celticjunkie

OK, the film is a mixed bag of sorts, part rom-com, part drama. A bit choppy, IMHO. As a fan of Jennifer Aniston, I am willing to let a few things slide in a film because I find her so charming and likable. Aaron Ekhart, who was phenomenal in Thank You for Smoking, seems slightly out of place in a rom-com, but he did his best with the character. I did not feel any chemistry between Aniston and Ekhart, though, and so the credibility of their fledgling relationship took a hit, for me.

My favorite scene in the movie was the inclusion of the indie rock band Rogue Wave and their music (at least 2 songs in the soundtrack). They are the reason I rented the DVD, since I saw on I-Tunes that they have singles from the Original Motion Picture Soundtrack. I did not know that they would actually appear on camera, and so I was very pleasantly surprised.

All in all, not a terrible film, but not great, either.

I first saw this film as a very young child, when my parents piled the kids in the back of our station wagon and headed for the local drive-in theater. There was a double feature, and I suppose it was assumed that my siblings and I were asleep in the "way back" of the car. Well, of course I wasn't, and this movie has haunted me since. Now available on DVD, I just had to watch it 38 years later, just to see if it is still as frightening.

It is creepy and unsettling, to be sure. But not really scary. Very nostalgic, for me, and it held my interest throughout. Clearly a low-low budget film, and a great one given that. Not up to today's standards (Paranormal Activity, Blair Witch Project) but with our modern editing and directorial techniques, it really is an unfair comparison.

I did scream within the first ten minutes of the film, but then I simply remained captivated by the story and by the simple techniques used by the director to invoke a sense of mystery and a bit of fear.