Last Kind Words

A glance at the DVD cover and blurb of "Last Kind Words" would have anyone believing they were about to watch a sort of generic teen horror movie full of gore and jump scares but that's a long way from the truth. This is a slow-burn coming of age drama and a supernatural love story. It has a haunting, almost hypnotizing southern-Gothic sensibility that's really quite beautiful.

Eli, a 17 year old boy, finds himself moving with his abusive father and meek mother to the remote farmstead of family friend Waylon - played by the ever entertaining Brad Dourif - when the father loses his job. Eli ventures into the woods that surround the farm and meets a strange, alluring young girl called Amanda. As he begins to fall for Amanda he gradually uncovers a story of past tragic events on the farmstead and a rather sad haunting in the woods that goes all the way back to the days of the Underground Railroad.

The only real downfall of this otherwise beautiful movie is a script that's a little unsure of itself and ends up feeling a tad messy and confusing in parts. The pace might bore some - it really is a slow one - but personally I think it just added to the feels. I enjoyed it a lot and for an indie, it's a very strong piece of work.

This film deserves a much higher score than it has. It a well acted, beautifully shot film with great atmosphere and a slightly different storyline. It is not a run of the mill gorefest and if you like severed limbs with buckets of blood and a boringly predictable soundtrack then look elsewhere. The publicity picture that goes with this film is totally misleading but I can understand that as this film is quite hard to categorise, watch this film and see what you think. OK, from here onwards is just padding as it seems one needs ten lines of text to get a review published. Why is this I wonder? There is only a small cast but each actor performs flawlessly ( is that how flawlessly is spelt? ) and the location and sets are wonderful shot in the early fall I suspect as the foliage is taking on lovely autumnal hues. Jeez I am really beginning to struggle for words now, all I wanted to do was write a couple of lines in praise of this underrated film and I end up having to wear my fingers to stumps trying to get to the magical ten lines, ahh it seems we are have achieved the rquired number of words so goodbye and happy viewing.

Eli (Spencer Daniels) and his father move to the farm of childhood friend Waylon (Brad Dourif). Eli is seemingly all alone, at least until he meets Amanda -- who is not all that she appears to be.

The biggest complaint I have on this title is the cover art on the DVD. While the poster is beautiful, for whatever reason the cover is instead a cheap image of a woman who looks like she is being kidnapped and tortured. Yet, despite the cover, this is not a horror film or anything involving torture. It is a sort of love story.

Not that horror fans will not enjoy it -- cult favorite Brad Dourif has a sizable role, and there are a few skeletons and some blood, so they might get that sinister grin at the corners of their lips. I entered into it expecting a horror film -- and while that was not what I saw, it is still a solid film.

The photography is excellent, and the story is for the most part your standard boy meets girl tale. There are some twists, and some interesting family tension. There is drama, there is mystery... I did not care for the actress playing Amanda (her voice seemed too childish), but overall everyone had that "everyman" quality that I feel is important in crafting an empathetic story.

I cannot get into it much more without spoilers, and I refuse to spoiler this film. Despite my rather low rating, it is not a bad film and worth checking out. I just wish they had used a different cover.

Okay this has to be the most depressing film I've ever seen. The story itself is tragic, but filled with annoying and grim music scores. The scenery is nice, and the film was trying to be scary but didn't work. It was a ghost love story but it took extremely ages to explain the background. The characters were unlikable, especially "pa" who is abusive to his son. The mother is a wet blanket.The only nice character was the dog! At least nothing bad happened to him.

I do not understand the low rating. The film is enjoyable and valuable in several respects. The photo is very beautiful and the actors recite their part in proper way, through a history that goes smoothly until the end. Perhaps it is not a masterpiece of cinema, but it deserves more than 4 stars. It 'a nice love story, with a good pinch of mystery with a remarkable soundtrack. Come on! There are many other films out there that deserve 4 stars or less, yet exceeding the sufficiency according to the reviews here. Maybe nothing new or surprising, but certainly a nice movie, worth to be enjoyed. Just do not expect a horror movie that makes you scream and squirm, or a breathtaking thriller, although it has some interesting moments for those who does not disdain a chill: relax, put on the DVD, enjoy the tale and judge for yourself.