I have had this book recommended to me numerous times because I’m a perv and would enjoy it is the gist I have gotten from people. So with that knowledge, I then see this film come out and think, “Well, I’m a perv, I may enjoy this” and here I am. It’s based on a Stephen King story. If that doesn’t titillate you, then go look at tits. I’m going to write while I watch, so I will give the spoiler warning now. If you want to avoid the spoilers, scroll down to the last paragraph to get my final thoughts as well as a rating. Enjoy!
SPOILERS
I’m not going to give you play by play, but more of a Kent sized synopsis. The film starts us off with Gerald and his wife, Jessie, going a weekend getaway of sorts. Gerald has brought the handcuffs and his Viagra, and he is ready to do some kinky pounding. As he tries to get into it, it freaks Jessie out, she’s not digging any rape type fantasy. While he is trying to sort this out and get some BANG for his buck, they get arguing and he doesn’t unlock the cuffs. Well the arguing persists and he suddenly has a heart attack. There was a stray dog that Jessie kindly tried to feed early in the film and he comes back to chomp on Gerald’s corpse and has a unique role.
As Jessie attempts to escape the handcuffs, she sees visions of Gerald, herself, her father, and others. Lots of things are brought back from her memory bank that gives her ideas and motivates her towards freeing herself. I thought Gerald and Jessie were absolutely brilliant in this and Henry Thomas played Jessie’s dad, and I always have enjoyed Henry’s work. The handcuff escape is incredibly gruesome, but well worth the watch, if you can handle it.
While I enjoyed the first 90 minutes or so, there is a car accident and then like a final chapter to this story. I get why they did it, but it wasn’t for me. It took awhile, and I felt a lot of that could have been conveyed in half the time. It wasn’t bad or anything, but it lost some of it’s momentum at the end. I kinda feel bad for even saying that, but it’s true.
End Film
Final Thoughts – This movie surprised me at how good it was. I would love to make time to read the book at some point to see all the other stuff that Stephen King added into it. I loved the dog. The eclipse stuff brought be back to Dolores Claiborne, which is a criminally underrated work of Stephen King’s. The director of this film has done some films that I have intended on watching and some I wanted to avoid. I was enamored with Oculus and now this film makes me more likely to revisit Absentia, Ouija Origin of Evil, and Before I wake. With that being said, he also did Hush which was a disappointment, but I am into trying out new films. I would really recommend this to fans of horror or just somebody looking for a good narrative. There’s not a lot of traditional horror here, and I am more inclined to call it just as much drama as anything.
Rating: 6.4 I will watch this again (which I already have). Kudos to everybody involved. Really good job.
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