who moves into a new house, which is haunted. I could give you the synopsis of IMDB, but instead I'll tell you what I remember. William moves into the new house and it starts to scare the living pants off of me! One of the ghosts was played by Richard Moll, I think he had something to do with Vietnam flashbacks, but honestly don't remember, and something comes out of the closet which I'm pretty sure made me cry.

All in all I couldn't sleep in my bed that night, and I had to check my closet before I went to bed everynight and then I had to sleep with the closet open and the lights on. I know this went on for several months before I could finally close the closet door. I'll be honest I haven't seen the movie since then, I've seen bits and pieces, but I always turned it off because part of me is scared of even seeing it. (Strange Fact I just found out: House's story was written by the writer/director of The Monster Squad!) (I did however see House II, several times in fact. My Aunt and Uncle also owned House and House II. Whereas House scared the bejeezus out of me, House II was a hilarious romp, with no scares in sight. I mean it had a caterpuppy for crying out loud! (That's a half caterpillar half dog thing.))

Because of House it would be a while before I watched anything remotely scary.

Next Up: Clowns. Why Did It Have To Be Clowns?

Labels: Halloween, Halloween '09

Wow! That's about all I can say after seeing Cloverfield.
I've been looking forward to seeing this for about 6 months now, ever since I first read that J.J. Abrams was producing some new movie no one had heard anything about and that it had a preview before Transformers.

All anyone knew was that it was going under the codename "Cloverfield" likely because that's the street Bad Robots production offices are on. Then the trailer came out and it was breathtaking, and yet I still knew nothing about it. But the internets were abuzz with this new movie that was coming out of left field. Was it called Cloverfield, was it called 1-18-08 or was that simply the release date? Was it a new Godzilla movie? What does Slusho have to do with it? And so on and so forth.

And after months of hype it's here, and does it live up to that hype? For me the answer is a resounding YES! The movie was fantastic. Running at only 1 hour and 25 minutes because it's so intense it feels so much longer (but in a good way). The movie starts off slow and then goes all out at break neck speed with little time to breath. I noticed several times during the movie that my hands were curled into balls and sweating and had to make my self open them and dry them off. It was just a natural reaction to the movie.

I don't want to tell you much about the movie, as it's worth seeing without knowing anything, but basically it's about a small group of friends whose lives are thrown upside down when something attacks New York City. What follows is their struggle to survive the night all captured on a digital camera by one of them.

For the last few weeks I've been trying to avoid the tv ads which seem to be showing more and more, and I stayed away from all the reviews, because I didn't want to know anything before hand. And I'm glad I did. It's rare that you can go into a movie knowing almost nothing about it in these spoilerific days, but I'm glad I was able to as I think I was better off for it.

As I said it's best going in not knowing anything. In fact if you want to see this, stop reading reviews, stop seeing the commercials, just go. And go now, go see it with a packed house, who may or may not scream things like "Run, B****, Run" when something scary happens. It's best seen on the big screen with a big crowd.

I can't say everyone will love it, in fact I think it's one of those movies where some people will love it and some will hate it. The crowd I was with tonight had some of the haters in it, but I have my doubts about how much they "hated" it. Mainly because for the intense hour or so when things are going crazy, the theater was silent, everyone was so involved in the movie and wondering what would happen next that there was no real whispering, no murmurs from the people around you, just a silent enthralled crowd (in fact at one point I badly needed to cough, but refrained because what was going on onscreen was very quiet and in the theater you could have heard a pin drop).

I think because the movie doesn't end how some people had hoped or thought that it would that they decided they hated the entire thing. Something I think happens a lot, people love a movie, but once it ends in a way they don't like they decide the entire movie was bad.

One thing I should mention are the amazing special effects. This movie was made for tens of millions, which in today's age is considered low budget as more and more movies jump the 100 million mark, but the effects don't reflect the cost. They are wonderful and as my friend pointed out, all the more amazing because of the jerkiness of the hand held camera, which means they had to spend much more time making sure all the effects line up and track correctly.

If you have even an inkling of wanting to see this, go do it now. You really want to see this with a big crowd on the big screen.

Labels: Cloverfield, Halloween, Halloween '09

The downside to reviewing movies is sometimes you have to review a movie that you have no desire to relive; case in point the new horror film Paranormal Activity. That’s not to say that the movie is bad, in fact it’s incredible, it’s just that the movie was so terrifying to me that days later I’m still a little freaked out at night. Every noise has me jumping and shadow could be something haunting. Something only a truly great horror film can do.



Paranormal Activity introduces us to Katie (Katie Featherstone) and Micah (Micah Sloat), a young couple who have been experiencing some, well, paranormal activity in their home. When we meet them the activity has been going on for some time and Micah has bought a new camera in an attempt to capture the phenomenon on tape. It’s clear from the start that Micah doesn’t quite believe That Katie has been hearing the voices she claims to hear. But, during their first night of filming the couple catches a few strange noises, which piques Micah’s interest.



We quickly learn that while Micah thinks this is a fun game, Katie is tired of it. Katie has been haunted off and on by what is apparently the same entity since she was 8 years old, and she just wants to get rid of it. Early on the couple calls in a psychic who tells them that he believes that the haunting is a demon who has attached himself to Katie. The psychic also gives them the name of a demonologist friend who can help, and tells them not to provoke it, and under no circumstances should they try to contact it using something like a ouija board. Of course Micah thinks he can handle it himself and eventually does everything the psychic tells him not to.



The movie is ultra-low budget and really profits from this. The movie is shot from a single camera angle, which heightens the tension by making it feel that much more realistic. The night scenes feel like something out of SyFy’s Ghost Hunters, a series I believe in completely. And maybe that’s why the movie affected me so much, because I believe in ghosts and demons, and the footage looks like the real thing.



While the activity starts out slow, the haunting gets progressively worse, with loud noises, shadows, and eventually physical activity. First time director Oren Peli succeeds by slowly ratcheting up the tension until you feel like you can’t take it anymore. In fact, at one point I thought to myself “I don’t know how much more of this I can take.” It keeps getting worse and worse until it finally, thankfully, horribly ends. And like The Blair Witch Project before it the movie continues to haunt you long after you’ve left the theater.

Labels: Halloween, Halloween '09, Paranormal Activity

In a summer filled with Sequels, Threequels, adaptations of comics, short stories, and novels there is nothing more thrilling than finding a movie that comes from an original idea, except when you find a movie that's based on an original idea and is a interesting, well made film.
Kevin Costner stars as the titular Mr. Brooks, on the outside he's a normal, successful family man, so successful he's recently been named Man of the Year by the Portland Chamber of Commerce. We meet Earl Brooks in a bathroom just before he's honored with the award as he recited the Serenity Prayer that many learn in AA. We soon learn that's it's not alcohol Brooks is addicted to but rather killing. Brooks has been "sober" for over 2 years but now Marshall (William Hurt) Brooks' inner self has broken him down and convinced him that it's time to kill again. Brooks is obviously a man struggling with his addiction and we see that it takes a toll on him when he gives in to the addiction.
When Brooks finally does give in to Marshall and kills again he quickly realizes he's made a mistake, one that will come back to haunt him. Soon "Mr. Smith" (Dane Cook proving that he's wasting his talent by starring in drudge like Employee of the Month) comes to Mr. Brooks with photos that show Brooks at the murder scene, but rather than blackmailing or threatening, he tells Brooks he wants to come with him the next time he kills. It seems Smith was exhilarated by watching the murder and wants to experience it himself.
The movie masterfully intertwines three different plots each of which are entertaining and makes you yearn for more. The second plot centers on Brooks home life and shows how much he loves his wife (Marge Helgenberger) who believes her husband spends most of his time in his studio with his kiln, and his daughter who has recently returned home from school after dropping out under mysterious circumstances.
The third plot follows Detective Tracy Atwood (Demi Moore) a police detective going through a rough divorce while trying to catch "The Finger Print Killer" (Brooks) who she had hoped was finished killing, and trying to catch/keep from getting killed by "The Hangman" a serial killer she helped put away who has recently escaped from prison.
To say anymore would be to ruin the movie.
The movie as a whole works, it keeps you enthralled, it's a thrilling guessing game, and you don't actually feel (too) bad rooting for the killer. All said and done, a well made, well thought out, wonderfully executed bit of cinema.

Labels: Halloween, Halloween '09, Mr. Brooks

If you're anything like me, and I think you are, October is a special time of year. It's the time when the Halloween decorations come out, the weather gets colder, and the scary movies start playing, both in theaters and at home.

This October I already have plans to watch a few scary movies. Tomorrow night I'll be seeing the uber-low budget film, Paranormal Activity, and I've got Scream, Ghostbusters, Monster Squad, and The Haunting queued up and ready to play over the next few weeks. (Yes I realize some of those are comedies/kids movies, but all paranormal/horror/suspense movies get fair play in the CineManiac household, except for torture porn, I hate that crap!) And I'll be using the last of some store credit I have to pick up Trick'R'Treat next week.

On a side note, Scream, Monster Squad, and The Haunting are all being watched for a new column I have starting tomorrow at DVD Snapshot. The column, Flashback Friday, has me looking back at movies of the past 25 years, looking at how I remember the movie, and what I think of it on a recent viewing. I'll link to the first one, looking at The Matrix, tomorrow.

This October I'll also be re-posting some older reviews, columns, etc, including last year's "Things I'm Watching This Halloween" and the column I began in 2007 charting my history with Horror, which was interrupted be a wildfire and never completed. So to begin I'm posting an old review of 2007's Disturbia.

As a fan of Hitchcock's Rear Window, it would have been easy to blow this off as another inept attempt to remake a classic. But as a fan of star Shia LaBeouf from back when he was on Disney's Even Stevens I wanted to check it out from Day 1. Unfortunately between writing papers, studying and taking finals, and seeing Hot Fuzz and Spider-Man 3, I really didn't have the time until Thursday, and I'm glad I didn't miss it while it was in theaters.

The movie starts with Kale (LaBeouf) and his father on the lake fishing, from the start we can tell they have a good relationship and that Kale is a happy and easygoing guy, if somewhat of a smart mouth. Soon Kale's father dies in a tragic accident, in a scene that was so intense it will stick with you hours later. We then cut to "One Year Later" and open on a high school classroom, where Ronnie (Aaron Yoo) is telling his Spanish class about his upcoming summer vacation, in spanish. I'm sure this scene was very funny, but I'm not sure as the Mann Agora theater, unlike the Arclight (My Personal Favorite Theater), doesn't have their employees watch the first few minutes of the movie to make sure it's aligned correctly and in focus, so I had to go find someone to focus the movie and missed the rest of the scene.

We are then reintroduced to Kale as he sits, asleep, in his spanish class and is woken by his teacher. Kale is now withdrawn and full of anger, which soon lands him in court where he is sentenced to 3 months of house arrest. Forced to wear an ankle bracelet, Kale must stay within a 100 foot radius of the receiver located in his house. Here we are treated to a nice montage of Kale trying to figure out what to do to keep him sane while stuck inside his house. Besides playing video games and watching tv, Kale attempts to do his laundry (by shoving everything into the washer at once with a healthy dose of detergent) and actually cleaning the house. Soon Kale realizes how serious his situation is when some neighborhood kids lite a bag of flaming poo on his porch, Kale chases after them and is soon in handcuffs.

To avoid leaving his 100 foot radius again Kale sets out to establish a perimeter so he knows exactly how far he can go, and quickly realizes his neighbors are interesting to watch. Soon Kale is watching all of his neighbors from the comfort of his home through his binoculars. He takes a special interest in his hot new neighbor, Ashely (Sarah Roemer), and soon he and his pal Ronnie are taking in her daily swim. When Ashely catches them she too joins the voyeuristic fun of watching others without their knowledge.

The trio take a special interest in Mr. Turner (David Morse) who may or may not match the description of a man who was the last person seen with a missing woman. His car fits the description and so the gang makes the assumption that he may be a serial killer, living in their own little neighborhood. What follows is an intense series of cat and mouse games designed to keep you guessing about Turner and his motives.

I really enjoyed this movie, really enjoyed it. I think the biggest strength is that the characters are well developed, instead of just being caricatures. I think it could have been very easy to make this movie with just cardboard characters, but the writers and director did a great job of fleshing out the characters and making you feel for them (well most of them).

The actors themselves bring a lot to the film as well. I've always been a fan of Morse, who usually seems to play a cop or a bad guy or a bad cop, and he's pitch perfect here. Morse is a large man and I think his stature adds to the sense of terror he brings to the screen, by towering over the others it makes him more intense and menacing. Relative newcomers Roemer and Yoo do a great job as the love interest/best friend respectively and bring a lot of humor and suspense to the film. I think another reason I enjoy the film so much is that there is a healthy dose of humor in the movie, it's not just a suspenseful, edge of your seat thriller, but has a bit of a comedic element that helps alleve the tension when it needs it most.

But, I think the biggest revelation of the movie is the acting ability of LaBeouf, as I've said I'm a big fan of his, but I was blown away at how far he's come since Even Stevens and Holes. I have yet to see "A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints" his last film that got rave reviews, so I'm not sure if that was where he really stepped up his game, but after seeing this movie I'm very excited to check that one out and see if he carries the same weight as he does here.

Overall a fun, suspenseful thriller. See it in theaters while you can, there's a reason it's made $66 Million and counting.

Labels: Disturbia, Halloween, Halloween '09