I compliment Bill Paxton for a kick-butt directorial debut! The film has a good, original premise with echoes of "Night of the Hunter." Paxton takes on sort of the Robert Mitchum role, as a religious fanatic who believes that God chose him to rid the demons from the world. I'm always fascinated and amused by religious fantaticism, because it's something that cannot be exaggerated. You can never be "over-the-top" in portraying religious fanatics, because these people really do invest in every hint of bullcrap they spew, and say it with a straight face. And I'm not making assumptions, because I lived next to a family of religious fanatics for nine years when I was back in Brooklyn.
Paxton was obviously going for gothic horror. I was never truly scared, but I was creeped out. This is quite a haunting film. The plot is also rich and colorful, so this isn't one of those horror movies that depends on cheap scares to keep an audience interested. I barely hinted at one of the plot twists, but it still came unexpected and kept me glued to the edge of my seat.
The performances are good all-around. Paxton delivers a delightfully evil, yet human performance. It's hard to measure up to Mitchum's tour-de-force performance in "Night of the Hunter," but Paxton's comes close. Besides, I've always liked Bill Paxton, and find him memorable even in small supporting roles like the used car salesman he played in "True Lies." I will never forget him for that performance! Matthew McCoughnahey has recently faded from popularity, but is slowly gaining it back with hit films like "How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days." He's definitely more than a pretty face, and is another actor I always enjoy watching. I've never complained about Powers Boothe, but he's never given a performance that had me jumping for joy. His performance in this movie is definitely an exception.
Paxton worked with Sam Raimi on "A Simple Plan," and he definitely owes a good deal of thanks to the Raim-meister, with whom he obviously drew inspiration from in making this creepy film.
My score: 7 (out of 10)
Paxton was obviously going for gothic horror. I was never truly scared, but I was creeped out. This is quite a haunting film. The plot is also rich and colorful, so this isn't one of those horror movies that depends on cheap scares to keep an audience interested. I barely hinted at one of the plot twists, but it still came unexpected and kept me glued to the edge of my seat.
The performances are good all-around. Paxton delivers a delightfully evil, yet human performance. It's hard to measure up to Mitchum's tour-de-force performance in "Night of the Hunter," but Paxton's comes close. Besides, I've always liked Bill Paxton, and find him memorable even in small supporting roles like the used car salesman he played in "True Lies." I will never forget him for that performance! Matthew McCoughnahey has recently faded from popularity, but is slowly gaining it back with hit films like "How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days." He's definitely more than a pretty face, and is another actor I always enjoy watching. I've never complained about Powers Boothe, but he's never given a performance that had me jumping for joy. His performance in this movie is definitely an exception.
Paxton worked with Sam Raimi on "A Simple Plan," and he definitely owes a good deal of thanks to the Raim-meister, with whom he obviously drew inspiration from in making this creepy film.
My score: 7 (out of 10)