bluefish321

The Eyes of Annie Jones is a quirky film, not strong on suspense but interesting in its own right. A woman is murdered in a small UK town and the body hidden. Her Aunt Helen requests the presence of the woman's brother and his wife, as she feels foul play is afoot. The Aunt then enlists the aid of a psychic yet troubled teenage orphan, Annie Jones, to help locate the missing woman. Conflict ensues.

Though described elsewhere as a whodunit, the murderer is revealed in the opening scene and the full motives well before the ending. The drama instead comes from the way in which the mystery is solved and through the interactions of the characters, often in oddly forced histrionics. Pacing is also an issue... slow and awkward throughout with stiff staging. This is offset some by the eerie score and the not always predictable story.

The cast is entirely English, save for the bizarrely miscast Richard Conte as David Wheeler, the ne'er-do-well brother of the murdered Geraldine. His New York personality is explained away through weak exposition, as he was shipped off by his father to America at an early age. Otherwise the acting is acceptable, though truly weird at times thanks to extreme character reverses and forced dialog. These moments, for me, were almost brilliantly surreal, though surely unintended.

Veteran actress Francesca Annis is the highlight of the film, as the psychic orphan Annie Jones. Her working class accent comes and goes at random, but her psycho-sexual intensity and erratic personality shifts make up for other failings. The paranormal occurrences are unfortunately few, and in particular the trance scenes seem lifted from another, better movie. But it's through her character that the film gains a creepy edge.

Overall a periodically intriguing B-movie curiosity. If you can get past the miscast lead, slow pace, weak dialog moments, unmotivated character shifts, etc., then worth a look.

Short non-spoiler summary: In the wake of a miscarriage and other problems, a couple moves to Los Angeles with their troubled teenage daughter. The incredible deal they get on a beautiful Victorian home turns out to be as a result of past tragedies on the grounds, and the house comes complete with creepy, intrusive neighbors and a mysterious housekeeper. Badness ensues.

I would categorize the pilot of American Horror Story as 'unrelentingly unpleasant, cynical, and fetishistic horror'. There are clearly fans of this approach... other films that come to mind are 'Event Horizon' and 'Saw', as well as most other torture porn, where most or all of the characters are unlikeable and the psychological brutality and dread are non-stop. It's arguable that there is a sympathetic character here, Vivien Harmon (the mother), played by Connie Britton, though I found her less and less so as the story progressed, much too weak... Her inability to communicate, her detachment from her daughter, many poor choices, etc. Dylan McDermott as her husband is even weaker, and other characters seemed equally single-minded.

The clichés also abound (haunted house, twins, dead animals, shadows of hooks, the easily seduced husband, ghost babies, etc., etc.), though the use of fetish gear as a horror motif was interesting at times. In fact many of the elements are fetishized and sexualized, a surprising choice for a TV series. And equally bold, though hardly commendable, is the exploitation of modern inner fears... teenagers all secretly involved in violence, self- mutilation, and Columbine-like thinking; Downs Syndrome children; etc. To my thinking, great horror or suspense is grounded by sympathetic or at least realistic characters, which gives contrast to the dread and a reason to fight. 'The Shining' is a prime example, as is 'Twin Peaks'. There are characters you truly care for, and who have something tangible to lose, and the despair is countered with humor. In comparison, this series is almost humorless and cynical to the core.

That isn't to say that 'American Horror Story' doesn't have merits. If you're a fan of similar projects, you'll find much to like... stylish surreal moments galore, some plot points are unpredictable, and both Jessica Lange and Frances Conroy ('Six Feet Under') are truly unnerving. Their unexplained connection might even compel me to watch further. And this is not one of those moody horror films with little going on ('Paranormal Activity', the original 'The Amityville Horror', much Val Lewton)... It's incredibly dense with action, plot points, and characters, almost to a fault.

'American Horror Story' was ultimately, for me, a trial to sit through. Not escapism, but possibly cathartic for those not offended, disturbed, or otherwise bothered.

I've just finished watching The Bird People in China and have skimmed the other reviews on IMDb. Like most of the others, I do enjoy Miike's work, though not to the level of unconditional love that seems to be common here. In my limited experience, around nine Miike films so far, none have been a waste of time and several are fairly amazing. Notably Audition, though definitely not for the faint of heart.

This film left me with mixed emotions. It truly has touching moments, but it also suffers from common issues with Miike films... disjointed structure, unmotivated action (particularly from the Yakuza character), a bit of excessive violence, a kitchen sink approach to ideas... every possibility explored, even when simple would have been more effective, and finally a liberal borrowing from other films. In fact I'm surprised this hasn't been mentioned in other reviews. Miike clearly took much of the premise and emotional content from the movie Local Hero. A corporate drone begrudgingly travels to a remote village and, to his amazement, is touched by the locals and the lifestyle. There's more to the similarities but I don't want to give away too much. Though I will note that he pays homage to his source material by throwing in a Scottish song as a major motif. I also didn't buy into the ending... it seemed to detract from the more realistic aspects of the film.

All of this aside, the film is worth seeing. The scenery is amazing and fairly unique, the photography handsome (considering the budget), Masahiro Motoki as Wada is quite good (as he was in Okuribito/Departures), many of the secondary characters are wonderfully drawn (another Miike specialty), it's genuine and funny at times, and it takes you on an unusual journey, an actual adventure... rarely a dull moment.