Landfill

The preponderance of the length is an interesting drama induced thriller about an innocent little girl getting drawn into a quagmire of murder and what abyss of darkness that would bring shortly after finding a necklace at the dump. I think most would agree it's a cool idea.

The story has a promising plot, with characters that actually make sense (although some were only half baked), great cinematic look and locations, with smart casting choices too. David Lee Smith (CSI Miami guy) does a vey beautiful job portraying the father. And seeing Linda Blair in a cameo scene was like a breath of fresh air.

The girl playing the lead does a pretty decent job too. She's just easy on the eyes and very likable. Did anyone else think she looked a little like a mini version of ex-Sunset Beach babe Susan Ward with longer hair? The plot was easy enough to follow but held my attention and climaxed in an interesting finale with the two mothers mirroring one another in an attempt to save their daughters.

The performances were like a mixed bag of Jelly beans. While most of it was decent, some lines seemed recited and less felt by most of the kid actors in some of the longer scenes.

One of my problems with this was dragging a few scenes a bit too long after the point has already been made. Should've kept the tension going. This happens in like 2 or 3 scenes (one being the classroom scene- like we get it, you see the word garbage in your book while everyone else sees it garage; cool idea, but then it goes on for too long. It kind of takes you out of that tension a little. And this evil Eva girl needs to be expelled, not sent to the principal's office. I was rooting for the ghost to kill her already. Not sure what her problem was? But she was pushing it and the teacher kept hushing her instead of kicking her out right from the start. Public school much?

The movie has its faults and I admit I found aspects of the climax to be a bit unsatisfying, but over all this was a good film with so much promise and talent. There's a scene where the lead actress rides her bicycle to the murdered girl's deserted house, and the style and tone of that whole sequence reminded me of the scene from Mulholland Drive where Naomi Watts ventures out with Rita and go to Diane's apartment, and break in through an unlocked window. I found it unsettling and nostalgic. Also her breaking into the garage reminded me a bit of a scene from The Ring. Those scenes were much better than the longer sit and talk scenes. Those had a lot of funny moments too and smart lines, but were just a tad long.

The dreamy abstract scenes were really cool and fun to watch, and the music that accompanied was chilling, and soft where it needed to be. So it felt like it was another character on its own. The last 10 minutes of the movie felt like it was trying to rush its end, unfortunately.

Overall, I did enjoy watching it and I would say I have a strong urge to see more of what director Yesser Laham has to offer in the future, especially knowing that this is his first directorial debut. So for those people who bash this one but give other up and coming indie films with hardly anyone recognizable a pass, you're being unjust. Good movie, yes. Scary? Not really. Worth seeing? Yes, definitely. We've seen better, but we've certainly seen way worse from first time directors. A solid 7/10 from me.

This movie had the right pieces including a likeable protagonist (yes, you actually care about your lead), cool plot with a degree of originality, decent practical effects, and a brisk pace- for the most part (it does slow down a bit in the middle). The script seems to be based on a pretty good idea, I would venture to say that the writer started with a concept that was unique, then there were too many ideas and subplots to maneuver. But too many ideas is better than no ideas. I'll take creativity any day over the lack of it.

I liked the metaphors and mirroring images and how a lot of the things and little signs tied back to the plot and foreshadowed, when paying a closer attention.

The acting was a mixed bag , some scenes felt good and above average, and others felt kind of forced. Main kid's acting ranges, she's pretty good at times, but when it's just fine she does enough to avoid you disbelieving the character. Which is a lot better than what I see in recent indie movies. The rough around the edges, tomboy friend was pretty decent, though it was overplayed and kind of much at times. Maybe she was having too much fun playing the character? Dad's the most solid actor in the movie. He's pretty believable and likable. Mom, again average to not so much. But that maybe made her more likable when she became more motherly as the story progressed?

The music was really good and unsetting when it needed to be, and in the right places; giving the overall atmosphere a creepy, ominous vibe. Which worked perfectly, since it lacked actual effective scares, but it was effectively unsettling and unnerving in some areas.

Great production values. The trash heap and garbage cave looks really cool, and for that I wish they utilized them even more and shot more scenes in said environments. And while it was great to see Linda Blair in something recent again (for all the Exorcist fans and fanatics out there and if you're a Blair fan like I am- first the Exorcist Believer and now this! Woot whoot!!) I just wish she had more screen time and her character added more to the story. But then again, it was still one of the bigger cameos she's done in recent movies so there's that.

It was beautifully shot. The cinematography and lighting were really good, and I can say that because I've seen a ton of indie films and there's nothing worse than bad cinematography and badly lit scenes. It just cheapens the whole thing and hurts your eye. So budget well spent and they hired the right people.

With that said, sound was rough in some scenes however, and you could almost tell they tried to cover it with some background noise and foley and what not. I enjoyed the dialog between the characters and I thought some of the stuff was funny, I actually laughed out loud at some of the lines.

Some scenes may be a littler longer than they should've been, but overall I think it's a decent indie film with a unique premise. Sure, it could've been executed better, that's not to say there isn't potential though. I give it a 7/10.

A young curious girl, Melissa (Victoria Clare), finds a necklace at a landfill where her Dad (David Lee Smith) is designing a housing development. Afterwards she starts seeing the ghost of a young girl, Dorsan (Savannah Liles/Halliday), leading her on a search for answers for Dorsan's untimely demise.

Victoria Clare delivers a strong performance as the lead Character of Melissa. Actor Morgan Bertsch, who plays Erma, delivered her lines in a way that reminded me of how a neighborhood kid, I knew growing up, actually spoke on a regular basis. Sophie Guest plays the part of Nora, the bratty character, that I actually ended up liking in the end. It was nice to see the cameo's of Linda Blair and Christine Elise in this film as well. I think the entire cast did a great job with their characters.

We are shown some of the pain that the characters are going through and how they are fighting their way through that pain, and readjusting to their lives in a new location. The Dad was my favorite of the two parents, because you can see that he truly loves his little girl just as she is. He supports her and her fascination with things that her Mother doesn't approve of. He is also very empathetic to his wifes feelings and insists on her putting away things, like an art piece, that her Mother might fight upsetting. Her Mother is more the, "Why can't you be normal" type, but that could also be because of her recent loss, and she's inadvertently expressing that without thinking.

The first half of the film we get character development, but the story didn't really seem to take off until the last half of the film. I really wish there had been more adventure shown, from the kids point of view, with them trying to figure out what happened to Dorsan.

Even though the film has an overall melancholy tone, The ending leaves us with closure, and seemed to bring Melissa and her Mother closer.

Overall, I enjoyed this film. I felt like it was shot well and the story had a nice flow to it. The films runtime is just under two hours and, while I am glad it wasn't another one of those films that felt rushed, I feel like it could've been cut down to a shorter runtime and the film would've still been just as enjoyable.

Psychological thrills abound in this intriguing first feature film by this director-writer who has taken the genre and incorporated elements of horror. If you're a fan of both of those, check this movie out! Rocking a landfill is not the usual fare for films, but this thriller with emotional undertones and deep interpersonal storylines weaves a tale that explored the landfills of the mind... Starring a cast of characters that bring a realistic tone to the proceedings, this picture might get overlooked by fans of the gorier genres, but don't miss it! It stars The Exorcist's own Linda Blair in a role the will surprise you!

This wasn't bad honestly. I didn't have much expectations when I decided to play it, and I mostly wanted to see it because of the cast involved and the fact that it's a ghost story involving kids too. Some of the visuals were intriguing and interesting to look at. Some scenes fell flat though but then again that's expected. Some of the acting was mediocre (the main pulled it off though, it was mainly the side characters and the heavy set friend was glasses) some scenes were too long and could have been cut in half, like the other scenes that were shorter and there was action so that's what it needed because it worked. Overall an enjoyable experience.