What is Wrong with Molly!?!?
You will be asking that too, after you watch this creepfest from Eduardo Sanchez who gave us the other suitably creepy Spanish film "Shiver".
The move is about newlyweds Molly and Tim, and moving into Molly's old parents house. We are treated to video footage of the wedding, courtesy of Molly herself, as she is quite handy with the video camera. But things are not right from the beginning. They are barely there in the house before the house alarm goes off and we are treking through the house with a baseball bat, looking for intruders. Policeman comes and sure enough, it looks like Tim left the back door open, or at least didn't shut it all the way and that's what triggered the alarm...nothing to worry about right? Tim has to go away for a few days because he's a truck driver and that's what truck driver's do...and Molly is awfully anxious about him leaving. It's going to be her birthday after all, but a man has to do what a man has to do. Soon the noises start again and Molly goes to investigate and is promptly thrown backwards from the back door by "something". And as the days go by, Molly is looking worse for wear and scaring her sister and her boss. "He's not gone she whispers...who is not gone? And Molly seems to also have more than a passing interest in the next door neighbors through the woods...she is always videotaping them when they don't know. Yeah, that's freaking creepy and I don't want to spoil much else, as this is a very good film at making you feel uneasy. I mean, what's scary about a child crying loudly in a house that's empty?
Eduardo Sanchez does a masterful job of keeping us in suspense as Molly becomes more and more unhinged and dare I say it "possessed". I was at times reminded of the better scares in Paranormal Activity, but this movie goes way beyond that, and despite the use of camcorder footage, is not at all a clone. No, this is a movie about a deeply disturbed woman with some daddy issues, and he may just be hanging around that old house, making Molly do all sorts of disturbing things. The movie just gets more and more shocking as it goes along and draws us in, wondering what is going to happen next.
Sound is used to good effect, with every door creak, and every child sobbing...and whatever it is that is singing that "Molly, Sweet Molly" song that raises the hair on the back of my neck. One thing I really liked about this film was the absence of cheap "jump" scares. It's just really freaky and unsettling and gets worse as it goes on. But much like the way "The Ring" had a sense of dread around it, so too does this picture. You know things are not going to get better, that things are just on the cusp of going overboard. Sanity is hard to come by in this house, at least for Molly.
And let me point out that this is a "Hard R" movie. It has sex, and graphic violence, and quite a bit of full frontal female nudity. Molly is played masterfully by Gretchen Lodge as we watch her descent into madness. Her sister played by Alexandra Holden is equally as good, as she tries her best to help her ailing sister. I knew I was in for a good cast, when even the policeman at the start of the movie seemed authentic.
Now, this might be a pet peeve for some of you, so I want to tell you right now. Not everything is answered in this movie. At the end, that are a lot of unanswered questions. I never got the horse heads on the father's face in the pictures. There is a suggestion that her father was not a good man, and perhaps his death was mysterious. And Molly is also an ex-junkie, which plays into the movie somewhat.
Honestly, I judge horror movies by how they make me feel while watching, and afterwards. And I am suitably creeped out right now. A very disturbing film with some great performances.
A solid 8 out of 10
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