Movie Review: Four Christmases

Four Christmases (2008) 

Directed by Seth Gordon 

Written by Jon Lucas, Scott Moore, Matt R. Allen, Caleb Wilson, 

Starring Vince Vaughn, Reese Witherspoon, Mary Steenburgen, Jon Favreau, Tim McGraw, Sissy Spacek

Release Date November 26th, 2008 

Published November 27th, 2008

It's just not that funny. I watch and I want to laugh. I feel for that tickle at the back my throat. I try and force it a few times. It just doesn't come. You know why? Because, Four Christmases starring Vince Vaughn and Reese Witherspoon just isn't funny. The trailer was funny. I laughed a few times during the two and a half minute teaser.

I watched the movie, nothing. No laugh. Not even a chuckle. I sighed deeply once and it could have been mistaken as a laugh. But no. The movie isn't funny.

Brad (Vaughn) and Kate (Witherspoon) have been together for three years with no want for marriage or children. They really aren't keen on family at all. Thus why every Christmas they lie to their families and escape to some exotic isle. This year, they are off to Fiji until weather grounds their plane and they are captured on TV being forced to stay in country.

Plot forces require that each of four parents, now all separated, see the same news report and press the guilt button. Each parent will be visited and each will bring about a new kind of torture.

Robert Duvall and Sissy Spacek are Vaughn's parents while Mary Steenburgen and Jon Voight act as Witherspoon's sires. Each offers opportunities for laughs and yet none provide. Director Seth Gordon assigns each of these legendary performers a personality but forgets to offer any plot assistance.

Duvall is a bully, as are the assigned brothers Jon Favreau and Tim McGraw, randomly assigned as cage fighters. Are you laughing yet? Spacek is a space cadet who has married again to one of Brad's friends (Patrick Van Horn in a 'hey that guy was in Swingers' cameo'). Are you laughing now? How about if mom and new boyfriend repeatedly mention their sex life? Nothing?

Steenburgen, as Witherspoon's Kate warns us, is a cougar. She immediately is welcoming to Brad, willing to humiliate her daughter to make Brad ever more uncomfortable. Ha! No. Yeah, me neither. What if I throw in the fact the cougar mom is also a jesus freak and is dating a pastor played by Dwight Yoakam? What if the pastor forces Brad and Katie to play Mary and Joseph in a church pageant? Still nothing?

Finally there is Jon Voight who apparently said no to his assigned persona. Instead Voight plays benign presence to play against the craziness of everyone else. It works only to highlight the irritating, over the top absurdity of the other characters. But atleast Voight doesn't embarrass himself, which is I'm guessing, his goal for this role.

Seth Gordon is a comedically tone deaf director who pays off would be jokes two minutes before they actually happen. Truly, if you cannot see these 'jokes before they actually happen you may be having a stroke, seek medical help. Predictability is a sin that few can be forgiven for. I expect it from say, The Transporter where I would be disappointed if Jason Statham didn't drive fast and blow stuff up good.

I doubt the makers of Four Christmases put even that much thought into making this movie. They merely manufactured an idea. Cut characters out of a book of personality traits, filmed them and assembled them in number order. Whether the result was funny or even modestly amusing not so much a concern as getting the Christmas set film into theaters by the holidays to capitalize on tired, turkey and shopping attled masses seeking mindless distraction.

Say, I can recommend this movie. If you are in a tryptophan coma or blinded by the blue light special, Four Christmases is playing in a theater where you can sit in peace and quiet and not be bothered for 90 minutes.

Movie Review Deadfall

Deadfall (2012) 

Directed by Stefan Ruzowitzky 

Written by Zach Dean 

Starring Eric Bana, Charlie Hunnam, Sissy Spacek, Kris Kristofferson, Kate Mara, Olivia Wilde 

Release Date December 7th, 2012 

Published December 14th, 2012

Some movies just don't get the support they deserve. The thriller "Deadfall" is a good example. This smart, effective thriller starring Eric Bana, Olivia Wilde and Charlie Hunnam was forced to forgo much of a theatrical release in favor of an On-Demand cable release and has been judged by many as a failure because it's not playing on over a thousand screens nationwide.

That most movies that go this release route aren't very good serves to taint "Deadfall" and that's truly a shame. The fact is, "Deadfall" is better than dozens of so-called thrillers that made it to thousands of screens only to disappoint mass audiences in the same way "Deadfall" is thrilling and surprising the lucky few who've given it a chance.

Knocked Off Balance

"Deadfall" knocks viewers off balance from the opening moment. Three thieves, including Bana and Wilde as brother and sister, Addison and Liza, are headed for the Canadian border when their getaway car strikes a deer and the careens off of a snowy, Michigan back road. The getaway driver is killed and moments later, a bloodied Addison murders a responding State Trooper.

This jarring opening sets an unusual but nonetheless compelling tone for "Deadfall." As Addison and Liza divide their money and part ways with plans to reconnect in Canada another part of this story begins. Jay (Charlie Hunnam) has just been released from prison. We aren't made aware of his crime but it involves his past as boxer and a fraud in the ring. Jay quickly finds trouble again at his former gym and is soon on the run.

A Thriller, A Love Story, A Psychological Examination

These two stories converge when Jay happens upon a near catatonic Liza in the middle of the frozen highway. After rescuing her the two find sanctuary at a hotel bar. A few drinks and minor confessions later they are forgetting their troubles by shedding their clothes in the hotel. For Liza, this is part of a plan to get Jay to take her to his parents home, near the Michigan-Canadian border, a place he mentioned in passing.

After Liza calls Addison and tells him where they should meet up, her plans begin to change. Forced to spend another day at the hotel because of the winter conditions, Liza finds her connection to Jay getting deeper. The damage these two share leads to passion and what could very well be love, even as the two have only just met. It's a testament to the chemistry of Wilde and Hunnam that we barely question this connection.

Near Perfect Logic

The story of "Deadfall" unfolds to include Jay's perfectly cast parents, Sissy Spacek and Kris Kristofferson, and a young rural cop played by Kate Mara who's dealing with familial issues of her own in the form of her over-bearing cop father played by Treat Williams. That all of these characters will arrive at the same place at the same time at the end of the film is a given. How all arrive there and what happens is what makes "Deadfall" such an effective thriller.

There is a near perfect logic to the way the ending of "Deadfall" plays out. Writer Dean and director Ruzowitzky combine the psychological examination of Addison with the brief love story of Jay and Liza, the parental angst of Mara and Williams and Jay's struggles with his parents and his life into a simple, straightforward thriller plot that somehow never feels crowed over-complicated. There should not be a way for "Deadfall" to work so efficiently with so much weight heaped upon each character but it does.

Don't Judge a Movie By Its Release Strategy

So why, if "Deadfall" is as good as I am telling you it is, have you not heard about this film? Some of it has to do with Bana, a movie star who just hasn't become a Movie Star. When Bana was cast in "Deadfall" there was hope that his star-power along with a terrific supporting cast could propel the film. Unfortunately, Bana has simply never caught on with audiences and it was more efficient, from a business standpoint, to forgo theatrical release in favor of a direct to cable route.

While playing in several small theaters "Deadfall" was made available on Video on Demand services and on Amazon.com's streaming service. Do yourself a favor and don't judge the film for its lack of a wide theatrical release. "Deadfall" is more than worth a look On Demand or download.

Movie Review: An American Haunting

An American Haunting (2006) 

Directed by Courtney Solomon

Written by Courtney Solomon

Starring Donald Sutherland, Sissy Spacek, James D'arcy

Release Date May 5th, 2006

Published May 5th, 2006

The ineptitude of director Courtney Solomon is seemingly boundless. After taking what had the potential to be a Lord of the Rings style series of blockbusters in the Dungeons and Dragons, and dragged it into the depths of hellish mediocrity, it seemed Solomon was finished as a director. Sadly Solomon was merely recovering from that massive failure and accumulating material for a property he had purchased around the time of D &D, a horror novel called An American Haunting.

Some five years later Solomon's vision is finally on the biggest screen and hellish ineptitude would be a kind description for the jaw droppingly awful period horror flick An American Haunting.

Donald Sutherland, whom the director must have incriminating photos of, stars in American Haunting as John Bell the head of a small rural Tennessee household with his wife Lucy (Sissy Spacek, another likely blackmail candidate) that somehow becomes afflicted by a spirit. Thought to be the curse of a neighbor who the Bell's wronged in a land deal, the spirit attacks in the middle of the night, knocking over furniture, moaning loudly and taking an unseemly interest in the Bell's young daughter Betsy (Rachel Hurd Wood).

The ghost is especially violent with Betsy while afflicting John with ever worsening health. Friends and neighbors visit and confirm the Bell's haunting, the only holdout being Betsy's school teacher Richard Powell (James D'Arcy) who believes science can explain the phenomena, that is until he witnesses the spirit firsthand.

An American Haunting is based on the popular novel by Brent Monaghan called The Bell Witch: An American Haunting. That 2000 novel was a controversial bestseller that purported itself to be a non-fiction account of the only murder ever attributed to a spirit. Monaghan's central thesis that spirits are created by bad energy within homes serves as a pseudo-scientific explanation of the supposedly real haunting. Essentially the family's negativity manifested in an angry violent ghost.

An interesting but thoroughly non-scientific theory that Monaghan, I'm told, spins into quite a compelling yarn. Unfortunately the script by director Courtney Solomon deviates wildly from Monaghan's thesis in favor of a more familiar brand of horror genre hokum. Looking to get audiences jumping out of their seats, Solomon relies on the tired act of loud unexpected noises. Yup, that's it. Just the occasional animal knocking over furniture amped to ear splitting decibels. This is what passes as horror in An American Haunting.

Worse yet Solomon crafts the film in such a way that he forgets to create any mystery as to why the family is being haunted. He retires the film's one and only red herring, a neighbor suspected of witchcraft, early in the story and never allows the skeptical teacher to develop into a formidable enough character that his debunking skills might introduce some mystery.

The storytelling is so awful that at one point we are lead to believe the family was being punished because they charged a usury tax that was well above the established law. USURY! As a horror film device!

The Usury Tax thing is a big laugh but unfortunately An American Haunting does not have enough of that kind of unintentional humor to make it any kind of guilty pleasure. No, sadly the film just sucks and nothing more.

It may have taken Courtney Solomon five years to get another less than mediocre feature on the big screen but don't think for a moment that just because An American Haunting was even worse than his Dungeons & Dragons, that Courtney Solomon is finished. Uwe Boll has stunk out loud on four pictures and has several more in the pipeline. If Hollywood won't throw a leash on Boll why would they stop Courtney Solomon from stinking up movie theaters for the foreseeable future.

Movie Review: In the Bedroom

In the Bedroom (2001) 

Directed by Todd Field

Written by Todd Field

Starring Sissy Spacek, Tom Wilkinson, Marisa Tomei, Nick Stahl, 

Release Date November 23rd, 2001 

Published January 15th, 2002 

Sissy Spacek reminds me of someone I know, I can't quite place it but I feel like I know her. That is an excellent quality for an actor or actress to have, it becomes less like acting and feels real. When I watch her, it feels for me like I'm watching a real life in progress, and it's that quality that she brings to In The Bedroom and makes the films actions that much more tragic.

Bedroom is the story of a family in Camden, Maine. Mother (Spacek) is a teacher, Father (Tom Wilkinson) a doctor and their son (Nick Stahl), who is preparing for college. Of course nothing is ever what it seems, the parents are happy but argue greatly over their son's choice to date an older woman (Marisa Tomei) who is divorced with two kids to go with a violent ex-husband. The setup is combustible but director Todd Field never creates an air of inevitability, instead he allows the story to flow to conclusions that are shocking but not all that surprising. 

I'm struggling to avoid giving away too much, though the plot twists are not shocking surprises, they're not surprising if you actually watch the movie. The film is very realistic. How many times in your life has something happened that is shocking and tragic but you said to yourself that you could kind of see it coming? That is how this movie feels.

Director Todd Field is best known as an actor for his role as Tom Cruise piano player friend in Eyes Wide Shut, where Field says he spent a great deal of time studying at the feet of the master Stanley Kubrick. Although stylistically you don't see much influence I think In The Bedroom is a film Kubrick would have appreciated with it's slow studied pacing and desperate protagonists expertly played by Spacek and British character actor Tom Wilkinson.

Of the film's few flaws I would say the lack of chemistry between Nick Stahl and Marisa Tomei is the most obvious. The films glacial pacing works for the most part but drags in the middle. These criticisms are overcome though by the brilliant performance of Sissy Spacek that is the heart of this very good film. 

Movie Review North Country

North Country (2005) 

Directed by Niki Caro 

Written by Michael Seitzman

Starring Charlize Theron, Woody Harrelson, Frances McDormand, Sean Bean, Richard Jenkins

Release Date October 21st, 2005 

Published October 19th, 2005 

Director Niki Caro made a huge splash with her debut film Whale Rider. That sweet, smart coming of age flick not only brought an Oscar nomination to the amazing young actress Keisha Castle Hughes, it also established Caro as a director who could write her own ticket for whatever project she wanted to make. Her choice was to work with another Oscar nominated actress, Charlize Theron, on what is, by virtue of both of their involvement, a serious prestige picture about a difficult and dramatic subject, the very first sexual harrassment class action suit in US history.

With the weight of expectations on North Country Niki Caro had a lot to live up to. That the film nearly meets those lofty expectations is a sign of her talent and the strength of the story she wished to tell.

Charlize Theron stars in North Country as Josie Aimes, a single mother returning to her tiny hometown in Minnesota after escaping her abusive husband. To say that her homecoming is not exactly welcome is a slight understatement. Though Josie's parents, Hank (Richard Jenkins) and Alice (Sissy Spacek), love her deeply, her life choices up until now have been a grave disappointment. Pregnant at sixteen, Josie claimed to not know who the child's father was. Running away with the baby soon after, Josie found herself in a series of bad relationships, and pregnant again.

Now back home and fighting with her father over having left her marriage (despite the husband's abuse, her father cannot abide a divorce and even wonders if she brought the abuse on herself) Josie needs a job and a new place to live. An old friend, Glory, played by the wonderful Frances McDormand, puts Josie on to a job working in the mine that is the town's only source of stable employment. Unfortunately it's also where Josie's father works, yet another source of father-daughter tension.

If her father was the greatest of the resistance Josie faced working in the mines she would be lucky. Sadly, the male workers of the mine have made quite clear ever since women have been allowed to work there that they are not welcome. The sexual, emotional and occasionally physical intimidation of women is an everyday reality for Glory who has weathered it well enough to become a union leader. For Josie, however, the abuse is shocking and terrifying and likely compounded by some very dark secrets from her past.

Eventually all of the abuse and frustrating put-offs from management force Josie to take a bold step. With the help of a local lawyer, Bill White (Woody Harrelson), Josie aims to sue the mine and stop the abuse and if at all possible make the mine a safe place for the women who work there after her.

North Country is an exceptionally well-told story both in terms of scripting and filmmaking. Director Niki Caro showed her adeptness for compelling visual storytelling in Whale Rider and continues to mature in North Country. With Cinematographer Gustavo Santaolalla, Caro washes out the scenery to capture the often grim and gritty feel of the Minnesota winter. The visuals are so strong that the bitter cold of the north country chills the theater.

The script by Michael Seitzman, based on the book Class Action by Clara Bingham, creates a fictional character in Josie Aimes-- a composite of a number of different woman, including Lois Jenson, who was the first and most heroic plaintiff in this historic case. Especially compelling is the backstory that Seitzman and Niki Caro craft for Josie and the way that backstory informs the rest of the movie. Her experiences in the past are something that many women can sadly relate to, though to detail those experiences would reveal far too much I think.

The backstory is weaved into the movie's main story in a way that builds to an emotional flourish that lifts the film's otherwise weak courtroom scenes. If there is a flaw in North Country it is the by-the-numbers battle in the courtroom. Caro does as much as she can visually-- the court scenes are brightly lit but no less cold than the outdoor scenes-- but the scenes never rise above typical courtroom cliches. My opinion of this aspect of the film may be colored slightly by my opinion of the film's ending, which takes place in the courtroom and is a major letdown.

Of course Josie would not be the extraordinary character she is without the exemplary performance of Charlize Theron. At the head of an amazing cast that includes Oscar winners Sissy Spacek and Frances McDormand, as well as Woody Harrelson, Richard Jenkins and Sean Bean, Theron never let's you forget this is her movie. In North Country Charlize Theron essays a tough but vulnerable performance with depth and meaning. It's a performance worthy of such weighty subject matter as the very first and most difficult battle in the fight against sexual harassment.

The improvement of Charlize Theron as an actress in just the last three years is remarkable. Just four years ago seeing the name Charlize Theron on a movie poster was a stomach turning moment. Her shrill, unlikable, over-the-top performances in The Astronauts Wife, Devils Advocate and Sweet November are now a very distant memory. Monster changed everything and now North Country affirms that Charlize Theron is a true actress and a star, not just another pretty face.

North Country is the kind of heart rending cathartic drama people go to the movies to experience. A film that earns all of its emotional involvement and audience participation in the experience. North Country is also the rare modern movie that combines that emotional journey with a visual one that is its equal. Niki Caro and her team evoke not only the freezing cold of the north but the feel of a town caught in a time warp. The men are Neanderthals, the women are repressed and longing, and the whole thing is disturbing for people who lived through similar circumstances and people, like myself, who cannot fully relate to the struggles women have faced in the workplace.

North Country is an education, a history lesson about how far woman have come in establishing themselves in the workplace. It's a lesson that needs to be taught and retaught because as the old adage goes; those who forget history are doomed to repeat it. Our current laws on sexual harassment may at times seem ridiculous or overblown but they stem from a place of necessity because the type of abuse demonstrated in North Country should never be allowed to take place.

For Oscar watchers like myself North Country is a must see. Niki Caro's direction, Michael Seitzman's script, Gustavo Santaolalla's photography and the supporting performances of Frances McDormand and Richard Jenkins are all worthy of nominations. However, it is the performance of Charlize Theron that will have Oscar fans buzzing all the way to the big night. Theron has a very good chance of becoming the seventh actress in academy history to win two lead actress Oscars.

Had the ending of North Country been a little stronger I think a best picture nomination would be assured for North Country. Still, despite my minor misgivings, this is one terrific drama. A moving crowd pleaser with an important message and filled to overflowing with terrific performances. North Country is a must see for the new season.

Movie Review Get Low

Get Low (2009) 

Directed by Aaron Schneider 

Written by Chris Provenzano, C Gaby Mitchell, Scott Seeke 

Starring Robert Duvall, Bill Murray, Sissy Spacek, Lucas Black, Lee Cobb

Release Date July 30th, 2009 

Published July 29th, 2009 

“Get Low” is some kind of miracle of modern movie-making. No, the film doesn't change the way you look at movies. Rather, “Get Low” is a throwback to a time before bombast took over cinema. “Get Low” reaches back to a time when acting and storytelling dominated over the urge to constantly goose the audience with effects. In this day and age, that qualifies as a miracle.

”Get Low” stars Robert Duvall as Felix Bush, a hermit living in some unknown, early 1900's wilderness on the edge of a small town. Within that town are residents who believe Felix is just a crazy old hermit and everyone seems to have a story about being threatened by the crazy old man with the wild eyes and ratty beard.

After being informed of the death of a former friend, Felix decides that his time is drawing near as well. Felix decides that it's time to get low but before he goes he wants to attend his own funeral. Carrying out Felix's final wishes are the local funeral home proprietor Mr. Quinn (Bill Murray) and his young assistant Buddy (Lucas Black).

While Quinn is eager for the old hermit's wad of balled up money, Buddy is worried for Felix and wants to know why he is so eager to get busy dying. Buddy is the stand in for those of us who find Felix's motivations morbid yet oddly fascinating. Felix is even more intriguing than his final wishes imply; he carries a deep dark secret that relates somehow to an old flame, Mattie Darrow (Sissy Spacek).

I will leave you to discover Felix's secret and I will only say that it is a stunner of a payoff and yet not a thrilling shock but rather a resigned, unfortunate tale related with such skill by Duvall that you will struggle to hold back tears. Duvall has long been an actor of awesome, earnest strength but “Get Low” is the first time, arguably, since his Oscar winning turn in “Tender Mercies” that he has been this moving.

When Duvall shares the screen with Sissy Spacek “Get Low” takes on an effortlessly romantic air that never plays ironic or creepy. Yes, these are two older people but there is no joking about sex or winking about their romantic prospects being that they are old. Instead, “Get Low” offers scenes of such tenderness most modern movies featuring the young beautiful cannot hope to match.

The revelation of “Get Low” is Lucas Black. To this point in his short career Black's biggest credit had been the “Fast and the Furious” pseudo sequel “Tokyo Drift.” Needless to say, that performance said little about Black's ability as an actor, other than his ability to look blandly handsome. In “Get Low” Black demonstrates earnest vulnerability, humor and caring that never lapses.

Bill Murray is, well, Bill Murray. The former SNL and “Ghostbusters'' star has become one of the most consistently ingenious actors working today. Whether he is playing himself for laughs in “Zombieland” or playing romantic, longing, drama in the little seen but utterly glorious “Broken Flowers,” Murray finds new beats to play within what we expect of Billy Murray. In “Get Low” Murray may be expected to be a huckster, and he kind of is, but by the end of Get Low Murray's Mr. Quinn is as steady and good-hearted as anyone.

Don't let me mislead you, Murray and the rest in “Get Low” do earn laughs. The film has a great sense of humor, one that offers laughs that come organically from characters who aren't trying to be funny, they just are. Robert Duvall gets laughs from his temperamental performance that seems coiled for an explosion of crazy and then surprises with gentility and soul. Sissy Spacek is magical with her wide smile and big eyes, she exudes warmth and then when hurt she changes the temperature of the film and you feel everything she feels.

This is what great actors do, they draw you in, surprise you, move you and can devastate and restore you all in the space of three acts. Given a great script as these actors are given in “Get Low,” by writers Chris Provenzano and Gaby Mitchell, this wondrous ensemble does all of the above and more. 

”Get Low” is directed with a shambling good nature by Aaron Schneider who also edited the film. He is not the most likely of directors, his training was as a cinematographer for little seen TV shows. Yet, Mr. Schneider delivers in “Get Low” a pro level performance. Schneider's low watt direction and great eye for deteriorating, period scenery plays perfectly to the story of decrepit yet feisty Felix preparing for his grave. 

Most importantly, Schneider knows just when to get out of the way and let his superior cast carry the day. Watch in particular a scene between Robert Duvall and Sissy Spacek set at night in Felix's hermit hovel. There is no need for flourish, no need for directorial histrionics, Schneider just sets his camera on these two actors and the warmth rises and the romance comes effortlessly as if evoked from a nonexistent yet fully shared memory. What a scene. 

”Get Low” is wonderful. Romantic, sad, funny and very moving, it is undoubtedly among this year's best films, an honest to goodness miracle of modesty in an era of often ugly, insipid bombast.

Movie Review: The Ring 2

The Ring 2 (2005) 

Directed by Hideo Nakata

Written by Ehren Kruger 

Starring Naomi Watts, Simon Baker, David Dorfman, Elizabeth Perkins, Gary Cole and Sissy Spacek 

Release Date March 18th 2005 

Published March 17th, 2005 

When The Ring was released in 2002 and became a nationwide sensation with 129 million in box office sales and there was no doubt that there would be a sequel.  Hell, the Japanese version of the film spawned multiple sequels so there was even material from which to borrow for a new movie if necessary.  The real question was whether the story they told in the sequel would matter to viewers, not that it mattered much to marketers who had the poster mocked and approved on The Ring's second weekend atop the box office. Unfortunately there is no more story worth telling, or if there is the producers of Ring Two failed to locate it.

A quick recap of the original concept: The Ring was founded on the idea of a crazy looking videotape that, when viewed, left the viewer with seven days to live. A girl trapped in a well used the supernatural powers of the videotape to escape and claim anyone who watched the tape. Naomi Watts starred in The Ring as a journalist named Rachel who saw the tape while searching out a story about the urban legend surrounding it, a legend that may have claimed the life of her young niece.

Rachel is back in Ring Two with her preternaturally creepy son Aiden (David Dorfman). The two have escaped the tape's supernatural curse by running off to a small town somewhere in Oregon where Rachel has taken a job as a reporter for a small town paper run by Max (Simon Baker). How location could prevent a supernatural being from finding victims is a logical question that the film fails to address, among many other failures in logic and works of luck and chance that would be forgivable were they not so numerous.

Unfortunately for Rachel and Aiden, the tape has been traveling with a new legend attached to it. Teens are passing it around under the pretense that if you can get someone else to watch after you the curse is transferred from you to them. This theory fails a teenager who tries to pass it off on an unsuspecting girl. This is in the opening ten minutes and for some reason is the last time in the film we will hear about the killer video.

From there the film changes the supernatural elements, losing the videotape and randomly deciding that Samara, the killer chick in the video, can attack by possessing Aiden, Exorcist style. This leads Rachel back to that well in the basement of Samara's house and to Samara's real mother, an institutionalized woman played by Sissy Spacek. None of this leads to any satisfying conclusion though to the film's credit there is no overt set up for another sequel.

Ring 2 is shockingly bad. Truly shocking considering the talent of director Hideo Tanaka whose original Ringu is terrifically stylish and suspenseful. Ring director Gore Verbinski skated by in the original by being visually inventive and taking advantage of the films unique premise. Ring 2 abandons the original premise and even much of the strong visual aspects, replacing them with what amounts to a series of rip-offs of other horror movies.

Ring 2 is the perfect example of what I have called 'sequelitis.' It's a film that exists solely as a concept, a poster, a series of demographic marketing numbers and never anything resembling a real film.