Chip Reichenthal (victimsofretail-483-6334)
Anyone who knows me will tell you I'm not at a loss for words much, but it's hard to appropriately express how good this film is, without sounding as though I was paid to do so. This Movie is THAT good, and I sincerely believe it should be used as an example of how Movies should be made, going forward. This film tells a story, a TRUE story, of a haunting that occurred to gifted Student Chris DeCesare at SUNY Geneseo in 1985. Back then, this young Man had no one to turn to without risk of ridicule. Fortunately, he had a friend in an intelligent, open-minded suite-mate, who not only listened, but kept a journal of the horrific, compounding experiences. As a result, we are given a gift of truthful storytelling and brilliant Directing unlike anything preceding it, with Actors ideal for their roles, making this Movie look like a meant-to-be event that pleases on every level. The film is not a scary horror-fest, not Documentary, not simple re-imagining. It's better than either could be, mixing low-tech with state-of-the-art, Actor portrayal with actual footage, at once uniquely artistic and plain-as-day, with portrayal of a tale simple, yet deep to the core. I've never experienced anything like it. Seriously. Credit Director Mara Katria, whose brilliant, superb choices paint a portrait with the strokes of a master painter, recreating the deepest pores of everyday life and coming-of-age moments with a story of a malevolent haunting, and the result feels like truth. For anyone interested in a good film about haunting, this is the only one I've ever seen that feels like real life, bringing surreal, horrid moments into our grasp without unrealistic stigmas or stereotypes, or over-the-top effects. Hollywood takes concepts like the paranormal, and makes them candy for the mind, for the emotional palette, more 'interesting than truth. Truth, most times, is somewhat dull, compared to a Hollywood version of truth, but in this film, Director Katria found a way to take truth, make it interesting, funny, sad, trying, horrific, frustrating, deep to one's core
but never dull. Sometimes the simple concepts, the one's right before our eyes are the ones that work, which bring 'aha' moments. This film is the new 'aha' moment. If you want to see what absolutely should be the new direction of film-making, see "Please,Talk With Me". Twice, at least. It is THAT good. 11 out of 10 for me, 10 out of 10 to be conventional.