mermaid heather: The Usher's Are All Crazy

Sorry I haven't posted anything all week. I did get one review up over at Top Horror Movies Club though. I watched the movie Burning Bright so I could review it terminated there. It took me longer than I had intended to get it done, but at least I did. Work has been keeping me busy of late. Not so engaged that I can't do anything else, but busy enough to give me feeling zapped by the end of the day.

Last night I decided I required to get a survey done here before the weekend got here, so I put in a picture from my own collection, The Home Of Usher (2006). I have never read the story The Decline Of The Home Of Usher by Poe, but I am conversant with the story. Jill (Izabella Miko) gets a telephone call from her ex-lover Roderick (Austin Nichols) informing her that his twin sister, and Jill's former best friend, Maddy (Danielle McCarthy) has died. Roderick wants Jill to get to his family for the funeral, but Jill isn't so certain about that. Three days ago, Maddy and Roderick suddenly left without lots of an explanation, leaving Jill by herself. Jill does go though, and spends the dark in Riderick's house. Jill ends up spending more and more time there as she gets to know Roderick again, and the old romance starts to rise again. Jill learns that Roderick is wretched from the illness that killed Maddy. What sheneeds tolearn is the secret that has spanned generations of Usher's. The 1st 10-15 minutes of The Home Of Ussher is a confusing mess. The way it has been edited together puts sequences out of society which did nothing besides confuse the hell out of me. It took until nearly a half hour into the film before I started to project out what was passing on and how everyone was connected. I'm sure if I went backward and watched the start of the picture again, it would have more sense to me now that I love what the film is about. Once things settled down, and the tale got going more, it was often easier to flesh out. I suppose if I had take the DVD box ahead of time, I wouldn't have been so upset at the start. The Home Of Ussher is based on the floor by Poe, but it basically only uses the character names, and not the story. Actually, I probably shouldn't say that because The Mansion Of Ussher is a little unclear about some of its plot points. I could be the original story for all I know, but just doesn't read that on screen very well. The Home Of Usher marks the characteristic length debut for director Hayley Cloake. I didn't receive a job with the way this film was directed at all. It was directed very nicely with some nice shots to be found. I didn't really wish for the way it was edited though, along with the tale itself. The Home Of Usher takes a spell to get going, and even when it does it is even a slow fire of a movie. With nothing exciting going on, it quickly turns into a boring movie. It does begin to get more interesting once the horror part of the story, excuse me.the psychological thriller part of the report shows up. By that time though, it isn't plenty to become the picture around. No special effects to be found anywhere. We do get one scene where you will get some blood on a garment and kill her legs (won't say who's legs though), but that is it. The Home Of Usher falls back on the acting to hold it. I can't say that I didn't like the actors here, but they didn't overly impress me at all either. Lead actors Austin Nichols and Izabella Miko but are just fine in their roles to me. Miko is the best of the two I thought. Beth Grant gets the role of the stuffy house keeper. She gives her character a creepy feel, and you get to marvel at times if there is something between her part and Roderick. Since The House Of Usher doesn't actually make any special effects, it has to look on the performing and the story. The acting wasn't read bad, but the tale could get used a lot of work. It simply wasn't very interesting watching the two leads flirt with each other on and off, and having the care taker (or whatsoever it is she was alleged to be) tell Jill she doesn't belong there now and then. There is no real suspense to be found. No nudity, not that I take it in my horror movies, but Miko apparently doesn't own a bra. There are a lot of scenes where you can see her nipples and/or walking around in a stiff shirt and panties. Some blamed the low budget ($130,000 or there abouts), but I'm not buying into that. The Home Of Usher doesn't take a low budget feel to it as far as the film itself goes. It simply didn't get a full account to hold people interested through out the whole movie. There are fans of this movie, but you can't really count me as one of them.2 out of 5 At least the private for the house was disturbing