DeCoteau, as usual, has cast a cute guy as the lead for his latest horror movie, The Frightening, and as usual, he has him in his boxer briefs within the first 10 minutes. Oh, it's good to know what you're getting into.
However, the last thing I expected from DeCoteau was a higher caliber film that ended up being pretty entertaining. Yes, the movie rips from everything from The Sixth Sense to Donnie Darko, but if you're going to rip off other films, you might as well pick good ones to take ideas from.
Corey (Matt Twining) has just moved to a new town with his mother to start a new life after a tragic accident left a teammate of Corey's dead. Enrolled into "Halloween High", he begins to notice that things aren't quite right. Be it that all the "social outcasts" start disappearing, or that the school itself has a dark past. He starts to question reality and the motives of all the students and faculty.
The Frightening isn't a bad movie. It moves along pretty good, was entertaining enough to keep my attention, and as with any DeCoteau film, is loaded with cute, buff boys to watch. However, unlike The Brotherhood (good film) or The Brotherhood 2: Young Warlocks (we won't go there), the homoerotic overtones are very much downplayed in The Frightening. Only once did it venture into traditional territory with a scene involving a group of young guys standing around in their boxers. DeCoteau also seems to have spent more time on this film. The majority of the actors are pretty good (especially Matt Twining), and the dialogue flows more smoothly than any of his past films.
The ending is a total rip-off, but in the defense of the filmmakers, I didn't see it coming, and thought it was pretty cool. On the downside, the murders were pretty cheesy. I'm glad that I'm not the only IMDBer to notice that no matter where you're stabbed or slashed, you will always bleed out of your mouth (with some pretty fake looking blood to boot). Although, I did like the one guy who had his face eaten off with acid.
I liked The Frightening. It wasn't a masterpiece, but compared to some of his other films, it's as close to being one as DeCoteau has gotten to so far.
My grade: B
However, the last thing I expected from DeCoteau was a higher caliber film that ended up being pretty entertaining. Yes, the movie rips from everything from The Sixth Sense to Donnie Darko, but if you're going to rip off other films, you might as well pick good ones to take ideas from.
Corey (Matt Twining) has just moved to a new town with his mother to start a new life after a tragic accident left a teammate of Corey's dead. Enrolled into "Halloween High", he begins to notice that things aren't quite right. Be it that all the "social outcasts" start disappearing, or that the school itself has a dark past. He starts to question reality and the motives of all the students and faculty.
The Frightening isn't a bad movie. It moves along pretty good, was entertaining enough to keep my attention, and as with any DeCoteau film, is loaded with cute, buff boys to watch. However, unlike The Brotherhood (good film) or The Brotherhood 2: Young Warlocks (we won't go there), the homoerotic overtones are very much downplayed in The Frightening. Only once did it venture into traditional territory with a scene involving a group of young guys standing around in their boxers. DeCoteau also seems to have spent more time on this film. The majority of the actors are pretty good (especially Matt Twining), and the dialogue flows more smoothly than any of his past films.
The ending is a total rip-off, but in the defense of the filmmakers, I didn't see it coming, and thought it was pretty cool. On the downside, the murders were pretty cheesy. I'm glad that I'm not the only IMDBer to notice that no matter where you're stabbed or slashed, you will always bleed out of your mouth (with some pretty fake looking blood to boot). Although, I did like the one guy who had his face eaten off with acid.
I liked The Frightening. It wasn't a masterpiece, but compared to some of his other films, it's as close to being one as DeCoteau has gotten to so far.
My grade: B