Did "The Rite" get it right? (2011)

I managed to catch this movie over the weekend and I wasn't disappointed, but it didn't strike me as a typical horror movie. It won't inspire nightmares or keep your hiding your eyes behind your hands, but it does intrigue you with a topic that has not been explored heavily in horror movies.

Quick Summary:

      Our main character, Michael Kovak, played by Colin O'Donoghue, works with his dad in their funeral home business. He wants to escape his life, and the role he is falling into. In his family, you can become a mortician or a priest. Michael decides to join seminary school to become a priest. Never quite committing to the idea, he completes four years of schooling and decides to quit.
     That night, his Father Superior, whom he told about resigning from the program, tries to catch him on the road, accidentally causing a girl on a bicycle to get hit by a car. She asks him for absolution, and he grants her request, even though he is not a priest. Father Superior sees the potential in him to be a great priest. Father Superior informs Michael that if he quit now, Michael would have to take the full brunt of the student loans, but if he stayed and went to an exorcism class in the Vatican City, he would let him leave.
      Michael goes to Rome, and attends the class. His teacher, Father Xavier, notices his skepticism and decides to send him to Father Lucas, played by Anthony Hopkins, who practices exorcism. From here, he starts to question whether doubting his faith can live up to what he sees with Father Lucas.

                                                       ****SPOILERS BELOW****  
Characters:                                               

Michael Kovak

     Michael Kovak is our main character, a lost individual with a healthy dose of doubt about his faith, and searches for proof there is a God or a Devil. He is played by Colin O'Donoghue, from the "Tudors" show, is an unfamiliar face for most people. There is not much about him yet on the internet, but I think that will soon change.

     This role required a lot of layers for the actor, a need to escape his father and their funeral home legacy and yearning for approval by becoming a priest. O'Donoghue certainly can be charming and deep in his roles, but it was hard to buy him in this role.

    The main problem I have with this role, is the amount of setup it took to develop Michael's character. Half of the movie seemed to be about him holding onto his doubt and maybe that was to defy his father quietly.

    Kovak had a tense relationship with his father from the beginning, supposedly since his mother died when he was young. There is a scene where the father is preparing the mother's body for her funeral and is taking such care with it, like she is still alive. He is painting her nails red and blowing on them to dry, when he sees young Michael watching and calls him over. After scenes like this, it was understandable why the main character was so tortured.
    I cannot be too critical of O'Donoghue, because this role was so developed and confused, the audience was still trying to figure out what he was about. O'Donoghue seems uncomfortable in this character, who undergoes many traumatic and soul-questioning events. In the beginning of the film, he is preparing the body for a funeral, a girl who committed suicide. Michael asks his father how she did it, and he only receives a warning not to discuss the dead. There are overtones here, that maybe his mother is also part of the "dead" they don't talk about.
    I also think the writing of the film is to blame, placing so much emphasis on Michael's state of mind that the audience has nothing to do, but critique it. When Michael blesses the girl who was about to die, the audience sees no other mention of it later in the film. Having someone die in your arms when you were partly responsible for their death might make an impact on a character, but not in this movie.
    The problem was, everything was making an impact on the character. So when something dramatic and life-changing happened to Michael, he seemed to blend it into his already dark and tortured -soul character, but not adding anything more to it.
    I would almost say this could be a coming of age story, except the coming took a very long time and we needed a visit from Satan to get any real change in Michael.

Angelina                                                    ****SPOILERS BELOW****  

   Angelina, played by Alice Braga, is the reporter taking the same exorcism class with Michael and wants his help to speak to the elusive Father Lucas. She is the female presence in the film, maybe a little temptation for Michael, who is a so-so priest in training, and also has a hard-nosed view of the world. She wants proof just like Michael does, but she had her own dark history.
   We learn her younger brother was commited to an asylum for talking to strange voices and knowing things, that sometimes happened. She is interested to know if demon possession is real and maybe rid herself of guilt for not believing in her brother.

Istvan Kovak                                            ****SPOILERS BELOW****  
    

      Rutger Hauer plays Michael's Father, cold and disapproving. It was a shame he was shown as little as he was in the movie. What he was shown in, were the most interesting and revealing parts into Michael's psyche. Istvan is a funeral home director who wants his son to work along side him. Considering Michael viewed his life choices as a "mortician or priest", we get the impression that Istvan does not allow a lot of personal freedom, and is very religious.

    The part where he was painting the dead mother's nails and talking to her body like she was still alive was one of the creepier parts in this movie. He gave the father depth, but also hidden side, which Michael only glimpsed.
    The audience didn't see much of their relationship, but it didn't have to. This role was played well and written well.

Father Lucas                                         ****SPOILERS BELOW****  

    Father Lucas is played by Anthony Hopkins, who is known for his many roles, including Silence of the Lambs. Now, it would be only fair to say that the movie is worth seeing because of his performance. He plays the worn-down priest who has performs many exorcisms, but feels weak because of the people he couldn't save. He talks about his battle with the Devil, once losing his faith because he lost someone to demonic possession.
    Father Lucas is fun to watch. He is funny when he needs to be, to throw off the Michael Kovak, and heart-breaking when the time calls for it. His morals are also questionable, so he is far from perfect.
     When he loses a 16 year old, pregnant girl and her unborn baby, to murder by demonic possession, the audience hears a a crack of a character unwinding. His tears to Michael over losing the girl and his faith in God, don't even compare to Michael's when he finds out his father died of a stroke.
    At the climax of the film, Lucas is possessed by a demon, seemingly like the Devil himself. He can still deliver chills, as his eyes remind you of the cannibal he played in Silence. Now, he is not restrained by anything human, and only wants to inflict pain on Michael by bringing up his father and his failure.
    He played the demon well, mocking and cruel, but never over the top. When he turned his beady eyes to stare into the character, the audience felt their power too. He could be 100 years old and still terrifying.
    I loved this character for a lot of reasons, for giving the audience a few funny laughs and then then most shocking parts of the film. He plays a priest well, and especially a priest who knows he's possessed well.
    Again, if you need one reason to see this movie, it would be to see Anthony Hopkins be a great actor.

Likes:

1. The movie brought up the idea that everything was planned, that Michael's doubt would eventually lead the moment when the Devil could possess Father Lucas. The idea itself was fascinating and made the audience question if the Devil after Michael or Lucas, or both? And was it all apart of his master plan, or God's?
2. The possessed pregnant 16 year old. She played the part well and it was very disturbing, because of her condition.
3. At one point in the movie, Michael's father calls on the phone after his stroke, sounding very disturbed. Then Michael is told that the call was impossible, because his father was already dead.
4. The mule, which is supposed to be the Devil. I like the instances of him nature, the appearance of cockroaches around the pregnant girl. Also, that the cats ran away from the possessed Father Lucas.
5. Anthony Hopkins
6. The bracelet Michael sees on the suicide at his funeral home, pops up in the movie, further shaking his faith.

Dislikes:

1. A weak and unsure main character (Michael Kovak). He is supposed to lead up through the film, but he was not much of a lead.
2. The exorcism of Father Lucas. Earlier we heard exorcising could take a long time, and yet, a non-priest who had shaky faith was able to cast out a powerful demon out of Father Lucas.
3. Advertising of the movie. It was not so much a horror, but a journey through Michael Kovak's experiences into exorcism.
4. Michael Kovak's skepticism. Even after seeing the pregnant teen spit up three long nails, he still holds onto the notion she is not possessed.
5. I wish there was more of an explanation for Michael's lack of faith, besides his father is distant and his mother is dead.

                                                                  Conclusion

    I believe this is a film worth seeing, because it is more intelligent than other exorcist films. There is a sense of reality, maybe because there is some truth to the story, but it makes us want to see what happens. Maybe the audience keeps watching because they are looking to Michael to be our truth finder. He was our guide, leading us on our safe journey of doubt. Hopkins, again, is a reason to see this movie. I've see The Exorcist, The Omen (I,II, and III),  and this movie does look more at the church's side of exorcisms. It assumes demonic possession is real, and the audience is already feeling Michael's doubt. It's a new perspective on a old subject, and a new take on the Devil's power. Not the strongest story, but there are many clever moments in it.

I give it 3 zombie heads.

"Fido" review (2006). Is it worth watching?

First, I know this movie isn't a typical horror film, maybe not even one in some people's eyes. The reason I include it as such, are because:

1. It has zombies and I love zombie flicks
2. People die in grotesque ways
3. It uses a clever setting to introduce zombies, and the humans can control the zombies in this one
4. The movie has other plots going on, that would be there without the zombies

    I know how much fun resident evil movies can be, or how serious George Romero movies try to be. Sometimes it is worth it to see a different take on zombie films.
 
   What makes "Fido" different is the setting for one thing. It is set in the 1950's America, looking picturesque and perfect with its pleasant suburbs and tidy appearances. The only things that stick out are the zombies doing yard work, walking dogs, delivering newspapers, and even delivering milk. It's a refreshing perspective from many of the modern, gritty portrayals of our society thrown into hellish times. No, this film has the zombies, but life goes on. It goes on normally actually. The people of the town Willard, know zombies as slaves, creatures who do what they are told, thanks to the fantastic invention of the domestication collar.

     The collar the zombies wear keep them in check, and helps them resist their craving to devour humans. "Fido" is one of the few zombie movies to have a creation that actually tames zombies. Thus, it can now tell the story of what a society does with the now safe zombies and the struggle to return to normalcy.

                                                                Type of Zombie in "Fido"            

• Eats human flesh
• Moves slowly, has slow motor skills
• Radiation from space came to Earth and made people turn to Zombies
• Do not appear to eat other animals
• Can become a zombie by dying, or being bitten
• Killed by severing head, or destroying the brain
• Mindless creatures, but capacity to overcome their need to feed to feel human emotion

Plot
                                                     (***SPOILERS BELOW***)


     The town Willard is thankful to Zomcon for making the domestication collars which allow them to control the zombies and even keep around dead family members. Funerals are expensive and rare, since it is cheaper to become a zombie. In a typical funeral, the body is placed in one casket and the head in a separate box, making sure the person cannot rise again as a zombie. It is revealed in the beginning, the "Zombie War" went on for a long time between humans and zombies, before they realized zombies died from shooting the brain.
    
    Timmy, our main character, is a young boy whose father detests zombies, so his house is the only one on the block without a zombie servant. Timmy's mother, a housewife, not to be upstaged by her neighbors by being the only household without a zombie, goes out and gets one.

    
    The father is none too happy with the zombie servant and Timmy thinks nothing of it, distracted by his own problems like two bullies at school. When his zombie rescues him from the bullies, Timmy begins to like him. Timmy calls the zombie Fido, finally finding a replacement for his father who avoids spending time with him.

    Unfortunately, Fido's collar malfunctions and he kills Timmy's neighbor, revealing his savage instincts to eat human flesh. The collar turns back on, bringing back the kinder Fido as long as the red light on the collar doesn't go out.

   The neighbor Fido kills turns into a zombie and starts biting people, causing a mini outbreak. Timmy kills and buries to neighbor to stop anyone from finding out what Fido has done.

   With the help of another neighbor, who was fired from Zomcon for having a romantic relationship with his zombie "Tammy", helps fix Fido's collar and warns Timmy to tell no one the collar wasn't working.

    Throughout this, Timmy's family struggles to stay a unit while the father stays obsessed with funerals and goes to everyone. It is revealed the father's father turned zombie and tried to eat him, scarring Timmy's father forever. Timmy's father goes on golfing outings, ignoring his son and even oblivious to his very pregnant wife.

   Timmy and Fido are kidnapped by the two bullies who want to be heroes for killing Fido. They disarm the collar and become victims of Fido's unleashed hunger. Fido does not kill Timmy though and can restrain his hunger without the collar, because of his feelings for his friend. Timmy sends him to find Timmy's mother to help Timmy.

   The mother comes just in time to kill the two bullies, who are now zombies. She then burns both bodies and all evidence of Timmy being there, while cautioning Timmy he should not think this is typical behavior of a family.

   One of the more touching moments of this film is when the wife tries to apologize to Fido for the father's mistreatment of him. She looks into his eyes and wishes she knew him before he became a zombie, knowing they could never be together now.

    As the zombie outbreak is calming down and the zombies are being killed. Fido becomes a suspect of starting the outbreak by attacking Timmy's neighbor and is taken by Zomcon. Timmy, with the help of his neighbor, who worked at Zomcon, breaks into Zomcon to find Fido. They cause a distraction by disabling the collar on one of the zombies there to cause chaos.

   Timmy is caught by the present Zomcon chief, who put Fido away, and is thrown into the "wild zone". It is a place outside the fences that protect Willard from zombies on the outside. Timmy watches at zombies stagger toward him.

   Timmy's mother and father break into Zomcon to rescue Timmy, and the father, defensive of his worth as a father, goes to save Timmy alone. He and Fido find Timmy, and after a struggle with the Zomcon chief, the father is shot. Timmy deactivates Fido's collar, setting Fido on the Zomcon chief and killing him.

                                                                       

   Timmy's father is buried in a funeral process, which makes sure he cannot become a zombie. The mother has her child, and shares a happy life with Fido and Timmy. They can now live their lives with Fido included, happy and normal.

First Review "Waxwork" 1988

                                                               
"Waxwork" is a hidden gem found in closet of Fearnet's archive of movies. It's actually really enjoyable and oddly shocking in at some parts. I will give you Fearnet's quick summary to start:

"There's a new wax museum in town. It's great. There are all these wax sculptures of really scary looking monsters and murderers. Some teenagers just went inside to take a look around. Funny thing is, they didn't come out."

Ok, so it sounds like a lot of horror movies where teens go in a haunted house and get killed, but it is not a typical horror movie in a lot of ways.

Zach Galligan, who you might remember as the kid from "Gremlins" who couldn't pay attention to directions, plays rich boy Mark who keeps striking out with the attractive China Webster, played by Michelle Johnson.

Zach Galligan as Mark in Waxwork

China and her friend Sarah, Deborah Foreman, are invited to a creepy wax museum along with four guests of their choosing. From there, they decide to bring along four of their friends, including Mark to the mysterious wax museum. One by one they find the wax figures are not as harmless as them seem to be. If you want to read the whole synopsis, read it on wikipedia here.

Sarah(left) and China(right)

I want to give you a couple reasons this movie is worth mentioning and definitely worth watching.

• It stereotypes every single character and yet manages to make them interesting.

China is the sexual one in the group, playing with Mark's heart
and playing the field. She is beautiful and unafraid, until the
wax museum gives her something to be afraid of. As the movie progresses, we find out the bad girl meets her seductive match.

Sarah is "The Virgin" through and through and isn't ashamed of it. Sarah experiences an awakening that makes anyone doubt her innocence, and their own. It is one of the movie's most shocking and yet enrapturing moment of pain and pleasure. It will bring out the freak in all of you.

Even Mark, the rebellious rich boy comes to find a purpose other than blowing off his schoolwork and chasing after China. The other characters serve more of a purpose of making the monsters look more interesting."Waxwork" does what modern movies fail to do over and over. It gives us the character labels and then surpasses them.

I have to say, the real stars of this movie would have to be the monsters and it gives credit and a soul to all of them.

• It has all classic horror figures at their best (or worst) and highlights what made them so very evil.

If there is something I want to thank the creators of this movie for, it would be paying homage to every horrific creature we can think of and making them enjoyable to watch.

The Vampire

Dracula, played by Miles O'Keeffe, is hard to resist and yet, in this part, the movie delivers one of the grossest scenes. Dracula is what you think of when you think vampire. He's dark, hard to resist, has evil vampires under him, a taste for human flesh, and his most lethal weapon are his hypnotizing eyes.

This part of the movie is interesting in how it makes you think how you would act if you were thrown into a Bram Stoker novel and whether you could escape. It also makes you wonder if you would want to.

The Werewolf 

 There werewolf scene has all the classic moments that you would think would be there. Our character is put in the middle of room with a werewolf and the middle of a hairy situation. I loved the change of the werewolf, a little reminiscent of the changing in the movie "An American Werewolf in London". The creature looked the part and was scary enough to pull it off. The scene full of screaming and gore, and yet, had some funny moments thrown in there. It was complete with hunters armed with silver bullets and the killing urge.


 Marquis de Sade is one of the most fascinating characters of the whole movie. He is an 18th century

French aristocrat whose sexual pleasures focus on pain and control. He is played by J. Kenneth Campbell, who is worth noting for such a thumbs up performance. He finds a new pet in Sarah, the little virgin, and from there, the audience becomes a little dumbfounded and oddly turned on. The actor played the character with a subtle sneer that was never too exaggerated and yet made him intriguing.

• It has fun.

The film never takes itself too seriously, with moments when the monsters are punched and just stare at their victims like "Nice try." It has a plot, complete with police officers searching for missing teenagers and the blood-sucking void that is the wax museum. We see monsters with a gentle side, but no problem with killing, a virgin with a taste for pain, and a hero trying to stop the evil wax museum. In this movie, you shouldn't try to ask too many questions, but just sit back and enjoy one of the more interesting movies. It will surprise you, which is hard to do nowadays, and if you like any horror monster, you will probably see them appear at least once. If the wax museum didn't kill people, I would totally go visit.

• Analysis

The movies is fun, yes, and it is great to watch. However, it does bring up a lot of ideas that are explored in each character. "Waxwork" highlights human being's strengths and also their weakness to temptation. It brings up the question, that faced with the most evil things in imagination, what would they bring out in you? Would it bring out a hero? Or a victim? Or maybe something a little evil hiding in you? The scenes I enjoyed watching the most were watching the characters fight temptation or give in to it. In a way, they were fighting something buried deep in themselves, and also unleashing something too.

I hope you catch this movie, because it is worth it.