RCA
Home Video | Review by Dan Taylor
Released by Tri-Star on Good
Friday (nice move guys), the film stars
Demi Moore as a pregnant woman whose baby
is due on February 29. She's had a lil'
trouble delivering babies in the past, and
has razor marks on her wrist to show for
her frustration.
While she and husband Michael
Biehn (TERMINATOR, ALIENS) worry about the
upcoming birth, there seems to be a lot
of shit happening around the globe (hence
Lou's comment). A village in Israel is decimated
by freezing temperatures. An ocean boils
and kills all the fish. There are earthquakes
and other wrong things.
Is it the approach of Armageddon
as predicted in the Book of Revelations
in the Bible? Seems so, but is there any
way the process can be stopped? Sure is,
and everything depends on Demi. Oh great.
Don't be upset by the numerous
subplots that keep cropping up, such as
the identity of the mysterious boarder (the
flick was originally titled THE BOARDER),
the intentions of the priest, or the kid
on his way to the gas chamber (ridiculously
called The Word of God Killer played by
"Corky The Retarded Kid" from
'Life Goes On'). Instead, think about how
interesting and intelligent the flick is
compared to most genre releases. (Tri-Star
pushed the release as a horror film when
it's really a psychological drama/Biblical
tale, but who cares?)
Moore is good as the expectant
mother, and I give her credit for attempting
something other than another Brat Pack role,
but who knew she'd turn into a symbol of
Hollywood's gender power struggles? Jurgen
Prochnow is good as the mysterious stranger,
although he's saddled by some silly dialogue
– or is that just his ridiculous accent?
However, it's the job of director
Carl Schultz that's most impressive. At
several points in the film I was sure that
he was gonna botch it. Much to his credit
and my chagrin he came through, picked up
the slack and turned out a pretty impressive
effort. He even tried his best to stay away
from Wes Craven-esque dream sequences. (Applause
please)
Rather than rent SCREAM 2
or I KNOW WHAT YOU DID LAST SUMMER, give
this one a look some evening.
