I hated The Sender - this is one of those movies where I truly don't know who it's made for. Teenagers? No, it's too slow and boring. Horror movie fans? No, it's not very scary. Psychology professors? No, it's too preposterous.
Plot: crazy guy tries to drown himself at a crowded public beach. He's quickly sent to a mental hospital. While there he begins "projecting" his mental state while he sleeps... and then eventually while he's awake. As might be imagined, his mental states are highly violent and disturbed. His doctor wants to cure him, others want to study him, and his "mother" just wants him to come home. What a mess.
This movie really turned me off from the very first moments and never won me back. Every actor is competent, so I really blame the script and the director. The movie has little to no tension, and the situation is compounded the longer the movie goes on. Not recommended.
And speaking of supernatural films, the longer I watched Phenomena, the stronger a sense of deja vu I had. Then I realized: this is the movie that the video game Clock Tower is based on! For anyone curious at how you adapt an Italian horror film into a Japanese horror game, research Clock Tower and you'll find out.
This is also notable for being a Dario Argento film that stars Jennifer Connolly at the height of my childhood adoration of her. Made the year before Labyrinth (my favorite movie as a child, along with First Blood and Raiders of the Lost Ark), she is young and fresh here, and she's the best thing about the movie - acting with a lot of verve, as if she didn't know she was in a terrible horror movie (she probably didn't).
Actually I take it back - Donald Pleasance is tied with her, as a wheelchair-bound entomologist with a chimp named Inga. Can you tell this is a Dario Argento film yet?
The plot is insane, as per usual Italian rules: Girls at a rural school in Switzerland are being killed by a madman one by one. The headmistress of the school doesn't care. Jennifer Connolly is the new girl, who exhibits frightful telepathic powers with insects. She uses this power to help with the serial killer situation, especially once she becomes the target. Meanwhile, everyone is afraid of her and some even think SHE is the killer. Her new friend Donald Pleasance, who lives nearby, helps her out.
This was apparently the first movie Argento made in English, although only the scenes with Connolly and Pleasance were shot with actual synched audio. The movie LOOKS fantastic - as per every Argento film - but makes little sense and is easier to laugh at than gasp at. I was never scared at any time, but I was impressed with some of the set designs and action moments. It's a very strange film, but I can see this appealing to a wide number of people - horror historians, Argento fans, Connolly fans, Pleasance fans, Clock Tower fans... it's interesting, which is a lot more than you can say for most '80s horror films.
Coming after two horror movies, we have the anti-horror movie: Ghostbusters II! This is actually the second time I'm reviewing this, but what the hell. It cleans up after the other two I just saw, so to speak.
This was, of course, the sequel to the 1984 mega-blockbuster. I saw this one in the theater with my mom, and remember certain scenes very vividly - like when they control the Statue of Liberty with an NES Advantage controller (I had one! Before my friend Ryan "borrowed" it forever), or when the Titanic finally docks, or when the painting of Vigo stretches to accommodate his massive face near the beginning.
This movie is about 5/6 the fun of the original. It's hard to keep a formula fresh, but this movie mostly succeeds. The four ghostbusters are great (finally, Winston gets decent lines and things to do!), the supporting cast is great, and the villain is suitably terrifying - in fact, the consensus among my friends when I was young is that Vigo the Carpathian was at least twice as scary as Zuul from the first movie. Part of this is the acting - Wilhelm von Homburg is amazing as Vigo, with tremendous force of personality and general presence.
New York itself is also a character, and to great effect. The movie is very funny, and is more of an ensemble effort this time around - the first movie leaned a little too hard on Bill Murray at times, whereas this one spreads the laughs around a little bit more.
It's hard not to recommend this. It's fun, mildly thrilling, and carries over most of the goodwill of the original.
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