A Column of Suspense
Leisha Johnson
Staff Writer
2012
The Mayans predicted it. Nostradamus prophesized it. We were warned. The end is no longer near; it is here, in the movie 2012. Starring John Cusack, Danny Glover, Wood Harrelson and many others, this apocalyptic movie is packed with non-stop action.
Jackson Curtis (Cusack), author and writer, races against Mother Nature as he tries to save his family from an onslaught of natural disasters. Entire cities collapse, planes crash, trains de-rail, and tsunamis annihilate, all while you sit on the edge of your seat.
The massive destruction had me flabbergasted. Can you actually imagine a 9-mile high tsunami?
Besides the action, there are several unexpected comedic moments that had the audience laughing. The comedy may be too much at times, but it keeps the tone of the movie from being too heavy and serious.
There are some insightful moments as well. At one point in the movie, Cusack’s character states, “We stop being human when we stop fighting for each other.” Indeed.
As fantastic as the action is, the ending is way too overly sentimental. Overall, 2012 is a box-office hit, even considering the length of it.
There is an underlying political theme of the corruption of government, which leads me to the question, “What color are your passes?”
Paranormal Activity
Katie and Micah are a happy couple that lives in a beautiful home, but there’s just this small problem. They are kept awake at night by a demonic force sharing their lovely home with them.
Determined to find out the causes for the “bumps in the night,” Micah buys a camcorder and records everything, from brushing their teeth in the morning to going to sleep at night. But the more Micah records, the more aggressive the thing becomes.
“Paranormal Activity” is brilliant and is probably the best horror film of the year. Shot mostly in “Blair Witch” style, the $11,000 budget movie is well written. The script is excellent. The light-hearted banter between Katie and Micah is sweet and comical.
The events that are recorded at night are down-right scary and believable, and may have you gasping or screaming aloud at certain points in the movie.
The only drawback is how rushed the ending seemed. The demon’s violence started slow, but rapidly progressed all at once at the end.
That being said, the movie scared the hell out of me. In the future, if I hear any stomping noises coming up my stairs at night, I’m moving. Enough said.
The Stepfather
Meet Dave. As you stroll along with your two kids in the nearby supermarket, he’s the guy you rub shoulders with as you both reach for the same can of soup. “Mr. Regular Nice Guy,” who just so happens to be attractive and available, sweet talks his way into your life and home. But what you don’t know is that he killed his previous wife and kids. And his family before that. And his family before that.
In all reality, he is a psychotic killer searching for the “perfect” family. If you don’t measure up to his standards, you become another unsolved murder as he goes off in search of another supermarket.
“The Stepfather” is an updated version of the original film. The screenplay is modernized, the soundtrack will get your heart pumping and the cast is packed with pretty faces.
As the movie progresses and the plot thickens, I can’t help but to find myself wondering, “Where is the terror?”
Yes, the movie is suspenseful. The idea of a masked killer running around slashing people may be easier at creating terror because the killer could be anyone, but with The Stepfather, you know what is coming.
There are some character flaws. For instance, the mother is quite dumb and naïve, especially when Dylan Walsh, playing the role of the stepfather, lets his “nice-guy” mask slip a bit and his psychotic nature bleeds through.
However, the character flaws lie in the script alone. The actors perform superbly and The Stepfather is still a fun movie, and worth the price of the movie ticket, but it isn’t that scary. More emphasis needs to be put on the psychosis of the killer.
As for the next time you bump into an available, attractive man in the supermarket, walk the other way.
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