Nosferatu

"Is that your wife? What a lovely neck."

I thought since it was Halloween time I would check out a classic horror film. Nosferatu was made back in 1922. It is a silent film based on Brahm Stokers book. This was one of the films made about it. It is a silent film. There are different versions of this with different soundtracks. Some better than others.

Nosferatu is about a young real estate agent named Hutter who gets a tip that a Count wants to buy some real estate in the area and he needs to go to Transylvania to meet him and sell him the property. So much to the dismay of his wife he sets off to meet Orlof. He is warned by the locals of danger, but he continues on. The count will only meet him at night and becomes distracted when he sees a picture of Hutter's wife. The count then decides to by the house across from Hutter's. The next morning he wakes up with two bite marks on his neck which he claims were from Mosquito's.

Hutter slowly learns about Nosferatu (Vampires) from a book he picked up at the local Inn. He goes to find the count one night and finds him sleeping in a coffin. He takes off and tries to make his way home. He gets sick and the journey takes a detour. The count decides to go after Hutter's wife and her beautiful neck. He stows away on a ship with five of his coffins, vampires get power from the earth they were buried in. He wreaks havoc on the ship and eventually makes it to Hutter's town. The question is who will get to the wife first and who will win.

This was one of the first silent films I've seen. It was pretty good. The version I saw had a good soundtrack with it. I also liked the way that the shots during the day were tinted red and the nigh shots were blue. I could see how it could have creeped people out back then. The character is very creepy with those long fingers and his face. His follower in jail was also creepy, in a crazy way. This was a good film to kick off the Halloween Season.

6 out of 10

Meek's Cuttoff

"I don't blame him for not knowing where we are. I blame him for saying he did."


Few words have never said so much. There is not an abundance of talking in this film. The little we do hear ofttimes is mumbled and drowned out so we can't hear them well, but the shots of the desolate land where amazing.

Meek's Cuttoff is based on a true story of a group of people crossing the planes on the Oregon Trail. A small group decides to follow a man Named Meek on a "shortcut" on the way to the coast. This is where our story begins. The opening shot will have leave your wanting a glass of water on it's own. The land is high desert and dry. We see them fording one river and that is about the extent of the water in the film. We see them lowering wagons down steep hills. Many of these things you have heard they had to do, but it was nice to be able to see someone do it. Seeing them makes you appreciate them more.

The group are making their way to the West coast through tough terrain. The area is dry and the threat of Indians is everywhere. They do come across an Indian who they try to use as a guide to find water. There is not much more to this movie that can be written. It is mostly a feast for the eyes. It is all said in what is not said.

6 out of 10

Hanna

"Hanna, what did your mom die of?"

"Three Bullets..."



I have heard a critic refer to this movie as The Bourne Identity for the Dora the Explorer generation. Perfect, but I would add to it a European twist. I enjoyed this film. I liked how this movie was able to seem so main stream and then jump to an odd European, electronic music video. With all of this it still held me. I found myself smiling at the oddity of some of the scene. Characters dancing in an abandoned theme park, a chase through a trailer bin lot and a show down on a roller coaster track.

Hanna is a girl raised by her father just south of the Arctic Circle. Her father, played by Eric Banna, is some sort of ex-secret operative. He spends his time training her to fight, learn languages and spend lots of time reading from an encyclopedia. The fight each other and you get the sense that this is all they do every day. It is not till the end of the movie that we see why. we get little bits of info as we go along. Hanna decides that it is time to come out of hiding and knows that this means she will be hunted by an ex boss of her father who is played by Cate Blanchett. I did not like her southern accent she uses on and off throughout the movie. Blanchetts character plays a very hardened person. Life has been hard and she is not willing to make it easy for others. She just does not care anymore. She's tired of trying to fit in and has just resolved herself to be different. Hanna on the other hand realizes she is different but still wants to fit in. To be a part of the world.

The is a lot of violence in this movie. Many good fight scenes some of which will make you giggle at, including her awkward first date. She is not used to anything a normal life would have to offer. She was raised in the woods. TV, Cars even lights are something new.

Saorise Ronin is definitely a girl to watch. She has been in a few recent movies including The Lovely Bones. She has an ability to play the part without over playing it. She almost seems to play it short of what it needs, but if you look at the little details, the eye movements, facial expressions or a subtle shift she is playing her part in full. I look forward to seeing her other films and see what she plans to take on next.

6.85 out of 10