IN A VIOLENT NATURE

I went to see this movie here in Vallejo, CA at the Century 14, today, June 4th, 2024, an All Day Bargain Tuesday. The price of admission was $6.50. I brought a Margaritaville Strawberry Daiquiri Singles To Go packet to flavor my iced 20 oz ( 591 ml ) bottle of Dasani Water. And I also brought with me a SlimFast Keto Strawberry Topped Cheesecake mini snack bar and a Ratio Keto Friendly Toasted Almond Crunchy Bar for lunch.

Auditorium 3, B-6

Scene Commentaries:

The necklace.  😐

Before I continue further, here are the 3 trope cliches that I see repeatedly in horror/slasher movies: No dogs when they are sorely needed, victims lack Peripheral Vision and "slow as molasses" killers! 😒  Also, don't ever venture into the wilderness unprepared and unarmed because it's not a G-rated, kid-friendly dizzy-knee environment to find yourself in--and remember what I said recently about having a snake bite kit in your emergency pack❗😉❗

Okay, so here goes ....

Approximately 65% to 75% of this movie 👉Is WASTED👈 on following the slow-moving killer in the woods. It's as if this length of time is used to think up what to do or how to handle the next victim. 😕  Obviously, no brainstorming session was even added to the production of this low budget movie. As if this wasted time is not enough, there isn't even any music to accompany the "suspenseful" 🥱 scenes!

The old fart victim knew the lay of the land, and even had trail markers set in place. Yet, somehow, he still managed to get himself ensnared in his own bear trap❗🤦‍♂️❗

Probably the only noteworthy scene in this movie was when the 2nd victim's top part of the head was thrown through a glass window and it landed right side up! 👌

Why did yoga 🧘🏼‍♀️ girl just stand there when it was safe enough for her to slide herself down the long embankment❓

Back about 9 years ago, I was walking in the trail section of Dan Foley Park when I arrived at the embankment and noticed something at the lake shore which caught my interest. I started walking down the embankment for a closer look when I lost my footing on the loose gravel and hyper-flexed my bad left knee❗😖❗And I didn't have my Articulated Knee Brace on because I forgot to put it on before I left my condo. 🤦‍♂️  And I thought that nothing bad was going to happen to my knee! Oh, boy, did I ever think incorrectly!!  🙄  It was one long and painful walk for me out of the trail!!!  😣

The killer's eyes are clouded-over but he can still see with them?!?!?!  👨‍🦯

Why didn't the ranger call for emergency back-up ❓🤷‍♂️❗🤦‍♂️❓

Why didn't the shotgun-toting ranger shoot out the killer's arms and legs when he had plenty of time to do so?  🤷‍♂️  After all, the ranger knew that the killer died years before; and making it Deader than DEAD should not even be up for a moral discussion. There was also a handy axe 🪓 nearby that could have been used for such a job, too!  REMEMBER: Neutralize A Threat As Best You Can As Soon As Possible❗

Okay, the killer is supposedly learning-disabled and, based on his origin, never was around machinery long enough to learn to operate any such machinery! Yet, The Killer Was Able To Easily Identify & Operate A Log Splitter❗🙄❗

Why in HELL did the last victim stand well within striking distance of the killer❓🤷‍♂️❗

It's time for me to reword the Lizzie Borden poem:

Killer Johnny took an axe, gave the victim 40 whacks! Once he liked what he had done, gave the victim 'nother 41❗🪓❗

The woman stood frozen on the spot as if she was thinking to herself, "Nope, I ain't having any of this sh!t❗" 

The boring story told in the truck almost made me fall asleep!  😔

This movie was made with just one thing in mind: Make it gory simply for the sake of gore. And you'd be braindead to expect more of this movie!  👎

In fact, the other Canadian movie that I recently saw, LOWLIFES, is better than this one!  👍

This movie was filmed in the Canadian side of Sault ( pronounced: "Soo" ) Sainte Marie.

The red dot that I made above the 

Sault Sainte Marie name was

where we dined & stayed 

for the evening.

My eldest sister and her late husband ( along with my then little niece ) took me to The United States' side of Sault Sainte Marie back in 2005 ( almost 19 years ago ), during my 1st ever trip to Michigan. We stayed the night at a motel. It was also the very 1st time that I had Fish & Chips!  😋

The Soo Locks is where boats from Canada and from The United States are put in an enclosure where the water level is then lowered ( from the Canadian side ) and raised ( from The United States side ) for the boats to travel to and from "Canada's" Lake Superior to "The United States'" Lake Huron. The word, Sault ( pronounced: "Soo" ) is French for Falls or Rapids. And which is why they put a boat enclosure, i.e. Locks, in place to raise or lower the water level depending on which country a boat needs to travel to.

You can stand at the river bank of Sault Saint Marie and can see the Canadians across the river. You could even converse with them if you wanted to--in English! My sister's late husband quipped that if he ever drove their SUV across the border, he wouldn't be checked for a passport but we would have to be checked!  😁 😁 😁

It was a cold afternoon in late September or in late October when we watched the Soo Locks in operation. It's the # 1 tourist attraction in the quaint US town of Sault Sainte Marie.  😏  And, boy, was it cold---My butt was freezing!  🥶  After that experience, I would make sure to wear thermal or fleece underpants whenever I'd vacation during the cold season in Grand Rapids, Michigan.  😀 

Tidbit:

Claudio, the Jason Momoa lookalike was there. He asked me what movie that I was there to see. I told him that I was about to see IN A VIOLENT NATURE. He thought that it seemed like an '80s slasher flick. I told him I'll let him know what I think about the movie later on.

I did a little bit of walking around the parking 🅿️ lot before my next movie started. And I did get around to telling Claudio that this horror movie majorly sucked Big Time❗🧐👎❗

-------

Here are the 24-Hour Le Cine-Man's Race winners. Drumroll  🥁  please ....

Congratulations to Hong Kong for 

winning in 1st place!

🎉🎇🏆🎆🎊

🇭🇰🥇🇭🇰

❗❗

🍾

Congratulations to Israel for 

winning in 2nd place!

🇮🇱🥈🇮🇱

❗❗

Congratulations to The United States 

for winning in 3rd place!

🇺🇲🥉🇺🇸

❗❗

❗

Thanks to the nations that competed in today's 24-Hour Race to the Finish!   🏁       🛣️       🏎️

*

THE COLLECTOR, R ( 1 hr & 29 min )

where: EDWARDS FAIRFIELD STADIUM 16 in Fairfield, CA

when: Sunday, August 2nd, 2009

show: 8:00 pm

costs: $10.50 Ticket + $4.50 small Diet/Zero Coke = $15.00

auditorium: 13

seat: 4th row, 8ht column

synopsis: A serial killer bumps into a nocturnal stealer.

Arkin ( Josh Stewart ), an ex-prisoner working as a handyman for a wealthy family has a girlfriend who owes a loan shark "big time," a debt that has to be paid off by midnight or something bad will happen to his girlfriend and their daughter. Having "cased the joint" for about five months, he tells his partner-in-crime boss in desperation that he needs to steal from his employer soon as night falls or he walks. His boss reluctantly consents. What Arkin doesn't know is that a serial killer is already at the house and is at work performing his trademark modus operandi. After realizing what is taking place, Arkin has a change of heart and decides to help the family escape, a task made extremely hard with assorted traps and tripwires scattered all over the house.

noteworthy scenes: 1.) The Botox scene; 2.) Arkin's boss reminding him of their "routine;" 3.) The dog; 4.) The victimized employer; 5.) The telephone and window; 6.) Finding the couple; 7.) The trunk; 8.) Acid trap room; 9.) Hysterical wife; 10.) Jill ( Madeline Zima ) and her boyfriend; 11.) The Bear Trap room; 12.) The scissors; 13.)The TV and aquarium; 14.) Breaking down the door; 15.) Chisel and cockroaches; 16.) The flaming bucket; 17.) The ambulance; 18.) The "Special Thanks" dedication in the ending credits; and 19.) The bonus scene after the ending credits.

audience reaction: It was just a typical reaction expected of such an audience watching a movie of this kind, except for two girls who were more excited than the rest of us. Hmmph! newbies ....

recommendation: This sloppy movie should have been one of those straight-to-video kinds. Save your money and wait for this to come out as a rental.

spoiler alert! I interviewed a cosmetic surgeon today, Monday, at 11:15 am about the Botox scene in the movie; he said that this procedure is not a "do-it-yourself-at-home" (DIYAH) kind. Arkin, who has worked for the family for five months, should have known that something was amiss because of the strange dog kept in the yard. If I were to burgle someone's house, I'd make sure to carry a gun for protection and a cell phone--everybody these days carries a cell phone, even school kids--some of them even carry a gun, too, sad to say! Are we to believe that the serial killer was able to set-up shop with all his assorted traps and tripwires in about a six-hour time and still had time left over to torture his victims? Come on, it probably took the Carpentry Department, the Props Department and the SFX Department days to set everything in order. The serial killer could easily navigate around his complex and elaborate traps and tripwires in the dark BUT ... every time he walked up and down the stairs he would always inexplicably step on that one creaky step! Duh! While struggling for her life, Jill somehow managed to pull out her cell phone, turn it on and then dial 9-1-1. B. S.! Why didn't the goldfish get electrocuted? When Arkin got the better of The Collector, why didn't he finish him off? Multiple stab wounds cause quite a loss of blood, enough to weaken ( or kill ) even the strongest serial killer, one would rightfully think! Why was there only one emergency medical technician ( EMT ) in the ambulance ( they are usually a two- or three-man team )? The ending was a total let-down. In the ending credits, when Jill's face was shown again, the nail that was driven across the bridge of her nose in an earlier scene was now missing--Hardee Har-har!

fyi: Other movie reviewers label this movie as a "Torture Porn." This is a misnomer! One of the meanings of Torture is to inflict intense pain for sheer cruel pleasure, it also means a cause of intense pain . And Pornography is defined as any sexually explicit material ( a movie, in this case ) which arouses sexual desire. Although there were nude scenes in this movie, not one of them aroused any sexual desire in me because A.) Skanky strippers are a turn-off for me, and B.) In Jill's case, I knew what was about to happen to her and that pretty much negated any hope for sexual arousal on my ( ahem! ) "part." But I must confess, watching this sloppily-made lame excuse for a movie was sheer torture for me!

This movie is aptly called, Slasher Flick! If anybody tells you that this movie is a Torture Porn, slap the idiot in the face and hope that it will put some sense into his/her under-used brain.

Back in the Philippines, there was this article in the newspaper about a fisherman who got impatient one day. So, he climbed up an electrical pole nearby, slashed a wire, and threw it into the pond. Soon, catfish and gourami fish were floating up to the surface. In his excitement, he dove into the water! ( Fill in the rest .... )

word of advice: To all of you movie makers out there, if I want to know about a serial killer who kills at random and without motivation, I don't need to see your movie at all because I can just watch or read the news about such evil people. In the case of movies, Art should not necessarily imitate Life because movies are a form of Escapism to help us forget about the banality, evilness, cruelty and/or senselessness of the real world out there. So, do your job--and do it right--damn it! Or I'll take your job away from you. Where's Hollywood when I need it?

tidbits: This movie should have been titled, "SPIDER-MAD STRIKES AGAIN" or "'ORKIN' MAN VERSUS ARKIN MAN."

In the scene wherein Jill takes her boyfriend to her house, one of the two aforementioned girls in the audience yelled out, "Bullshit!" much to everyone else's amusement.

From the looks of it, I think they're planning to make sequels out of this! O Lord ....

I originally planned on seeing this movie at the Brenden's cineplex in Vacaville, for the 7:35 pm show, because I haven't been to that place in so long. But Cal-Trans, again, was at it, re-paving the freeway and slowing down traffic. There was no way that I could have made it in time for the show--and I didn't want to take a chance and get pulled over again. So, I just settled for Edwards in Fairfield, instead.

After the movie, I went and used a toilet stall to empty my bladder. The men's room floor was littered with pieces of toilet tissue. I had a Hell of a time taking one off the bottom of a shoe only to have another one get stuck to the bottom of another shoe, alternating one for the other as I walked out of there. Maybe this is why the men's room door was removed from its hinges, so the security camera could film me for an upcoming episode of America's Funniest Security Videos. Who knows, this just might be my ticket to Hollywood! Here I come, the actor/writer/editor/casting agent/director and future producer--and last, but certainly not least--the movie review blogger, Cine-Man!