Unsane

Unsane (2018)

Starring Claire Foy, Joshua Leonard, Jay Pharaoh, Juno Temple, and Amy Irving

Directed by Steven Soderbergh

Written by Joseph Bernstein and James Greer

***This film is currently streaming via Amazon Prime***

Click here for my Letterboxd review

The RyMickey Rating:  B

Movie Review - Carrie

Carrie (1976)

Starring Sissy Spacek, Piper Laurie, Amy Irving, William Katt, Betty Buckley, Nancy Allen, and John Travolta

Directed by Brian De Palma

***This ilm is currently streaming on Netflix***

There are moments when I watch Brian De Palma movies where I can't help but think he's a big hack.  For example, the softcore porn-esque opening of Carrie in which naked high school girls frolic around a school gym locker room evokes laughs as opposed to lust.  However, there are also moments in this flick adapted from the Stephen King novel of the same name that are brilliantly staged and executed and Mr. De Palma's admitted appreciation for the Master of Suspense Alfred Hitchcock shines through.  So, De Palma remains a conundrum for me -- a director I sometimes despise, but oftentimes admire as well.

It certainly helps De Palma that he's got an interesting script to work with here that truly develops its main characters and only slowly builds to being what could be classified as a "horror" movie.  Carrie (Sissy Spacek) is shy, reserved, and the butt of many jokes at school.  Thanks to her frighteningly religious mother (Piper Laurie) who has kept Carrie closely guarded her entire life, Carrie fails at being adept socially and instead finds herself outcast and friendless.  Carrie soon realizes, however, that she has been blessed (or cursed) with telekinetic powers that, while she is able to control, really only show themselves when her anger builds up.  

The ending of Carrie which takes place at the high school prom is fairly well known, but the path to get there was rather surprising to me.  Carrie's invitation to the prom comes from jock Tommy Ross (William Katt) who reluctantly takes on the "job" at the urging of his girlfriend Sue (Amy Irving).  Sue feels incredibly guilty about poking fun at Carrie in a pivotal scene early in the flick which shapes a huge chunk of what is to follow, so in order to try and make herself feel better, she asks Tommy to take Carrie to the prom to show her a pleasant night.  Much to Tommy's surprise, he realizes that Carrie is actually rather sweet and, once outside the rigid confines of her mother's fanaticism, she's a lovely girl.  Needless to say, prom doesn't quite go smoothly and when things go awry, they do so in a huge way.

As I mentioned, the movie works so well because both Carrie and her mother (and to a certain extent, Sue and Tommy) are such well-developed characters.  The film is much more of a character piece than a horror story as we discover what makes Carrie and her crazed mother tick.  While Piper Laurie's performance might seem a bit over the top in today's day and age, Sissy Spacek is spot-on and wholly believable as the tortured teen.  The script does falter quite a bit in its portrayal of the school's biggest bullies -- played by Nancy Allen and John Travolta -- whose characters are so maliciously one-note that their scenes prove to be laughable, but that's the only aspect of the plot that threw a kink into this otherwise solid flick.

With bullying being a hot topic in the news, Carrie is perhaps more relevant than ever before.  For those that don't like their horror movies "scary," this may be a good first look at the horror genre with the scares coming from character development rather than cheap thrills.  You won't be jumping out of your seat necessarily, but the final scenes are tense and chilling nevertheless.

The RyMickey Rating:  B

Movie Review - The Fury

The Fury (1978)

Starring Kirk Douglas, Amy Irving, John Cassavetes, Carrie Snodgrass, Charles Durning, and Andrew Stevens

Directed by Brian De Palma

***This film is currently streaming on Netflix***

I recognize that Brian De Palma's The Fury is a flawed film -- the biggest problem being that it isn't quite sure whether it's a sci fi, action, or horror flick which causes several scenes to appear oddly juxtaposed with or peculiarly placed next to others.  Still, despite its identity crisis and the wealth of overacting on display, I kinda dug this 1978 flick for those very same reasons I feel I should have despised it.

The film opens on a lovely beachfront resort in the "Mid East" (which elicited a chuckle from me right from the get-go in that the filmmakers simply used that overarching moniker rather than pinpointing a particular Arabian location).  Peter Sandza (Kirk Douglas) is vacationing there with both his teenage son Robin (Andrew Stevens) and his good friend and colleague Ben Childress (John Cassavetes).  Out of nowhere, the beach is attacked at gunpoint and, in the melee, Robin is rushed to safety...or so it appears.  As it is soon discovered, Robin was actually kidnapped by Childress in order to harness Robin's  paranormal powers and utilize them to help (or perhaps harm) the US government.  Peter becomes aware of this plan and vows to get back his son.

Meanwhile back in the States, teenage Gillian (Amy Irving) is coming to the realization that she has some type of paranormal powers as well.  After an event at school leaves her fearful of her powers, she checks herself into the Paragon Clinic.  While there, she begins to find herself psychically connecting with Robin despite the fact that the two never met each other and she soon realizes that the Paragon Clinic may not be as innocent as it appears.

At this point in time, I've probably seen about five Brian De Palma films and they all have an over-the-top vibe to them.  However, The Fury is perhaps the most low key of them that I've seen and maybe that's why I like it the most at this point.  The flick works the best when it delves into the realm of sci fi and horror, but when De Palma tries his hand at the action sequences (which mostly involve Kirk Douglas), it doesn't quite fare as well.  In fact, it's the Kirk Douglas scenes that falter the most mainly because the character of Peter is just too bland to carry a film.  Sure, he's a man on a mission looking for his son, but there's simply not a well-rounded, well-crafted character for the audience to connect with.  Gillian's story proves to be much more intriguing as we in the audience watch her slowly coming to grips with her incredible powers.  When the film was following her, I was thoroughly intrigued.

This certainly isn't a classic, but The Fury is a solid piece of supernatural suspense.

The RyMickey Rating:  B