cmsacco-1 Reviews

Wicked Little Things (2006)

Don't believe the ill-gotten hype

[2/10 · 22 February 2007]

I'm guessing that the folks talking up this drivel are cronies of the director or something. This is bad, and not in the Michael Jackson song kind of way. To compare the pacing of this movie to the progress of a snail would be to insult the snail. This movie limps along for what seems like an eternity, all to introduce us to some un-scary zombie kids with silly makeup and some sort of vendetta, or thirst for blood, or whatever. Believe me, you won't care. The thought alone that Mom would move her two daughters into this dilapidated and FILTHY home is absurd. And worse, I found myself simply not caring. Backstory about the zombie kids? Snore. Endangerment of Mom and/or daughters? Don't care.

In short, WOW was this dull. Don't bother.

Hostage (2005)

Poorly conceived thriller.

[3/10 · 5 July 2005]

This film was much too convoluted for its own good. Bruce Willis is fine in his ultra-cliché role of the "damaged cop," as are most of the other actors, and the movie does begin with a few promising scenes. But then it quickly (VERY quickly, I might add) devolves into a silly mess. I would echo the sentiments of other users who pointed out that much of what occurs seems completely unnecessary. For instance, why didn't the "big" bad guys (let's call them "the guys who wanted the DVD," for lack of a better term) simply infiltrate the house themselves? Why enlist Talley when what he could or could not do was unavoidably going to be dictated (at least to some extent) by the young hostage-takers in the house (i.e., the "punks")? The "DVD bad guys" tell Talley, "don't let anyone get in or out of the house..." Fine, but isn't that asking a whole heck of a lot from just one guy? Why take such a risk? Do criminals - especially these organized-crime types - generally take such unnecessary gambles? Wouldn't it have been much easier - and the end result much more certain - if they simply repelled into the house without getting anyone else involved? Not to mention the fact that they wouldn't have had to go through the trouble of kidnapping Talley's wife and daughter, further subjecting themselves to exposure! The conclusion was equally convoluted, although I suppose I should not have expected this mess to be wrapped up in a neat package. Maybe I missed something - but did we ever even discover who the head "DVD bad guy" was? Was I to assume that he was in the cabin and got a bullet in the skull? And why did Kevin Pollack's character act like he was the one calling the shots? For a moment I thought HE was supposed to be the guy in charge after all, but then that theory fell apart when Talley simply left him behind. Why wasn't he arrested?

The real shame here is that if this entire "DVD bad guy" subplot is done away with, this may have been an entertaining film. We would be left with the three punks and a hostage situation that's harrowing because one of the three is an unpredictable psychopath. The social underpinnings are interesting, because the punks' motivations (Dennis' at least) seem to relate to the sharp divide between the haves and have nots. The director is then free to exercise his stylistic choices within the confines of a simple, but entertaining, set up. Unfortunately, such is not the case and we are ultimately left with this nonsensical slop.