MOVIE: Dead Silence (Probably spoilers...you've been warned)

Greetings fans of the Monthly Musings.  I think I should really change that name to something else since I'll be musing about something more than once a month. I'll ponder that for a while.

And now, on to the review!

Year: 2007

Director: James Wan

Story: James Wan and Leigh Whannel

Stars: Ryan Kwanten, Amber Valletta, Donnie Walhberg, and Judith Roberts as Mary Shaw

"Beware the stare of Mary Shaw. She had no children only dolls. And if you see her in your dreams, do not ever, ever scream."

imdb.com

Ok, so this movie is a bit old to really be reviewing, but I felt that I had to.  If the director looks familiar, it is the same guy who directed the first SAW movie. I enjoyed the Saw movies quite a bit, so I decided that I would take a chance on Dead Silence.  

I have come to determine that it is a cross between Puppet Masters and Darkness Falls.  The basic tale is that of an old ventriloquist who ends up murdered by the townsfolk of Raven's Fair.  And, this being a ghost story, she comes back to exact her revenge as is the case with most ghost stories.  It is a very classic old ghost story told very eloquently.

It all starts when a mysterious package arrives at the door of the Ashen couple.    This movie is so good that I don't want to get into it more than that.  :)

What made this movie so great was that even though you KNEW when the scary parts were happening, it was shot in such a way that still eeeped the bejeezus out of me even though I was in my living room with my lights were on.  I actually had a hard time bringing myself to watch it a second time, it was that creepy.  I don't get creeped out by movies very often.  

Now, about the acting.  Probably not the best I have ever seen, but not real terrible, either.  We'll forget that I hadn't heard of very many of the actors. Obviously Mark Walhberg because of his work in the Saw movies, but who the heck is Ryan Kwanten?  Ok, I see he's a character in True Blood.  Not something I have brought myself to see, though I have read a few of the books.  I don't recognize any of his other stuff save for an episode of Law and Order :SVU.  No matter.  His performance was pretty good.

I won't get into too much of the other actors separately, save to say that for the most part not real terrible. I will say that the best performance was given by Billy, the ventriloquist doll.

Cinematography was really good, but I can't stand when directors use that awful blue tint.  I felt that it could have done without it, but that's why I'm just an average schmoe and not a director. :)

As far as if I would recommend this movie to others.  YES YES YES!  See this movie!  It's not full of a lot of gore like other horror movies.  It has its moments, but don't they all?  

Until next time... oh, and by the way, if you haven't cast your votes yet, please do so.  The poll is at the bottom of the page.

Thanks for reading my really average review of a really great movie.

A Mysterious Button Error

It looks as though my previous post got deleted.  I probably hit a wrong button or something.  I've been working all day so I'll just say that yes, I'll be writing my average reviews more than once a month.  I'll probably do a movie next.  Not a new movie, but a fairly recent movie. I haven't decided just yet.  I hope that it will be interesting for you.

Until then.....

My First Book "Review" : "Wicked" by Gregory McGuire

I hear the broadway musical adaptation of this book is phenomenal.  In fact, I hear it is coming to Boise for more than two weeks.  I hear that it may sell out most evenings.  Local radio stations are giving away VIP packages and such.

I have to wonder ............

Actually, I am curious as to how they managed to adapt this book to broadway.  

As most people know, it is the story of Elphaba, the Wicked Witch of the West, before she became such.  That part of the story was really great.  The tales during her childhood and school days were great.  They gave the Witch such depth and the fact that she was born green gave her enough tragedy to deal with.  What I had a hard time grasping was the political concepts throughout the book.  Not that I don't grasp politics, but mostly I read to be entertained and it took me forever to get through this book because at most points I was thinking to myself, "So what?"  

There were lots of religious points to the book, too.  I could dig that.  McGuire did a great job of creating religious aspects that never really got fully explained.  OR perhaps I had fallen asleep through those parts.  I guess all of the elements combined were intended to give a super sense of depth to an otherwise green character.

I have never read the original book "Wizard of Oz" so perhaps I am missing some key elements here, but there were many points during this novel that I thought they skewed many of the characters out of the realm of what they should have been.  

I believe that this book could have been more entertaining than it was.  Perhaps the Broadway Musical is more so.  I'm not counting on it, though.  I suppose I should make a point to go see it, so that I can write a review of that, too.  

There was a lot of NO closure with many of the characters, and other times the author jumps around.  Actually, he jumped around A LOT. Very irritating.

This is a book that I will never read again.  It had come HIGHLY recommended from many friends, and I have to wonder why.  Why was this book so recommended?  Perhaps it was not to my liking because I am way more into fantasy books that don't take as long to read.  (Don't judge!)  

I will more than likely try to pick up a copy of the original Wizard of Oz to see if I am misjudging this story or not.  I will at least give it that chance and adjust my thoughts accordingly.  

Until then, I'll wait for the DVD release of Wicked.

Rating: 

Upon further searching the internet for one who thinks as I do, I did find a 1 star review of Wicked, but the reviewer has this to say about the musical:

"SEE THE SHOW: The broadway show is wonderful and amazing. It is everything that this book is not. However, don't go thinking that they have much in common, because they don't. The plot in the show makes sense, is interesting (far more interesting than the plot in the book), creates characters with whom you really become involved AND gives you a GREAT payoff in the end, explaining things in a MUCH better way and giving you a WONDERFUL and different point of view of the whole story of Oz. The show is one of the best that I have ever seen, and I have seen quite a few. Don't miss Julie Murney as Elphaba, if you get a chance. 

THE SHOW: 2 THUMBS UP, 4 STARS, DON'T MISS IT!

THE BOOK: 2 thumbs down, 0 stars, skip it."

Perhaps I will take that very good advice.....