La Légende de Lucy Keyes

This is a smart, thoughtful thriller that really digs into the bond between a mother and daughter. Not a horror film in the traditional sense of the genre, Lucy Keyes frieghten"s by making the possibility of the supernatural afterlife real. Julie Delpy is sublime in her portrayal of Jeanne Cooley, a mother who is caught between sympathy and terror for a spirit with whom she can relate with her heart and soul. Shot elegantly and efficiently, this Indy make the most of it's modest budget and really delivers on both visceral and emotional level, showing the real value of smaller films which are made outside the studio system.

All in all, a film to go see.

This film is an intriguing story about an old New England legend. Anyone who likes a spine chilling ghost story will love this film. John Stimpson does a great job juxtaposing the family life of a 21st century family with a 250 year old folklore story. Having lived my whole life in New England I could relate to the telling and retelling of old stories and how they become part of the fabric of a small town. The symmetry between Lucy Keyes, who goes missing in 1755, and the modern day Lucy who has moved to the countryside with her family is brilliant. I won't give away the ending, but the symmetry gathers onto itself as the film continues. And the eccentric character of Caswell fits the small town setting superbly. You will enjoy this film!

The basic story has significant promise It is based upon the actual disappearance of a young Massachusetts girl in 1755. There is plenty to work with: a local ghostly legend, a family curse, family secrets, greed, an ancient property dispute brought into modern times.

A story of modern greed, outsiders drawn into an insular town, a grieving mother unsuspecting their family has bought cursed ground. Add in ghosts and the hint of possession and you seem to have all the elements for a great horror film.

Yet, something is lacking. This film never lives up to its premise. It is a decent film, but never gets scary enough to be horror, and the end bursts on you so quickly the history-repeating angle gets thrown in right at the end. Enjoyable, but disappointing in that it fails to live up to its possibilities.

I saw this film at the Santa Barbara Film Festival a few weeks ago, and I'm sorry to report that it's just awful. Prior to the screening, the director explained to the audience that it was "based on a local legend in his own backyard", and because he seemed like a nice guy I really wanted to enjoy it. Sadly, there was basically nothing to enjoy :( The film is just plain dull, that's its main problem. Ages go by with literally nothing important happening, and the film is EXTREMELY repetitive. There are endless scenes of the characters tossing and turning while having bad dreams, and the movie completely fails to create an atmosphere of dread. Combine that with horrendous acting from the two children and a totally absurd, contrived ending, and you have a movie that would be better off going straight to video. This is the kind of film that would garner less than a 15% rating on Rotton Tomatoes, and anyone saying positive things about it prior to release is probably a studio plant.

"The Legend of Lucy Keyes" isn't entertaining, and it's just not scary either. At least not unless your idea of scary is two actors running around aimlessly in the woods for 15 minutes yelling "Lucy?" "Lucy??" "Lucy!?" a hundred million billion times.

P.S. WTF are clam bellies?

What a blast! I was born and raised in this small town and as a child, Lucy Keyes was the subject of many a Camp Fire horror story that left us certain we heard Martha lurking in the woods surrounding our camp sites.... shivering in our sleeping bags, we frightened campers would be begging for Martha to stop the never-ending calling for "luuuuuucy" ....

I saw the film through a different view. One of nostalgia. I knew the story, am intimate with the setting, and knew many of the "extra's" in the film. So for me it was a hoot! My 17 and 12 year old girlfriends thought it was "awesome" ... with just the right amount of scary spooky thrill to keep them on the edge of their seat. They didn't get the political references to "key parties", "the pig farm" and "windmills" which has become part of the towns lore...but some information is only retrieved by the "insiders".

My friend Jen, thought it was pokey. And I agree...there were some shots that lingered too long, some acting that was difficult to sit through and lost credibility. There are scenes that could use "tightening" up and may have bettered served the film on the editors floor.

As for the ending...interesting theory. Being a writer and performer myself I applaud the writers risk and imagination with the ending.

I am in awe of the time, creativity and courage the Writer/Director has taken with a time warn tale, in a small New England town where judgment and critics run rampant but few get off their duff and put themselves out there for review.

Hey, if we are lucky, this is not the last we will see of John Stimpson, nice guy or not, John Stimpson has a future in Film.