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hwinstead
Reviews
Home (2016)
The movie missed the clever bus
This movie plays out like a Lifetime Original movie. There may be spoilers ahead, so read at your own risk.
I found the character of Carrie to be particularly difficult to like, and her particular brand of fundamentalism doesn't even come across as fundamentalist. This could have been a fantastic story of a girl coming to grips with her new family and shaking the oppression that comes from being raised in a Christian fundamentalist environment. What I see of Carrie is her getting mildly uncomfortable when people don't pray, a desire to go to morning mass, and a tendency to say the Hail Mary prayer like it has an expiration date.
They don't spend time building out the relationships between any of the characters. The youngest daughter just comes across as your standard creepy movie kid, Samantha is stand-offish, and Heather is weirdly disinterested and awkward. It's hard to believe that either of the adult women know how to be parents, much less a same-sex couple who has to fight twice as hard to be seen as legitimately acceptable.
Instead of getting great social commentary and tense moments, I got half-hearted jump scares and sloppy characterization. If you have low production values, don't rely on devices that showcase how much of a budget you don't have. The ending? Predictable and underwhelming. This could have been so fantastic, but a nice concept doesn't make for a good movie. It would have been a better miniseries. It's worth a watch, but I wouldn't pay more than a dollar to see it.
Ed Gein: The Butcher of Plainfield (2007)
Nobody cared enough about this movie to make it good
This movie plays out like a terrible Hostel ripoff. Apparently, in order to be be based on a true story, you just have to have a couple names in common with historical figures. Ed Gein, as a man, was terribly interesting. His story was the inspiration for countless horror movies, but this is just plain awful. Graphic without needing to be graphic. Gory without any of the fun of gore. Even the sub-par acting takes a lot of the fun out of sub-par acting.
The worst part of this movie, however, was the fact that the powers that be didn't even care enough about it to cat a guy who looks like Ed Gein to play Ed Gein. Why, pray tell, does he look like a professional wrestler? Why does he talk so much? Why does he look so young?
If you like being disappointed and know nothing about serial killers, by all means watch this movie.