Jake Abel – Movies of the Soul

Vampire Owl: We are all malignant, aren’t we?

Vampire Bat: Why are you categorizing us as evil again?

Vampire Owl: We cannot be part of the good, can we?

Vampire Bat: We have done more deeds of goodness than any other species.

Vampire Owl: Yes, in comparison to humans, we are not evil at all.

Vampire Bat: Well, we could even be considered good, in that case.

Vampire Owl: I don’t understand why humans consider themselves to be less evil than the undead species.

Vampire Bat: Well, it is mainly because they are not good enough to be undead.

Vampire Owl: Yes, they just go into the grave and won’t rise again these days.

Vampire Bat: Dead humans! Less evil than those alive, aren’t they?

[Gets a vegetable samosa and three cups of white tea].

What is the movie about? :: In the year 1993, in Simon Research Hospital, Dr Florence Weaver (Jacqueline McKenzie) is treating a strange man with superpowers with the help of her colleagues Dr Victor Fields (Christian Clemenson) and Dr John Gregory (Amir Aboulela). One night this man who seems more like a strange entity escapes and kills a number of people in the research facility. Florence feels that this should end soon enough, as there are messages coming from the entity about killing them all, as he has learnt to broadcast his thoughts through speakers and control electricity. Twenty seven years later, Madison Lake Mitchell (Annabelle Wallis), a pregnant woman who is forced to live with her abusive husband, Derek Mitchell (Jake Abel). She has to spend the whole time in the house, as she keeps getting ill, and so many of her children had died inside the womb. But Derek remains abusive as usual and needs no reason to attack her.

So, what happens with the events here as we just keep looking? :: After Derek smashes her head against a wall, she has a dream, about him being killed by an unknown assailant who had entered the house. The attacker looks less human and more like a supernatural entity. After the brutal murder, she realizes that it was not a dream as Derek is found dead, and the killer also attacks Madison, leading her unconscious. CST Winnie (Ingrid Bisu) who is the first on the scene finds the situation as a case like never before. She is informed by her sister Sydney Lake (Maddie Hasson) that the baby didn’t survive. Detective Kekoa Shaw (George Young) is the officer in charge, and he would be supported by Detective Regina Moss (Michole Briana White). There is no clues being left behind though, with no footprints, fingerprints or signs of forced entry. The police begins to do doubt if she had murdered her abusive husband. She decides to stay in the same house, even though her sister asks her to leave and start again. Now, things change for her.

The defence of Malignant :: It seems that even though Malignant isn’t a well-known movie among the horror of its times, it does manage to come up with something stronger than expected. They mystery that is hidden in here is pretty much strong, and there are secrets which are interesting enough. Its divergence is also something to be appreciated, as we see how interesting the deviation happens to be. The music is nicely suited for the movie, and there are enough sound effects to support the same. The atmosphere related to the killer and his past are also nicely created. There is something to wonder around here for most of the time, and the creepiness never really leaves us completely. There is a lot of skill related to how things have been created here, a world in which something out of this world thrives, and uses the atmosphere to the terror. There is also the beauty in this world of terror, which doesn’t seem to amaze us either. There are some fine effects using the lights, and the movement of the monster is an interesting thing by itself. We also have the interesting twists to add to the same.

Positives and negatives :: The movie should have actually been better marketed to bring more audience to understand it with the right elements. As this movie goes through a different path, it also contributes as a different kind of a scary film. We know that there is something about this horror which is differently scary. This also feels like something which is more possible in this world of chaos than the ghosts, aliens and others. The ending seems to be a little bit forced, but does feel appropriate, and could have worked nicer with a little more care. The messages are also present, related to motherhood and sisterhood here. The movie also has some scope for a future sequel, and this is the kind of idea which can bring more and lead to more of divergence. This is also a reminder to the fact that terror has no limits, and it can return at any time. The psychological elements are also working really well around here. We go through the elements of murder investigation with a supernatural touch, and the twists take this a step further through different genres. Yet, it could felt scarier with the first half, and it had some struggle there.

The performers of the soul :: Annabelle Wallis leads the way in this horror movie as the scream queen in trouble. She has been part of Annabelle and The Mummy, thus being no stranger to all the horror. As she is no stranger to this genre, she manages things really well, never providing the feeling that she doesn’t belong. One also has to appreciate Marina Mazepa who performed as the body double for the monster figure – a work deserving a lot of appreciation as we look at it, with a lot of flexible action to be performed from her side. Maddie Hasson also blends into the horror really well, and could be part of more films belonging to the genre. The two performances playing the sisters are also to be appreciated around here, with an emotional side also getting into the act. George Young as Detective Kekoa Shaw does the job really well, but the police is indeed the clueless team in this particular film. Michole Briana White as Detective Regina Moss serves as the more disbelieving police officer. Jacqueline McKenzie and Jean Louisa Kelly plays interesting characters from the past well.

How it finishes :: Malignant works well, even though it is not that good as some of those nice and interesting horror and slasher movies which Netflix had gained earlier. The movie manages to be a different kind of horror, and has those kind of twists which we don’t usually imagine. As you move towards the end of the movie, the surprise is something that will have our interest. We have had variety in horror with It Follows, Don’t Breathe and Lights Out, and it is time to have one more added to the list. This is also the kind of horror that comes from the inside and the manifestation of the creature is something which you will find terrifying enough, and then you have the gore as well as a lot of action, much to the surprise of all of us who are looking for the horror to come in the usual pattern. You have to love it when divergence is worth it, and when you get the least expected, and in a good way, there is not much to complain around here.

Release date: 10th September 2021
Running time: 111 minutes
Directed by: James Wan
Starring: Annabelle Wallis, Maddie Hasson, George Young, Michole Briana White, Jean Louisa Kelly, Susanna Thompson, Jacqueline McKenzie, Jake Abel, Ingrid Bisu, Christian Clemenson, Ruben Pla, Amir Aboulela, Josh Rutgers, Jon Lee Brody, Dan Ramos, Paula Marshall, Zoe Bell, Ray Chase, Marina Mazepa, Andy Bean, Patricia Velasquez, Mckenna Grace, Madison Wolfe

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@ Cemetery Watch
✠ The Vampire Bat.

In an overwhelming desire to find myself fair about this movie, I have to confess that I watched The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones right after watching this – it was a back-to-back movie adventure separated only by the desire to have lunch and the need to travel from one mall to the other. If you don’t need to know more about it, and the two movies in relation to each other, you are free to skip the first two paragraphs, an offer of escape from comparisons which includes this paragraph. In a simple comparison of no great intellect, our reviewed movie is more of a follower of the Harry Potter pattern, with a world for the demigods away from the original world, with its major base on magic and the individual and collective inner strength and righteousness which they exhibit while facing big powers; but the second movie has more similarities with Twilight, with a female protagonist who is just a boring ordinary girl who is introduced into another world which is hidden among the known human world and is once again caught in a triangular love between herself and two other guys, both belonging to different species.

So the other fantasy movie of the day has a good amount of Constantine, Underworld and surely, the most of dominant of them all, Twilight. To make it look more of a formidable power, it has added the horror elements, and there was demons, vampires and werewolves, the three creatures whom we never thought would come along in herds in the same movie, an absurd improvement on Underworld and Twilight which has surely backfired, despite of the presence of the lovely leading actress who can act incredibly well, Lily Collins who has done a great job. But with a little visual effects, horror and action, the movie runs out of gas. It is there that Percy Jackson scores. The two movies were released on the same day here, along with We’re the Millers, and the advantage would surely go with Sea of Monsters, as it doesn’t come with an “A” certificate unlike the others, and it is in 3D. The theatres seem to have realized the same too, as they have put more shows for the movie, and it is the only English movie in more than one theatres this week.

Even as it is difficult to set aside the great performance of the beautiful Lily Collins, lets leave the absurdity which was the half-baked bad mixture of all the fantasy works ever produced, which was The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones, and move on to the movie of the week, which is Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters. Our movie doesn’t deal with forbidden love and has no apples or people with bad tooth unless they are monsters. May be that should be reserved for Twilight copies, and there might be a time when the apples begin to keep the viewers away rather than the doctors. The best thing about Percy Jackson is that it sticks to the basics. It takes the legends from the Greek Mythology, but it maintains a formula which is not at all ambiguous and more true to the core. It doesn’t rely on anything strange or unnecessary to give temporary satisfaction with any teenage fantasy which doesn’t go well with the plot and the flow of the story. It doesn’t try to give pleasure to anyone suffering from the withdrawal symptoms, which is mostly a Twilight withdrawal rather than from the intellectually superior Lord of the Rings or Harry Potter series.

Percy Jackson (Logan Lerman) no longer seems to have the popularity that he might have had with him getting back the lightning bolt, saving both the Olympus and the world, and such great stuff which were to become legends. Clarisse La Rue (Leven Rambin) is his constant rival to glory, as she beats him in almost all the competitions. As Luke Castellan (Jake Abel), announces his plans to destroy Mount Olympus by bringing back Kronos from Tartarus and sends a mechanical bull to attack the demi-god camp after poisoning Thalia Grace (Paloma Kwiatkowski) who is the tree which defends the camp with a magic forcefield. Even as Annabeth Chase (Alexandra Daddario) is the one who finds out that the Golden Fleece could heal and restore the tree, Clarisse is sent to retrieve the artefact much to the dismay of Percy, Annabeth and Grover Underwood (Brandon T. Jackson). But the trio decides to follow the team led by Clarisse, and they are joined by Percy’s half-brother Tyson (Douglas Smith), who is a cyclops. They also have one prophecy and a group of rogue half-bloods supported by a Manticore, and one big cyclops guarding the fleece to deal with.

With no denial of credit to one Lily Collins who had tried in vain to restore order among chaos and absurdity in the other fantasy movie, lets move into our characters. Logan Lerman leads the team as Percy Jackson, a demigod and the son of the God of Ocean, Poseidon. He was there in the 2011 version of The Three Musketeers, and here is he is again, and it surely seems to be a familiar territory for him. It is a honest performance from all angles. Brandon T. Jackson as Grover Underwood makes sure that there is no dull moment in the movie, along with Douglas Smith as Tyson the Cyclops. Most of the funny moments of the movie are from these two, and they are really good, and never inappropriate. Alexandra Daddario plays Annabeth Chase, the demigod daughter of Athena, the Godess of Wisdom, and this is one supporting character that you will remember for a long time, despite of the romantic angle kept away in the movie completely. She does have that look too, of that intensity which is kept in check by the heavenly wisdom. She was that good in Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief too, and continues the good work.

Leven Rambin is Clarisse La Rue, the arrogant, hot-tempered daughter of the war God, Ares – always looking for combat, and at at the same time finding Percy a threat to her supremacy. After seeing her in The Hunger Games as the District 1 tribute, and the strong contender Glimmer, there was a certainty, that she was going to be great in such roles, and here she is, leading a group of undead who served her father Ares. As the story progresses, her character turns out to be more dynamic, along with adding to the funny as well as the action elements of the movie. There is the suiting depiction of the contrast between the daughter of this God of War and the Goddess of Wisdom. There is no point where the two are similar, and being the daughter of the great War God, she shares nothing in common with all the others out there, with Paloma Kwiatkowski’s Thalia Grace, of the demigod daughter of Zeus still pending. Jake Abel’s Luke Castellan, the demigod son of Hermes is a continuation of what was there in the first part of the movie. Nathan Fillion’s Hermes is a short, but effective presence which stays throughout the movie.

Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters has taken over at a time when the book-based fantasy novels are on the decline. The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones has proved to follow the path of The Host, and clearly stay with Twilight. The Harry Potter series have finished and Lord of the Rings and Narnia are taking a slow path. There is the need for something similar to fill in, and here is Percy Jackson. With its superior and appropriate 3D effects and the well done action sequences supported by the visual imagery, there is no loss of moments spent for watching this movie. There are also the funny lines, but it denies itself a big chance to take some risks, as it follows the conventional path, never to stray away from it. But, there is a huge amount of honesty in this path which is without any ambiguity, and there is absolutely no attempt to complicate things. The whole thing is kept simple, and as the endoskeleton comes from the Greek Mythology and a little bit of the Harry Potter series, this is a bankable movie which most of the critics need to stop overthinking. It is time to have some fun and at the same time, recollect those days of learning the Greek Mythology.

Release date: 7th August 2013 (United States); 30th August 2013 (India)
Running time: 107 minutes
Directed by: Thor Freudenthal
Starring: Logan Lerman, Alexandra Daddario, Leven Rambin, Brandon T. Jackson, Paloma Kwiatkowski, Jake Abel, Stanley Tucci, Nathan Fillion, Douglas Smith, Anthony Head, Robert Maillet, Derek Mears, Aleks Paunovic, Missi Pyle, Yvette Nicole Brown, Mary Birdsong