This is madness. Four days in a row with a review? There has to be something wrong with me. This will actually tie the most post on the year so far for me in a month, and so far I've managed double digits each month, although not all have been reviews. If all goes well, I will get a review done each day this week, which will get me off to a good start for next month. At the end of next month, I will be heading to yet another horror convention, so I will hopefully have some film reviews from there. For today, however, I watched the next movie I have on DVD from Netflix, The Raven (2006). I haven't had it as long as the last film I watched, but I've still had it for a month.
Apparently the plot has to do with Lenore (Jillian Swanson) who was raped and then killed the guy, named Skinner (Jack Quinn), while he took a bath in her home. She plugged in her hair dryer and threw it in the water...if you are curious. Now his spirit has returned and he is killing off Lenore's friends. Meanwhile, while she dreams, Edgar Allan Poe's spirit watches and writes the poem "The Raven". Or something like that.
The plot for The Raven is so not there that IMDb offers up: "A classic horror from Edgar Allan Poe brought to life through the eyes of Horror Master Ulli Lommel!" That is very helpful, isn't it? At least Netflix tries to explain the plot with: "As a child, Lenore was tormented by nightmares and obsessed with the dark poems and stories of Edgar Allan Poe. As the lead singer in a Los Angeles band, the adult Lenore (Jillian Swanson) finds herself, friends and colleagues haunted by a murderer from beyond the grave. Only in her dreams -- in which she's visited by Poe's ghost -- will Lenore find the key to defeat her supernatural stalker and finally escape the spirits battling for her soul."
Perhaps the reason for all this is because The Raven was written and directed by Ulli Lommel. If you have never heard of the guy...consider yourself lucky. I don't know why I bother watching his movies, but every now and then I find myself doing so. I'm not sure if Lommel was trying to be creative and artistic with this movie or what, but it doesn't work at all. Scenes go on way to long. We get shots of Skinner driving, Lenore and friends doing whatever but not talking or talking very little, shots of Skinner watching them, shots of Lenore looking up at the sky...and so on. Maybe this is some kind of buildup, but after a few minutes of this, it just becomes boring as hell. One of the friends shows up at the dentist, and while the dentist is busy with another character, Skinner stands around watching this woman from outside while Lommel has the camera guy, if it isn't him doing it himself that is, shoot every possible angle around the woman. Even if the movie tried to explain the plot, I'm pretty sure no one would notice since they would be bored to tears long before that. When Skinner does kill someone, there is no trace left of the person. We see Skinner dragging the body away, but there is no blood to be found and no one seems to take notice of the missing person. If we are lucky we get a confused reaction out of someone, like the dentist returning to find the woman gone. As far as I could tell, no one ever mentions a character not being there anymore either. Then there are flashbacks to a much younger Lenore. These have a minor plot to themselves, with her dad who loves Poe. He eventually dies and leaves Lenore the house. I guess it adds a little background to Lenore, but to add to the confusion, we see the young Lenore talking to Skinner and telling him that he can't hurt her. Considering we see Lenore as an adult kill Skinner, I have no idea if the younger version is just a dream or what.
There are very little effects to be found here. The kills are just shown by a knife going up and down with some blood on it, and then we see the body with blood on it. No actual wounds are shown or anything like that. The acting also wasn't very good. The main problem may not have been the acting itself, but more to do with that the actors didn't have a lot to work with.Jillian Swanson seemed okay when she actually got to do something besides sit around doing nothing or laying in bed acting like she is dreaming.Michael Barbour plays the part of Poe's ghost.
Besides the boring stuff I already described, Lommel also throws in a lot of birds, which I'm pretty sure was the exact same shot every time but was changed for the time of day, and electric poles. I can't say that I have watched a lot of his movies, but this one has been the worst so far I believe. I could be wrong since his films are rather forgettable. From what I have read though, The Raven isn't his worst. Unless you are curious or looking for a bad film to make fun of, which I'm not even sure The Raven is good for that, this is a safe bet to skip out on.
1 out of 5 I wish someone famous would visit me in my dreams
Apparently the plot has to do with Lenore (Jillian Swanson) who was raped and then killed the guy, named Skinner (Jack Quinn), while he took a bath in her home. She plugged in her hair dryer and threw it in the water...if you are curious. Now his spirit has returned and he is killing off Lenore's friends. Meanwhile, while she dreams, Edgar Allan Poe's spirit watches and writes the poem "The Raven". Or something like that.
The plot for The Raven is so not there that IMDb offers up: "A classic horror from Edgar Allan Poe brought to life through the eyes of Horror Master Ulli Lommel!" That is very helpful, isn't it? At least Netflix tries to explain the plot with: "As a child, Lenore was tormented by nightmares and obsessed with the dark poems and stories of Edgar Allan Poe. As the lead singer in a Los Angeles band, the adult Lenore (Jillian Swanson) finds herself, friends and colleagues haunted by a murderer from beyond the grave. Only in her dreams -- in which she's visited by Poe's ghost -- will Lenore find the key to defeat her supernatural stalker and finally escape the spirits battling for her soul."
Perhaps the reason for all this is because The Raven was written and directed by Ulli Lommel. If you have never heard of the guy...consider yourself lucky. I don't know why I bother watching his movies, but every now and then I find myself doing so. I'm not sure if Lommel was trying to be creative and artistic with this movie or what, but it doesn't work at all. Scenes go on way to long. We get shots of Skinner driving, Lenore and friends doing whatever but not talking or talking very little, shots of Skinner watching them, shots of Lenore looking up at the sky...and so on. Maybe this is some kind of buildup, but after a few minutes of this, it just becomes boring as hell. One of the friends shows up at the dentist, and while the dentist is busy with another character, Skinner stands around watching this woman from outside while Lommel has the camera guy, if it isn't him doing it himself that is, shoot every possible angle around the woman. Even if the movie tried to explain the plot, I'm pretty sure no one would notice since they would be bored to tears long before that. When Skinner does kill someone, there is no trace left of the person. We see Skinner dragging the body away, but there is no blood to be found and no one seems to take notice of the missing person. If we are lucky we get a confused reaction out of someone, like the dentist returning to find the woman gone. As far as I could tell, no one ever mentions a character not being there anymore either. Then there are flashbacks to a much younger Lenore. These have a minor plot to themselves, with her dad who loves Poe. He eventually dies and leaves Lenore the house. I guess it adds a little background to Lenore, but to add to the confusion, we see the young Lenore talking to Skinner and telling him that he can't hurt her. Considering we see Lenore as an adult kill Skinner, I have no idea if the younger version is just a dream or what.
There are very little effects to be found here. The kills are just shown by a knife going up and down with some blood on it, and then we see the body with blood on it. No actual wounds are shown or anything like that. The acting also wasn't very good. The main problem may not have been the acting itself, but more to do with that the actors didn't have a lot to work with.Jillian Swanson seemed okay when she actually got to do something besides sit around doing nothing or laying in bed acting like she is dreaming.Michael Barbour plays the part of Poe's ghost.
Besides the boring stuff I already described, Lommel also throws in a lot of birds, which I'm pretty sure was the exact same shot every time but was changed for the time of day, and electric poles. I can't say that I have watched a lot of his movies, but this one has been the worst so far I believe. I could be wrong since his films are rather forgettable. From what I have read though, The Raven isn't his worst. Unless you are curious or looking for a bad film to make fun of, which I'm not even sure The Raven is good for that, this is a safe bet to skip out on.
1 out of 5 I wish someone famous would visit me in my dreams
