jens-81

Once again we have a movie that, after a fairly promising setup, falls back to the ever so popular run of teaching us 101 ways to kill a monster with a bone/axe. The movie uses the human instinct of reacting to sudden changes in the environment to scare you. In other words, a sudden loud noise + quick change in on-screen action = you get scared. The mandatory monster-that-looks-dead-but-isn't-after-all and the usual bunch of expendable cast members (monster food in other words) also have their moment on screen. For experienced(?) adventurers, the girls sometimes show incredibly bad judgment (another horror movie cliché). This is the case for instance when one of the girls thinks she sees daylight and runs(!) towards the light just to fall down a deep shaft. Another instance is when a lead character jumps around a corner and shouts (apparently to scare the possible monster around the corner). This after she has herself figured out that the monsters seem to hunt by tracking sound.

Up until when the first monster is shown, this movie actually had a lot of promise I think. The triangle drama between the two main characters and the husband of one of them surely made for a good (although somewhat cliché) setup for conflicts to be solved deep underground. The gruesome car accident in the beginning also added some very good premises to the mix. I would have liked to see a movie that would deal with the psychological stress of being trapped underground and how this affects the group dynamics and the individuals. No monsters would have been needed, just something to trigger the imagination of the audience. The potential to create something scaring without ever showing a monster was there, which I think is well illustrated by the scene where one of the girls gets herself trapped in a transfer tunnel and starts panicking (the best scene in the movie imo).

Overall, as far as gore goes this movie delivers. I would not call it particularly scaring though, since after the monsters are shown it's more or less a slaughter fest, nothing more. Kudos for creating a believable claustrophobic cave environment (at least the first half of the film. In the second half, the fact that they're actually in a cave seems to be of less importance). Good sound design also. But in the end this is just another gore movie in the line of many.

Even though this series seems to be mostly targeted at the mothers and daughters, guys can definitely watch it too. Yes, the lead cast are girls and it is classified as family/drama (which probably is the main reason guys shun away from this one), but let's be honest guys, you're not watching Buffy because of the great dialogs and the cute monsters ;) So looking at it that way, there's no reason not to watch this series also, because the leads simply are a treat for the eyes.

Anyway, on a more serious note, the dialog, that seems to attract so many of the non-believer's negative comments, is in fact not so unbelieving that some seem to believe. I've got several friends in fact that give a return on your speech just like that, OK maybe a bit slower, but not much. Yes, they (the Gilmore girls) go a slight bit over the top with the speed of the returns, and the weird references to people normally known only by literature professors are maybe a bit much. I think the whole slightly over the top thing was a known choice by the writer, to emphasize how it could be in a small town where everyone knows each other. The dialog only reflects this, people know each other, they know partially how the other person thinks, so they can have that speedy comeback. That's part of what I love about this series, the witty, sarcastic and quick dialog. I also realize that I should read up on my general knowledge to get all the small humor in the dialog. It's not like those sit-coms where they serve you the joke and then have a laugh-sign directed audience in the studio to help you laugh in front of your TV. With Gilmore girls, you actually have to follow the dialog AND have some knowledge about the world to get the jokes. And if you get the jokes, you'll laugh, for a long time.

The characters are simply great. All with their own quirks and sometimes weird behaviours. The acting could be better sometimes, but considering the time some of the cast members have even been actors, it's really good.

So, give the show a chance for at least one episode, you'll then notice you'll sit in front of the TV next week at the same time also ;)

I hope that I someday can get the whole series on DVD, even if it means paying big bucks to import it from the other side of the pond.