Thursday 31 March 2011

Rain, Rain, Go Away...

Whoa, almost missed this one today. This is a late post and unfortunately it will probably be shorter than usual because I am very tired and today has been a long day :( I just finished watching this movie with a couple friends, but as usual I was the only one who ended up forcing myself to pay attention to it. Okay, without further ado, here it goes...

The Rain

Well, my immediate issue with this movie is that it has two names. The Rain is the official name, it appears on the IMDB page and the film's official website, but according to the case the film is called Dark Fields. I don't like it when film makers do this. Why do you need two names for the same movie? One dark, frightening and simple two-word title isn't enough for you? So, wasn't too excited for this one from the start that's for sure. It's directed by an up and coming director named Douglas Schulze who has made a few other low-budget horror films. Surprisingly enough, Schulze is considered 'up and coming' thanks to this movie. But, let's move on shall we?

Wait, I thought it was called
The Rain?
The movie takes place during three separate periods of time: one in the 1800's, one in the 1950's and finally in present day. The plot revolves around some mystical hat which belonged to some native shaman who was killed. David Carradine, who stars in the 1800 time period, finds the hat, only to realize it has put a curse on him and the rest of the inhabitants of the town. Soon enough the townspeople resort to human sacrifice in order to appease the evil shaman spirit dude. Carradine saves the day, buries the hat and bam the movie could end right there. But wait, there's more! Some idiot digs the stupid top hat back up in like the '30's or something and then oh wouldn't ya know it, people start drying up and turning to dust again. This time, instead of someone smart going "HEY, let's just bury that sucker back in the ground" the people just keep sacrificing their kids. Fast forward to present day and some girl who grew up in the town is on a mission to save her little brother from her parents who are trying to sacrifice him. WHOO. Okay, if you read that as fast as I was reading it in my head then WOW that was a brainful.

Oh look, it has two different
covers too...
Actors, actors, actors. This one's also got some pretty famous people in it. The late David Carradine for instance, who stars in this film. I don't know anyone who doesn't like David Carradine, I don't care if you think he's a bad actor, anyone who has seen Kill Bill knows Carradine doesn't mess around. Dee Wallace, from ET and other films, stars as the protective mother in the 1950's timeline, and Richard Lynch plays the old child-sacrificing father in present day. So, for a low-budget film I was impressed. Not too shabby if I do say so myself. The rest of the actors on the other hand............... The 'dot, dot, dot' speaks for itself.

Maybe I'm getting dumber but I swear people are making more and more confusing horror movies. This one wasn't as plot-holey and just plain stupid as Vanishing on 7th Street, it was just made in a weird way. That little plot synopsis I just gave you, that was all true, but imagine if a little piece of each timeline was told at a time. They just kept switching between three different story lines with the same general concept but told them all at once and in no particular order. This style works for SOME movies, trust me it does. But it usually works for high-budget, Hollywood thriller, or drama or mystery movies. Not a film which is supposed to be scary. If I want to get my mind blown I'll watch Inception thank you very much. If I want a scare, give me a scare! 

This film is apparently getting really good reviews by horror critics because of its 'originality' which I just totally do not agree with. Yes, it's 'different' in today's horror film world because almost all other horror movies today consist of teenagers getting butchered for an hour and a half. But it still sucks. The people drying up and turning to dust was kinda cool, but the films style, the pace, even the evil townsfolk were pretty lame because the attention was spread out across three story lines. There were three different heroes, three different villains and as a result, none of the three story lines got enough attention.

Okay, so overall, I'll give this one a three. Don't watch this movie. Please don't watch it. Unless you honestly have nothing better to do on a rainy day (ha.) please don't waste an hour and a bit of your life on this. I am ripping on it pretty hard I know, but I just didn't like it. Low-budget automatically makes it difficult for me to pay attention to it so when it doesn't deliver one strong plot which has characters I feel like i can root for it just kills the movie for me. I don't care how fancy you make it and how you tie all the plots together if they all end up sucking. Plus it has two names, which is just stupid. Ugh, bed time now.

Or, at least that's my 2 cents anyway. 

6 comments:

  1. Hahaha, alright mate, will take your advice and not watch! Makes me feel a bit silly for reading :p just kidding - Thanks for sharing!

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  2. Lol, yeah, this one honestly did nothing for me. Sorry if you read this thinking I was going to recommend a movie for you to watch. This is just a review. But yeah, sorry Mike if I disappointed you :(

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  3. I need to see it. Any clue on where to get it?

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  4. Haha! You don't have to tell me not to watch it. The trailer was enough :P

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  5. Lawl okay, I won't watch it, you've convinced me

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