Let me start this comment of by saying that I love the first two "I know..." movies. They were THE horror movies (aside from Scream) that I grew up with. So I was naturally thrilled to find out that another movie had recently been added to the series. So I went out of my way to get a copy and started watching (with lowered expectations, nonetheless, finding out that this was video only). The very first minutes already set the mood that would accompany me through the whole movie: a cheap rip-off, much to predictable with acting that is only average at best. But let us now go into detail on the various parts of the movie.
Acting As I have already mentioned, the acting is average at best, in some scenes however very mediocre. I don't think it does a movie any good when you dislike the main character from the very first minute she appears on screen. Though that might just be a personal impression, I doubt it would change the overall impression of the acting.
Filming / Cuts / Effects etc. Here is where I find some very few of the positive aspects of the movie. It does indeed have some nice shots of landscape, with some interesting techniques of cuts, fast forwarding and quick stops. However, as nice as these effects might be, they appeared terribly out of place in a movie of this kind (I could well see them fit better in movies such as "Donnie Darko").
Soundtrack While hardly being remarkable or memorable, the soundtrack (a series of rock and hard-rock songs - as so often in horror movies) works. It fits the intended mood of the movie, but unfortunately doesn't get anywhere close to other memorable soundtracks of this genre or even the previous movies of this series.
The scares Unfortunately, about 90% of the scares in this movie were incredibly predictable. If you have seen the previous two movies, you will hardly be surprised whenever the "fisherman" appears - apparently out of nowhere. As a compensation, or at least so it seems, so more gory deaths were added. Yet again, nothing really remarkable.
"..Always.." as the trilogy's 'conclusion' Unfortunately, "Always" never got anywhere close to the feeling of the original two movies. Actually it felt more like a cheap rip-off or - at the most - spin-off than an actual continuation of the story. The whole character setup and their connections with each other were much to closely based on the original characters and thus hardly left a chance for a fresh, new movie. In addition to that, "Always" borrowed heavily from other horror movies, such as the already mentioned Scream series and the "Urban Legends", only to name a few (the pool scene, the "fisherman's death etc.). The worst thing about this movie, however, is the direction they decided to take with Ben Willis, the killer in the original movies. Since Willis was seemingly killed in "I still know" (the very last scene could easily be interpreted as a dream), something new had to made up. But instead of going with the "killer is part of the family, no matter how obscure the relation" scheme, or inventing a motive for another killer, the directors/screenwriters/producers decided to go supernatural. Ben Willis has apparently transformed into an undead being, complete with red eyes, grey skin and the oh-so-useful ability to appear and disappear whenever wanted. In my humble opinion, this change to the supernatural is a step that goes to far away from the original movies.
Conclusion In my opinion "Always" is a movie that, if you've liked the original movies and seen a couple of other horror flicks, you will most likely find boring and predictable - if not even disappointing - and thus can, with a clear conscience - leave standing on the shelve of the rental store. Save your precious bucks for a good movie that is worth the price.
Acting As I have already mentioned, the acting is average at best, in some scenes however very mediocre. I don't think it does a movie any good when you dislike the main character from the very first minute she appears on screen. Though that might just be a personal impression, I doubt it would change the overall impression of the acting.
Filming / Cuts / Effects etc. Here is where I find some very few of the positive aspects of the movie. It does indeed have some nice shots of landscape, with some interesting techniques of cuts, fast forwarding and quick stops. However, as nice as these effects might be, they appeared terribly out of place in a movie of this kind (I could well see them fit better in movies such as "Donnie Darko").
Soundtrack While hardly being remarkable or memorable, the soundtrack (a series of rock and hard-rock songs - as so often in horror movies) works. It fits the intended mood of the movie, but unfortunately doesn't get anywhere close to other memorable soundtracks of this genre or even the previous movies of this series.
The scares Unfortunately, about 90% of the scares in this movie were incredibly predictable. If you have seen the previous two movies, you will hardly be surprised whenever the "fisherman" appears - apparently out of nowhere. As a compensation, or at least so it seems, so more gory deaths were added. Yet again, nothing really remarkable.
"..Always.." as the trilogy's 'conclusion' Unfortunately, "Always" never got anywhere close to the feeling of the original two movies. Actually it felt more like a cheap rip-off or - at the most - spin-off than an actual continuation of the story. The whole character setup and their connections with each other were much to closely based on the original characters and thus hardly left a chance for a fresh, new movie. In addition to that, "Always" borrowed heavily from other horror movies, such as the already mentioned Scream series and the "Urban Legends", only to name a few (the pool scene, the "fisherman's death etc.). The worst thing about this movie, however, is the direction they decided to take with Ben Willis, the killer in the original movies. Since Willis was seemingly killed in "I still know" (the very last scene could easily be interpreted as a dream), something new had to made up. But instead of going with the "killer is part of the family, no matter how obscure the relation" scheme, or inventing a motive for another killer, the directors/screenwriters/producers decided to go supernatural. Ben Willis has apparently transformed into an undead being, complete with red eyes, grey skin and the oh-so-useful ability to appear and disappear whenever wanted. In my humble opinion, this change to the supernatural is a step that goes to far away from the original movies.
Conclusion In my opinion "Always" is a movie that, if you've liked the original movies and seen a couple of other horror flicks, you will most likely find boring and predictable - if not even disappointing - and thus can, with a clear conscience - leave standing on the shelve of the rental store. Save your precious bucks for a good movie that is worth the price.
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