Friday, March 15, 2013

Lovely Molly (2011)



Director: Eduardo Sanchez
Country: U.S.A.
Tagline: 'Something is inside her' (can I just say, eww?! yeah, watch the film)
Plot: An orphaned former drug addict moves into her childhood home with her newly wedded husband, but it soon appears that her father never left the house...
Verdict: This film mixes elements of found footage quite effectively - recordings from 'lovely' Molly's wedding and her own recordings of her stumble into insanity. Basically, the premise isn't really very new - it becomes increasingly apparent that Molly's father was abusive, hence her subsequent drug addiction and constant teetering on the edge of normality. As the viewer, we are insure whether Molly is being raped and possessed by the spirit of her father or if her heroin use mixed with traumatic memories (previously, we assume, she had pushed from her mind as a coping mechanism) brought back up by moving into her parents' house causes a psychotic breakdown. By the end of the film, I was pretty convinced it was the former; but the lack of answers didn't add to the mystery of the film, rather, took away from there being any solid narrative. What you are left with is a bleak and depressing series of rather boring yet bloody events and a little bit of a sick feeling in your stomach.. but not in that good 'I just watched a gore-ific horror' kind of way. The film leaves you with many, many unanswered questions, such as 'How and when did Molly's husband encounter the very same woman Molly's possessed self was stalking at night with a cam-corder?', 'Am I the only one who notices these seemingly obvious plot holes?' and 'Was that a valuable waste of 2 hours?' No, it probably was not. In conclusion, this would serve better as a play to spotlight Gretchen Lodge's brilliant acting than it does as a worthy piece of horror cinema!