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"The Entrance" DVD
Here is an excellent
way to test the old maxim about judging books by their cover.
"The Entrance" carries some of the freakiest box art
I've seen in a while--and you all know I see plenty of box art--but
it will remain to be seen whether the movie can match up to the
art.
It's somewhat based
on a true story--detailed in the opening minute of "The Entrance"
is a renowned exorcist's writing about a possessed nun back in
1612. I say "somewhat" because most of this will clearly
have nothing to do with anything anybody wrote at the dawn of
the seventeenth century. Like a bunch of criminals, psychopaths,
and generally all-around sick puppies getting kidnapped and forced
to play a series of games for their lives. Winners get to live--losers
get sacrificed!
I do have some problems
with "The Entrance". One, that plotline sounds real
familiar, don't it? If that doesn't sound at least vaguely like
"Saw" to anyone else then I've got a screw loose. Two,
in all honesty, it's a little too quickly paced. A movie dealing
with demons that make games should be a little more subtle, shouldn't
it? It probably should, but subtlety will not be a long point
for "The Entrance".
As to whether or not
it's any good, well...let me just say this. This is, quite possibly,
the single WEIRDEST "Saw" knockoff I've ever seen. When
I saw a bunch of guys play Musical Chairs for their lives, competing
against a drug dealer and a child molester, and the child molester
loses and gets "taken away" by demons, a sequence that
involves a lot of high-speed wobbling and what might have been
screaming, I was just blown away.
Later, they played
bingo.
Look, seriously...how
many movies have you seen in your lifetime where bingo is a plot
point? I can't remember any, in all honesty. And I have to give
"The Entrance" plenty of credit--they certainly engineered
a doozy of a scenario, building up to a pretty damn good ending.
I can't tell you much
about the ending, sadly--to do so would
spoiler like no tomorrow--but suffice it to say it's not half
bad. Granted, in retrospect it's a smidge cliched but when you're
watching it it'll be a pretty big surprise. A couple of them,
even.
The special features
include English and Spanish subtitles, along with a making-of
featurette and trailers for "The Entrance", "The
Eye", "The Chair", "Sight", "Seance",
"Knock Knock", the 2007 After Dark Horrorfest and Fearnet.
The freaky one, too, with the little psychokinetic girl with the
thing jammed in her mouth.
All in all, while "The
Entrance" definitely has its flaws, there will be more than
a little to like about it, and should make for at least one good
rental. This will be one of the rare cases where freaky box art
will lead to freaky movie. Just an exception that proves the rule.
The
Entrance
**
DVD
Directed by Damon Vignale
Written by Damon Vignale
Starring Sarah Jane Redmond, Michael Eklund, Ron Sauve, Jerry
Wasserman
Produced by Andrew Hamilton, Damon Vignale
R
81 mins
2008
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