Jennifer's Shadow

Now, look not at the fact this film has not many ratings, look more towards the film in general. In my opinion, The Chronicle of The Raven is a Gothic masterpiece (as a goth I greatly appreciate this). The story, is indeed originally and quite Poe-esquire. For the plot revolves around a woman, in a grim and beautiful section of Argentina, just moved into her grandmother's mysterious old mansion. Facing surrealistic settings and dreams, each night she is tortured by a ravenous raven that devours parts of her body. Indeed a gruesome and unlikely tale for a film generation perhaps in the dusk. I strongly recommend it, also the originality of the filmmakers with such a plot. The acting is stubble yet in this case, like a play and performed melodramatically. The cinematography and use of lighting is low, a dark stark colour surrounds the film-this is one of the greatest things of the Chronicle of the Raven. Anyway, look for this film wherever you can find it, you'll indeed be impressed.

I fell asleep halfway through. Ditto on the second attempt, though I did manage to catch a few scenes and the TWO annoying endings.

Jennifer annoyed me. By the end of the film, I didn't care what became of her.

Ms. Dunaway was once a great actress, but her lifted/filled/injected face just can't communicate emotion anymore. Guess that's why she resorted to near-comical melodrama for this part.

The ending (the second one) just made me wonder why the heck I bothered staying awake through (most) of the film.

If someone made it through the entire film and wants to explain just what the heck I missed, I'd appreciate it, since I'm not up to giving this bore-fest another run.

First, let me say that this movie is not a total waste of time. It has good visuals, strong atmosphere, and an effective musical score.

That said, it pains me to report that it falls apart because of really bad performances by the two leads. Faye Dunaway's bad performance was expected. When I saw MOMMIE DEAREST I knew she was sacrificing her career, and here she strictly shows up for the paycheck. But what happened to Gina Phillips? Her performance as Trish in JEEPERS CREEPERS was so strong, especially the reversal in her character as she boldly stood up to the Creeper in an attempt to protect her brother.

Here she seems even less interested in what's going on than Ms. Dunaway. Seeing that she's playing the title role, it would have been nice if she had tried to do something- anything- to develop a character we cared about. But she just sleepwalks through this.

My take on it is that acting is a job. If you're being directed by Sidney Lumet in an award winning screenplay or if you're being someone obscure in a script that seems more a series of scribbled notes isn't relevant.

What both Ms. Dunaway and Ms. Phillips need to remember is that Martin Scorsese might be channel surfing at two in the morning and watch JENNIFER'S SHADOW. Nothing either one of these usually dependable actresses does here is anything that would make any director want to cast them.

If you're cast in it and they're paying you, give it your best. If you feel that the project is beneath you, let someone who wants to play the part have a shot at it.

The only reason I rented this was because of the article in Fangoria Magazine. The article made this film look interesting. Well, it isn't. This was a very boring, amateurishly written and directed movie. All the actors in this movie are awful, except Faye Dunaway, who is always a joy to watch. But too much time was focused on Gina Phillips and her ridiculous encounters with ravens and Duilio Marzio. Marzio has such a thick Argentinean accent, you can only understand every couple of words he says. Also on hand is Nicholas Pauls, who plays the ultra-bland love interest to Gina Phillips. The bottom line: this movie is not scary. There is only one good scene and that is the last five to ten minutes of the movie. I would have given this one star, but I gave it three just because I like Faye Dunaway so much. But even she wasn't that great in this.

What few actors that were in the movie all had a good feel for this deep, psychological horror story. It involves a family curse, that takes members of a wealthy family to a place worse than death. Faye Dunaway sells this perverted material but is at times hilarious, with flashes of campy brilliance, (especially near the end). If you like simple, inspired horror stories, a la Rod Serling, then this is for you. Its too bad our American audiences don't care enough about intelligent, disturbing stories like this one. The bitchiness between sexy Gina Philips and hot older mama Faye Dunaway is wicked and classic.