Du venin dans les veines

Jackson Baring takes his girlfriend Helen to his family's horse farm Kilronin. Jackson's mother Martha has been running the place but would like her son to take over. Jackson and Helen are living together in New York City and are reluctant to leave that life. But Helen somehow gets pregnant, even though she was using birth control, and the two get married and eventually do take over the farm.

Jackson blames himself for his father's death when he was 7. Martha knows the truth but won't tell him, and she seems to have an unnatural relationship with her son. It's almost as if she sees his father and wants to be with him in that way. And she sees the baby as a means of continuing the legacy, but not a child to be loved, at least not in the way most people would. Her treatment of Helen is strange, as if Helen is only useful until the baby is born, and then she will be in the way.

The ending is exciting and sort of creepy at the same time.

Jessica Lange does a fine job here as Jackson's overly controlling and demented mother. However, Nina Foch gives the standout performance as Jackson's grandmother, who is kept in a fancy nursing home because only she knows the truth about how her son died.

I think all the leading actors did a good job here. I usually can't stand Debi Mazar, who was a co-worker to Helen and possibly her boss, but I would like to have seen more of her here. But if Helen had to move out of New York, I guess keeping her job was out of the question.

I suppose my favorite scene was the one where Helen gets out of bed naked and meets her mother-in-law for the first time. That one was edited for TV in such a way it seemed kind of jerky and I didn't get to see much, but a lot depends on how one sees this movie.

It's not typical of what I like in a movie, but still entertaining.

From the low score it has got from the IMDB users, i didn't expect too much. I only watched it to see Gywneth Paltrow. Indeed, the first half of the film was not too impressive. The scenes tended to be fragmented. As more of the plot was unveiled, the film became intense and engaging. I think this film deserves slightly more points than it has got.

Jessica Lange commenced her career by following in the (admittedly light) footsteps of Fay Wray. She seems determined to end it by stomping in the heavier footfalls of middle-period Joan Crawford. As the cyclonic star of this film, Lange runs the gamut. She flings her arms around, tugs at her hair, reverts to that coy, sideways glance that implies she's only about, oh, forty five, bellows out in growling chest tones, sobs hysterically - she does, to state it simply, the lot.

Which leaves her co-stars understandably bewildered. Gwyneth Paltrow manages to look more annoyed than frightened, and when, in the best Scooby Doo manner, she neatly ties up the loose threads of the plot, annoyance gives way to abject boredom. With her dead fish eyes and droning monotone, Gwyn obviously wants the whole thing over with more than we do. Quite an achievement.

And few could blame her. Of all the silly premises that have been put on film, the monster mother is surely the silliest. Its mighty hard to believe that Jessica's Ken doll son has managed to go thirty years without once telling the old cow to put a sock in it. Perhaps I'm a bit obtuse but I still don't quite get the bit about the murder with the suction pump (or whatever it was.) At any rate if some post natal, gormless drip can figure it out surely it shouldn't be taxing the police too much to make an arrest.

That would imply real life of course, and Hush has nothing to do with that. If you're in the market for an aged, raging southern belle then you can't go past this, but have a look at the genuine article - Joan Crawford in "Queen Bee" - first.

One of the funniest films from this year! High camp; too bad the direction's so dull that after an hour even the funny bits get drowned out by the tedium. This is the kind of movie that tries to build suspense by having every character act as stupid and inattentive to the obvious as possible.

Jessica Lange does a lot of eye-rolliing, neck-straining and incessant smoking as the wealthy gargoyle mother who has it in for innocent dumbbell daughter in law Gwyneth Paltrow. Jonathan Schaech plays a piece of wood who occasionally stumbles into a scene with other characters. You know Lange's supposed to be evil because she smokes, drinks and has an inexplicable Southern accent (in upstate New York?). The film sports two endings (don't worry, no spoilers here!!!), the first of which is guffaw-inducing just because it's medically not possible, and a final showdown which is incredibly dull and comes out of nowhere. Lots of bad dialogue and far-fetched plot "developments" carry the viewer to the bitter end.

Allegedly this film was held up for massive re-shoots and edits for a whole year. One hopes for a "director's cut" just so we can see what could have been even worse than this hilarious nonsense. Recommended!!!

I quite enjoy watching older movies (pre 2000), just to see the difference in films between then and now, so I saw this on Netflix and I took a punt. And I was quite disappointed to be honest.

So the beginning, the plot absolutely flies by, there's no dithering about and it throws you into the thick of it within minutes. 10 minutes in you know the characters, the plot, her mother's maiden name and what they had for dinner last June. This pace, in my opinion, is a good thing and I thought it would continue this way throughout. Then all of a sudden, it kind of just sticks to a standstill. Very little happens, even the ending is really underwhelming and nothing really of note happens. Between the 15 min mark and an hour all of what happened could genuinely be condensed into a single scene.

As you're watching you are waiting for THAT moment. The twist, the golden moment that makes you go "aghhh". But nothing happens, it's just really boring. You're waiting for something to go down, or even something to be said that kicks the film into gear. But no.

It also just got predictable, you knew what was going to happen in the scene and you knew what was going to happen in the next scene.

The saving grace to this film was the performances. Jessica Lange in particular played her role really well, but ultimately it's not enough to get this film going.

So yeah. Disappointed in this movie and perks ably wouldn't recommend. 4/10