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Reviews
The Sixth Sense (1999)
This is how 'scary' works
Director M. Night Shyalaman has obviously done his homework. 'The Sixth Sense' is a painstakingly constructed lesson in how to heighten tension and generate fear.
With none of the high tech special effects of 'The Haunting' and none of the slasher-flick gore of 'Scream' or 'I Know What You Did Last Summer', the movie delivers more edge-of-your-seat nail-biting than all three of those films put together. What seems like a slow beginning is actually a careful build-up to some very creepy scenes.
As always, the terror of what might might be around the corner is more effective than the monster leaping out of the shadows, but here Shyalaman uses both together with a very subtle approach and an expert timing. There are actually times when we forget we're watching a scary movie, and that's when the film strikes.
The fear is projected off the screen brilliantly by Haley Joel Osment in the role of the psychic child. As the only one who sees the dead people, he's the only one that can show the fear. And show it, he does! The young actor does more to portray true terror than film veterans have done in some projects.
Well worth your money (even at the higher priced deluxe cinemas) and certainly worth your time. With no excessive blood and guts and only mild language concerns, anyone who likes a good scare can enjoy this film.
The Blair Witch Project (1999)
I'm sorry they found the footage
What a disappointment! Perhaps if I had thought, as apparently some friends of mine did, that this was real as opposed to a movie, I might have been genuinely frightened. Instead I was bored. A group of people screaming at each other and telling us that they are scared is not, in itself, frightening. At some point, something has to happen.
The 'innovative' approach of this film, while certainly a good idea, is very frustrating in execution. On a large screen the jerkiness of the film is at times almost nauseating. The camera frequently focuses on the ground as whichever character that is holding it lets their arm drop, and at times it isn't actually focused at all. The result - a static and blurred image accompanied by off-camera arguing - is less than appealing.
The central characters do a good job of improving their way through the scenes (they are decent actors), but the lack of structure leads to some fairly aimless, pointless scenes.
Finally, it's not scary. The idea that what we can't see is more frightening than what we can see has been used to great effect in the past (witness Robert Wise's 'The Haunting') but only in very carefully made films. Edge-of-your-seat tension must be painstakingly built, and cannot happen by accident.
Goodbye Pork Pie (1980)
Where can I get it?
I saw this film years ago, back when having a VCR was a real novelty. It was available on VHS at the time. I recall very much enjoying the movie, about a couple of off-beat characters in a mini driving the length of New Zealand. Their journey takes on folk-hero proportions as they progress further and continue to elude police. What I'm wondering is if the film is available on video anywhere now? My local video shop certainly doesn't have it, and I can't find it on Amazon.com Thanks.
Quest of the Delta Knights (1993)
The best of intentions
All the best intentions went into this project. It has everything we've come to expect from the epic fantasy category: a young hero finding his destiny, a tyrannical evil which must be brought down, a secret magic that could save or destroy the world. It even has one of those unexpected cameos that can make a picture amusing and informative. So what's wrong? The entire project seems to be handled in a very heavy-handed manner. Long expository passages of dialogue, overblown characterizations and some truly terrible acting. Even David Warner is bad, and I like David Warner. For any one who thinks they might wish to see this film, I advise the MST3K version, or better yet, don't watch it at all.