I have found director Ti West to be creative and interesting
in the pieces I've seen him direct. So when I heard he had a new movie coming
out on DVD I was anxiously anticipating
something different, something new. Instead I felt like I got nothing more than
another rehash of the infamous Jonestown massacre story.
A reporter for VICE, an underground news service, starts off
by telling us a well known photographer friend of his informed him of a
possible story. It seems the guy's sister disappeared for a while only to turn
up once again via a letter to him. She joined a group, found religion and moved
to another country. Now she wants him to come and visit her there. Intrigued
and smelling a good story, the journalist and his cameraman tag along.
Flown to an undisclosed location, at least to us, the three
are dropped off via helicopter and meet their first confrontation. The men sent
to meet them are armed and have to check in to okay their visit. Once approved,
they put them in the back of a truck, drive through the jungle and end up at
Eden Parrish, the commune where all will take place. Another confrontation at
the gate and only when the sister arrives are they escorted in.
Given a short tour of the location the sister leads them to
the shack they will be spending the night in and tells them she'll be back
later. First she has to meet with "Father" and let him know they've
arrived. She later comes back and lets them know that "Father" has
answered their request to an interview to be filmed later at the special
celebration of their arrival.
As they walk the grounds and talk to people everything seems
to be wonderful. All ages are represented from young children to the elderly.
Adults talk about willingly giving up their past lives and selling all they had
to contribute to Eden Parrish. But with everything seeming far too perfect
there is the sense that something just isn't right here. Only after the
interview and an encounter with a few residents that aren't quite as pleased to
be here later on does the truth come out. Things truly aren't the utopia that
was put on display.
Of course knowing the eventual outcome from what really
happened in Jonestown means you probably know what happens to most involved
here. It takes on a more personal note as the sister and her brother face off
near the end with one trying to explain their truth to the other. The
journalists are about the only ones we're not sure what happens to till the
end.
So why not give this movie a higher rating, especially
considering the folks working behind the lens on this one. Well, that might
actually be why I found this movie so disappointing. After loving THE
INNKEEPERS I found this movie to be so predictable be the end that it felt more
like a movie of the week from the 70s rather than a feature made by an up and
coming director. This story has been told and retold so many times that even
though we have a nice presentation here with a great performance by Gene Jones
as Father it never got my attention or involvement in the film even when things
began happening. At first I thought well maybe he's going to turn this on its
head. In the end he chose not to and ended up with little more than a
retelling.
This is not to say that my faith in Ti West has ended. I
still think there are plenty of stories out there that he can find to put on
film, many of them in his own mind. This movie just felt like he was indulging
a fascination with the whole idea of Jonestown rather than coming up with
something fresh and new. With any luck he'll find that story and bring it to
film soon.
I've read some people that have said they found this movie
to be a chilling experience. Some found it to be terrifying with Jones'
performance as spine curdling. I didn't find that to be the case. I never once
felt scared and actually never once felt involved with any of the characters on
screen. With so many movies to watch these days this is not one that I can
recommend to anyone. Either watch THE INNKEEPERS or wait until West releases
something new.
Click here to order.
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