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Review #307 of 365
Movie Review of The Return (2006) [PG-13] 85 minutes
WIP™ Scale: $12.25
Where Viewed: United Artists Denver Pavilions Stadium 15, Denver, CO
When 1st Seen: 14 November 2006
Time: 8:15 p.m.
Film's Official Website
DVD Release Date: unscheduled
Directed by: Asif Kapadia (Cinema16: British Short Films)
Written by: Adam Sussman ("Night Stalker")
Featured Cast (Where You Might Remember Him/Her From):
Sam Shepard (Bandidas) • J.C. MacKenzie (The Departed) • Sarah Michelle Gellar (The Grudge 2) • Adam Scott (Art School Confidential) • Peter O'Brien ("Nightmares and Dreamscapes: From the Stories of Stephen King") • Kate Beahan (The Wicker Man) • Erinn Allison (Fast Food Nation)
Soundtrack: order the CD below
Click for 'Review Lite' [a 150-word or less review of this film]
Where was Sara Michelle Gellar's The Return this past Halloween when we needed it? Finally, a genuinely scary movie that knows the difference between gore and truly frightening stuff, understands how to create suspense intelligently, and realizes that while malevolent Japanese ghost stories like those in The Ring and Dark Water are quite scary, they lack a truly satisfying conclusion. It is too bad that Ms Gellar's previous role in just such a Japanese ghost story movie, The Grudge and her cameo appearance in The Grudge 2, might dissuade people from seeing The Return. It is also too bad that the people marketing The Return chose to make the film look a lot like a clone of The Grudge films for three reasons: (1) it is only remotely like The Grudge, and (2) a lot of people will skip the film because they will think it is just like The Grudge, and (3) Ms Gellar deserves better than to be typecast in this way because the roles she plays are as different as night and day.
"… a very good, scary, psychologically tormented, ghost story…"
Permit me to elaborate after admitting that I was about as eager to see The Return, based on the marketing scheme, as I was to see Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning. In other words, I was not anxious to see it at all. I saved it, in fact, for later in the week, because I was dreading it. Now, I apologize for that. The truth is that I really enjoy a good psychologically scary movie. I prefer to see them during the daylight hours, especially if they are really scary as I am a big chicken. I don't relish driving home in the dark after a good scarefest. I had low, low expectations for The Return based on, as I say, the marketing scheme and the string of Japanese malevolent ghost films, and the 'saw' movies. I had begun to lose confidence in Hollywood's ability to make scary movies anymore. And by scary movie, I mean one that scares you but with the great plot of a thriller or mystery. I'd mention Alfred Hitchcock at this point, but it's been so long since anyone has even come close to making movies capable of scaring like he could, that I am nearly loathe to even bring him up. Seriously, think about how great his movies were. Well, I don't mean to put The Return into his category, however, I will definitely emphasize that it is kilometers (that's 0.62 miles for USAers) closer to Hitchcock than anything we've seen in a really long time. As an initial example, when was the last time you nearly jumped out of your seat during a movie when you saw the reflection of a woman in a mirror? A woman without a grotesque face, or a torn off cheek, or scary make-up, no, just a plain, ordinary reflection of a beautiful woman? Yeah. Well, I never have before, and I would have thought it preposterous to think I ever would. However, Adam Sussman, known for his one episode of "Night Stalker" from 2005, has written an incredibly scary, ghost story thriller that will keep you on the edge of your seat in suspense until the very, very end. Likewise, Asif Kapadia, virtually unknown in the USA, took the script and adapted it to the screen deftly with the touches of a veteran. The chief problem people who've sat through the recent onslaught of these pseudo-scary films is you'll keep wondering, when am I going to start hating this film—unless you love those gorefests in which case you'll be asking yourself why they scare you when this is truly scary with out that gore. Fans of Hostel, think about it. Was Hostel truly scary? It was scary in that there was a fear that the guys would not get away from the torture chambers. It was scary to think that this could really happen to anyone. But other than that? Well, such is not the case for The Return. So, I'm asking you, on good faith, to trust me, and if you are in the mood for a very good, scary, psychologically tormented, ghost story, give The Return a chance.
The story, which takes advantage of the increasingly common technique of time shifting, begins with Joanna Mills (Sarah Michelle Gellar), a corporate sales rep, speeding across the back roads of Texas when her radio starts to malfunction and play a nearly unrecognizable song … on … every … station, and even on her CD player. Suddenly, she slams on the brakes and hops out of the truck as she cannot take listening to this strange song any more. As she approaches the front of her truck, staring into the headlights, she seems confused, remote, estranged from herself. She turns around and we see why she slammed on the brakes. She has come upon a terrible, two-car accident in the middle of the road. A station wagon has been rear-ended by an El Camino. She looks around a bit, and then she passes out. She falls into a dream-like state. We see now, the accident. A man pulls his station wagon over to the side of the road to attend to his daughter in the back. He gets out, walks around the car, opens the door, and comforts her. A few moments later, a speeding El Camino comes from out of nowhere and side swipes the station wagon sending both cars spinning out of control. Next thing we know, Joanna wakes up in the middle of a recently cut cornfield. The cars she slowed down to avoid hitting are gone as are the people. Confused, but now very late for the meeting she was trying to make in time by driving late in the night, she gets back behind the wheel of her truck and heads on. Over the course of the next several hours, she is haunted by feelings that something's not right, and she starts to see things. Her best friend, Michelle (Kate Beahan) whom she meets up with for drinks tries to convince her that the strange things she's seeing are due to the stressful life she has chosen along with her restless spirit. But, Joanna is unconvinced. The things she sees, the visions she's having are too real. She has another one at the nightclub the two go to to get away and reminisce. She goes to the restroom and has a vision of a red bar across the way. She walks over to it and goes in. The scene ends with Michelle finding her in the stall of the night club bathroom having cut her own upper arm with a small pocket knife. Scared and not knowing what to do, Joanna goes through boxes of her old files until she comes across a picture of a processing plant in a town called LaSalle, Texas. She feels compelled to go there, but she is not sure why. On the way, she stops in to see her father, Ed Mills (Sam Shepard), whom she hasn't seen in years. She wants to know when anything he knows about LaSalle. He gives her only vague answers except to mention that it was after their pass through LaSalle that she become violent and uncontrollable. At this, she flees in desperation feeling that an 11-year old who reached out for help from her father and got nothing deserved better. Now, more determined than ever to find out what happened in LaSalle and what is going on with her, she drives to LaSalle and checks in to a really dark hotel run by a creepy, little old lady. Don't worry, there's no ghost of Anthony Perkins in this hotel. From the moment she enters LaSalle, however, to the end of the film, Joanna's real life merges with those of her visions. People in her visions come to life, only they are all now much older. She finds the red bar. When she goes in to have a drink, she is accosted immediately by Kurt Setzer (Adam Scott) and rescued by a mysterious stranger in a jean jacket named Terry Stahl (Peter O'Brien). All the while in the backdrop is a mysterious stranger named Griff (J.C. MacKenzie). I won't give away any more than this as I do not wish to spoil the mystery nor the twists.
The story, which takes advantage of the increasingly common technique of time shifting, begins with Joanna Mills (Sarah Michelle Gellar), a corporate sales rep, speeding across the back roads of Texas when her radio starts to malfunction and play a nearly unrecognizable song … on … every … station, and even on her CD player. Suddenly, she slams on the brakes and hops out of the truck as she cannot take listening to this strange song any more. As she approaches the front of her truck, staring into the headlights, she seems confused, remote, estranged from herself. She turns around and we see why she slammed on the brakes. She has come upon a terrible, two-car accident in the middle of the road. A station wagon has been rear-ended by an El Camino. She looks around a bit, and then she passes out. She falls into a dream-like state. We see now, the accident. A man pulls his station wagon over to the side of the road to attend to his daughter in the back. He gets out, walks around the car, opens the door, and comforts her. A few moments later, a speeding El Camino comes from out of nowhere and side swipes the station wagon sending both cars spinning out of control. Next thing we know, Joanna wakes up in the middle of a recently cut cornfield. The cars she slowed down to avoid hitting are gone as are the people. Confused, but now very late for the meeting she was trying to make in time by driving late in the night, she gets back behind the wheel of her truck and heads on. Over the course of the next several hours, she is haunted by feelings that something's not right, and she starts to see things. Her best friend, Michelle (Kate Beahan) whom she meets up with for drinks tries to convince her that the strange things she's seeing are due to the stressful life she has chosen along with her restless spirit. But, Joanna is unconvinced. The things she sees, the visions she's having are too real. She has another one at the nightclub the two go to to get away and reminisce. She goes to the restroom and has a vision of a red bar across the way. She walks over to it and goes in. The scene ends with Michelle finding her in the stall of the night club bathroom having cut her own upper arm with a small pocket knife. Scared and not knowing what to do, Joanna goes through boxes of her old files until she comes across a picture of a processing plant in a town called LaSalle, Texas. She feels compelled to go there, but she is not sure why. On the way, she stops in to see her father, Ed Mills (Sam Shepard), whom she hasn't seen in years. She wants to know when anything he knows about LaSalle. He gives her only vague answers except to mention that it was after their pass through LaSalle that she become violent and uncontrollable. At this, she flees in desperation feeling that an 11-year old who reached out for help from her father and got nothing deserved better. Now, more determined than ever to find out what happened in LaSalle and what is going on with her, she drives to LaSalle and checks in to a really dark hotel run by a creepy, little old lady. Don't worry, there's no ghost of Anthony Perkins in this hotel. From the moment she enters LaSalle, however, to the end of the film, Joanna's real life merges with those of her visions. People in her visions come to life, only they are all now much older. She finds the red bar. When she goes in to have a drink, she is accosted immediately by Kurt Setzer (Adam Scott) and rescued by a mysterious stranger in a jean jacket named Terry Stahl (Peter O'Brien). All the while in the backdrop is a mysterious stranger named Griff (J.C. MacKenzie). I won't give away any more than this as I do not wish to spoil the mystery nor the twists.
Sarah Michelle Gellar Buy From Art.com
Sam Shepard's near cameo role shows again that he has a habit of turning up in really good little movies when you least expect it. Australian Peter O'Brien does a phenomenal job in this film playing the mysterious, jean-jacket wearing character. Is he a good guy or a bad guy? His poker face hides his hand. J.C. MacKenzie evolves his character over the ages from young Griff to older Griff also skillfully hiding his true intentions and role in the grander mystery. As for Sarah Michelle Gellar, certainly her previous roles laid the groundwork for this one, but the emotional depth of her character as she copes with trying to understand what is happening to her all the while wondering if, quite simply, she's always been mentally insane, delivers a stupendous performance as Joanna Mills. While her character lacks the strength and confidence of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, she has a force of will to get to the bottom of her nightmare. Ms Gellar brings this forth, while simultaneously allowing the emotional instability and fear of losing one's mind simmer just below the surface.
The Return signals, coincidentally, the return of truly scary, psychologically twisty, ghost story films to theatres. Please show your support for this kind of film vs. the gorefests of late by seeing this film and encouraging a shift back to this type of intelligent scary films that rely on psychological suspense to scare rather than sawing, carving, disemboweling, drilling, maiming, torturing, and killing people. Box office dollars are the only thing Hollywood has to gauge what we want to see in the future.
The Return signals, coincidentally, the return of truly scary, psychologically twisty, ghost story films to theatres. Please show your support for this kind of film vs. the gorefests of late by seeing this film and encouraging a shift back to this type of intelligent scary films that rely on psychological suspense to scare rather than sawing, carving, disemboweling, drilling, maiming, torturing, and killing people. Box office dollars are the only thing Hollywood has to gauge what we want to see in the future.
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Click for 'Review Lite' [a 150-word review of this film]
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Other Projects Featuring The Return (2006)
Cast Members
Sam Shepard
• J.C. MacKenzie• Sarah Michelle GellarAdam Scott
• Peter O'Brien• Kate BeahanErinn Allison
Director
Asif Kapadia
Writer
Adam Sussman
| CD Soundtrack | DVD | VHS |
Giants (2006) Review-lite [150-word cap]
When was the last time you recoiled in your seat during a movie at the reflection of a beautiful woman in a mirror? Well, be prepared for Asif Kapadia's new ghost story, The Return starring Sarah "leaving The Grudge behind in the dust" Michelle Gellar that will keep you on the edge of your seat until the very end. The story concerns Joanna Mills's pursuit of the source of visions she has about LaSalle, Texas. When her father, Ed (Sam Shepard), cannot shed any light on things, she goes to LaSalle. From the moment she enters to the end of the film, her real life merges with that of her frightening visions. The Return signals, coincidentally, the return of truly scary ghost stories. Support this film and encourage the making of more intelligent scary films that rely on psychological suspense to scare rather than sawing, disemboweling, torturing, and killing people.
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