I rented this movie many months ago and took notes, but haven't been motivated until now to post them. First, here's a random list I started with:
glaciers
dismemberment
reclusive nun
car chase
avalanche
mountain climbing
Nazi lore
fatal highway accident
eugenics/genetics
secluded private school
mausoleum
ice caves
eyeballs
acid rain
Olympians
dog breeding
rainy nights
twins separated at birth
I seem to have at the time made an attempt to compare this movie to JENNIFER 8. A tense mood starts it off but the plot becomes overly convoluted. I followed most of it at the time but damned if I can explain everything afterward.
Random note. The Jump the Shark moment: the video game fight sequence that was dropped in from some lesser Jet Li flick.
More JENNIFER 8: The wintry setting, but instead of a dismembered hand kicking things off, it's a corpse minus its hands.
And there's the blindness.
And the killer in shadow pointing a gun at a cop.
And then there's SMILLA'S SENSE OF SNOW. The same intriguing setup but the longer it goes the sillier it gets.
And there's the ice caves.
And -- I don't remember what this note means -- the "crucified" victim. This must have meant something to me at the time.
Cool chase scene. Nice to see the killer escape for no other reason than being able to outrun the cop. No obstacles or anything.
Also like the story structure - how the viewer follows two cops working on two seemingly unrelated crimes, then meet up when their investigations merge.
But, whose body was photographed after the '82 accident? Triplets? Where did the body go?
Completely absorbed in the mystery at first; when the school files were discovered missing, I was anticipating the best thriller since SEVEN. But the clues and red herrings started piling up like an accident at the screenplay factory, and disappointment set in when the car chase started. Why not a vehicular action sequence? By that point the movie already contained nearly everything else except a long-lost twin and a bag of chips.
Reminiscent of any number of serial killer thrillers from the past decade or so, from good (SILENCE OF THE LAMBS, BLINK) to not so (again with SMILLA AND JEN8).
Why so many thoughts of JEN8?
1st half: 10/10 The rest: 6/10
Why did the sister impose self-exile? The possibility of a supernatural/demonic element in the puzzle was such a distraction, so was sacrificing her old life don to keep her secrets? And don't nuns have to be virgins? How much did she know about the murders? I'm not sure why she did what she did, if she did what she did, which I'm not sure about either.
That's about it. The more I think about what I think I know, the more questions I have.
----
So, there are my notes from many months ago. Yes, they're ridiculously incoherent, but that's what I wrote at the time.
glaciers
dismemberment
reclusive nun
car chase
avalanche
mountain climbing
Nazi lore
fatal highway accident
eugenics/genetics
secluded private school
mausoleum
ice caves
eyeballs
acid rain
Olympians
dog breeding
rainy nights
twins separated at birth
I seem to have at the time made an attempt to compare this movie to JENNIFER 8. A tense mood starts it off but the plot becomes overly convoluted. I followed most of it at the time but damned if I can explain everything afterward.
Random note. The Jump the Shark moment: the video game fight sequence that was dropped in from some lesser Jet Li flick.
More JENNIFER 8: The wintry setting, but instead of a dismembered hand kicking things off, it's a corpse minus its hands.
And there's the blindness.
And the killer in shadow pointing a gun at a cop.
And then there's SMILLA'S SENSE OF SNOW. The same intriguing setup but the longer it goes the sillier it gets.
And there's the ice caves.
And -- I don't remember what this note means -- the "crucified" victim. This must have meant something to me at the time.
Cool chase scene. Nice to see the killer escape for no other reason than being able to outrun the cop. No obstacles or anything.
Also like the story structure - how the viewer follows two cops working on two seemingly unrelated crimes, then meet up when their investigations merge.
But, whose body was photographed after the '82 accident? Triplets? Where did the body go?
Completely absorbed in the mystery at first; when the school files were discovered missing, I was anticipating the best thriller since SEVEN. But the clues and red herrings started piling up like an accident at the screenplay factory, and disappointment set in when the car chase started. Why not a vehicular action sequence? By that point the movie already contained nearly everything else except a long-lost twin and a bag of chips.
Reminiscent of any number of serial killer thrillers from the past decade or so, from good (SILENCE OF THE LAMBS, BLINK) to not so (again with SMILLA AND JEN8).
Why so many thoughts of JEN8?
1st half: 10/10 The rest: 6/10
Why did the sister impose self-exile? The possibility of a supernatural/demonic element in the puzzle was such a distraction, so was sacrificing her old life don to keep her secrets? And don't nuns have to be virgins? How much did she know about the murders? I'm not sure why she did what she did, if she did what she did, which I'm not sure about either.
That's about it. The more I think about what I think I know, the more questions I have.
----
So, there are my notes from many months ago. Yes, they're ridiculously incoherent, but that's what I wrote at the time.