where: CENTURY 14 VALLEJO in Vallejo, CA
when: Saturday, Halloween 2009
show: 5:10 pm
costs: $9.50 ticket + $3.75 small Diet Coke ( w/ Barq's, Cherry & Zero flavors ) = $13.25
auditorium: 14
seat: 4th row, 7th column
synopsis: A couple, Katie Featherston and Micah Sloat, move into a San Diego suburb. What Micah didn't know, at first, is that the object of his affection is also the object of evil possession. To try to prove his hysterical partner wrong, Micah sets up a surveillance camera to catch the what-ever-it-is in the act. But things just go from bad to worse.
noteworthy scenes: I'm sorry, but I didn't bother to take a notepad with me to the show because I wasn't intending on blogging about it because I was still monitoring my computer and keeping track of my credit card accounts ( since I ordered stuff on the internet ) for any sign of a discrepancy. It is only at the suggestion of some people who have read my blogs that I decided to get back to blogging a.s.a.p. I actually was waiting for 2012 and NEW MOON to come out before resuming my blog. But, as anything else in Life, stuff happens.
audience reaction: They loved this movie--some of whom probably went to sleep with the lights on that night!
recommendation: This is the best scary movie that I've seen in years--and it was made "on-the-cheap" with just a $15,000.oo budget. This is definitely a "Go See It" kind of movie.
spoiler alert! If the psychic, Mark Fredrichs, was real, he would have known right away that something terrible was happening in the house the moment he first stepped in. Demonologists, and exorcists for that matter, don't usually go "do it" alone--they have apprentices/assistants ( a demonologist's assistant sounds like a title for an up-coming movie )--my point being that the psychic could easily have gotten hold of the demonologist, his assistant and/or another demonologist/exorcist easily. The "entity" was making its nocturnal moves in gradual increments, i.e. "I'll do this much right now and call it a night, and I shall see you again tomorrow evening for the next installment." Micah called the Ouija Board's planchet a cursor. Ha, ha, ha. There is that damned noise employed as a harbinger of dread and terror, typical of horror films. If only they closed the door and deadbolted it, the events wouldn't have progressed to such a state ( this is just a joke, mind you ). The "baby powder" claw steps employed time-lapsed photography because each one appeared flat-footed instead of being moved in a "heel-to-toe" rocking motion as anyone would normally expect of a bi-pedal gait. When the entity went under the sheet, it was just a leaf-blower set on low to create the rectangular-shaped unconvincing effect. Wires were used to drag Katie out of bed and clear down the hallway--notice how she was dragged in two directions at RIGHT ANGLES to each other when it should have instead been in a curving fashion had she been dragged by a real entity ( they should have employed some INVISIBLE MAN techniques for a more realistically chilling effect ). When Micah chased after her, he didn't turn-on the lights first which he always did before. When Micah was tossed against the camera, the angle did not get affected. The last shot of Katie's face showed it morphed into a demonic hybrid--a typical Hollywood horror film device. The possessed girl on the internet is played by an actress named Ashley Palmer--the movie could have been made to look more authentic if they used real photos of the possessed girl, Anneliese Michel, on which the movie, THE EXORCISM OF EMILY ROSE ( 2005 ), was based. If this were real, the director would have been charged with the following crimes: Reckless endangerment, accessory in the commission of a crime ( homicide--I would argue pre-meditated murder if I were the prosecutor ), withholding/tampering with evidence ( since he edited the film), illegal transport of evidence across state lines ( the movie was distributed ), kidnapping ( since Katie supposedly disappeared ), violating victim's rights ( since he exploited the event to make TONS of MONEY ), cruel and unusual physical/emotional/psychological treatment of victims ( which is what hauntings and possessions are all about ) and imprisonment/gross negligence ( since he kept the couple in his house throughout the shoot ), etc. There is no Micah Sloat obituary listing in the San Diego area in recent years. Micah is a musician/actor who was attending a Musicians Institute guitar program when he landed the part--he was recently interviewed about the movie ( yep, he's still alive ). Just a few weeks ago, Katie Featherston was found working as a waitress at Boca Di Beppo at Universal CityWalk ( yep, she didn't disappear ). There's a picture of them together which was taken recently--I would post it here if I only knew how to add a second picture to this post.
fyi: In the Philippines, we have something similar to a Ouija Board which we call, "Spirit in the Glass." Here's how you make one: Get a White Poster Board and lay it on the table in front of you. Get a Clear Drinking Glass and invert it. Starting at the upper left corner of the poster board, and working your way clockwise, use the inverted glass to draw circles with a pencil evenly spaced-out along the edges so that the top edge will have 8 circles, the right edge will have 5 circles, the bottom edge will have 8 circles and the left edge will have 5 circles. Again, starting at the top left corner and working your way around in a clockwise fashion, use a Black Marking Pen to write a letter of the alphabet in each circle. Now, draw 5 circles with the inverted glass below the letters written along the top edge, and do the same above the letters along the bottom edge; then put a number in each circle in left to right fashion with numbers 1 - 5 at the top and numbers 6 - 0 at the bottom. Now, use a Yardstick to draw a pencil line ( draw it lightly ) clear across the middle of of the board and lightly draw another line clear across its center and at right angles to the first line drawn. Now use the inverted glass to once again draw a circle in the exact center of the board using the crossed lines as guides, then use the marker to darken and thicken the crossed lines WITHIN the center circle to resemble the Cross. Use the marker to write the letter N ( for "No" ) halfway between the center circle and the left edge of the board and to write the letter Y ( for "Yes" ) halfway between the center circle and the right edge. Have all the participants hold a lighted solitary Red Candle as everyone recites together the prayers "Our Father, " "Hail Mary" and "Glory Be." After the prayers have all been recited, the light is blown out of the candle by everyone. Quickly, put the inverted glass over the extinguished candle so that the smoke accumulates inside of it. With the smoke gathered in the glass, symbolic of The Spirit, the inverted glass is slid unto the center circle, the one with the cross. Now, each participant places his/her right index finger lightly at the bottom of the upside-down glass then one proceeds to ask questions of the spirit.
I remember one night when us kids had nothing else better to do so we decided to go to the next door neighbor's downstairs room to play with the Spirit in the Glass. We didn't want to call on just any passed-on being for fear that it might be mean or scary. So, we decided to call on the neighbor's recently deceased uncle because he was a kind person before he passed on, supposedly. Well, wouldn't you know it, the door swung wide open forcefully as a strong gust of wind came in and blew out the candle that we used to illuminate the room with while the dog outside howled eerily. We all dove for cover under the bed because we didn't want to see it face-to-face. Soon, we ran out of there screaming! Nobody wanted to stay behind because as the saying now goes, "Last one out is a rotten Flesh." Ha, ha, ha.
A few years ago, I bought a Ouija Board in hopes that I can find a girl bold enough to play it with me ( I still have it in my closet ). Anyway, on my way home from work one night on my birthday, I decided that I was going to play it by myself that night since something strange would always happen on my birthday starting with the year that my mother passed away. As soon as I made that decision, I heard a loud noise inside my car which sounded like a firecracker exploded just a couple of feet away from me! I was glad that I didn't lose control of my car on the freeway. When I got home, I grabbed that Ouija Board in both hands and angrily told it that it has no right to endanger me in such a way. Then I shoved it back in the closet where it still patiently sits waiting to be used.
I've had supernatural encounters ever since I was a little kid--even to this day. Any normal house can become haunted if I'm allowed to stay in it for at least six months, especially if my birthday falls in the tail-end of that length of time. As I've said before, the only kind of people that find me attractive are dead ones. But even with my life-long experiences with the supernatural, I would never do what a Tibetan Witch Doctor has to do to master the Black Arts--I'm talking super scary ghoulishly macabre stuff here! Nope, I'm content with just my meditations and prayers, since I play the game strictly on the defensive.
If you like scary videos, go to YouTube and look up "Ghosts, Spirits and Demons" parts 1 through 4, since this movie has that YouTube "feel" to it.
The exorcism of Annaliese Michel was a failure because it was not according to Scriptures, i.e. the exorcism performed by a Roman Catholic Priest is totally different from that which was performed by Jesus Christ, His Apostles, and their Disciples. That's all I have to say. Do your own research if you need to know more.
Spiritual and deeply religious persons are more prone to supernatural encounters, mostly bad. Why? Because it comes with the territory. Jesus Christ alluded to this, Himself, when He told His Apostles about the "dark and winding path."
word of advice: If you are gonna play with a Ouija Board, it's best if you have two players, a male and a female, play it. And be prepared to handle whatever consequence may arise.
If you work as an actor in a movie, try and get paid on percentage points on the gross profits if it's a low budget project. The actors in this movie reportedly got paid just $500.oo each. They could have made more--way more-- had they negotiated successfully for percentage points!
tidbits: I saved this movie for Halloween so I'd have an excuse to leave my condo and not have to deal with a bunch of greedy, high-on-sugar little brats!
Two girls seated in front of me were such "scaredy cats" that I was s-o-o-o-o tempted to reach over and tousle their hair during a particularly frightful scene! I should have, a co-worker of mine, Brett, told me. But I didn't want to take a chance and get slapped with sexual harassment--besides, there were five of them, two of which were guys. Darn it!
Also, another co-worker, J. P., quipped that only white people get possessed in such horror movies, according to Brett. And I countered with, only Roman Catholic white people get possessed in such movies! That movie, THE EXORCIST ( 1973 ), sure started a trend that is all tired and worn-out by now.
