Pennhurst (2012)
Directed by Michael Rooker
Um... Terrible.
If you've watched it and agree with me in this film being poopy, look at it like this: at least the short runtime (little over an hour) means you haven't wasted as much time as you could have watching something like Thankskilling...
For those of you who do not know, Pennhurst was a real Asylum that was ordered closed in the 80's after reports of patients being mistreated (mistreatment varied in severity).
This movie is about a group of kids (maybe about 16) who bust into the asylum to check it out before it gets converted into an 'amusement park'.
As a side note, Pennhurst really has become a sort of amusement park. It's now a haunted house (http://www.pennhurstasylum.com/). Tickets as of late 2012 start at $15.
Anyway,
so kids in the asylum, yup. Their nerdy hipster leader is taking them for a tour and giving a history lesson on the way. As he tells the story about some paranormal investigators that went missing there, the movie delves into that story. For a while you pretty much forget that this is a story (similarly to Are You Afraid of the Dark?) within the story. The story the kid tells is the majority of the movie too, and more interesting then the kids.
So nearly everyone ends up dying in the end of the story, and after the tale is done the kids, still walking around the place, are attacked by the malicious spirits who killed the investigators prior.
Then, another tv paranormal investigative team heads into the asylum. They spot blood on the floor and follow the trail, only to find the bodies of all the kids. They freak out and are then confronted with the same spirit to got the kids. Cut. That's a wrap.
This film is very low budget. However, in my opinion, the ambient sounds/music is pretty sweet. It's eerie and kind of reminds me of Silent Hill's industrial little loops.
If you like to know stuff about the actors in films too, here's your interesting tidbit about the group above; the woman on the left in the blue is Haylie Duff, older sister of, you guessed it, Hilary Duff, one of Disney's former teen stars. She was also in Napoleon Dynamite.
Also, does the name of the director ring a bell for anyone? It's The Walking Dead's Merle Dixon! Though I did not enjoy the movie, I appreciate that this acting talent also does some producing and directing. I also dig that he was into another part of the horror genre (is in a realm other than zombies). Yes, he's in a horror TV series, but talent doesn't necessarily have to enjoy the pieces they're in. Seems like if he's in a horror show, and makes a horror movie as well, that he probably likes horror.
If you're a Michael Rooker fan than why not? It's only about an hour and 15 minutes.
If you're not, then I don't really think you need watch this film. There's more compelling stuff out there.
***Here's another interesting piece of trivia: Firstly, anyone else remember why Pennsylvania is kinda weirder and creepier than other states?
For those of you who are big Silent Hill buffs, then you know Centralia, the real life Silent Hill. Centralia is an abandoned town in PA with an underground toxic fire still burning... You can do more research too to see more parallels between Silent Hill and Centralia.
Oh, PA, you are an interesting state for some of the wrong reasons...
Directed by Michael Rooker
Um... Terrible.
If you've watched it and agree with me in this film being poopy, look at it like this: at least the short runtime (little over an hour) means you haven't wasted as much time as you could have watching something like Thankskilling...
For those of you who do not know, Pennhurst was a real Asylum that was ordered closed in the 80's after reports of patients being mistreated (mistreatment varied in severity).
This movie is about a group of kids (maybe about 16) who bust into the asylum to check it out before it gets converted into an 'amusement park'.
As a side note, Pennhurst really has become a sort of amusement park. It's now a haunted house (http://www.pennhurstasylum.com/). Tickets as of late 2012 start at $15.
Anyway,
so kids in the asylum, yup. Their nerdy hipster leader is taking them for a tour and giving a history lesson on the way. As he tells the story about some paranormal investigators that went missing there, the movie delves into that story. For a while you pretty much forget that this is a story (similarly to Are You Afraid of the Dark?) within the story. The story the kid tells is the majority of the movie too, and more interesting then the kids.
So nearly everyone ends up dying in the end of the story, and after the tale is done the kids, still walking around the place, are attacked by the malicious spirits who killed the investigators prior.
Then, another tv paranormal investigative team heads into the asylum. They spot blood on the floor and follow the trail, only to find the bodies of all the kids. They freak out and are then confronted with the same spirit to got the kids. Cut. That's a wrap.
Above, the paranormal crew from the kid's story. Image from http://ia.media-imdb.com/images/M/MV5BOTg3OTE1NzIzMF5BMl5BanBnXkFtZTcwMjMyNjc1Ng@@._V1._SX640_SY480_.jpg
This film is very low budget. However, in my opinion, the ambient sounds/music is pretty sweet. It's eerie and kind of reminds me of Silent Hill's industrial little loops.
If you like to know stuff about the actors in films too, here's your interesting tidbit about the group above; the woman on the left in the blue is Haylie Duff, older sister of, you guessed it, Hilary Duff, one of Disney's former teen stars. She was also in Napoleon Dynamite.
Also, does the name of the director ring a bell for anyone? It's The Walking Dead's Merle Dixon! Though I did not enjoy the movie, I appreciate that this acting talent also does some producing and directing. I also dig that he was into another part of the horror genre (is in a realm other than zombies). Yes, he's in a horror TV series, but talent doesn't necessarily have to enjoy the pieces they're in. Seems like if he's in a horror show, and makes a horror movie as well, that he probably likes horror.
If you're a Michael Rooker fan than why not? It's only about an hour and 15 minutes.
If you're not, then I don't really think you need watch this film. There's more compelling stuff out there.
***Here's another interesting piece of trivia: Firstly, anyone else remember why Pennsylvania is kinda weirder and creepier than other states?
For those of you who are big Silent Hill buffs, then you know Centralia, the real life Silent Hill. Centralia is an abandoned town in PA with an underground toxic fire still burning... You can do more research too to see more parallels between Silent Hill and Centralia.
Oh, PA, you are an interesting state for some of the wrong reasons...
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