I am finding a little more time to return to Ciao after a long absence. Will try and catch up with o...
I am finding a little more time to return to Ciao after a long absence. Will try and catch up with old friends. As to the writing side of things... well, I have few things to write about.. Now it's just a matter of finding the time... Derek
Member since:26.04.2005
Reviews:74
Members who trust:91
Last week I came across one of those special offers in HMV (4 DVds for £20). It was end of the season sale and I picked up a film called "The Village" just to make up the numbers. It struck me as being some sort of clichéd horror film from the blurb on the cover and I didn't expect to be watching it in the very near future. But it was one of those DVDs that keep popping up every time I looked through my shelf of dozens of other unwatched movies. Well the other evening, it popped up again and I just put it in the machine without giving it too much thought. As I wasn't in the mood for thinking anyway, it would probably be an ideal film.
As we got into the film, enter the monster, well, a glimpse of it. It was supposed to be scaring me but even my wife, who makes me jump out of my skin with her sudden screams in scary movies, remained silent all the way through. To say the film starts off slow is an understatement. And to say it's horror….
Well in a pantomime, maybe. In fact, I thought for the first hour it was bordering on the ridiculous.
The characters didn't like the colour red and if it appeared in "The Village" in the form of flowers or whatever, they would immediately hide it in case it attracted the monsters known rather theatrically as "those we do no speak of". You do catch the odd glimpse of one, clad in, you guessed it, a red outfit. For a moment I thought… Oh no, it's not going to be the wolf dressed up as Little Red Riding Hood is it? Well I did say pantomime! And even as kid, I thought pantomimes were silly - but bear in mind that I am somewhat bohemian, most people enjoy them.
After wading through what seemed like endless scenes that was supposed to build up the tension, something absolutely stupid happened….
A father (William Hert) sends his blind daughter (Bryce Dallas Howard) through the dangerous forest (home of the monster/s), to the (bad) towns beyond, to get medical help for her boyfriend (Joaquin Phoenix) who had been injured by a village youth (Adrian Brody) who was (to be politically correct), rather intellectually challenged.
Unbelievably, the father tells her that the monsters are really a myth, supposedly to ease her fear of travelling through the forest. To me now, it was getting really silly. OK, she did have the company of two villagers, but they ran off without a thought of what would happen to her! In reality, what father wouldn't have made sure that her guides were at least dependable and stay with her or bring her back?
A forest (in America) may have creatures that may want to take a chunk out of sighted people, let alone the dangers to a blind person of potholes, brambles, bogs and swamps that could at best cause injury. But I stayed watching and then began to see, that despite the unbelievable antics of the characters, the movie is atmospheric in an escapist sort of way, and I enjoy escapism.
The director/writer M Night Shyamalan who did such a brilliant job on the films Signs and Sixth Sense, I believe, that despite the poor storyline, has made this movie watchable, with good atmosphere and beautiful autumnal scenes of countryside and forest and the village itself, very authentic.
And there is a subtle twist emerging once the story gets going, which prevented me from pressing the off switch. The ending is acceptable - but I would not say it was good, because I wasn't quite expecting the credits to roll up the screen at that point.
Sigourney Weaver, who played one of the village elders, seemed to play a much smaller part than her talent would warrant and I felt disappointed at this.
The main story was centred around the love affair between Bryce Dallas Howard (character - Ivy) and Joaquin Phoenix (Lucius) but to me, the love scenes weren't powerful enough to jerk a tear from my wife's eye which is a good indication of passion produced in a movie.
All said and done, if you are a person who likes to escape into a fantasy world, that is in all fairness to the writer/director, well produced, I would say yes, buy this DVD. But if you are expecting horror, give it a miss.
I have reviewed this DVD as "Film Only" as the extras are all about the director saying how wonderful it was making the movie and saying how wonderful the cast was (which in all fairness it was).
Production Year: 2005 - Horror - Director: Eli Roth - Original Language: English - Classification: 18 years and over - Starring: Jay Hernandez, Derek Richardson, Shane Daly, Lenka Vlasakova, Eythor Gudjonsson, Jan Vlasak
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
I'm dying to see this now, just to see if it's all that bad! Suzy x
giantpanda21 15.03.2006 19:04
I did want to see this film but i think after reading this review it doesn't sound that great great review
mental_infestation 16.01.2006 18:31
Sounds as bad as Darkness Falls, which we saw at the cinema and I hate horror films, but this was also a film with little horror, and bordering on stupid. I think I'll be giving this one a miss too!
Even when his trademark twist-ending formula wears worrisomely thin as it does inThe ... more
Village, M. Night Shyamalan is a true showman who knows how to serve up a spookfest. He's derailed this time by a howler of a "surprise" lifted almost directly from "A...
Postage & Packaging: Check Site. Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days...
Even when his trademark twist-ending formula wears worrisomely thin as it does inThe ... more
Village, M. Night Shyamalan is a true showman who knows how to serve up a spookfest. He's derailed this time by a howler of a "surprise" lifted almost directly from "A...
Postage & Packaging: Free! Availability: Usually dispatched within 24 hours...
From Academy Award-nominated writer, director and modern-day master of suspense M. Night ... more
Shyamalan (Nominee: Best Director, Best Original Screenplay, The Sixth Sense, 1999), THE VILLAGE is a riveting, edge-of-your-seat chiller with a stellar ensemble c...
![The Village [DVD] [2004]](http://picnicb.ciao.com/uk/78514791.jpg "The Village [DVD] [2004]")
Oct 6th, 2005
(Oct 7th, 2005)
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