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Daily Archives: September 12, 2019
Trailer Alert – The Prey – Released on 7th October
Seeds (2018)
Director: Owen Long
Writer: Steven Weisman (Screenplay) Owen Long (Story)
Starring: Trevor Long, Andrea Chen, Garr Long, Kevin Breznahan, Chris McGarry, Michelle Liu Coughlin
Plot: When his increasingly depraved behavior spirals out of control, Marcus retreats to his family home along the New England coast. But instead of finding solace, Marcus is haunted by his darkest fears and deepest desires.
Tagline – A Story of Temptation and Monsters.
Runtime: 1 Hour 30 Minutes
There may be spoilers in the rest of the review
Verdict: Unsettling Throughout
Story: Seeds starts as we meet Marcus (Long) a man with depraving behaviour, he returns to a family home to put his life back in order, where he starts seeing a spider like creature lurking in the shadows, as his spends time with his niece Lily (Chen) because of her struggles with her own parents and his brother Michael (McGarry).
Marcus is asked to look after Lily and her young brother Spencer (Long), while Michael deals with his personal problems, with the time spent together getting increasingly unsettling. As Marcus spends time with the two kids as it sees the creatures coming for the children too, while an unsettling relationship between Marcus and Lily unfolds.
Thoughts on Seeds
Characters – Marcus has a dark past that he is running from, he returns to his childhood home to escape everything that could cause him problems, this sees him needing to look after his niece and nephew, one of which he has feelings for, but has always pushed away from ever giving into them. He believes his house is haunted which sees him needing to figure out what is real or not. Lily is the 17-year-old niece that has a past close relationship with her uncle, now she has grown up she gets caught in the middle of wanting a new one that does cross the line however wrong she sees it being. Spencer is the younger nephew that needs taking care off, Lily does it most of the time, with his fascination with insects keeping him entertained.
Performances – Trevor Long does give us a disturbing performance, where we see just how conflicted he is through the events of the film, Andrea Chen shines too which is important for her role in the film. Garr Long and the rest of the cast have all done well through the film without taking over from the two leads.
Story – The story follows a man dealing with his past while looking after his niece and nephew, believing there is a creature living in his home. This story can be broken down into dealing with temptation and letting the evil in the world manifesting into a thing of nightmares. If we dive deeper, we will end up going full spoilers. The tone of story is unsettling and disturbing throughout, it almost feels like you want to turn away, but you want to know just what is happening at the same time.
Horror – The horror comes from the visits from the long legged creature in the shadows, it only strikes at night, when Marcus is most vulnerable.
Settings – The film is set in one location, a beach house which shows us just where one man will go for time away from the world to fix his mind.
Special Effects – The effects used to create the creature are creepy and feel like they could come for the people being haunted by them.
Scene of the Movie – The first creature appearance.
That Moment That Annoyed Me – It does get too deep in places.
Final Thoughts – This is a horror that is looking at life and how it decisions can have different results for the people involved.
Overall: Deep horror.
ABC Film Challenge – Thriller – L – Lost in the Sun (2016)
Director: Trey Nelson
Writer: Trey Nelson (Screenplay)
Starring: Josh Duhamel, Josh Wiggins, Lynn Collins, Emma Fuhrmann, Al Hayter, Larry Jack Dotson
Plot: The story of John, a small-time crook, who finds an unlikely accomplice in Louis, a newly-orphaned teenage boy. As their open-road adventure progresses and John drags the kid on a string of robberies, the pair forge an unexpected and powerful bond.
Tagline – How far can one man go?
Runtime: 1 Hour 35 Minutes
There may be spoilers in the rest of the review
Verdict: Simple Action Coming of Age Film
Story: Lost in the Sun starts as small-time crook John (Duhamel) visits a funeral of a young mother, her son Louis (Wiggins) is being sent to live with his grandparents, John sees this and volunteers to drive him across America, where he decides to use Louis to help him settle a couple of debts.
As the time together continues John pushes Louis into helping him commit the crimes as the two get to know each other as over the week.
Thoughts on Lost in the Sun
Characters – John is a crook, he seems to be freshly out of prison needing to payback debts for protection in prison, he offers to take Louis to his grandparents and starts using him to help pay of the debts, showing him the life of crime, it is clear early on that he does have a connection to Louis, we are left to see what that connection is. Louis is the teenager that has been left orphaned when his mother dies, he reluctantly joins John in the cross-country trip where he gets to learn certain things he wouldn’t have before, including how to drive and how to shoot a gun. We do only meet characters along the way, some help and most are the people they are robbing.
Performances – Josh Duhamel is good in the leading role, it is one of his better performances as she shows how conflicted his character is and just how desperate he is to clear his debts, while trying to guide the teenager. Josh Wiggins is great in his role of the film, he gets to show moments of grief and moments of moving on with life as he is the one that needs to learn the biggest life lessons. The rest of the cast are solid without needing to do that much.
Story – The story here comes down to one man trying to make up for his own mistakes in life by helping a young teenage boy across country to live with his grandparents only along the way we see him teach him life lessons which could one day prepare him for the real-world. This gives us a chance to see a redemption story while also giving us a coming-of-age chapter in Louis’s life, this isn’t going to break any ground in the genre and does everything it needs to do for the characters. We do get moments of questioning moments of what Louis is forced to do and for the most we don’t get enough time to look at the crimes that have left John where he is in life.
Action – The action in the film is simple, we get a couple of weak chases and robberies, they are easy to watch and barely break into a sweat.
Settings – The film takes us across America, we don’t hit any landmarks which just shows us small town after small town or open roads.
Scene of the Movie – The final moment.
That Moment That Annoyed Me – Boys don’t just want to drive cars and shoot guns.
Final Thoughts – This is a simple coming of age film, it checks the boxes well without doing anything we haven’t seen before.
Overall: Coming-of-age 101
Rating
