Prime Time: Initiation (2020)

There’s an idea here that could have been developed into a good movie, but let me quickly state that this is not a good movie. Social commentary that falls flat, slasher movie moments that fall equally flat, Initiation is just a huge missed opportunity that seems too focused on depicting social media and shared text messages onscreen.

The ball really starts rolling when a young woman, Kylie (Isabella Gomez), ends up in a room full of young men, including Wes Scott (Froy Gutierrez). Taken home by a friend, Ellery (Lindsay LaVanchy), who also happens to be the sister of Wes, Kylie starts to worry the next day about just what may have happened.  It may be tied to a horrific “game” that the males play once a year, marking their victims out online with an exclamation mark, and Ellery has to accept the fact that her brother is complicit in a sexual assault, unsurprising as he was accused of the same thing just one year before. Then the killing begins.

Directed by John Berardo , who co-wrote the screenplay with Brian Frager and LaVanchy, Initation seems so focused on getting exploring the damage that can be done through social media that it forgets to deliver anything worthwhile, including a proper look at the damage that can be done through social media. It’s as if everyone was so happy to fill the screen with photos and messages characters send/receive on their phones and computers that they forgot all about what they were actually targeting with their material.

Aside from the character played by Gomez, nobody makes a strong impression. Nobody, whether they are supposed to be good or bad. I liked seeing Yancy Butler and Lochlyn Munro, but just because of the recognition factor, nothing to do with the characters they play. One of the other main actors shared a surname with the director, which I suspect explains his inclusion, and I think that sums up the approach to making this. It feels like a group of people who were lucky enough to get a budget allowing them to turn their pet project into a feature.

It may not be entirely bloodless, but Initiation will certainly disappoint anyone seeking it out as a standard slasher. The runtime clocks in at just under 100 minutes, and the first half really drags. Absolutely nothing stands out, except the staggering ability the film has to have nothing standing out.

Lacking any courage, in terms of both the commentary on culture and the “boys will be boys” mantra that has people overlooking so many serious assaults and in terms of standard slasher movie fare, Initiation is so weak that it has me hoping those involved work with much stronger individuals, or people with much clearer vision, on any future projects. This is an initiation to avoid.

3/10

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The New Daughter (2009)

I'm in a very good mood. I must be, otherwise I'd simply spend this review ripping this movie apart, detailing how safe and predictable it is, and how disappointed I was by the whole thing. But I'm not going to do that. Despite its flaws, of which it has MANY, I found The New Daughter to be relatively enjoyable while it was on. It tried to do something a bit different. It just tried to do it, sadly, while reusing moments and tricks that we've all seen countless times before.

Kevin Costner stars as a single father who moves into a new home with his young daughter (Ivana Baquero) and younger son (Gattlin Griffith). He's single because his wife ran off with another man, which causes quite a bit of frustration and resentment among the kids, especially the daughter. While adjusting to their new life, Costner starts to notice that his daughter is starting to act strange. She's changing, but he's not sure if it's the stress of their situation or something else altogether. Maybe something to do with the mysterious mound of earth located on their property.

Based on a short story by John Connolly, the script by John Travis suffers from having too many scenes that feel like flab. Watching a loved one turn into someone very different from who they used to be is not a new idea in the horror genre, and it's hard to stretch this material out when the transformation seems to occur so quickly, and so obviously connected to the newest oddity in the lives of everyone involved.

Director Luiso Berdejo treats the whole thing with more care than it deserves, arguably, which makes up for the intermittent weakness of the material. There are fake scares, of course, and one or two jumps, but a lot of the thrills are well-handled, with even the few "twists" still managing to provide enjoyable closure to certain scenes/sequences, despite their predictability.

Costner is someone I will watch in anything, and he's fine here. It's not his finest hour, and the role could have been filled by almost any actor in his age range, but he does well enough. Baquero is okay, but okay isn't quite good enough for her part in the proceedings. While she doesn't ever become bad enough to unbalance the whole thing, she's the weakest of the three leads. Griffith, on the other hand, does very well with the lesser role. Samantha Mathis isn't bad either, as a teacher looking to help the family adjust to their new situation, and Noah Taylor is horribly underused, playing an expert in the sort of earth mound that sits on Costner's property.

I wouldn't recommend this to anyone as a first choice. It's not scary or gory or decent enough for horror fans, and it's a bit too sedate for non-horror fans who fancy watching a horror movie. But I still think it's worth a watch, if you have nothing else available. But I do mean NOTHING else.

5/10

http://www.amazon.com/The-New-Daughter-Kevin-Costner/dp/B0038RSJB4/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1413047447&sr=8-2&keywords=the+new+daughter