Seventh Moon (2008)

At a glance:

Burning effigies:
A multi-million dollar industry.

I've decided to revisit some of the more recent films about the Hungry Ghost Festival, the calendar staple that lends such a rich source for ghost stories when I was growin up. This American horror indie would've disappeared under the radar, if it were not written and directed by Blair Witch Project (1999) mastermind Eduardo Sánchez and had the dirty star appeal of Amy Smart in the lead. Seventh Moon is based on the Chinese legend that on the full moon of the seventh lunar month, the gates of Hell open and the Dead can enter the realm of the Livin. Melissa (Amy Smart) and Yul (Tim Chiou), Americans on a honeymoon in China, end up lost in a remote village, thanks to nervous taxi driver Ping (Dennis Chan).

Bad news on the doorstep:

Horror movie pre-requisite:
Doin what you're not supposed to. Without backup.

The burnt offerings may be lost on Western viewers but for anyone comin from this part of the world, it's pretty creepy stuff - although Eduardo Sánchez seems to have taken a wrong turn somewhere and turned this into a monster movie by the third act. Many critics have lamented on the decision to overuse the shaky cam technique here, a favourite for the director. I believe that the excessive quick cuts and only half-seein the obviously obscured "ghosts" took some of the spook out of what was set to be a fairly creepy effort.

Perennial wonderment:

Amy Smart:
I'm sexy but do they know it?

Why can't Amy Smart make it like Blake Lively? I remember her vaguely in early films like Varsity Blues (1999) and Road Trip (2000) but it was in The Butterfly Effect (1994) opposite Ashton Kutcher that I thought she was really gonna make it. After the two Crank movies, I don't think she has anythin substantial lined up on her CV. What a waste. I always look forward to her gettin her kit off.

Reminds me of:

Kelvin Tong's The Maid (2005) and Herman Yau's The First 7th Night (2009).

Watch out for:

Dennis Chan Kwok San 陈国新 as the cabbie Ping. Nice to see some old hands still findin work. The man has worked in the Hong Kong film and television industry as a producer, director and actor for more than 30 years, perhaps best known to Western audiences for his work in Jean-Claude Van Damme’s Kickboxer franchise. His latest appearance on the big screen was a cameo in Andy Lau's box office gem A Simple  Life (2011) @ Sister Peach.

Amacam joker, berapa bintang lu mau kasi?
The two leads do their best and give us some reason to care for them but the supernatural elements grew tiresome. DVD Active's Gabriel Powers notes that the climax is so similar to The Descent (2005) that Neil Marshall should call his lawyers. For further info, visit the Seventh Moon official site, which is oddly still up today. ★★
Bonus material:

For the unitiated, this is what every Chinese production does before shootin and not just those that concern ghosts.

Lovely Molly (2012)

This is a horsefuck of a horror movie, literally.

At a glance:

Back in 1999, Cuban-born filmmaker Eduardo Sánchez and film-school buddy Daniel Myrick shot The Blair Witch Project, a micro-budget movie that went on to gross US $248-million worldwide. Kurt Loder notes how Sánchez has since made a few more pictures, none of them especially successful, and we can imagine his dismay in watchin Oren Peli’s three Paranormal Activity films - obvious Blair Witch descendants - rake in more than half a billion dollars. Thus, perhaps, the director’s return to the arena of his early breakthrough. In Lovely Molly (limited release in 2012), we get a supernatural horror with faint psychosexual themes of guilt and abandonment. The titular character, ex-druggie Molly (Gretchen Lodge), moves into her childhood home with new husband Tim (Johnny Lewis) once both her parents pass away. Soon however, we're thrown into a haunted house exercise and left decidin whether there's really a minotaur-like demon in the house or is her psychosis due to the joint that her sister Hannah (Alexandra Holden) started her off on.

Hands up who'd rather see Alexandra Holden (R) in Gretchen Lodge's (L) lead role?

Bad news on the doorstep:
The good news is that it's not a full "found footage" affair, especially since the last big one we know, The Devil Inside (2012) really sucked. The bad news is that you seem to need to watch some videos on its official website to complete your understandin on the occult backstory.

"Why are you always naked and why do you always smell like horse?"

Otherwise, the strength of the movie depends on just how watchable you find newcomer Gretchen Lodge, who admittedly puts in a fearless, full frontal performance. She gets to do a spot of nasty as the unlovely Molly and obliges with aplomb, although I wouldn't put her in the same league as say, Cécile De France in Haute Tension a.k.a. Switchblade Romance (2003), despite her committed turnarounds between demure supermarket employee and deranged druggie on heat, which memorably include a hearty breakfast romp on the kitchen floor - the only one I care to remember since Eva Green in The Dreamers (2003). Nevertheless, Sophie Blum wrote how Lovely Molly is incoherent, sexist, and derivative; preferrin Béatrice Dalle's carnivorous kiss in Claire Denis' Trouble Every Day (2001) where the female protagonist doesn't get reduced to a ravin succubus (or at least made a sympathetic ravin succubus). Me, I just want more demon backstory.

The demon pin I didn't get.

Perennial wonderment:

What is up with that stone tablet with the horse head motif? It got sent out to the press as a promo item and got us googlin what the fuck is an Orobas.

Reminds me of:
Stephen King stories.
Amacam joker, berapa bintang lu mau kasi?

Solid sound design and music score but the average horror fan will find this borin, I'm sure. Ultimately, not a very scary movie at all. ★★

Alexandra Holden wouldda been poised for a sequel
considering how her character arc begs for it.
No chance since the movie sucked.

Was it as good for you as it was for me?

 Bonus material:

Twitchfilm's Todd Brown calls it the finest film of Sanchez' career and notes how there's virtually nothin he would change other than an unnecessary epilogue, choosin to tag the movie's appeal to just how much an audience would relate to the main character. He coincidentally also introduced the film and conducted a live Skype interview with director Eduardo Sánchez at a Bloor Cinema screenin I attended, thanks to Rue Morgue and M.O. Pictures. I managed to ask a question about the possibility of a sequel, to which Sánchez muddied into a question on whether it should follow the sister or the mother (read: Nope, no sequel). He also confirms that he's shootin a Bigfoot movie currently titled Exists (2012).

Earlybirds at a midnight screening I attended in Toronto.
Photo taken on 26 May 2012, The Bloor Cinema.

Director Eduardo Sánchez via Skype with Twitchfilm's Todd Brown.
Photo taken on 26 May 2012, The Bloor Cinema.

Technology is awesome indeed, even if the film wasn't so hot.
Photo taken on 26 May 2012, The Bloor Cinema.

Cast & Crew (L-R): Gretchen Lodge, Johnny Lewis, Eduardo Sánchez & Alexandra Holden