If you've left me a rating on either my Imaginarium of Dr Parnassus or In the Valley of Elah reviews...
If you've left me a rating on either my Imaginarium of Dr Parnassus or In the Valley of Elah reviews, please let me know as they are showing up as 'not yet rated' even though at least fifteen of you have rated each one.
Member since:11.07.2000
Reviews:778
Members who trust:82
Joanna is a successful travelling saleswoman whose life is her job. But her personal life is a mess. She’s estranged from her father and since childhood has been plagued by irrational fears and terrifying auditory and visual hallucinations. And the older she gets, the more powerful they become until she starts seeing visions of the brutal murder of a young woman. At the same time she finds herself irrevocably drawn to the small town of La Salle, Texas. There she hopes to unravel the mystery…
From the trailers I’d seen, I was expecting another trashy American horror movie heavily influenced by the Japanese style. So imagine how disappointed I was when faced with the reality of this turgid psycho-drama masquerading as a horror movie. One of the greatest issues with this film is that British director Asif Kapadia has no idea how to pace it. It may be a mere eighty-five minutes long, but his sluggish direction makes it feel twice that length. Admittedly he hasn’t got a great deal to work with, with barely enough dialogue to cover three sides of A4 (double-spaced, at that). But that doesn’t mean that every single shot should linger so long or that every event should feel like it’s padding out the story. We really don’t need that many travelling montages to understand the main character’s job. Also there is no preamble. We may see Joanna as a disturbed child, but we don’t know her as an adult and therefore don’t empathise with her. So it’s difficult to give a damn about what happens to her. The format is confusing, constantly cutting back and forth between Joanna’s everyday life and her visions
that appear to be triggered at random without ever creating a coherent story. And once they start, they turn up at regular five minute intervals to further confuse the viewer.
Kapadia has no idea how to build tension and conforms to the old horror formula loud + sudden = scary. Of course that’s true if you have a decent premise to start with. But as he shoots this like it was a TV movie, it feels like an extended episode of “The Outer Limits”. This is especially true once the disappointing denouement heaves into sight. The director just doesn’t capitalise on any of the elements he has, wasting creepy barn locations and shadowy hotels where the locals hang up meat in reception and making characters too clear-cut. There’s a need for moral ambiguity when trying to create atmosphere in this kind of film and Kapadia makes a royal balls-up of it. He can’t even keep the camera in focus or moving smoothly. It’s yet another frustrating aspect of a dreary stab at psychological horror.
The screenplay by newcomer Adam Sussman is a highly derivative piece of work that wants to be a modern day “Turn of the Screw”. Sadly it’s not that inventive or coherent. There just isn’t enough story to fill the meagre running time. Sub-plots involving Joanna’s estrangement from her father, self-harming behaviour and the suggestion of an abusive relationship with a co-worker are never fully explored. They kind of taper off and disappear. And even when all the mysterious ends have been tied up come the finale, it doesn’t feel finished. The writer’s attempts to make us doubt Joanna’s sanity are clumsy in the extreme. We don’t get to know her as a human being before she’s plunged headlong into the weirdness, so she never feels three-dimensional. She’s too accepting of the supernatural elements of the story to make you think it could be anything else. And those elements are hackneyed; from a radio that keeps retuning itself to a particular song, seeing someone else’s reflection in the mirror and all manner of things going bump in the night in various shadowy buildings. You can pretty much predict all the pivotal scenes, from being chased through a barn by a psychopath to the lame twist at the end that makes it feel like a bad episode of “The Twilight Zone”. The characterisation throughout is painfully vague. Joanna is nothing more than a scream queen archetype. She is surrounded by horror movie clichés – the sensible best friend, the doting but distant father, the nasty and potentially violent ex and the ambiguous male lead that may or may not be a killer. And of course the murderer in her visions is a boiler-suited redneck with a taste for hooks and knives. The less said about the dialogue the better, not that there’s much to speak of anyway. It’s just that it’s the same old hackneyed “I have to find the truth” malarkey.
Sarah Michelle Gellar, who plays Joanna is the sole reason this movie got a big screen release. She’s very good at playing sympathetic scream queens. But I would like to see her do something else for a change. She can play them with her eyes shut and that’s pretty much what she does here. She does serious and tense relatively well and had the character been better written you might even have cared about her. But when all you’re thinking about is how different she looks with dark hair and what a girly runner she is you know it’s a lost cause.
As possible killer Terry Stahl, ex-“Neighbours” star Peter O’Brien tries his best with the poorly written script. He’s a dead ringer for Sawyer from “lost”, so I suspect that particular actor wasn’t available. He gives a modicum of ambiguity to the character, but doesn’t deliver enough menace to make you believe he really could be a murderer. He doesn’t have enough chemistry with co-star Gellar for the romantic undertones to take hold. And there’s always a hint of his Aussie accent poking through.
Sam Shepard is given short shrift as Joanna’s father, having little to do other than crumple his brow and look concerned. Adam Scott struggles with the thankless role of Kurt, Joanna’s ex. He plays it well enough in terms of making him entirely unlikeable; doing jealousy, menace and violence in quick succession. But he is hampered by a script that can’t wait to get rid of him. I suppose it shows his increasing range. Kate Beahan is too old for the part of Joanna’s best friend from school and is never given a chance to be anything other than bland and sensible.
The original score by horror maestro Dario Marianelli is standard fare for this kind of movie. He marries background whispering with creepy wine glass squeals to try to set your nerves on edge. Then he backs them up with foreboding string and piano motifs or rising string and high-pitched brass arrangements that foreshadow events. However, he shoots himself in the foot with his repetitive piano refrain that is remade with added strings or woodwinds at various times through the film. It’s fine the first time you hear it but becomes wearing after the third. He would have been better off if he’d used more sawing folk fiddle and plaintive piano breaks as he does at the end of the movie.
“The Return” is a turgid pot-boiler of a psycho-drama that won’t be scary enough for horror fans or interesting enough for drama buffs. The direction is shoddy, the writing pitiful and the majority of performances phoned-in. Even if you’re a hardcore Sarah Michelle Gellar fan, I’d think twice before wasting your money on this. If you’ve seen the trailer, you’ve already seen all the “best” and scariest bits. And God only knows why it’s got a 15 certificate as most under-tens will have seen more upsetting things on TV. If you’re still determined to watch it, you have been warned. Just try not to snore too loudly through it.
How helpful would this review be to a person making a buying decision? Rating guidelines
Production Year: 2002 - Horror - Director: Danny Boyle - Original Language: English - Classification: 18 years and over - Starring: Cillian Murphy, Megan Burns, Noah Huntley, Christopher Eccleston, Marvin Campbell, Brendan Gleeson
Production Year: 1984 - Horror - Director: Joe Dante - Original Language: English - Classification: 15 years and over - Starring: Zach Galligan, Phoebe Cates, Hoyt Axton, Polly Holliday, Frances Lee McCain, Judge Reinhold, Corey Feldman
Mm, I like a good horror flick but this one sounds pretty poor. The Grudge, The Return... you'd think Sarah Michelle Gellar would go for something different after a while. Great review - saved me a wasted hour and a half.
Sam xx
The Returnis a drowsy, mildly creepy and unexpectedly well-crafted supernatural thriller ... more
that lays off the cheap thrill and gore factor in favor of the slow build up to fright and a twist ending that, while effective, may hit viewers as mostly out of l...
Postage & Packaging: £1.21 Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days...
Sarah Michelle Gellar stars in this shocking, non-stop supernatural thriller unlike ... more
anything you've ever experienced before. Joanna Mills (Gellar) is haunted by increasingly terrifying visions where she can see and feel the brutal murder of a woman she...
The Returnis a drowsy, mildly creepy and unexpectedly well-crafted supernatural thriller ... more
that lays off the cheap thrill and gore factor in favor of the slow build up to fright and a twist ending that, while effective, may hit viewers as mostly out of l...
Postage & Packaging: Free! Availability: Usually dispatched within 24 hours...
A supernatural thriller starring Sarah Michelle Gellar as Joanna Mills a tough young ... more
Midwesterner determined to learn the truth behind the increasingly terrifying supernatural visions that have been haunting her. Joanna has made a successful career ...
Postage & Packaging: £0.00 Availability: 3-5 working days
Advantages: brilliant acting, great special effects, tonnes of special features, cheap Disadvantages: feels as if special effects are prioty over acting, storyline wasn't as good
![The Return [DVD] [2006]](http://picnicb.ciao.com/uk/78058399.jpg "The Return [DVD] [2006]")
Jun 3rd, 2007
very helpful by (100%):
