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I should have probably taken note when even the guy at my local video store said "Hey, why are you renting that? It sucks."

Needless to say, I failed to heed his advice. Perhaps he was a mystical oracle who tried to warn me. Perhaps he was a cyborg sent from the future to stop me from making a tragic mistake. Perhaps he just knows bad movies when he sees them. Either way, maybe Book of Shadow's producers should have met him.

Anyway, having loved the Blair Witch Project, I rented this. I felt like I was being tormented. For over an hour and fifteen minutes, I suffered. Through incomprehensible and reasonless plot twists, I watched. Through incessant and unnecessary blood/nudity I sat. And, through it all, I could think only one thing:

Either I was on drugs or the producers were. And I'm pretty sure it's not me. There is some seriously freaky junk going on in this movie, and I don't mean in a good way. It's freaky because it really seems sometimes like they shot a bunch of scenes and randomly put them together in any order. In Fight Club, Tyler Durden liked to splice pictures of porno into kiddie films. (Anyone remember?) It kinda feels like Tyler Durden is running the tape projector during this movie. Except it's dead bodies and naked dancing, instead of porn.

I won't even get into the awful acting. Wait, Tristan was cool. (The pregnant girl)

As for the ending, I admit, I liked the ending. It was freaky in the good kinda way, even if it does basically make the past 75 minutes completely pointless. Do I recommend suffering through 80 minutes or so of garbage just to get to the ending? Not really. Bottom line: A very weird picture

Watching this movie, I was at first skeptical of the plot. A man on a search to find out if a "snuff film" is real? I was unimpressed. However, once I began to watch the film, the plot had me hooked. As Tom Welles (Nicholas Cage) is drawn deeper and deeper into the seedy, dark world of pornography, you begin to feel for him. Joaquin Phoenix as Max California offers himself as a side-kick of sorts, and the chemistry between the two is excellent. Max shows Welles things that Welles will never again be able to "un-see." It probes into the deepest, darkest wretches of the world, making you realize that there ARE sick people out there.

Which brings me to the paradox. This film really made me think about what a perverse world we live in. About the sick and twisted terrors that some people engage in on a daily basis. And yet, after all this thoughtfulness, a standard Hollywood-style over-the-top ending was tacked onto it. For those of you who have not seen it, I won't spoil the ending here. It felt out of place, as did what eventually happened to Max California. I felt that Max's final scene was both unnecessary, and uncalled for, and that it degraded the final product. This movie is a paradox, because it brings some new, fresh ideas to the forefront. It makes you think about things that some film makers would have avoided, delving into dark and sick territory. And yet, after it's all said and done, a typical, cookie-cutter ending makes it feel like a let down. Great movie, disappointing ending, and a disappointing final scene with Max California. I still would recommend this movie, simply because it makes you think. But, not just about the dark subject matter, but also about Hollywood, and what the film makers seem to perceive as an "ending."

Eight Stars out of ten, with a 1 1/2 points deducted for the ending, and the other 1/2 point deducted for poor ol' Max.

This is an excellent series. I'm too young to have remembered the first run, but now that it appears on the USA Network in re-runs, I can see what all the fuss is about.

Matt Frewer is excellent in his portrayal of a wacky doctor. Yet, he's not as goofy or lame as the stereotype may suggest.

A good word to describe this series is certainly "manic," but in a very good way. Here's hoping USA keeps running the repeats.