HOME |  CULT MOVIES | COMPETITIONS | ADVERTISE |  CONTACT US |  ABOUT US
 
 
 
Newest Reviews
American Fiction
Poor Things
Thunderclap
Zeiram
Legend of the Bat
Party Line
Night Fright
Pacha, Le
Kimi
Assemble Insert
Venus Tear Diamond, The
Promare
Beauty's Evil Roses, The
Free Guy
Huck and Tom's Mississippi Adventure
Rejuvenator, The
Who Fears the Devil?
Guignolo, Le
Batman, The
Land of Many Perfumes
Cat vs. Rat
Tom & Jerry: The Movie
Naked Violence
Joyeuses Pacques
Strangeness, The
How I Became a Superhero
Golden Nun
Incident at Phantom Hill
Winterhawk
Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City
Maigret Sets a Trap
B.N.A.
Hell's Wind Staff, The
Topo Gigio and the Missile War
Battant, Le
Penguin Highway
Cazadore de Demonios
Snatchers
Imperial Swordsman
Foxtrap
   
 
Newest Articles
3 From Arrow Player: Sweet Sugar, Girls Nite Out and Manhattan Baby
Little Cat Feat: Stephen King's Cat's Eye on 4K UHD
La Violence: Dobermann at 25
Serious Comedy: The Wrong Arm of the Law on Blu-ray
DC Showcase: Constantine - The House of Mystery and More on Blu-ray
Monster Fun: Three Monster Tales of Sci-Fi Terror on Blu-ray
State of the 70s: Play for Today Volume 3 on Blu-ray
The Movie Damned: Cursed Films II on Shudder
The Dead of Night: In Cold Blood on Blu-ray
Suave and Sophisticated: The Persuaders! Take 50 on Blu-ray
Your Rules are Really Beginning to Annoy Me: Escape from L.A. on 4K UHD
A Woman's Viewfinder: The Camera is Ours on DVD
Chaplin's Silent Pursuit: Modern Times on Blu-ray
The Ecstasy of Cosmic Boredom: Dark Star on Arrow
A Frosty Reception: South and The Great White Silence on Blu-ray
You'll Never Guess Which is Sammo: Skinny Tiger and Fatty Dragon on Blu-ray
Two Christopher Miles Shorts: The Six-Sided Triangle/Rhythm 'n' Greens on Blu-ray
Not So Permissive: The Lovers! on Blu-ray
Uncomfortable Truths: Three Shorts by Andrea Arnold on MUBI
The Call of Nostalgia: Ghostbusters Afterlife on Blu-ray
Moon Night - Space 1999: Super Space Theater on Blu-ray
Super Sammo: Warriors Two and The Prodigal Son on Blu-ray
Sex vs Violence: In the Realm of the Senses on Blu-ray
What's So Funny About Brit Horror? Vampira and Bloodbath at the House of Death on Arrow
Keeping the Beatles Alive: Get Back
   
 
  Return, The Memories of Murder
Year: 2007
Director: Asif Kapadia
Stars: Sarah Michelle Gellar, Peter O’Brien, Sam Shepard, Adam Scott, Kate Beahan, J.C. Mackenzie, Erinn Allison, Darrian McClanahan, Frank Ertl
Genre: Horror, ThrillerBuy from Amazon
Rating:  4 (from 1 vote)
Review: Tormented by supernatural visions of a young woman’s brutal murder, Joanna Mills (Sarah Michelle Gellar) is drawn to the victim’s home town of La Salle, Texas. Estranged from her father (Sam Shepard) and stalked by an obsessed ex-boyfriend (Adam Scott), Joanna has her own demons. In La Salle, she becomes involved with Terry (Peter O’Brien) a mysterious outsider with strong connections both to the murder and to Joanna’s own, traumatic past.

Asif Kapadia’s follow-up to his award-winning The Warrior (2002) strives to be a classier kind of supernatural thriller, rather than the Ring knock-off or slasher clone audiences might expect it to be. His carefully framed anamorphic compositions and bleached out cinematography suggest an attempt to marry the pseudo-Hitchcockian trickery of What Lies Beneath (2000) with the psychological claustrophobia of Roman Polanski’s, peerless, Repulsion (1965).

Sam Shepard’s weighty presence amidst the cast clues you in to what The Return really is: a dust-bowl drama trying to shake off its horror movie skin. The end result is neither fish nor fowl, but woefully anaemic both as drama and supernatural thriller. Viewers interested in the dramatic angle - Joanna’s childhood trauma and abusive ex - will struggle wading through the mistimed shocks and a screeching soundtrack that does not just underline the scares - it double-underlines them in case you’re too stupid to realise what’s happening on-screen is really, really scary. Meanwhile, horror fans will be under whelmed by a distinct lack of thrills.

On the plus side, Kapadia and D.P. Roman Osmin capture the breadth, beauty and unsettling nature of the Texan landscape and a capable cast do their best to breathe life into characters whose complex relationships appear to have been curtailed in the finished film. Peter O’Brien does the strong and silent act well, but viewers of a certain age are likely to keep thinking: “Hey, that’s Shane from Neighbours!”

Through seven seasons of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Sarah Michelle Gellar demonstrated she was a bright, gifted, formidable talent. It seemed like the perfect calling card to film producers, but her movie career still hasn’t taken off. She gives her all in The Return, but is let down by the lethargy that surrounds this whole enterprise. Like his leading lady, Asif Kapadia is a distinctive talent, poorly served by such run-of-the-mill material. Here’s hoping they both move on to better things.

Reviewer: Andrew Pragasam

 

This review has been viewed 2809 time(s).

As a member you could Rate this film

 
Review Comments (0)


Untitled 1

Login
  Username:
 
  Password:
 
   
 
Forgotten your details? Enter email address in Username box and click Reminder. Your details will be emailed to you.
   

Latest Poll
Which star probably has psychic powers?
Laurence Fishburne
Nicolas Cage
Anya Taylor-Joy
Patrick Stewart
Sissy Spacek
Michelle Yeoh
Aubrey Plaza
Tom Cruise
Beatrice Dalle
Michael Ironside
   
 
   

Recent Visitors
Mary Sibley
Enoch Sneed
Darren Jones
Mark Le Surf-hall
  Louise Hackett
Andrew Pragasam
Graeme Clark
  Desbris M
   

 

Last Updated: