Rating of
1.5/4
The new ending is just one of the many setbacks
newmans_own - wrote on 11/25/07
The film is filled with all the typical horror movie conventions, especially the ones King has helped to create. There are echoes here of many of his other works, most notably STORM OF THE CENTURY. For quite some time, the viewer goes along with it; it is a horror movie after all. These sorts of things are to be expected. But as the film goes on, these characters prescribe more and more to typical stupid people behavior that instantly spells doom. Instead of running away from the creatures, they stand and stare in terror for far too long. When a character makes a revelation that some creatures are attracted to light, what happens? A panicked person turns on all the lights. And let’s not forget the completely implausible explanations that do not mesh with the film at all.
Yet when the film tries to depart from horror movie conventions, it takes an even worse turn. The film’s finale, drastically different from its source, is a risky undertaking. And one that proves completely pointless. Not only is it eye-rollingly, head-slappingly obvious, leaving the viewers thinking, “Well, it sucks to be you”, it is acted and designed in such an overtly melodramatic, heavy-handed way (with the most irritating use of movie music this year) that any latecomers will think the Sci-Fi channel has merged with the Lifetime network.
Writer/director Frank Darabont tries desperately to create a movie that’s above the typical horror on all levels, but he certainly isn’t being helped by much of the cast. While Marcia Gay Harden (as a half-crazed religious zealot) hams it up and makes a memorable villain, Thomas Jane (as the manly, heroic movie poster painter) falls short. Sure, he’s a strong figure and completely cut out for leading people, but when he is required to do dramatic scenes, he comes off as fake and unconvincing. He cannot hold a look of genuine despair for longer than five seconds, always cutting in with a blank look that strongly resembles boredom.
*1/2/****
Full review at http://newmanscorner.blogspot.com
