61 lines
4.2 KiB
Plaintext
61 lines
4.2 KiB
Plaintext
i had an epiphany today .
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it occurred to me while i was watching " house on haunted hill . "
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it is as follows : if a trailer makes the film it's advertising look like a trashy , stupid movie , well guess what ?
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chances are , there * is * truth in advertising .
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too bad i didn't trust my own instincts when something-or-the-other possessed me to see this movie .
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i blame it on my sudden craving for a scare and my anticipation of " sleepy hollow . "
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that and " dogma " started too late in the afternoon for my schedule .
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an hour of " angel " or " buffy " is scarier than this doozy that tries to be scary and shtick but falls flat on its face .
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i wish i'd seen it when it was halloween .
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at least i would have been forgiving .
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hey , tis the season .
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the movie was scary ( albeit very confusing , dizzying , and nauseating ) at first , but soon the horror got repetitive and downright laughable because the film obviously wasn't going anywhere .
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now i truly appreciate films like " scream , " " halloween , " or any old hitchcock film where the scariness stems from situations that are at least somewhat realistic .
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that's what spooks people out , the fact that it could happen to them or someone they know .
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there has to be a logical precedent for the situations they want to scare us with .
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sure , utterly unpredictable is good , too , but that's different from utterly nonsensical .
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hohh ( house on haunted hill ) , on the other hand .
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.
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.
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well let's just say i about fell off my chair laughing when they oh-so-cleverly revealed that everyone who got invited to the party was related to the psycho doctors who died in the house a couple of decades ago .
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riiiiight .
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y'know , that just sends chills down my spine .
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yeah .
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just like i wet my pants when they told me the house is evil .
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ooooooo .
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hint : blood and guts only work a few times .
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sooner or later people start to tell themselves that it's just ketchup and props and you've got to come up with something better than that .
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there were just too many things in this movie that we've all seen before ; from the inevitable " plot developments " of strangers unwittingly trapped together ; strangers turning against each other ; the evil manifesting itself ; the dead coming back for a last scare .
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each was more predictable than the last .
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why didn't these fools just stay together in one place anyways ?
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sheesh .
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was i grossed out ?
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yes .
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did i get spooked a few times ?
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yes .
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but why ?
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i get really disturbed when there is no why .
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when there weren't random scares that were there for no other reason than for the visual effect ( which wasn't that good either , trust me ) and the scare , the film was filled with drab , laughable dialogue .
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the characters were incredibly flat and cliched .
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not to mention downright annoying .
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you've got a bunch of people going nowhere in their lives ; of course they're dumb enough to go to a party some stranger invited them to provided they win a million dollars if they survive the night .
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jeez , i thought no one fell for those " you may already be a winner " things anymore .
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and of course , all three gals are babes .
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i wonder how on earth the geoffrey rush of " shine " ended up in this movie .
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keep that up , geoff , and you'll qualify for the next batman venture .
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the only single person i enjoyed was chris kattan because , well , he just cracks me up .
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and famke jansen ( sp ? )
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because she reminds me of the delectable brosnan .
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pierce brosnan ( hey , i willingly endured " dante's peak " three times for him : ) .
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all right , i concede .
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there were a couple of things i enjoyed .
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that perverted little amusement park at the beginning .
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i probably won't ride a rollercoaster for a while .
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and the machine they used to drive geoffrey's character mad ( see , i don't even remember their names ) .
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the machine , not that stupid fishtank with naked wimmin in it .
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i kept waiting and waiting for that inevitable twist at the end of the movie .
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it wouldn't have redeemed the film , but at least it would have made me feel better .
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but no , they opted for the beautiful sunrise ending .
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thank god they didn't add a kiss at the end or i would have puked .
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god , there is no hope .
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