Don't nobody know nobody!-Tombs
RUNNING SCARED is NOT a horror movie. But since it
sported more bite, balls, originality and gore than 90% of the genre films I’ve seen this year thus far, I had to cover it, if only to support its recent DVD release. Shame on me for contributing to this movie tanking on the big screen by
not going to see it then. Then again the trailer REALLY didn't do it justice and
JOYRIDE aside I usually don’t groove much to the movies
Paul Walker acts in. Too
teeny/trendy for me! Well say hello to Mr. Exception and hopefully a new
direction for Walker as an actor. This film was tailored made for this mook!
This bad boy was a fast moving, in your face, adrenaline
shot that embraced its R rating. It opened up with an insane bang and once the first back-handing plot turn kicked in, that was that on that, all the best, love and kisses. The film launched its lead character and us into a trip-out, violence laced and twisty-turvey non-stop nightmare. So many elements
made this watch such a memorable one, starting with the uber kinetic visuals. It was as if the filmmakers wanted to evoke
its lead's emotional state out of us ...worked on me!
The flick had me in its grasp with its relentless & on the move camera, countless stylish looks (they must have spent
mucho time in Post), its razor tight editing and its novel ways of
executing/communicating information through images. Yup! I was in style whore
heaven!
Thankfully, it wasn't all flash for nothing! There was some
considerable weight behind the eye-candy that upped the impact of the film's
cocaine-gritty look! The storyline was solid, the dialogue gripping or/and
clever (loved The Duke bit) and the characters/relationships
layered and more importantly credible! Big props to
Paul Walker for carrying the movie
like an Ace, hitting all of the right emotional notes and for managing to
sustain a level of hysteria throughout. If Walker would've failed, the film
would've failed. I will now keep a closer eye as to what he does next. The same can be said
about the rest of the top notch cast, they all owned in their respective roles
with
Vera Farmiga in particular sticking out. Brains, toughness and drop
dead sexy looks, she ably played the wife we all hope to have one day. I
was sold!
Then there was the film's ugliness factor hitting hard! Scumbags, thieves, junkies, hookers, pimps, crooked cops,
domestic violence
and sexual predators, my nose was slammed in the dirt hard and I thanked the film for
it. The story's hopeless and evil setting made way for some warped horror to
seep in on many levels. Although the extreme and graphic violence gave me many
moments of "OUCH" (all about that hockey rink scene) or/and "F*CK YEAH" , it was
the "pedophile scene" that succeeded in getting deep under my skin.
Without giving too
much away, the flick pretty much took a detour for that sequence. It stood out in
its flavor (slow paced as opposed to the bulk of the film), surreal
production design (very
Clockwork Orange), sly use of horror imagery as
symbolism (
Nosferatu?) and of course its bitch slapping, twisted
content. Now that's what I call a visceral, ambitious and chilling serving!
Loved how that scene ended too! NICE! Pummel on top of
that genuine moments of tension, gripping shootouts, some primal sexiness, a haunting/engaging score
and a last block that had me fighting my tear ducts and you get one of the
best film's of the year
On the powder-less side of the bullet, the film did rely too much on
coincidences to drive its story forward, but I let that go, in the name of enjoying the ride. And what was up with the CG
blood! No matter how good it was, it still looked like CG blood to me. My main peeve
though had to do with the addition of a character
"revelation" late in
the game. You think you're watching one movie and then it tells you you've been
watching another all along. Problem is, I liked the first opus I was watching
much more! And the fact that the
"revelation" led to some plot
holes when looking back and one "ending" too many,
bummed me a tad as well. They
tried to get their bloodied cake and eat it too with the final frames and it didn't fully work
for me. Kinda felt like a cop-out actually.
All in all though RUNNING SCARED highly stimulated
me visually, cerebrally, emotionally and on a gut level! It felt swell to get beaten up
to a pulp like a whore holding off on her pimp revenues wise by a flick again. RENT IT OR BETTER YET BUY IT NOW!
Episode #34
