The Rule of Jenny Pen

The Rule Of Jenny Pen actually creeps me out more than the usual horror movies about possession, zombies, and/or other creeps. This story is about old people in a retiring home or care facility that are getting bullied/terrorised by one of its habitants without anybody doing something about it. I find these kind of stories creepier because it could happen to any of us, unlike other horror movies where the stories are just fantasy or far fetched and thus so far from our bed or just unreal. Nobody wants to end up in a retiring home and certainly not in this one. Geoffrey Rush did a great job playing the resistant. John Litgow showed again he can play anything, from comedy to drama, to horror. I just love that actor. In my opinion this movie from New Zealand deserves a higher rating on here.

Greetings again from the darkness. John Lithgow frequently plays likable characters that take advantage of his innate ability to connect with viewers as an 'every-man' type - often reminding us of people we know. However, over his career that spans approximately fifty years, I've always been more interested and more intrigued when nice guy Lithgow plays the villain (see "Dexter"). It takes a talented actor to be believable as characters we love and characters we loathe. Writer-director James Ashcroft and co-writer Eli Kent have adapted Owen Marshall's oddball short story into an equally oddball feature film.

As the film opens, (Oscar winner) Geoffrey Rush is Judge Mortensen, presiding over a contentious court case. As he is providing his findings, the honorable judge begins sweating and having difficulty conveying his thoughts ... even clumsily handling a glass of water. It's obvious he's showing signs of a stroke, and ultimately collapses on the bench. As painful as this sequence is, it pales in comparison to what awaits Mortensen.

The judge is checked in to a rehab facility and rest home for the elderly. What he discovers is that one of the patients, Dave Crealy (Lithgow), thrives on physical and psychological abuse of the other patients. His reign of terror involves a plastic doll named Jenny Pen, and the two of them make nightly rounds torturing that evening's unlucky victim(s). The bit of fun here exists in the head-to-head battles between the psychotic Crealy and the physically limited Judge. There is also a nice touch with a local cat that compares to the appearance of oranges in THE GODFATHER. If you know, you know.

Lithgow sports an Aussie accent and hillbilly teeth, while Rush spouts crisp and intelligent dialogue with a dose of arrogance that turns into bewilderment. Of course, most of this makes little sense as the facility would likely have security cameras capturing Lithgow's late night wanderings, or at the least enough of an overnight staff that might glimpse his movements. And at some point, enough patients would team up to narc on the resident psycho bully. It's these details that prevent this from being a top notch psychological thriller, although watching two masters like Lithgow and Rush go at each other provides plenty of entertainment.

Opens in theaters on March 7, 2025.

This was a truly interesting film but also a fairly unsatisfying one. The premise of having psychological torment in a nursing home is a pretty original idea that was surprisingly well executed given how ridiculous the trailer made the movie look. Lithgow gives a nasty performance as one of the most hatable villains I've seen in a while, while Rush plays his part as protagonist with carefully calculated defiance and cynicism against Lithgow's sadism. The camera angles and editing choices were unique, disquieting, and overall effective in their mission of creating unease. I was a little frustrated with a few key plot points that seemed like they'd be discussed later on but instead were left on the back burner. As far as the psychological horror/abuse went in the film, it was effective. A little too much. The vile representations of sexual torment paired with the overall sadism got on my nerves a bit, even if it may have worked to psych me out. That being said, not a bad movie.

Just not my cup of tea.

THE RULE OF JENNY PEN (2025) *** Geoffrey Rush, John Lithgow, George Henare. (Dir: James Ashcroft). Unsettling and expertly executed horror film adaptation of Owen Marshall's short story about an acidic judge suffering a stroke and being placed in an assisted living home in New Zealand who finds himself at odd with its resident bully who wields the titular puppet with nefarious actions ensuing. Veteran character actors Rush & Lithgow as the sharp-witted magistrate and the creepily venal force of will respectively have field days matching their wits and combative actions against one another with aplomb. Director Ashcroft keeps things off balance with interesting camera work by cinematographer Matt Henley shifting its plane of existence through out keeping the film off-setting while the dread instills echoes WHATEVER HAPPENED TO BABY JANE? & MISERY in its victim/threat ethos sharply intact.

A former Judge has a stroke, he enters a nursing home that occupies an elderly psychopath who is fixated on a child's puppet to abuse the elderly residents of their shared nursing home with deadly consequences. Geoffrey Rush and John Lithgow gives a masterclass on acting, the story is good, but the film misses the mark on logic. Where was the security cameras, and the nursing staff on duty when all of this chaos and murder was happening? The protagonist Lithgow kept me glued to the screen & Rush also. I wanted more realism but otherwise it was en enjoyable film. A 6 out of a 10 for the acting alone.