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.

17 year old Eli, his Mom and heavy drinking bully of a father move to a Kentucky farm, owned by a friend (Brad Dourif) of the dad. Eli meets an attractive teenage girl called Amanda but is soon warned to steer clear of her because she's dangerous. Soon the worlds of the living and of the dead intertwine in Eli's simple rural life. It is a bit slow going at times, there are several gaping plot holes and some instances of awkward silences, or in other words weak acting, during characters' conversations. However the plot and characters were sufficient to hold my interest, there a few reasonable scares and I liked the setting. Bit of a sad film overall, and I mean that in a positive way. Brad Dourif has starred in some horror classics, he's also been in some stinkers but given the material he gives a decent performance here. Certainly his fans should check this movie out.

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.

"Last Kind Words" is a very unlikely and different movie about a haunting. And it was a nice change of scenery to have a story dealing with a haunting in this manner, instead of it being all CGI effects and attempts to scare the audience.

The story in "Last Kind Words" is about a family that moves out to work on Mr. Waylon's (played by Brad Dourif) estate. While roaming the lands, Eli (played by Spencer Daniels), come to meet the young and reclusive girl Amanda (played by Alexia Fast). As their friendship grows, Eli stumbles upon the secret that Amanda is carrying about.

The movie was really well carried by the performances put on by Alexia Fast, Brad Dourif and Spencer Daniels.

As a movie without a myriad of CGI effects and in-your-face-effects, then "Last Kind Words" managed to tell a good story with only a handful of effects and make-up.

And story-wise, then director Kevin Barker managed to put together an enjoyable and entertaining movie, as well as contributing something new to the ghost / haunting genre.

However, the movie doesn't really have enough value to support a second watching. You watch the movie once, and then never return to it. But still, it was an entertaining movie.

I find there are elements in this film which would strike a chord somewhere within with each viewer. The story, the scenery, the actors were all excellent. A few parts reminded me of Elvis & Annabelle, but aside from that, the films are very different. It is quite a daunting task to review this film without giving away too much (which is why I recommend viewing it!). Imagery and symbolism are well used which made the film that much more interesting and beautiful. Yes, there are some moments that may cause some to shudder or "jump", but they are few and far between. The film does well in exploring life and death and even modern history. There is a great melodic/ballad song that plays at times which also really made the film. Worth watching!