Time for some ghostbusting!

*repost from 10/08/2008 because 100 Feet is debuting on Sci Fi Channel on Sunday. Awesome movie and a chance for cable viewers to see it for free.

100 Feet, The Cycle and The Conjurer Movie Reviews

I saw three ghost related movie back to back to back. Ive mentioned several times Im not the biggest ghost/supernatural horror movie fan but Im starting to lean more that way. Im sure all 3 of these will be released on dvd before the end of the year but there are no official release dates as of yet. These are three different examples of the genre. In two of the movies the ghosts dont fuck around. They are here to kick some ass and worry about spooking later. Well I can say up front that one of the movies were really good, one was ok and was was fucking awful. Let's start with the good.

100 Feet

Directed by Eric Red

Starring: Famke Janssen

Availability: On Sci Fi channel 04/26/2009

Ive been waiting for this for awhile now. I was hoping to see if Eric Red still had it in him. I loved his screenplays for classic horror movies Near Dark and The Hitcher so my expectations were a little high. I think he pretty much succeeded.

The story is about this woman who is just released from prison for killing her cop husband. She claims it was self defense because he beat her all the time. His old partner is in charge of putting her under house arrest. He doesnt believe her story and wants to make sure that nothing else happens. The whole movie he sits outside her house trying to find out anything that could get her in trouble so she can go back to prison. The house arrest device allows her to roam 100 feet before the alarm goes off. Its a huge house so the basement and her front door areas are out of limits. Within a few days of living there the ghost of the dead cop husband appears to kick her ass. She is thrown across the room, beaten and kicked until he finally leaves. She cant leave her house and no one believes her so she is stuck at the house to endure the punishment. She befriends a local kid that brings groceries to house for her. And yes, at the end of the movie there is some cougar action that goes down between the two. Needless to say but the rest of the movie she's trying to figure a way to get rid of the ghost once and for all.

The story is pretty straight forward and not too overly complicated which is a refreshing change every once in awhile. The cgi effects were solid and the practical effects were awesome. The production and direction were also top notch. I think Famke is an underrated actress and she fit the role perfectly. The ending is wrapped up a little too neatly but still not enough to take that much away from it. Im not sure whats holding up the release of the movie but definitely check it out when its out on dvd hopefully in a few months. On a scale of 1-10 I give it a body contortion 7.6 out of 10.

The Cycle

Availabilty: Release date unknown.

After I saw a good ghost movie then I saw a shitty one. This movie is fucking horrible. I thought it would be decent since it stars Darryl Hannah but boy was I wrong. The acting sucks, the story is lame and the kills are nothing special.

The movie starts off with Daryl Hannah on a road trip for business i think? She narrowly misses a chick thats in the middle of the road. She offers her a ride and the mysterious girl starts to tell her the story of what happened. Its your basic story of her and friends are on a trip to excavate some bones on a dig out in the forest when suddenly they encounter a bunch of rednecks that want to kill them all. The movie flashes back and shows how they all die and how she was the only one that escaped. The last third of the movie reveals that the chick in Darryl Hannah's car is really a ghost that keeps on reliving the nightmare every year on the same day. Then there is a cheesy twist lame ending after that.

The movie was just horrible. The killings and edits were disjointed, the direction spastic and the movie was just plain boring. Not to mention the main baddie is a no acting WWE reject. Stay away at all cost. On a scale of 1-10 I give this a "take a good dump instead" 2.8 out of 10.

The Conjurer

Availability: unknown

This one wasnt anything extraordinary but I still enjoyed watching it. The movie starts with a pregnant couple that rushes to a hospital but the doctor verifies that she had a miscarriage. Then it flashes forward about a year with the couple purchasing a house and some land in upstate NY. On the land is a mysterious looking barn, on the spot where they plan to eventually build a new house. Strange things start to happen such as fires and light on in the barn at night and a crow that seems to follow them around. The husband runs into a neighbor that tells him a story about how a witch used to live in the barn until the towns people burned her. Every since then she has come back to live there and she curses anyone who wants to destroy the barn. He then starts to have nightmares about the witch and even sees her in the barn on one occasion. He tells his brother in law, wife and the guy who sold him the land but they all say its just a fairy tale and they dont believe him. He eventually sets a trap to catch the crow in hopes of stopping the witch. Finally there is a confrontation with the witch that breaks into his house. At this point there is a double twist ending thats fairly common but still kinda works.

The movie reminded me of something you would see on a Saturday afternoon on something like TNT or HBO. Nothing gory or crazy but still effective. It had a pretty cool atmosphere and the characters were very likable. I wouldnt say to go out and seek it but I wouldnt turn it off either. On a scale of 1-10 I give it a dog killing bird 6.0out of 10.

100 Feet Trailer (Light Spoilers)


The Conjurer Trailer (Light Spoilers)


The Cycle Trailer (Light Spoilers)