After Dark Horror Fest 3: Broken

Doppelgangers were big for a brief while in the '70s, but they've had a resurgence of late because of Geoul sokeuro (remade as Mirrors). And, actually, if I'm not mistaken, the evil doppelganger is a common "effect" in Asian horror, if not as an entire plot. (That is to say, I think there are a lot of Asian horror movies where a person sees an evil version of someone else.)

This was actually our "big name" movie, even more so than the mad doctor flick Autopsy, which we saw yesterday. This one featured the hot (in more ways than one) Lena Heady (of 300 and "The Sarah Connor Chronicles") and Richard Jenkins (who should get an Oscar nom for The Visitor but it's not looking good).

And, essentially, what we have here is Invasion of the Body Snatchers.

It's so, so boring.

I mean, okay, it was obvious to us within the first few minutes what was going on, but you know, I can watch Invasion over and over again, even though I know exactly what's happening. The '50s one or the '70s remake, even. (I draw the line at the two latest ones, though.)

This has the similar problem as Slaughter in that they expect atmosphere to carry them through the uneventful parts, and it just plain doesn't. Remember that all eight movies are under 90 minutes--this one was really short, they say 88 minutes but I'm thinking under 85 if you don't count the credits.

But it seems so much longer.

You're waiting for something to happen. And waiting, and waiting. There are two or three good chilling moments, but that works out to nearly a half-an-hour of nothing in-between them--or it would, if they were spread out, which they're not. They all come at right around the same point.

And the reveal is tortuously slow.

Despite the good production qualities and acting, this would be my pick for worst of fest.

OK, let me see if I can think of something else to say about it. Well, it doesn't make a whole lot of sense, really. Which was something of a trend this year: Directors and writers so obsessed with having a "twist", they make their whole movie nonsense--and then the twist is actually "generic horror ending #4".

I don't find windows particularly menacing, I've discovered. I don't find the London skyline very menacing, though I do wonder what's up with the giant penis building and the Brobdingnagian Ferris wheel. Dripping water doesn't threaten me. Whatever technology they have that allows them to simulate (or just super slow down) car collisions is cool, but not really very interesting after the 14th or 15th time you've seen it.

Seriously, there's a car collision which is the focal point of this movie, but the actual purpose it plays in the story is murky. That is, it hides behavior from the main character that is part of the Big Reveal, but since the events of the Big Reveal occur before the collision, there's no real reason for the events prior to the Big Reveal to have occurred at all.

The ultimate problem, though, is that while the menace in Body Snatchers comes from an increasing awareness of the intent of the invaders and the scope of their plan, at the end of this movie, you don't know anything about the doppelgangers. Why are they doing this? Are they just evil? If so, how is the premise of the movie even possible?

As I said, worst in show.