Prime Video: The Haunting Of Goodnight Lane (2014)

AKA Ghost Of Goodnight Lane.

It is always odd to write a review for a film that doesn’t have much you were fully receptive to. That doesn’t mean the film is terrible. It just may not have enough decent plot to discuss, or any cast or crew members who really stand out. But a film not having enough in it to discuss hasn’t ever stopped me from writing a review before, and it isn’t going to stop me now.

Beginning with a death caused by what we can only assume is a vengeful/evil spirit, The Haunting Of Goodnight Lane is a very straightforward bit of horror entertainment. There is a group of people trying to complete a project in a film studio area (well, it is a building that is currently being used as a small film studio), and weird things start to happen. Then more people start to die, by which time it may be too late for anyone to actually escape.

Despite some key people hired to show their faces onscreen, this is a film that feels cheap. But, importantly, it doesn’t feel lazy and careless. There is nothing here that is original, the script by Amy Acosta and director Alin Bijan places chills and fun ahead of plausibility and any sense of realism, but there is also no pretension or delusions of grandeur. That’s surprisingly refreshing, especially when everything is delivered in a way that is at least technically competent. The visuals aren’t all hidden away behind a load of jittery editing and filters (although some scenes get a bit busy), and one key performance helps to underline the self-aware humour of the whole thing.

That performance comes from the one and only Billy Zane, playing the typical man in charge who wants everyone to forget the potential danger around them until he finishes his latest job. Zane is a lot of fun, whether he is pulling tank to get everyone working again or being a bit sleazy with the main actress (played by Christine Quinn) due to revisit the studio. I am not going to pretend that every character registered with me, because this is a film in which you just expect everyone to die at some point, but having Lacey Chabert in a main role was a plus, and then bringing Danielle Harris in just before the halfway point also helped. I like both, and they did perfectly okay here (although it was far from their best work). Another good addition was Brina Palencia as Micah, the “misbehaving” woman who could easily have her absence excused by the others if she happened to disappear at some point.

Look at that. We made it. This is the end of a review I started with a warning about not having much to say. The Haunting Of Goodnight Lane is similar to 101 other cheap horror movies you could choose to watch, many of them using one or two bigger names to draw you in, but it’s also better than a lot of them. It actually makes decent use of the likes of Zane, Chabert, and Harris (instead of relegating them to a cameo filmed during a spare 5 minutes). Richard Tyson is another bonus, but used just for the opening sequence. And the storyline that unfolds is far from the worst I have seen in the horror genre. 

Does it all make sense? Of course not. Do characters act in a way that normal people would act? Nope. Got to hand it to director Bijan though, he paces it perfectly, ensures that most shots look well enough, and simply feels like he has treated the supernatural silliness with a bit of professionalism and care. That is something you can feel throughout the film, and it makes a hell of a difference. Despite enough negatives bringing this down slightly, in terms of choices made with the tone and performances, I would happily rewatch this. And I would even watch a sequel.

5/10

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Critters (1986)

Although I have no idea how well Critters did at the box office when it was released, I suspect it was a film that truly found a fanbase in the home video market. I know that is where I found it. And so did many other kids I knew. 

It’s quite a simple story, really, but has plenty of unique little touches to fill the runtime to feature-length without ever seeming to sag. A few aliens, known as Krites (aka the critters), escape from a prison and steal a spaceship, eventually crashing down in a small town here on Earth. This causes a lot of trouble for the Brown family, and things get more chaotic when two shape-shifting bounty hunters arrive in pursuit of the hungry wee alien beasties. 

Dee Wallace is Helen Brown, Billy Green Bush is her husband, Jay, Nadine Van der Velde is older teen daughter, Nadine, and Scott Grimes is young Brad. They are the main cast members. Billy Zane is also here, playing Steve, the boyfriend of Nadine, and Don Opper is Charlie, a child-like adult who is friends with Brad. The other person of note is Terrence Mann, who plays one of the bounty hunters, having taken on the appearance of a rock star named Johnny Steele. 

Directed by first-timer Stephen Herek, who also co-wrote the screenplay with Domonic Muir, Critters is the kind of fun creature feature that serves as a great gateway film for younger viewers, and proves equally entertaining to those who know the tone it is aiming for (a tone it nails consistently throughout). The titular creatures, designed by the talented Chiodo brothers, are deadly, but also portrayed as often being mischievous and unfocused, crazy animals that turn dangerous when they are threatened by others.

The cast all do a good job of reacting quite realistically to the madness around them. Although Grimes is the plucky kid at the heart of the film, Wallace and Bush are a good pair of cinematic parents, and Mann has fun keeping his demeanour calm throughout. Opper is okay, and gets to play two versions of his character, but he also feels undeserving of the importance he ends up having. There are also small roles for the wonderful M. Emmet Walsh and Lin Shaye. 

One of the better little creature features that came along in the mid-1980s, Critters not only holds up well today, it is also the first of a quartet of movies (in the original series) without any massive downturn in quality. And I am already looking forward to revisiting them all. And reviewing them here.

8/10

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Mubi Monday: Orlando (1992)

Written and directed by Sally Potter, adapting the book by Virginia Woolf, Orlando makes use of the androgynous form of Tilda Swinton in a lead role that allows her to command the screen for the majority of the runtime.

Swinton is the titular character, commanded by Queen Elizabeth I (Quentin Crisp) to always stay as he is. "Do not fade. Do not wither. Do not grow old." Remarkably, he manages to obey this command, with one major change happening many years later. On a journey that takes in love, art, politics, and more, Orlando wakes up one morning as a woman, which brings another viewpoint and some extra problems.

Difficult to review, Orlando is a well-made, intelligent, and interesting film. But it's also one that, much like the main character, just seems a bit too aloof, slightly disconnected from anything else (it certainly didn't connect with me, I'm afraid).

The script is full of enjoyable lines, as fans of Woolf would expect, and Potter does a great job of wrestling what could have been a troublesome sprawling narrative into something surprisingly straightforward, despite the gender change that occurs about halfway through. Although I am unfamiliar with the source material, a phrase I am aware that I use all too often nowadays, but the episodic structure, whether from the book or decided upon by Potter, feels like the best way it could have been done.

Swinton is as good as ever in the main role, although it's still harder to find her convincing in the male role than it is in the female role, something that could have been improved by some more work on the hair and make-up. Not to insult fans of her performances, but she plays up the androgyny better than she plays up any perceived male traits, as silly as that may sound. Crisp is wonderful in his royal role, a fitting one for someone of his stature in the LGBTQ+ community, and singer Jimmy Somerville (arguably best known for the hit song "Don't Leave Me This Way" when he was the front man in The Communards) pops up to impress with his vocal range. Charlotte Valandrey is a potential love interest for male Orlando, Billy Zane is a potential love interest for the female incarnation, John Wood is good value in the role of an Archduke who thinks very highly of Orlando, and there are small roles for Heathcote Williams, Toby Stephens, and more (including Toby Jones, although his appearance is fleeting).

This is a good film, in many ways, and there are people who will find more of value in it than I did. It just didn't ever fully click into place for me, despite the sure hand of Potter and the many solid performances from her assembled cast.

6/10

Buy the movie here.
Americans can get it here.

Leprechaun's Revenge (2012)

If you haven't seen any of Drew Daywalt's short horror movies, under the FEWDIO banner, then head to YouTube now and check them out. Bedfellows remains my favourite (Creep and Mockingbird are also brilliant), but so many of them are perfect little gems that you really can just go through them all. Drew is clearly a very talented man. And when he's not making horror movies he's creating astoundingly successful children's books. Well, one so far. The Day The Crayons Quit. Which makes viewing Leprechaun's Revenge a frustrating experience. It's not all that bad for a TV movie, but fans of Mr. Daywalt know that he's capable of something much better.

The story is quite simple, and gets moving quite quickly. Karen (Courtney Halverson) is out hunting with her grandfather (William Devane) when she spies something in the woods and also gets her hand marked with a red clover. It turns out that a vicious leprechaun has sprung to life, and Karen has a limited window of time to destroy it before she is doomed. Convincing her father, the local Sheriff (Billy Zane), isn't going to be easy, but she won't be able to do it alone.

There's a bit more to it than that, with a backstory about how the main family involved are descended from people who made their fortune by, well, not being nice to a leprechaun, but that just about sums it up. It's a creature feature, with a leprechaun that's far removed from the other main leprechaun known to cinema fans, but it also has some good jump scares interspersed randomly throughout as the main character succumbs to visions of what she knows is coming after her.

The direction is solid, and the script by Anthony C. Ferrante tries to do a decent job (especially when poking fun at itself), but it's not long until cracks start to appear and the movie crumbles to a state that it can't recover from. The potential for genuine scares soon dissipates, to be replaced by more standard jumps and moments of ridiculousness. Worst of all, the last few minutes feel really rushed and anti-climactic.

Halverson is fine in the main role, and Devane and Zane are both people I always enjoy watching onscreen. Zane deserves bonus points for his straight delivery during the moment in which he relates a personal tragedy that's one of the funniest I have heard in a movie of this kind. Thankfully, the comedic aspect of the material is always intentional, I think. Dave Davis is the young man who wants to help Halverson stay safe, understandably, and Azure Parsons makes a great impression with her few scenes, playing another officer of the law caught up in the madness.

It's a bit of fun, no more and no less. Worth watching if it comes on the TV and you can't be bothered to reach for the remote control, but I hope to see something much better whenever Daywalt is allowed to make a feature film completely on his own terms.

5/10

You can buy it here, under the title "Red Clover" - http://www.amazon.com/Red-Clover/dp/B00E99FYD6/ref=sr_1_1?s=movies-tv&ie=UTF8&qid=1402686976&sr=1-1&keywords=leprechaun%27s+revenge