cult film freak: THE HAPPENING

Written by James M. Tate / 1/04/2012 / No comments / eco-horror , m. night , mark walhberg , suspense , zeroes

THE HAPPENING

1/04/2012 | No comment

title: THE HAPPENING

year: 2008

cast: Mark Wahlberg, Zooey Deschanel, Betty Buckley

rating: *

To quote the iconic Buffalo Springfield tune, "There's something happening here, what it is ain't exactly clear." These lyrics sum up half the film, where people back East are mysteriously going crazy and soon-after committing suicide. After the cause is known, something having to do with the environment "fighting back," it's a lot of running around... And the once prolific writer/director M. Night Shyamalan seems to have run out of ideas and creativity. Relying on cheap camera work and cheesy dialogue, he himself claims this as an intentional b-movie liken to the early work of George Romero and David Cronenberg; low-budget classics relying heavily on character-development: something this film has little to nothing of. Eventually the survivors end up in a rural house inhabited by an old creepy woman played by Betty Buckley (Sissy Spacek's coach in CARRIE), providing the only chilling moments that don't last long enough.

Share This Post :

Tags : eco-horror , m. night , mark walhberg , suspense , zeroes

James M. Tate

No comments:

Post a Comment

Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.

FAVORITES SHORTLIST

1)THE CROWDED SKY 2)OTLEY 3)THE FEARMAKERS 4)RAIDERS FROM BENEATH THE SEA 5)JUNGLE STREET 6)VIOLENT SATURDAY 7)HOT CARS 8)CANYON PASSAGE 9)THE MAN FROM LARAMIE 10)HARDCORE 11)CURSE OF THE DEMON 12)SHARKS' TREASURE 13)SWEENEY TWO 14)PULP 15)ANATOMY OF A MURDER 16)THE SYSTEM 17)ASH WEDNESDAY 18)THE SERGEANT 19)AL CAPONE 20)FALLEN ANGEL 21)THE ROARING TWENTIES 22)THE DEFECTOR 23)NIGHT CREATURES 24)DUEL IN THE JUNGLE 25)WAR OF THE WORLDS 26)AIR PATROL 27)WHITE HEAT 28)THE BREAK 29)EASY LIVING 30)ATLANTIC CITY 31)COMPULSION 32)THE ONLY GAME IN TOWN 33)THE NIGHT OF THE FOLLOWING DAY 34)MADISON AVENUE 35)THE SHARKFIGHTERS 36)DEMETRIUS AND THE GLADIATORS 37)MY BLOOD RUNS COLD 38)ROYAL FLASH 39)SWAMP WATER 40)THE DAY THEY ROBBED THE BANK OF ENGLAND 41)BEAT GIRL 42)THE HIJACKERS 43)THE HEARSE 44)WILLIAM CONRAD'S BRAINSTORM 45)PLUNDER ROAD 46)KILLER FISH 47)FRENZY 48)LEAVE HER TO HEAVEN 49)THE KILLING 50)FORCE TEN FROM NARAVONE 51)BULLITT 52)WICHITA 53)QUANTRILL'S RAIDERS 54)KISS TOMORROW GOODBYE 55)LAURA 56)THE LINEUP 57)DEATH WISH 58)SORCERER 59)THE STONE KILLER 60)WHERE THE SIDEWALK ENDS

ACTORS 1)DANA ANDREWS 2)JAMES CAGNEY 3)MARLON BRANDO 4)JACK NICHOLSON 5)ORSON WELLES 6)PETER O'TOOLE 7)TOM COURTENAY 8)CHARLES BRONSON 9)GENE HACKMAN 10)VICTOR MATURE ACTRESSES 1)VIRGINIA MAYO 2)SUE LYON 3)GENE TIERNEY 4)MERRY ANDERS 5)FAYE DUNAWAY DIRECTORS 1)JACQUES TOURNEUR 2)RICHARD FLEISCHER 3)STANLEY KUBRICK 4)ORSON WELLES 5)OTTO PREMINGER 6)JOHN CARPENTER 7)MAURY DEXTER 8)JOHN LANDIS 9)MICHAEL WINNER 10)SAM PECKINPAH