Are you scared? Well, you shouldn't be. This film is all about fear, but is, ironically-enough, not all that scary. It's a stock plot, just with a weird conceit and villain to it. You've seen this movie before, but not quite exactly. Confused? The plot revolves around a young man using an obscure, Indian ritual to rid himself of his greatest fear. Naturally, he does so with a life-sized wooden doll named Morty. I may need to brush up on my Iroquois! The film is full of notable character actors, including Gordon Currie from Puppet Master 4 & 5, Betsy Palmer from Friday the 13th and future B-Movie Actress Emmanuelle Vaugier. The star power is just leaping off the screen! To celebrate (a late) Halloween, enjoy this silly crap with me. To see what a(n evil stick) can do, read on...
Our hero (Currie) has some serious fears in his life. Do they relate to the film's opening scene in which his father 'pulls a Benoit' on himself and the mother? Maybe. This creepy, life-size doll should help...
He invites his friends over to a cabin for the Weekend to take part in a ceremony to erase his fears. It sure was nice of him to invite over 'White Eric Balfour'...
As part of the ritual, the people dress up as representations of their fears. This is interesting in theory, but also lends itself to out-of-context screen captures like this...
Morty comes to life, however, and puts an end to the fun. He takes out most of the people in silly ways and has the nerve to interrupt one guy while he's trying to score. You evil bastard!
The grandfather is afraid of rats, so they are caused to appear all over him. What actually kills him here though? Is he imagining them? Why do your kills raise so many questions?
As the body count piles up, our heroes try to escape in their van. The only way that this could fail if Morty suddenly gained a new power for no good reason.
There's no way that this serious character could do something like that, right? Right?
Oh crap- Morty just turned into a tree, causing their van to wreck. My brain hurts.
In spite of his vague and unexplained powers, Morty falls for the one trick that puts a stop to any wooden foe- fire. After 80 minutes, they just burn him. No, really. The End.
There's nothing like silliness for Halloween! The plot of this movie is just kind of there. I mean, there are good elements to it, but the whole thing just doesn't work. The hero is just kind of mopey, in spite of having family, friends and a girlfriend supporting him. It must suck to be so surrounded by loving people! His whole plot keeps the story going, even if the script doesn't. After introducing the characters and situation, the whole film just meanders for about thirty minutes. There is a point to this- to set up all of the characters' fears- but it really hurts the tension here. On top of that, the only real kill in the first forty-five minutes (save for the opening) involving the Indian guide being killed by 'spirit horses' summoned by the doll. No, really. If this film was handled by a better Writer and Director, it would be easier to recommend. As it is, it's an obscure film about Halloween- although an alternate title is The Fear: Resurrection- with a villain that has goofy and unexplained powers. By the time it's all over, it's hard to care. If you can be more forgiving, however, give it a look. Speaking of looks...
Next up, November begins with a look at later films by the Directors of The Blair Witch Project. Naturally, they begin by remaking a Danish film. Stay tuned...
I saw the first one, it was pretty bad... But this one looks fun :-)
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