I checked out this movie called “Haunter” last night and I didn’t really have high hopes for it. Actually, I had no hopes at all. In fact, I was a little leery of it because it had the girl from “Little Miss Sunshine” in it. Horror movies with movie stars in them always tip me off as being a little light on the horror and geared more towards being a “date movie.” Yuck. But I gotta say, this “Haunter” flick really impressed me.
Now, I’m not going to give out any spoilers on this movie. In fact, I don’t even think you should read anything else beyond what I’m writing right now. This is one of those movies where you should know very little to really enjoy it. That means, don’t go to IMDB and see who else is in the movie. I did that half way through and I saw that some other actors and character names were listed and it kinda ruined a part of it for me. The less you know about this movie, the better.
I don’t even want to talk about how the movie describes itself on posters or IMDB. It gives stuff away. I mean, I guess they have to figure out a way to pitch it to people but, god damn. I just saw the trailer for it and it GIVES AWAY ALL THE COOL PLOT POINTS! When did movie trailers become little 2 minute versions of movies with all the cool moments, realizations, and even the ending thrown in. “Hey, here’s what I just realized about what’s going on and here’s what we have to do to solve it.” Thanks, now I don’t have to be bothered with that whole element of surprise.
I’ll say this without giving anything away, the movie starts up with a girl in a house, waking up to her brother calling for her to come meet him via walkie-talkie. The look on her face is distressed – which is how most teen girls wake up, I guess. We eventually find out that this day has happened before. In fact, we find out rather quickly that Abigail Breslin’s Lisa character is well aware that the same day is repeating over and over again.
We then go through the standard repetition of events to spell out what she has to go through on a daily basis: the same breakfast, the same conversation, the same dinner, the same TV show at night, and so on and so on. It’s the same weather every day, the same clothes,…you get the idea. I’m not gonna beat this to death.
But things get interesting when the routine starts to break. At first little things start to happen which deviate from the norm, and then some major things pop up.
No, this isn’t some Groundhog’s Day rip off.
Layers of story telling start building up; new elements are introduced; new conflicts are brought in. We, as the audience, start to learn what’s going on with the situation at the same time the main character does.
While watching the movie I kept thinking to myself, “Okay, so if I was writing this how would I end it.” And I had no idea how the movie was going to end. I mean, aside from me wanting to end the movie with dead wolf zombies attacking. But that’s how I think every movie should end.
I gotta say, the ending was pretty satisfying. Nothing disappoints more than an interesting premise followed by a sub-par ending. Remember that movie “Yellowbrickroad” that had a really cool premise to it but by the end the movie just petered out until you just wished everyone would’ve sliced their own throats? Ugh, that movie was a terrible and boring waste of time. However, I think “Haunter” did a good job wrapping up all the layers’ plot points satisfyingly.
So you’ve got Abigail Breslin as Lisa but you’ve also got her whole family there. Her little brother has an imaginary friend, her mom is Oblivious Mom, and her dad has one of the coolest voices I’ve heard on a human before. Look, I don’t know if Peter Outerbridge has done radio before but if this whole acting thing fails I can tell you where he can easily get a new gig…in radio (that’s what I’m driving at). I also want to mention that Stephen McHattie is in it. I want to mention that because he was in the movie “Pontypool.” And if you have seen Pontypool then you should check it out whenever you get a chance as it’s another movie that takes a premise that’s been done before but mixes it up in a fun and interesting way.
This is also one of the first times that I’ve seen good reviews of a horror movie on the IMDB website. Most of the discussion thread from what I can tell is fairly positive as well. I have no idea if this movie is going to be hitting theaters or what but it’s currently available VOD.
Alright, so like I said, don’t read anything about this movie before watching it. Just go into it blind and I think you’ll really dig it if you’re into creepy and dark movies. Go for it, what’ve you got to lose? Stop being a baby, already.
