Penny Dreadful

Horror happens always at night, in abandoned places, when no one is around to help, to see, to witness. Horror happens to only a few of us, the ones who are innocent already, the ones who are weak, the ones who are helpless. It seems that evil is a coward-entity, chickens out on places with many people and strong people and real adversaries. Evil is simply afraid, mushy, and has no integrity whatsoever. May that be how it is, Penny Dreadful is a film where this happens exactly by the book. By this I don't mean to put the film down. In the contrary. PD is an awesome story about to helpless women caught in the darkness, alone, and exposed to evil, or en evil entity. I had a great time watching this film and it scared the crap out of me. I love Mimi Rogers and felt the whole cast was doing a great job. I recommend this film to anyone and hopefully it will come out on DVD and I'll get me a copy of it. Go see it, it is scary!

This is the first time I summarized a movie. I thought that this may have gone under the radar and I would be the first. Still, the movie made enough of an impression so that I would write a review anyway.

I think the better horror movies are those that are closer to reality and Penny Dreadful is much more real than most in the genre. I really liked the tension and suspense and cat-and-mouse game. I ran into this on the Sci-Fi channel and was pleasantly surprised that it wasn't the run-of-the-mill shock schlock. I think the writer(s) should be applauded for a pretty original script rather than the pure gore we receive so much today. If you're a horror fan, I'm sure this would make your top 50 list, if not 40.

PD misses a lot of opportunities to scare or even freak you out. It has a great set-up, a devilishly simple set (mostly one car) and a bad guy who likes people-ka-bobs... so the scares are a sure thing...right? Nope. Unfortunately for the stellar cast, the movie makes every necessary effort to ruin surprises, cut to the wrong camera shot at the climactic moment, and follow every scary movie cliché there is. We have the "anybody there" moments, the "is that you" line every time the character speaks, the lovers doing it in the back and the great supporting cast that has no use but to fill body bags. Horror for horror sake is a good thing, but this film doesn't capitalize on its confined claustrophobic space, nor does it keep the tension that it could have. Camera shots are cool, but over used and usually not in the right spaces. Even the final scary sequence fails to deliver, ending mid-scene as if the writer forgot to finish it. There is no bang. Mimi Rogers is wasted, as is most of the cast. The main character Penny does a good job, reacts wonderfully... even when there is nothing scary even going on. Without any offense to the actors, or movies in which are set in one location (I love those) this movie is not worth the full price. I saw it to support the Horror fest national film festival... a suggestion for next year... how about a group rate (all 8 movies for one admission?).

Penny Deerborn (Rachel Miner) and her therapist, Orianna Volkes (Mimi Rogers) take a trip to help Penny overcome her fear of cars. But as with any horror film, things go wrong and the car they are traveling in ends up becoming a prison for Penny (wedged between two trees). Oh, and there's also a serial killer loose in the woods.

What is going to be the real deal-maker (or breaker) for this film is if the audience can relate to Penny's fear of cars. Roughly an hour of the film has her in the car by herself being scared. Not much of a plot, or much dialog -- just the actress and her expressions of fear. Many viewers will find this intensely boring. I, however, could relate quite well with this (as someone with anxiety, I often experience attacks in cars and can put myself in her shoes -- if I had been Penny, I would have been much less brave).

Rachel Miner deserves full credit for being amazing. I was not really familiar with her before this, though her name was somewhat known. She seems to have a very solid range, if this movie is any example -- she was asked to carry a film all on her own with no characters to talk to. And in my opinion, she did it.

Mimi Rogers (the former Mrs. Tom Cruise) also plays a unique role. As a corpse. I think that deserves some credit, too, as even acting dead must take some skills -- never really moving or breathing on camera. Definitely a new direction for Rogers.

Secondary characters were nice, if for no other reason than to round out the film... and I loved the visuals... the colors of the dark, snowy mountains. I don't know much about cameras, but I like the way the light was filtered to give it this dark, lonely look. Very good move.

I say check this one out. It may not be for you -- it might bore you to tears. So if you think you're one of those, don't watch it late at night when you're about to take a nap. If you have any sort of anxiety or claustrophobia, I think you'll get a lot more out of this one. And as long as everyone just ignores how conveniently coincidental the whole plot is, we'll be fine.

Now, this had all the elements of good horror - suspense, screams, breasts, and slashing. Not too bad for a film that takes place in the woods at night.

Penny (Rachel Miner) is traveling with her therapist (Mimi Rogers) to overcome her fear of cars after an auto accident as a child. Now, everyone knows not to pick up hitchhikers, and you should especially know not to take them into the woods, but hey, there wouldn't be a movie if they did the smart thing.

She, with a fear of cars, ends up stuck in a car with her dead therapist, and thus begins a night of horror. Dead bodies are piling up all over as she screams to get out.

I won't spoil it except to say that I really liked the ending.

And, I sure want to see some more of Tammy Filor.