Fingerprints

The teenager Melanie (Leah Pipes) arrives in Emerald after a period of rehabilitation on drugs. When she lived in California, she had an overdose of heroin with her boyfriend that died, but she was resurrected by the paramedics. Mel is welcomed by her older sister Crystal (Kristin Cavallari) that tells her about an accident between a school bus and a train in 1957 due to a problem in a railroad crossing gate where all the children died. In the present days, there is an urban legend telling that if you put the car in neutral in the same place, the children will push the car and their fingerprints will be printed in the car bumper. Melanie has a cold reception from her mother, and later Crystal invites her to go to a party. When they leave the party with two friends of Crystal, they drive to the spot where the accident happened and Melanie sees a little girl. Later Mel befriends her and finds that her name is Julie (Sydnee Harlan). When Melanie has visions and daydreams with the children and the accident, her mother believes she is on drugs while Melanie tries to discover the truth about the fatal accident.

"Fingerprints" has a promising beginning with a plot with huge potential and scenes that startle. However, the terrible and messy resolution of the mystery is frustrating, with many holes. The heroine, her sister and her boyfriend are nice and empathic characters; however the rest are totally unpleasant or uninteresting. What has triggered the insane killer after many years? How the killer has selected the victims? The attitudes of Melanie's abusive mother are not normal and irritate. What has happened to Penn's car that was parked side by side with Melanie's car when they arrive in the train station? The last scene with the police cars arriving is absurdly ridiculous and senseless since nobody called the police. My vote is six.

Title (Brazil): "Almas Condenadas" ("Condemned Souls")

What a treat...this one has it all! A good mystery, a great ghost story, a taste of the slasher genre, some deadpan humor....throw it all together and you get a cross between "Scream" and "Ghost Story"...a nice throwback to the '70s and '80s classic horror genre. I enjoyed every single minute of this roller coaster ride. Good film quality, nice camera work, remarkable special effects for the budget, decent acting...and even Lou Diamond Phillips. What more can you ask for? Too bad mom didn't get "offed", though...her Mommie Dearest personality certainly warranted it. Great effort on the part of the director and cast. I give it 8 stars.

A horror movie must have many given aspects, before it captures the loyalty of it's audience. The initial ingredient of course is suspense. This must be followed by a solid story line which conjures up the dark side of imagination. Lastly, it must be held solidly by the actors which must convince the audience of their fear, terror and apprehension. In this movie which is called " Fingerprints " several key aspects are definitely present. The story is that in a small town, a dramatic and mysterious event took place which centered around the deaths of a dozen children. It seems a bus load of school children were killed when their vehicle was hit by a passing train. Years later Melanie (Leah Pipes) a returning resident arrives to finish high school, learns this may not be true. Her parents worry about her as she is also a recovering drug addict who suffers from residual delusions. From the moment she starts school, she becomes aware of her tenuous situation with her strict parents, her insincere counselor and the reoccurring apparition of one of the dead children. The movie has the surprising addition of two Hollywood veterans, Lou Diamond Phillips who plays Doug and Geoffrey Lewis playing old man Keeler. Unfortunately, the film also contains several repetitive themes borrowed from 'The Sixth Sense', 'Scream' and 'Holloween' and further does not resolve some very tense and dramatic moments. As a result, the movie is deemed acceptable, though it tries very hard to become the corner stone of an anticipated sequel. ****

Having read the reviews and seeing the IMDb rating of 4.9 (1312 votes) at the time of writing, I had low expectations of this film.

This is a low budget horror that effectively merges a ghost and slasher storyline, as a young girl plagued by visions tries to uncover the secrets behind a decades old bus crash. The film builds a genuine sense of suspense and has enough scares to lift it above the usual low budget horror. This is in no small part due to a hugely likable and confident performance by the lead actress Leah Pipes.

The limitations in budget do show in the special effects but if you put this aside it is a very effective and creepy horror film.

I enjoyed watching the film Fingerprints. It is about a teenager called Melanie, who arrives in Emerald after a period of rehabilitation on drugs. When she lived in California, she took an overdose of heroin with her boyfriend he died but she was saved by the paramedics. when arriving Mel is welcomed by her older sister Crystal. Crystal tells her about an accident between a school bus and a train in 1957, which was due to a problem with a railroad crossing gate, and all of the children died. theses days there is an urban legend that if you put the car in neutral in the same place, the children will push the car and their fingerprints will be printed in the car bumper. Later Crystal invites Melanie to go to a party. When they leave the party with two friends of Crystal, they drive to the spot where the accident happened and Melanie sees a little girl. Mel speaks to her and finds that her name is Julie. Soon Melanie has visions and daydreams about the children and the accident, her mother believes that she is on drugs while Melanie tries to discover the truth about what happened in the fatal accident. This is a very good film to watch RECOMMENDED!.