Tag Archives: Alison Lohman

Gamer (DVD)

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When I first heard of the premise for Gamer, it almost resulted in an instant facepalm. It seemed like Running Man meets Matrix meets a bunch of bad ideas. Throw a role to a token rapper (in this case Cris ‘Ludacris’ Bridges) and you’ve got another cheesy, hot off the press generic actioner…..right? At least that is what I thought initially. Now that I decided to bite the bullet and watch the movie, I must say that now I am a believer. Gamer is actually a solid film.

The premise behind Gamer is that in the near future, humans can exert mind control over other humans. The catch is that this whole process is voluntary, or at least it is supposed to be. Multiplayer Online Role Playing games are being played utilizing real people called “actors.” Actors undergo treatment to have their minds altered in ordered for them to be controlled. They then rent themselves out to an anonymous user who pays a fee to contol the actor as their in game avatar. The first game, titled “Society” is like a SIMS using real people. Its success led to the release of another game called “Slayers” in which the avatars are player controlled, death row inmates who are pit against one another with the hopes of being released after surviving their 30th match. There are a few more layers to this story, but that is pretty much the gist of it all.

The film was directed by Mark Neveldine and Brian Taylor, the same guys responsible for the Crank movies with Jason Statham. Gamer show a bit of an improvement in their style. the camera and cuts are not as sporadic and seizure inducing as they were in the Crank films. There are just enough snappy edits to give the film a real ‘digital’ feel. You get the impression that you are receiving a feed of the movie and that helps with the immersion factor as it plays in perfectly to this world themed on connectivity.

Gerard Butler gives a solid portrayal of death row inmate Kable Killer. Watching Butler, you really get the impression that this guy is a lethal killing machine as he dispatches with wave after wave of enemies..like he was in a videogame almost! Michael C. Hall is decent as Castle, the main villain responsible for creating this mind control system. The film also features an appearance by the awesome Terry Crews, who many will recognize from White Chicks, The Longest Yard, and a number of other comedies. It is good to see him in a physical role like this as he is obviously built like a linebacker and just looks vicious. Sadly, his role here is a bit wasted as I thought his character had so much more potential in this film. There are other actors in this movie, but the film never really stops to focus on them at all. Besides that, there really isn’t much acting going on, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing in movies like this.

Gamer is a really good film, but not great. It doesn’t break into any new territory that we haven’t seen before, but it is worth watching for its stylized brutality alone. Action fans who aren’t looking to get too deep into a movie’s plot will surely like this film. Overall this movie is well worth renting as it should keep you entertained for its entire hour running time.

Drag Me to Hell (Theaters)

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I went to go check out this movie strictly on the trailer alone. I hadn’t really heard too much about it, but the previews looked promising. Add in the fact that it is directed by Spiderman’s Sam Raimi and I was even more excited.  There is just something about the energy of Raimi’s direction that has a distinct flow and pacing to it that I really like. Would Drag me to Hell be the return to horror form that people have been waiting for from Raimi since his Evil Dead series?

The premise of the movie is simple enough. Christine Brown (Alison Lohman) is an account manager at a bank who reluctantly refuses to grant a foreclosure extension to an old gypsy woman, even after she begs and pleads. As a result, the old gypsy places the curse of the Lamia on Christine, which is a vicious curse that plays out over the course of three days, concluding on the final day with the accursed person being dragged to burn in hell. The movie focuses on Christine trying to avoid the inevitable and somehow beat the curse.

While the plot may be pretty basic, the beauty of this film is in Raimi’s execution. He is a master of setting up a scary scene. Often times in horror films , cheap scares are way too telegraphed to be effective, usually resulting in a completely wasted set up. This is not the case with this film.  Raimi sets you up perfectly then knocks you down. Even when you suspect something is coming, when it finally happens it still manages to catch you off guard. While a few parts of the movie may get into ridiculously gory territory, the film maintains its overall vicious and unrelenting voice.  Despite a few slight distractions, the story maintains its tension and keeps you on the edge of you seat as you can literally feel the days of the curse counting down.

The casting in this film is excellent, most notably Alison Lohman as Christine Brown. You can really see her inner struggle when she has to reject the old woman for her extension.  She is quite convincing as an example of when bad things happen to good people and you can’t help but sympathize for her. Justin Long is good as her supportive boyfriend, however he isn’t given a whole lot to do in this film, but it is still refreshing to see him here.  Lorna Raver is excellent as the old gypsy Sylvia Ganosh.   She strikes that perfect balance between eerie and creepy with horrific results. I had to turn around a few times after the film to double check that she wasn’t behind me.

Drag Me to Hell isn’t exactly the scariest movie I’ve ever seen, but it is definitely one of the most entertaining. There is some serious dark humor in this film along with some legitimate jump out of your seat scares.  For horror fans, this film is definitely worth checking out and is guaranteed to keep you entertained for the entire time.