The moth diaries

I only watched this movie because I noticed the director had worked on something I really enjoyed before. But this film was pretty much a disappointment. Everything in the movie seems to just be "said", not actually acted. You feel no depth in the characters, their relationships just have to be "accepted" by the viewer. It all seemed very mechanized but I was at least hoping for some sort of greater point to it all (which of course never came) There's no explanation whatsoever as to why the characters behave the way they do, no motivation for their actions. It seems more like they are robots with predefined roles, instead of actual representations of human beings. I honestly have no idea what the target audience for this was, it's not romantic, it's not horror, not much of a mystery. It's basically a lame pseudo-emotional film with hints of horror (very mild hints mind you!).

The Moth Diaries - CATCH IT (B-) My expectations for The Moth Diaries were higher ever since I saw its promos and surprisingly at that times I hadn't seen Mary Harron? American Psycho or even Sarah Bolger in The Tudors. Once I saw Sarah Bol ger in The Tudor as Young Bloody Mary Queen of England (A Princess at that time) I was really psyched about it. Though after watching this I got to know that its directed by American Pycho's director. The Moth diaries is a chilling story of Rebecca (Sarah Bolger), a young girl who, haunted by her father's suicide, enrolls in an elite boarding school for girls. Before long, Rebecca's friendship with the popular Lucy (Sarah Gadon) is shattered by the arrival of a dark and mysterious new student named Ernessa (Lily Cole). Rebecca, whose overtures of concern are rejected by Lucy, finds herself lost and confused. Rebecca starts to suspect that Ernessa is a vampire, but, despite the suspicious deaths that begin to occur, her fears are treated as simple girlish jealousy. As the bodies of young girls pile up and the line between reality and the supernatural starts to blur, Rebecca decides to take matters into her own hands and get rid of Ernessa. (RT) Girls or boys living in boarding schools are not a new concept for movies. The concept of the movie is interesting even the execution is but there is something lacking. I couldn't figure that out it might be the production value or just typical scare tactics or its predictable ending. Sarah Bolger is amazing as she was in the Tudors. Sarah Gadon is good. Lucy Cole was made for these kinds of creepy roles. Her face is perfect to play roles like these. Scott Speedman is good but doesn?t have many scenes. On the whole, it?s not scary or even plays with your mind like American Psycho. It turns out to be a time pass supernatural thriller.

Rebecca (Sarah Bolger) is 16 year old and still haunted by her father's suicide. Her best friend is her roommate Lucy (Sarah Gadon) at her boarding school. Ernessa Block (Lily Cole) is the new girl and she befriends Lucy to the dismay of Rebecca. The mysterious new girl somehow got friend Charley (Valerie Tian) expelled. After Rebecca and Dora (Melissa Farman) witness Ernessa do something supernatural, Dora is later found dead falling off a ledge. There is also a new teacher Mr. Davies (Scott Speedman) at the school.

This could have been a creepy Gothic horror movie. Mary Harron who made 'American Psycho' still pose the same problem to me as before. Her sparse style really stripes away the tension. She doesn't elevate the material and there is some good material here. More importantly, there are some great actors here trying their best. However, the movie never takes off. There is just a lack of tension. There is a lack of visual style. This is a bland execution. The female melodrama promises something that is never emotionally delivered. It's potentially an interesting horror but Harron doesn't know how to make one. Of course, this one doesn't have Christian Bale.

Moth Diaries is a supernatural horror set at an all girl boarding school where young Rebecca (Sarah Bolger) is sent after the suicide of her writer father. She befriends the pretty Lucy (Sarah Gadon) and all seems well until the arrival of the strange Student Ernessa (Lily Cole). Lucy is drawn to Ernessa and the more Sarah tries to find out who this mysterious new girl really is, the more she begins to believe that she is faced with the very type of vampiric creature that she is reading about in her literature class. As the bodies pile up and everyone attributes Rebecca's suspicions as a product of the emotions left over from her father's death, Rebecca decides she must deal with this monster herself. Moth Diaries is one of those movies that tries hard and sometimes tries too hard for it's own good. There is a very Gothic mood to it. Director Mary Harron tries to give it the same period feel of a Dracula story despite being set in modern day. There are some nice visuals and effective scenes and the cast all perform well. But, sometimes the film is a bit too obvious for it's own good. Some of the scenes come across as a bit silly when maybe a bit more subtlety would have been better. Some of the voice narration by Rebbeca comes across as forced, telling us things we already have figured out for ourselves. The film probably could have used some of the sly humor that Harron used to perfection in the classic American Psycho but, here the tone comes across as a little too serious and it also can't decide whether it wants to be a straight horror or something more along the lines of a Twilight movie with it's melodramatics(Such as Rebecca's relationship with Scott Speedman's literature teacher that goes nowhere). Moth Diaries is not a complete failure and it has entertainment value but, it could have been a lot better if the filmmakers weren't trying too hard to create a goth classic in the same vein (sorry, had to) as Dracula with the melodrama of the Bella and Edward saga.

I think that this film had an interesting (while not entirely original) plot, but from what I've heard about the book, should have been better than it was. It showed some very promising acting from a few young actresses and I liked the directing. The main problems are that there wasn't enough character development of, well, any of them, the resolution seemed rushed and not nearly as epic as it could have been, and the mystery surrounding the character of Ernessa was, instead of intriguing, just puzzling. It's a little hard to describe, but I didn't feel that intangible suspense and relation to the characters that I'd like to have felt. Overall, I'd say it's worth a watch, but I do wish it had been better crafted.