Trevor

These "2009 DVDTalk Horror Challenge Day #" threads are for the discussion of the films in the 31 Films in 31 Days subset.

General discussion on the 2009 DVDTalk Horror Challenge goes here, your list for the Challenge goes here.

The plan is for everyone to watch this film on the October day in the thread title, and to start discussing it the morning of the following day. You may start discussion early if you want, but the preferred plan is for this to be as much of a group exercise as possible, with all of us viewing it "together" and discussing after.

Of course, you are totally encouraged to participate in these threads even if you haven't watched the movie on the designated day. Even if you haven't watched it in years, or are not participating in the Horror Challenge, please feel free to chime in.

Spoiler tags will not be needed, as it will be expected that anyone here has seen the film.

Do not read this thread if you have not seen the film, unless you don't mind the ending being spoiled for you.

Cardsfan111

I'll go ahead and begin some discussion on this. I "accidentally" watched this a few days ago. Well, I guess I watched it on purpose, doing so without realizing it was on our 31 days/films list. Found it on a Triple Feature disc at Wal-Mart for $5.

This film was intense. Obviously, it was very uncomfortable to see the violence against helpless children. As a result, I think I liked this better after it was over and I had a moment or two to reflect on it.

If I had to make a criticism, I wish more time would have been taken in showing the young mother slowly breaking down. As it stood, it was easy to see she was struggling and that things were beginning to unravel. It seemed so abrupt that she just snapped and flew into her murderous rage.

Good performances by the two main leads. I was especially impressed with young Ridge Canipe

ZOMBIEDAVE

Very disturbing movie had me on the edge of my seat.

The ending nearly ruined it for me.To have the husband willing to take her back after everything I find hard to believe.

I guess they were thinking sequel. Ugh!

MrTerrific

I really liked the movie. But I do agree that the lead's descent into madness should have been explained a little better. I guess the matchbook was the final straw.

And the end nearly ruined it for me too. The husband is willing to take her back? And even if she's crazy or whatever, she did kill 3 children, so wouldn't she be in crazy prison for a while?

J. Farley

I didn't realize it was on the subset either until after I'd watched it. This is a disturbing film with some intense imagery. The first 30 minutes are especially rattling, as we are treated to an all too realistic portrait of a mental breakdown. One particularly effective scene sees the mother sitting in a daze as she imagines heinous sounds eminating from the baby monitor in place of the baby's actual crying. The film eventually turns more towards a slasher type scenario, only with kids as the victims instead of the typical teenager. Not to say that it gets less disturbing, it actually doesn't. The kills get under your skin, especially the first one we're witness too involving the sharp point of a mirror. Colleen Porch is fantastic as the mother, never taking things over the top, something that easily could have happened. The kids are good too, all perfectly believable as normal kids in a terrible situation. There's a scene where the mother attempts to drown her daughter in the tub, the whole thing made more effective by one of the kid's reactions in the background, something that rang very true to me. Anyway, this isn't a film for everyone, but it's exceptionally well done.

Mondo Kane

I agree w/ others that the first half-hour was definetly unnerving. I'll also echo J. Farley's comments with the "kids as the victims instead of the typical teenager", but it's too bad that the film completely morphed into a cat-and-mouse chase.

At least I didn't mind the ending. Afterall, if this was based on a true story and if that the ending was indeed factual, then that makes it all the more horrific!

smashthesymbols

I didn't care for it, mostly due to those three reasons. There was no character development, she just snapped abruptly. Then quickly killed three kids and the rest of the movie was her and the oldest son running in circles around the farm. Then to top it all off the father wanted to take her back. I'll admit there were a couple tense moments (almost entirely because the ones in danger were children) and the performances from the mother and oldest son were good. Overall though it didn't work for me.

Darkgod

First time I saw this, and I dug it... even the ending didn't ruin it as I thought it added a bit of creepiness.. The kid maybe having to go through this ordeal again

Trevor

I loved it. The best thing for me was some of the imagery. The combination of shot selection, lighting, and make-up on the mother was particularly good, leaving some really creepy looks. One example is the scene of her peering through the chicken coop for the first time, freaked me the heck out.

Her descent to the murderous rage was a bit quick, by necessity though. Unless you want a ten hour documentary, it would be hard to truly show. As it was, I feel they did a fine job of showing what was happening to her, and I understood that shortcuts were necessary for the sake of the film.

The ending didn't bother me either. Even if this wasn't based on true events, murder due to postpartum depression does happen, and in some cases the mom is found not guilty. It sucks to our sense of justice maybe, but it happens.

LickTheABCs

One of the thing's I liked about it was that it didn't fuck around and got right down to the point.

Sometimes a switch just goes off and wham! you're a crazy person.

Cardsfan111

I definitely consider myself a little more educated on postpartum depression. I've known a few ladies to struggle with it, but in each case it made them more emotional, more apt to crying/sadness. Granted it's highly unlikely a person would behave in such an extreme manner as the young mother did here, but to think that could happen is chilling.

One seemingly insignificant thing I appreciated - when deciding to purchase this, I read the back of the DVD case and the description did a good job of being vague. It said something about a terror entering the house and the boy needing to protect his family. I honestly went in thinking this horror movie would be about some kind of supernatural force, perhaps through a baby. It left me completely surprised at what I began to witness on the screen.

Trevor

I love it when written descriptions, and even trailers, are vague like this. Most take the easy way out and tell a short version of the entire story, ruining it.

clckworang

Overall, I liked the film, but I was a bit mixed about it. I do think the movie could have taken a bit more time to show the mother's breakdown and it could have been more effective.

And there's a bit of me that thinks the whole movie is a bit of a cheat -- a smart cheat but still a cheat. I mean, it's fairly easy to force an audience to feel sympathy for some helpless children in jeopardy. I guess I was hoping for a little more of a slow burn; instead, it veered straight into slasher territory with children in peril. Like I said, I did think it was an effective movie, though, and am happy I saw it.

Chad

Yeah, that was definitely an intense little flick that wasted no time getting right to the point.

It just seems to me that the kid could have done more to save his siblings. Other than a verbal warning, he essentially stands helplessly by as his brother gets stabbed in the back. Then, as his sister gets pitchforked to death, he makes no attempt at any distractionary methods. Both scenarios just seemed a little out of place considering how protective he was and his obvious ability to handle himself in a crisis situation. Then again, he was only 10 and maybe that's how the 'based on actual events' part actually played out in reality.

Anyway, I despised the ending, but overall it was a very entertaining ride.

Trevor

^ I agree on his sister's death. But remember that at the time of his brother getting stabbed he wasn't entirely sure how far gone his Mom was.