Rating: Summary: SAW IT A LONG TIME AGO... Review: I SAW THIS MOVIE A LONG TIME AGO AND IT STILLS SENDS CHILLS DOWN MY SPINE WHEN I THINK OF IT. I READ THE BOOK FIRST AND THEN SAW THE MOVIE. IT IS ABOUT A GIRL NAMED IVY WHO IS POSSESSED BY A LITTLE GIRL WHO WAS KILLED IN A CAR ACCIDENT. THE LITTLE GIRL WAS TRAPPED IN THE BACKSEAT WHEN IT HAPPENED, AND SHE TRIED TO GET OUT BUT COULDN'T. THIS IS ONE OF THE BEST MOVIES MADE. NO GORE, SEX OR SLASHING, JUST A WELL-TOLD STORY. NO GREAT SPECIAL EFFECTS. I WILL ADD THIS TO MY COLLECTION.
Rating: Summary: Haunting me for 20 years Review: I saw this movie when I was 12 years old courtesy of late night TV. I watched it with my younger brother and we were both terrified. My brother and I saw it only once, but that single viewing was enough to provide us with a creepy story to share around the campfire for years - well, decades. I recently related the story to my nieces and nephews. Now they understand why Uncle Charles reacts so strongly when I casually mention "Audrey Rose" during "scary story time" at family get-togethers. This movie will haunt you (and me, and Uncle Charles) for years to come.
Rating: Summary: Not that bad, not that great. Okay. Review: Marsha Mason was great; Anthony Hopkins was great; Ivy was... a kid that was, I think, directed inappropriately. She wasn't THAT bad, but she was annoying. The big problem was lack of development between almost all characters. The editing is great, cinematography also. Music good. Check it out, but don't expect to be floored. When I was kid I loved this flick, as an adult, I just think it's okay. I'm still a sucker for older movies: not all flash, not overly glossed, not a buttload of pointless camera moves and actors that can ACT! The girl that plays Ivy then is primo compared to much of the acting these days.
Rating: Summary: Marsha, Marsha, Marsha! Review: Okay now that my Brady colors have been revealed let me say Marsha Mason is the best part of this. I bought this b/c of the great Anthony Hopkins but honestly, in this picture he is upstaged. Marsha Masons performance even rivals the great performance of Ellen Burstyn in the Exorsist. Still, the movie has a few too many weak points to be great. Most notably, the courtroom scenes. This case would be thrown out, no doubt about it. The jury would have no evidence they could examine out in the open and even having the scenes in the movie sorely undermines the credibility of the story. The husband is decent, a bit overbearing, now lets discuss Ivy. She has the serious look of someone who should star in this type of movie. A real odd look that is beautiful and yet ... well, odd. But the sound direction is totally off. The dubbing used here for her "drop-outs" is so noticable. Just about every line she has has been obviously overdubbed, and poorly, it comes off as a strange "whine". Still, even with this Ivy/Audry has a sort of timeless quality about it. Everything about the movie technically is good. The soundtrack has some spooky elements in it but never really approaches greatness. The dvd has a trailer (whoopie!) but nothing else which is a downer for anyone who owns Carrie. Still, it's the story I've always been drawn too when I think of Audrey Rose and the sort of ambiguous ending which I personally like, I think it's held up pretty well. If we could give 1/2 stars bump this to 3.5. Give me some interviews and a remastered soundtrack and this could be a 4 easily.
Rating: Summary: Hot Hot Hot Young Anthony Hopkins! Review: Okay, that was a joke, 'Hot, hot..." is a line from the movie...But he was quite dashing. C'mon! That's why I bought it! Otherwise, this super-creepy film doesn't really merit a second glance. Once is enough. Marsha Mason plays frazzled again- and she is good at it. Tony Hopkins makes a nice father figure. (But then you see glimpses of Hannibal coming through). This is a film best given to the local psychic for seance material, or as a Halloween Party Door Prize. Or just watch it for fun. I did say it was Creepy...
Rating: Summary: Quite a good little horror film Review: One of Anthony Hopkins first major films where he plays the grief stricken father of a child who was tragically killed in a car accident, burnt to death before she could be rescued. This is a slow moving film that follows Hopkins as he tries to convince Marsha Mason that her daughter Ivy is in fact the reincarnation of his child Audrey Rose. Despite some terrible reviews from critics, this is a chilling little film that tries to look at the concept of reincarnation intelligently whilst at same time maintaining its momentum as a horror story. There are some great moments such as the window episode when Ivy/Audrey Rose relives her attempt to get out of the burning car. I kept hearing "HOT HOT HOT" for days after watching the film, so all credit to then newcomer Susan Swift who played the reincarnated child Audrey Rose/Ivy. Hopkins and Mason are convincing as the respective parents of Audrey Rose/Ivy and though the film isn't a masterpiece of direction and cinematography it is still is a very good film. The final scene where Ivy/Audrey Rose is regressed back to her "first" death is both poignant and heart wrenching. Not bad for a film made in 1977 and certainly better than many of its critics have made out.
Rating: Summary: Might make a believer out of one yet ! Review: One of the best films of the late 1970's. A spine-tingling tale about an eleven-year-old girl who has nightmares about a former existence when she died in a car fire .Susan Swift gives a touching performance as Ivy Templeton. Sir Anthony Hopkins , Marsha Mason and John Beck also star in this bittersweet and horrifying film based on Frank De Felita's best-selling novel.Watch this one with the lights out.If you're skeptical about reincarnation it might just make a believer out of you yet. If you like this one I also recommend "The Changeling" (1979) staring George C. Scott and Trish Van Deer .
Rating: Summary: If you want to watch it don't!! Review: One star is too much for this movie. The plot was too confusing. The acting was horrible. Ivy whined thoroughout the whole movie. Hopkins' role was too confusing. The whole movie dragged.
Rating: Summary: Chilling reincarnation flick guaranteed to give goosebumps! Review: Picture this: A 5 year old girl trapped, helpless, in an overturned and burning automobile. Therein lies the true horror of this film. This movie is positively chilling! A reincarnation storyline that doesn't need elaborate special effects or excessive blood and gore to keep the hairs on the back of your neck tingling. The plot doesn't suffer in the transition from book to big screen, even though it does lose some detail. If you like 70's era occult flicks (like The Reincarnation Of Peter Proud, Magic or The Amityville Horror), then you should like this.
Rating: Summary: Like a Disney version of the Exorcist Review: The great director Robert Wise who brought us "The Haunting" produces an original but muddled film about the theory of reincarnation.A stranger starts to follow a schoolgirl around the place much to her parent's distress. During a confrontation with the stalker he explains that he believes that their daughter is in fact the reincarnation of his dead daughter who died in an automobile accident and asks them if he can spend a little time with the girl so that he can get to know her. The girl's farther dismisses the man as a lunatic but the mother is not so skeptical and after her daughter starts to experience nightmares and hysteria she begins to believe that the stranger is telling the truth. Cue lots of set pieces involving domestic problems, kidnapping, custody battles and a little girl who is plagued by unknown forces. All in all this is more family viewing than a horror film and certainly not in least bit terrifying as it would have you think. The story also borders on the ridiculous at times, even though it is supposed to be a film about the supernatural. This is also one of the early works of Anthony Hopkins and you get to see him here as an actor on the up-and-coming. Overall, worthy of Sunday afternoon entertainment, but little more.
|