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Reviews
Orphan (2009)
Enough with the false scares already!
I'm about two thirds of the way through watching this film, and I must say it's really annoying me how the director constantly relies on the technique of using scary music and odd camera angles to build false tension. Then, just when you think something really scary is going to happen, it turns out to be a false alarm.
There's a word for this cinematic technique, I forget what it is. Regardless, it's a cheap substitute for using actual story elements to build real tension, and this movie has used up all of my good will by relying on it every couple of minutes.
I'm going to watch the rest right now, and something really spectacular will need to happen in order for me to feel good about having watched.
Cthulhu (2007)
Surprisingly good, subtle horror film
This film may be too good for its own good. In reading the comments here on IMDb, I see that some people really hated it. Having just watched it myself, I feel compelled to offer a counter-point, because I was very pleasantly surprised by many aspects of Cthulhu.
I very recently listened to a radio play based on Lovecraft's "The Shadow Over Innsbrook," and Cthulhu does a fine job of updating the story for modern audiences. Is it slavishly faithful to the original material? No. Does the film take great liberties with the story, and change many details? Yes.
But it also succeeds as a spooky movie, and really conveys a wonderfully creepy atmosphere with its beautiful cinematography and interesting directing and acting choices.
One thing I really respect about Cthulhu is the decision to make the central character a gay man. You might see that in a comedy or some drama about AIDS, but it's not often that anybody making a serious action, sci-fi, or horror film is going to take the risk of portraying their hero as a homosexual. Rest assured this film never lets its hero's sexual orientation get in the way of the story.
For that matter, it doesn't even get in the way of the hero winding up in a sex scene with Tori Spelling.
With a name like Cthulhu, some folks might be disappointed by the lack of tentacle-faced, ancient, alien-monster-gods in this film, but there really weren't any monsters in the Lovecraft story upon which it's based, other than the creepy townsfolk themselves.
I'd love to see the people responsible for this film make more Lovecraft-inspired movies, and perhaps reveal some squid-like, fishy-monsters in one of those, but that's probably too much to hope for.