It's a crazy movie. I barely got to the end of it. The storyline is incredibly sucked out of the finger. Everything is corny and terribly slick. The movie reminds me of something dubious and passable. I don’t think I’d lose anything if I didn’t watch this mystical horror movie, which is more disappointing than interesting.
American director Kevin Grotert is famous for the film “Saw 6”. It was his debut and the only successful painting. “Saw 3D”, which he then shot, turned out to be a real suck and the weakest part in the franchise. Then the director released the failed horror film “Jesabelle” and here is his mystical new horror film called “Visions”.
I wanted to see something scary, and I was curious about it, because the trailer and poster were alluring. Waiting for the viewer embarrassment, which is something not terrible, but false and completely unsuccessful.
We see the story of a pregnant protagonist who moves to a grape farm to be with her husband. Here in this terrible place, a woman begins to overcome incomprehensible and mysterious phenomena. The heroine feels someone’s presence, something creepy and cold.
This film is on the list of ordinary horror films for once, exclusively for fans of the genre, who at least find something interesting here. To me, the film is a failure and empty. The direction is weak, the script is terribly dull and underdeveloped, the choice of actors is controversial.
I have always been indifferent to Anna Fisher (although I like the comedy “I’ll marry the first person I meet”). There's this actress in the movie, no, there's not much difference. In the same horror, she has the main role, and I must say that the actress clearly overplayed a couple of scenes. It felt false, something improbable, and when you don’t even believe the main actor, then write is gone. Eva Longoria, I don't know how she got here or what she was doing. This movie wasn't for her. Let's say she was here and she was.
Visions is a 2014 mystery horror film. I want to say that I did not like the movie and did not inspire or impress. To the picture I see, I say no.
Perhaps the first notable role of Isla Fisher in full-length cinema, more precisely where she can at least be seen, recognized and where she has a role with replicas, was a picture shot in the genre of the youth horror film “Pool” of German production, released in 2001, when Isla was 25 years old. After that, the actress did not take part in the shooting of films of this genre (not to be counted as such “Scooby-Doo” and “Hands-legs for love”), but after 13 years, which has already become quite famous thanks to “Uninvited guests”, “Yes, perhaps...”, “Shopaholic” and others, Isla Fisher returned to the horror film: in 2014, the film goes on the screens under the intriguing title “Visions”.
What could move an actress who found her army of fans, maybe not so big, but enough to end up in a film whose genre is accepted by critics with great displeasure? Adding fans to a younger audience? Maybe. But also, most likely, a desire to work with Kevin Grothert. Let’s talk a little bit more about this filmmaker. He achieved the greatest success with the famous horror franchise “Saw”, in which he worked from the first to the fifth part as a permanent editor. And then the creators of the franchise James Wan and Lee Wannell gave their consent to Grothert to take the director's chair. It could only mean one thing: the duo Van-Wannell's great trust in their editor. And since Grotert has such experience making horror films, why not make another film, a good film of the genre, not related to the Saw franchise?
Maybe that's what Isla Fisher thought when she gave her consent to participate in the filming. You can also add that after watching, thinking about the plot, you can call it quite good. There is one unexpected twist about the main action, namely, what visions visited the main character (as you understand her played by Fisher) and what they were associated with. There's an intrigue. But it's a pretty big show. This is especially true of those visions. I really wish that when you watched horror movies, then the vessel in the eye burst from tension, and visualistics led you to euphoria, so that the scenes were memorable: in Visions, these very visions are shown as if passing, there is blood, but you are well aware that it is fake and from this the entire effect of what you see is also artificial and tasteless. One can, of course, blame the film operator Michael Fimonyari, who ate the dog on horror films, but still there are suspicions that Kevin Grotert simply lacked skill.
From the failure of "Vision" saves the acting performance. You can’t say that this is a phenomenal game, but a good enough performance for horror films, albeit not without flaws on the part of the director. Isla Fisher did not repeat the success of Jessica Biel, who was hurriedly received after her game in the reboot of the cult franchise “Texas Chainsaw Massacre”, but I still pay tribute to Fisher, who showed and proved that even in such a movie she is an actress of a very, very high order. There were some good actors with her. Not the first tier, but recognizable. For example, Anson Mount, Joanna Cassidy, Jim Parsons and Eva Longoria separately. This cast of actors did not darken their hopes and even without much extravaganza, but professionally coped with the task.
There is an assumption that if James Wan and Lee Wannell did this film, it would have turned out much better and cooler. But the ex-editor, and later the director of the franchise “Saw” Kevin Grotert, who firmly connected himself with the genre of horror films, could not implement his plans and only rare episodes gave something effective for fans of the genre. For a one-time viewing of “Visions” fit, but hardly anyone really wants to review them a second time. As is often the case with horror in recent years: expectations were not fully met.
5 out of 10
P.S. In the film, Ayla Fisher is pregnant. The world premiere of “Visions” took place in August 2015. In March of the same year, the actress gave birth to her third child. I wonder if Fisher's stomach is fake or real? And if real, did the actress suffer from superstition?
The film seems to be focused on lovers of talk shows in which characters from films such as sex in the big city discuss their lives in all its details, and the audience from the hall shout and urge them to come to their senses and stop. Yes, and go to the psychics from the neighboring program to just in case the damage was removed from them, and necessarily live so that everyone could see. I don’t know who this movie was made for.
And after watching all this, a writer in a creative crisis finds a muse and produces this film Visions because I see no other reason for such a work to exist. It's also a horror, by the way. Like a female horror movie. It’s expensive to see, but no, I don’t want to see it anymore.
But seriously, the main problem of the film is that it is banally boring, the viewer simply has nothing to catch on to, neither eyes nor brains. The film is extremely poor both visually and plot. Here the main character is subjected to all sorts of supernatural attacks and tries to build theories on this score, apparently the same creators offer to do and the audience, but there are too few details, as well as characters, as well as information. Too often, she changes suspects and behaves inappropriately. And that stretches over an hour of real time. Apparently, the audience had to sit in tension and wait, but alas and ah not this time. We have the last fifteen minutes of the movie. And they're nothing. For the first time in time, the film recalls its genre affiliation. But why so late? I doubt everyone who started watching has made it to this point.
I’m not going to lie if I say that the only thing that made me watch this movie was the cast. Isla Fisher, who I've only seen in comedies before, Sheldon Cooper and, of course, the brilliant Eva Longoria met in the same movie. And everyone I just listed played as if they were paid to stay out of the role. Parsons, for example, did not even try to play: which is very hurtful, because I would not like to believe that he is an actor of the same role.
But let's get to the story. The action of the film develops extremely slowly, the first 45 minutes of the film does not happen almost nothing, only periodically there are some "boo" moments that can not frighten even a child. The whole effect of surprise is loud noises. Everything.
As these long 45 minutes pass, we slowly begin to be led to a denouement, which, in principle, could be predicted 3 minutes after the film began, because everything is so on the surface that you hope to the last that it can not be so obvious. Maybe.
To sum up, I want to say one thing. Rather than investing in such a cast, it would be better to invest in a screenwriter.
5 out of 10
The film "Vision" can surprise only those who yesterday celebrated his eighteen years, lived truthfully and conscience and listened to his parents and never included horror films not intended for his age. The rest will only raise their eyebrows and feel no change from everything they have seen before.
Once in a road accident in which the child of another participant died, the main character becomes depressed and then together with her husband move to a remote corner of the planet, live a measured life, engage in winemaking. And then something strange begins to happen, and the main character does not understand whether it is associated with depression, pregnancy or something else.
Well, standard for the genre, the husband somewhere is constantly absent, the wife is alone at home, bottles fall, every tree creaks, sees in the eyes constantly, and at night torment nightmares. Clearly, the poor man no one believes, in other words – a complete set of stamps of this genre.
"Vision" - not the worst movie, but it is worthless and even for a short screen time manages to get bored. Despite some efforts Ayla Fisher to make her character a living person, by and large, the film did not help much.
They say that the hardest thing is to come up with an ending for a work. The whole movie is being hammered into our heads and told that something terrible will happen in the end. So terrible that it left a mark on time. The main character constantly sees visions in the new house. Something happened there. Or will it? Or will it not and will not happen? At first I didn’t understand how or why, but then... Then I realized everything. The worst thing that happens through time... This is... CONCLUSION.
We are so prepared, confused, given some leads, but in the end everything slides into the “killer butler, but not a word about it in the book”, only this butler is present, like that nightstand in the background. A film from the series where absolutely everything is connected - if someone farted in a crowded elevator at the beginning of the film, then this is what he would be killed for at the end.
Strangely, a "terrible" event happens everywhere. People are killed all the time, sometimes raped, their limbs ripped off, tortured for days - that's what I understand terribly. For the filmmaker, an event so terrifying that it can break through time is a bullet in the forehead. Well, someone was killed there, and what? Is there no fantasy at all? Why is it that something strange is happening in this movie?
And of course, at the moment of the chase, when you crash into some onlooker - you do not need to explain something to him or say "run", you need to beat him with your female fists and shout "You do not understand, you do not understand!". He will certainly be able to help you.
The visuals are good. Actors are not disgusting. The soundtrack is completely forgotten. It’s like a beautiful bicycle without pedals – when you sit on it, it becomes a shame that it does not go.
It's a waste of time.
The author of the “meaty” franchise “Saw” Kevin Grotert, this time decided not to excite the stomachs of fans of his work and made a film telling about otherworldly forces, ghosts and prophetic dreams.
To be honest, I didn’t expect it, but I was pleasantly surprised.
Married couple Evely and David Maddox settled on a grape farm, where soon after moving a woman begins to overcome terrible visions. At first, everything is blamed on post-traumatic syndrome and Evely's pregnancy, however, soon the situation will change radically and put the family before the main question - what to do next?
In general, when watching the film, guesses and assumptions that arise in the head, followed each other with kaleidoscopic speed. Here it would be possible to assume the mental disorder of the girl, and sinister sectarian rituals, and unclean husband, driving his wife to madness, and the obsession of the house with evil spirits, and sinister echoes of the past, and the curse of local vineyards and even the conspiracy of local residents, for example, accustomed to live in their hermit world and consider every stranger who wandered to their lands Evil.
In general, to the extent of your imagination, you can draw images and only guess what these visions hide behind them. That’s why I really liked the movie. Even though Isla Fisher didn’t seem to try hard to play (she wasn’t particularly impressed by the moving furniture scenes), Visions looks good overall. Plus, the ending does not leave indifferent when the situation with these obsessions finally clears up.
But look at you. I do not impose my opinion on anyone.
After a serious accident and a year of psychological rehabilitation thanks to antidepressants, Evelyn manages to recover, and she and her husband move from the big city to the farm, where they are going to open a distillery. A new quiet place and a good home should contribute to the final cure, but, as often happens in such situations, mysterious and inexplicable things begin to happen, only aggravating the condition of the main character.
Trying to designate himself as a horror, another creation from the studio Blumhouse hides under the mask of horror an ordinary thriller with elements of local mysticism, showing experiences that drive the girl crazy. The plot is built classically and tampered with beaten templates, but this, like many pictures produced by producer Jason Bloom, does not interfere in any way and everything that happens on the screen looks easy enough.
Walking on the increasing, amplifying the mystical effect as the events on the screen unfold, portionly giving the viewer mysterious symbols, the director prepares the viewer for the final solution. A solution that, although not shocking, is quite able to please, due to the lack of original ideas in the genre recently. In a word, the whole performance is only one great prelude to the last fifteen minutes, when the mystery is revealed, dotting all the images.
For what you can safely put the authors an excellent assessment is for the game on the nerves with the help of editing sound effects, so necessary to flinch the audience. Feelings of anxiety and fear are sucked out of the simplest seemingly scenes, due to the simple volume level at the right moments. This effect is used, of course, in most paintings of this genre, but in "Vision" this is a special bet, because there is especially nothing to be afraid of by the picture.
To the ideals of "What lies hide" such films, of course, very far. However, the fact that the audience demand for such a genre is certainly there, and if not due to theatrical viewing and the corresponding fees, then at least for the evening viewing of the house is quite acceptable creation. Having settled comfortably on the sofa and tickling your nerves due to skillfully played sound effects and non-standard denouement, this is what is sometimes required of such films, taking into account the fact that the timing in “Vision” does not allow you to lose too much time on it.
As much as there is a genre of horror films, as many filmmakers willingly stuff viewers with ghost movies, the fashion and demand for which never weakens. Unlike various vampires, werewolves and other evil spirits entrenched in the genre. But as evidence, films of this kind practically do not differ from each other and in many ways, almost always get carried away in the desire for self-repeat and this film directed by Kevin Grotert was no exception.
The director of this film Kevin Groter is certainly a clear example of the fact that not every worker of the world of cinema has a director's chair with honey. Perhaps as a professional editor with impressive experience Grotter and demonstrated success, but as a director he is certainly perceived as another head in the faceless gray mass. Which is reflected in the brainchild of the director in almost all aspects.
Frankly speaking, the film is absolutely no different from many ghost movies. Moreover, this film of the director candidly copies individual works from both a visual point of view and an idea point of view. Hence, it is not surprising that sophisticated film fans will find very similar to “Premonition”, “Revenge to the Unborn”, “The Horror of Amityville” and even “Other”, which the creators of the tape decided to boldly surpass. But in fact, they caused only a frank attack of laughter with such a senseless and rather daring idea.
The film begins despite the secondary plot quite interesting. But the further the plot develops, the more blunted the interest in what is happening on the screen action. What naturally achieves a frankly weak climax and an absolutely far-fetched finale, which literally imposes on the viewer a hint of a possible continuation. When more or less interest holds a sufficiently high-quality picture. The truth is empty and devoid of what is necessary for the genre of suspense, tension and anxiety, but at least pleasing to the eye throughout the tape. Even with almost zero BU scenes. Both in terms of production quality and quantity respectively.
Not the best impression makes the game Ayla Fisher. Personally, I think Ayla is not a bad dramatic actress, who always gives some freshness to her characters. She failed to realize her dramatic potential. Moreover, it seems as if she did not even participate in the project under duress. Since neither feelings of anxiety and horror, nor expressiveness and dramatic depth, I alas did not see in her heroine.
Anson Mount easily reduced to the frank background furniture of the general entourage of the entire tape. Actually, like Eva Longoria with Jim Parsons, a very modest appearance of which on the screen does not carry any artistic value. Since not only that the characters are not disclosed, and the actor himself frankly hacked and did not even hide it.
3 out of 10
Visions is a very passable horror film that carries no artistic or even entertaining value. But at least, even with a frankly weak quality of the product, does not try to play on the viewer’s nerves and looks quite tolerable, at least at the first viewing. Which is also worth it.
The stereotypical conjugal union of two formally loving hearts (and the rest of the body) experiences no less stereotypical stress of its for the time being cloudless married life. Stress, as implied, but the direct text does not say, hung in the joint sky with the remnant of a suddenly thundered hurricane. For some reason, the best prophylactic agent was assigned to the aggravation of proximity to the mother of the damp earth (or, given the climatic characteristics, to the mother of the dry earth). To practice this closeness, the society cell sold off all assets, and with the proceeds acquired vineyards with a house in the middle, rebuilt from the former stable. Further, as is customary in decent houses, depressed by a hormonal surge, a heavy married woman begins to see different things.
Actually, the main intrigue in this tape was solely in how Dr. Sheldon Cooper will look like the most ordinary doctor of medicine. Attention, spoiler: same. In his defense, everything looks exactly the same in the film: every plot twist, every burst of paranormal activity, every acting emotion here is diligently transferred from the best examples of the genre, exactly from the 70s, when the first family moved into their first home in Amityville on Long Island. Absolutely nothing new was introduced, and what remained was used diligently, but without imagination.
The main character gushes with hallucinations, mainly acoustic, moderately hysterics and deliberately ignores the voice of common sense, for which the husband of the second plan and an episodic doctor with the facial expressions of the genius of physics and the face of a nerd is responsible. The plot in general is riddled with irrational emotionality, completely denying the achievements in logical thinking and elements of the detective genre inherent in the vast majority of good horror films. As befits her position, the heroine appeals exclusively to her feelings, even where decent characters are supposed to portray surprise at manifestations of phenomena incompatible with the known laws of physics. But here it is simple: I see, therefore, it exists.
The same principles are used to unravel the mystery of the root causes of what is happening in mare’s dungeons. Although, praise science, and not in a hundred percent ratio — sometimes no, no, and will begin to dig into the past. However, in general, also on the tops, which could be forgiven if it really did not play a role. But in the end, after all the ordeal with deeply sensitive and permanently subtle natures, stretched chakras feeling the influences of solar winds, spiritual emanations and psychic FM, you still have to turn to archival records. So what was it like to have this whole moral vanilla ride with wild imagination and wild conceit?
At the end of the cocktail of visions, ghosts and providences, a stable aftertaste of deep secondaryness remains, interspersed with a core ambra of superficiality and stupidity, which even a good, in general, denouement cannot interrupt (except for it, one point is added to the assessment). The devil, as you know, is hidden in the little things, and everything is so bad that already in the first half you begin to dream of seeing a film where the main character is approximately hysterical, panicking, hallucinating, mad that no one believes her, and in the end it turns out that she is really sick with schizophrenia, multiplied by hormonal imbalance. Such a sight would be much more fascinating.
Neither the description nor the poster promised anything stunning or innovative, unless a more or less high-quality film with a couple of frightening moments. But a couple of names made me put Visions on my list of movies to watch. First name is Jim Parsons. It's not original, but I'm sure half the audience went to see Sheldon in a horror movie or see if he could leave the popular image behind. The middle name is Kevin Grotert, an editor who smoothly moved into the director's chair with a blessing from James Wan himself. The two parts of Saw, which he worked on as a director, are not so impressive, but there was also Jesabelle, which in many ways suited me. There were visions, too, and that part was fine, so I was right to expect a high level.
Immediately I want to say that, although the name of Jim Parsons is on the poster, and in the list as much as the second number, only it was there very, very little – a role for three episodes. And in none of them did he say more than 5 sentences. It is clear that with such a minimal participation he could not shine, and to show that he is not always Sheldon - especially. It didn’t spoil the film for me, but it was unpleasantly surprising – a common lure. For those who wanted to see Eva Longoria, too, she is even smaller than Parsons. All the attention belonged to a certain Isla Fisher. I watched The Illusion of Deception, but I didn’t remember it at all. Either she plays that way or my memory is bad. After watching Visions, I can unequivocally state that she plays perfectly, looks very natural, but there is nothing in her that would make me distinguish her from the crowd of well-playing actresses. It happens. Very happy with the short appearance on the screen of John de Lancy – this is who I always remember.
No horror here does not smell, from the very first frames - the usual mysticism. Neither frightening nor at least tense atmosphere could not be created, and a couple of frightening moments from the category of classic boo-effects, all hope for the surprise. Well, there were a couple of chilling moments, but they were chilling for me - I am very sensitive to pregnant women and everything related to their tummy, so it was unpleasant to see such scenes.
Now for the story itself. The story doesn’t seem to be new – a huge shock, a move to a new house, and oh! – a house with a past. The standard beginning is decorated with magnificent views of vineyards and excellent operator work. Then there are hints of an attempt to make the film candy - the visions themselves are original, secondary lines designed to confuse the viewer. But everything spoils the ending. The mystical line, gaining momentum, becomes more confusing, but not interesting; for all its advantages, it is still indistinct and leaves too many questions. Why did the circles from this pebble diverge so far across time space, it is still possible to somehow justify, but why did they continue to appear later, much later? This question, very important, remained unanswered, and in this case I do not want to think about it myself. What the visions warned us about... Forgive my cynicism, but is this such a terrible and important event? America should have started vibrating long before Charles Manson was born, and Europe two centuries before Hitler. I didn't understand the principle. However, all these thoughts come later, after watching, but while watching it was interesting, so for one time the film may fit. Or two or three for those who want to understand these visions.
5 out of 10
I see a rare painting and a beautiful valley on it.
Director Kevin Grotert chased two rabbits at once - each other filmed and released "Visions" and "Jezzabel" probably conditionally can be considered a dilogy. Both films begin with a car accident, which dramatically changes the life of the main character, for the worse of course. In both films, pregnancy appears - if in "Jezzabel" a child dies after an accident, then "Visions" talk about pregnancy after a tragic incident. Disaster is the starting point of both films to a terrifying struggle for survival. And if you close with one hand the finals of both paintings, then now we have twins. But how similar are they, did the same director make the same two films? Creative impotence? Or the second movie ("Visions) - like working on the mistakes of the first?
A couple of minutes from the overall timeline of the film. The heroine in the new house (in the case of “Jeszabel” is a childhood home, but the heroine has not been there for many years, so it can only be considered new in quotation marks). Inside the house, we are tormented by nightmares, mysterious handmade dolls meet outside and strange events occur. The investigations of the two girls go almost the same way, which leads them from one discovery to the next terrible revelation. After watching both films to the end, it becomes clear that no matter how similar the pictures were, the visions pointed the girls in completely different directions and moved all this time along parallel guides.
"Jezzabel" - the movie is endlessly twitched and unscrupulous on its obvious twists, if the first half of the film looks, then in the second movie just dies under the yoke of its childhood techniques and ambitions, "Visions" in turn pleasantly surprise the use of the mystical component, which comes to its climax in five minutes in one of the most memorable endings in the genre for many, many years. And so beautiful is not the finale itself, but the tangle of thread leading to it and how beautifully it folds into a single canvas, which we observe in the last minutes of the picture.
The narration of "Visions" is very meditative, unhurried. Together with the heroine of the picture, we find ourselves in a beautiful valley, where grapes grow around her new estate, turning into wine in the future. In the intervals between the attacks of the girl, we now and then admire the landscapes, the picture is in no hurry and delays in every plan, the operator delays here and there, imagining a curtain developing towards the camera, behind which, out of focus, you can see the beautiful greenery that grows outside the window, and so it would remain up to the credits, I do not mind. The film successfully creates a charming atmosphere of remoteness, loneliness, comfort and beautiful views. Slowly and reluctantly, the camera turns to another nightmare that drives into the terrible poor heroine of this gloomy story, and the viewer, in attempts to help her with something, puzzles over the meaning of her visions, trying to put this unfortunate puzzle together, but without success. .
With each new piece of the puzzle becomes more complex, over time it becomes difficult to know who is more crazy - you, or the heroine of this film. Maybe ghosts are trying to tell us about some terrible event that happened in the house? Maybe they want someone dead? Or maybe someone is just starting to go crazy with a lot of stress? What if a strange neighbor seems to be cooking meth behind the fence? What if she died in the accident at the beginning? What if it's-- what if there's-- Yeah, my husband must have set this up. Wait, I get the pills that the heroine is taking - they're all about. . . no, no, no. . . who is this? What's going on? What does all this mean? My logic, are you okay? Since when do you play hide-and-seek?
The rolling fate of “Visions”, unfortunately, still remains in limbo. For example, if we have already seen the film, then at home and in many other countries, the release date has not yet been determined. Perhaps the studio Bloomhouse just did not want to release a movie so soon after the previous film of the director, still their similarity is difficult to miss, but after the release of “Jezzabel” has already passed a decent time and most likely theatrical rental in other countries will not be, only online, cable and video. You can understand the leaders of the studio, because positioning yourself as horrors, “Visions” most of the time are not such, and a lazily moving narrative can immediately set the chewers docile against themselves.
“Visions” – a movie where you may fall asleep, may lose it by rewinding, or even miss it altogether. Otherwise, being on the right wave, you will be a surfer who races with great enthusiasm on the water, around you intoxicatingly beautiful scenery, the weather is deceptive, and the approaching wave carries only the unknown and I promise – none of this will disappoint you!
As I promised, I will continue to follow the horror stories of 2015. This time we will see the movie “Visions”.
What I didn't like was that it would take too long. Forty damn minutes I waited for some serious horror. Of course, following a couple who decided to open a grape farm is interesting. But that's not what we came for, is it?
The plot itself is average. Not weak, but not strong. The big plus is the end. I liked him. I didn't expect it, to be honest. The horror itself was pretty strong. The atmosphere of fear was transmitted. Boom moments took place. The soundtrack was level. But the mannequin hastened. I even joked: “The budget was enough only to push the mannequin on wheels with his foot.”
With all these poles, the two scores were mowed down by the actors. For their game had much in common with the number "zero".
Isla Fisher and Gillian Jacobs are 1. I don't want to comment. I haven’t seen a game like this in a long time.
Anson Mount - 4, did not reach the moments where his hero should freak out, but in general - normal.
So I liked the movie. It's a shame that the disgusting actors tried to ruin everything. The film adds to my list of good horror films this year (the list of good horror films, as well as the top foreign and Russian films of this year will be published by me on the Kinopoisk page near the end of the year).
7 out of 10
Everything is wonderful in the life of Kevin Grotert - having started as an ordinary editor of horror films, including the revolutionary in this genre Saws, Kevin's career skyrocketed. Having worked with such a talent as James Wan and so squeezed into the work on “Saw”, 5 years after the release of the first picture, Grothert became also an excellent debutant in directing, shooting the 6th part of the horror film about the “survival game”, and then completed it, shooting, at the moment, the last, 7th part. Over the next 4 years, the director shot only one film - "Jesabelle" (Kevin was also the editor of the film), and this year he was entrusted with a new film - "Visions".
Beloved David and Evelyn come to a small and cozy house, which is also a grape farm. The couple is waiting for replenishment and very happy about it, but Evelyn begins to pursue some strange hallucinations.
The film was directed by Kevin Grotert and it worked rather strangely. The film turned out to be somehow lulling, instead of scaring, boring and long, even despite its timekeeping (83 minutes), and the director was not able to transfer the atmosphere of mystery and fear to the film, because you can be scared here not so much over some moments, but rather over two or three scenes with a stranger in a cloak and then thanks to frightening compositions. For almost an hour, the film will only cause sleep, and only the last 20 minutes save the film - not only that the viewer will open the final picture and its meaning, but it will be wrapped in a dynamic and interesting scene. Unfortunately, only the final 20 minutes were interesting and memorable. On the other hand, the director is hardly to blame, since all this boredom comes from the script. The script of newcomers Latricsa Goffigan and Lucas Sussman weak and the script of a horror film it can not be called. Yes, everything is spelled out not bad, there is a good development of the plot, you feel the characters, but there is practically no atmosphere of horror here and it is almost impossible to be scared here too. Most likely, the screenwriters - beginners themselves did not know what the film genre - if it was to be a horror movie, it was worth adding more atmosphere of fear, horror and accordingly similar scenes that cause this atmosphere, but if this is some part of the thriller, then it needed to be created, and the duo "Goffigan - Sussman" here everything is mixed, and as a side effect of such an action, only one thing is caused - boredom. The cameraman Michael Filmonari works competently - here and a very high-quality work and an excellent color scheme that immerses the viewer in what is happening and creates the very atmosphere of mystery, grayness, which the film simply craves and which the director could not convey into the picture. Once again, it is worth noting the soundtrack from the composer of the film - Anton Sanko. The music is very good contact with the things happening in the film and further enhances the desired atmosphere (for example, the same scene with a stranger in a cloak).
The film has a very specific cast, including Isla Fisher, Gillian Jacobs and Jim Parsons, for whom shooting in films of this genre is new, because the viewer is used to seeing these actors more in comedies than thrillers and horror films, so that for Isla, Gillian and Jim the role in such a movie can be a kind of debut in a new genre. It is very interesting how Eva Longoria got into this project, because her ship never sailed in this direction (however, she is only found here in two small scenes). Whoever said that, and such an experimental cast successfully plays in this genre and adapts perfectly with other actors – John de Lancy, Anson Mount and Joanna Cassidy (you can say that this trio can be considered the main characters). Good and well-coordinated acting as star "debutants" and ordinary actors.
Total:
“Vedia” is more of a thriller with a pinch of mysticism than a horror film, but there is practically nothing to note here, except for the camera work, the work of the composer and the coordinated play of the cast. A very weak script once again becomes a crack on the face of the film, which makes expectations from the picture remain unjustified, because even instead of a not bad mysticism, the viewer gets a boring, weak and practically not terrible film. Personally, I found the film weak and boring and it was very hard to watch (my eyes just closed with boredom), and only the last 20 minutes were really good. You can recommend such a film to loyal fans of the cast, and the rest only at their own request and then if you can not sleep or still look.
Fear of experimentation as a direct road to nothingness
Professional Hollywood editor Kevin Grotert, who became famous for working on all parts of the popular slasher Saw, continues to develop a career of director, which he began with a couple of short films, and then continued in the final films of the franchise, invented by James Wan and Lee Wannell. The talented filmmaker could not help but pay attention to the famous producer Jason Bloom, whose name is associated with the most successful horror films of the last decade. Preferring primarily to work with enthusiasts, for whom the banal opportunity to stage their own film is much more important than the multimillion-dollar cost of the production itself, Bloom often uses the passion of directors, discovering unexpected talents in them. The first experience of a full-fledged cooperation between Grotert and Bloom was the voodoo horror Jezabel, albeit not an event in the genre, but still pleased fans of blood-colding paintings with a tense narrative full of mysterious mysteries. Well, since the cost of production of each film released under the auspices of Blumhouse studios often does not exceed five million dollars, Jesabel easily paid off its existence, allowing Grothert to direct another remarkable film called Visions. The intrigue about the project was fueled by the fact that the main roles were occupied not by another unknown performers, but already quite accomplished actors with a large base of loyal fans. So the leading role in “Visions” got Isla Fisher, preferring not to linger for a long time in one particular genre, and trying her hand in different directions of cinema, and therefore cooperation with the company of Jason Bloom was only a matter of time. But much more excitement caused the appearance in the frame of Jim Parsons, known for the role of Sheldon Cooper from the “Big Bang Theory”. Despite the incredible popularity, Parsons does not often leave the small screens, preferring to work in time-tested series. And it was all the more interesting to see why he was distracted from his main activities and agreed to take part in Visions, which continue the traditions of Blumhouse studios, which some viewers consider to be slightly stagnant, but at the same time no one can argue with the fact that the so far developed formula for intimidating financial failures does not bring. And for the creation of films for mass consumption, unfortunately, this is the decisive factor at the moment.
So, the plot of the film introduces us to Evie (Fisher), who gets into a terrible car accident that provoked a serious psychological trauma. After learning that a child is killed in another car, the heroine is no longer able to stay in the big city, so her husband David (Anson Mount) sells all the assets and buys a vineyard in the picturesque valley, in the center of which is a respectable mansion. It seems that Evie’s life begins to get better, she becomes pregnant and prepares to become a mother, and the newly acquired business promises to become profitable, but real nightmares only begin to haunt her. At first, Evie did not give importance to the incomprehensible noise that periodically occurs in different parts of the house. After all, old mansions tend to scare their owners, which the girl of course knows. However, the further the pregnancy goes, the greater the unexplained presence of someone or something sinister. The darkness around Evie thickens, she begins to discern a clear gloomy silhouette, wanting to make contact with her. Always busy at work, David does not take the statements of his wife seriously, writing off all the oddities as a mental disorder, not realizing that sometimes visions tend to be true.
Developing the plot of the project, the creators of the film as if specifically made a curtsey in the direction of the already mentioned “Jesabelle”, launching the story with a tragic accident that forces the heroine to leave her native land in search of imaginary calm. Further action is different, but still Kevin Groter did not want to work on the mistakes and again failed the case of intimidation of the audience, using annoyingly primitive methods of intimidation, like systematically repeated from prices, in which after a long lull suddenly erupts loud noise. Like reflections in surfaces, such effects are only intended to pull the viewer out of a state of despondency caused by a surprisingly bland plot, in which it is difficult to find at least some intrigue. The only thing that makes Visions different from Jason Bloom’s other projects is the setting. However, the desire to bring something new to the horror can not be limited to changing the scenery. It is necessary to conduct careful work on the script, without being afraid to experiment. So far, horror films in their modern guise bring good income, but do not forget that any stagnation sooner or later will lead to decline. And if with “Paranormal phenomenon” and other everyday horror Jason Bloom once broke the bank, then the hour is approaching when he will need to say another word in his favorite genre, but apparently he will not be able to do this.
In fairness, it is worth noting that the creators of Visions tried to present a certain intrigue to the plot, playing the traditional situation with ghosts in the house from an unexpected angle. Quite an ordinary story is fraught with an original surprise, all the details of which shoot closer to the final. The only problem is that the rest of the action is so mediocre that it will not be possible to appreciate the efforts of the writers. Well, for real fans of horror, even the revelations presented will not seem something extraordinary, since Latricsa Goffegan and Lucas Sussman borrowed the main idea from a modest but quite famous slasher of recent years, which, like Vision, associated with pregnancy.
Nothing special can be said about the star cast. Interesting and able to pleasantly surprise Isla Fisher this time seemed to change herself, playing her character with amazing apathy. It was as if she was not interested in getting used to the image embodied in life with the help of traditional dramatic techniques without a minimal hint of piercing play. Fisher’s screen partner, Anson Mount, did not spend much time in the frame, and what he had to play, it is difficult to call something memorable, which is not surprising. If Kevin Grotert could not force Isla Fisher to show a true dramatic talent, then paying attention to the creative efforts of Mount was pointless.
The motivation of the creators of “Visions” can be easily understood and even accepted. They wanted, without undue effort and risk, to once again conquer rental, and work in a given direction on dozens of similar projects for the next few years. But what is impossible to understand is how Jim Parsons got into such an ugly story. His creative potential is not realized even by a third, and the image provided to him by the attending physician Evie, Dr. Matheson, is a composite image of all the mediocrity created under the leadership of Kevin Grothert. Parsons has no impressive screen time, no memorable phrases, and his charisma literally dissolves in the void paired with a completely unnecessary for the stated story Eva Longoria, another victim of cinematic apathy.
Horror from filmmakers, whose names are known only to that part of the public that is attentive to the relevant genre, interested primarily in the names of Jim Parsons and Isla Fisher in the cast. Despite the popularity of other projects of the leading roles (such as “The Big Bang Theory” and “The Deception Illusion”), “Visions” did not receive a wide release, but received an R rating for several shots, as well as scratches received by the heroes of the film.
The plot of “Visions” is incredibly simple: a pregnant Evely moves with her husband to a new house, located among the surrounding vineyards, where she begins to pursue either strange visions or hallucinations. The key words here are “new home,” as any viewer who has seen at least a few horror movies will point out. However, except for the titles, which take two minutes from a rather small timekeeping, which is less than one and a half hours, “Visions” do not contain any common features with standard horrors in composition about the life of a family in a newly acquired home.
From the passing horror work, designed to scare the viewer with the help of nervous experiences of the heroine expecting a child, “Visions” differ in their original approach to the compositional structure for the horror genre, and an attempt to escape from primitivism in the form of blood exploitation and violence. With all the inexpressiveness of directing and the fundamental (and, I must say, expected) absence of philosophical reasoning, the tape has plot logic and well (for the corresponding genre) worked out characters of the main characters with pronounced typological features, which makes Vision comfortable for viewing by the widest audience, not only fans of horror.
Before the picture crosses the equator of its screen time, the events of Visions are presented as a story about a poltergeist, and then there is a genre transformation into a mystical drama with elements of revenge motives and consequences of committed actions. It is worth noting that the part about the "noisy spirit" is not so unambiguous and offers two options for seeing the event - as a feature of Avely's mental state or as a manifestation of something supernatural. It is this balancing at the junction of genre nuances of horror and mysticism that turns “Visions” into an optional, but not uninteresting film.
Of the obvious drawbacks of the picture, only a certain declaration of action can be called, and not its consistent development, which is extremely clearly manifested, for example, in the storyline about the medium and, concurrently, the wine distributor of the main character. But “Visions” does not pretend to be a dramaturgy of the highest class, so from this point of view, these claims seem exclusively formal. In addition, it is very unproductive to use Jim Parsons, a charismatic actor in the film, but receiving only a few minutes of screen time in Visions and not adding anything to his acting resume.
It is not necessary to talk about any cinematic value of Visions, but in order to occupy the evening, this picture fits in all parameters, satisfying both the desire of teenagers to experience some nervous tension, and the adult audience, more accustomed to the daytime broadcast of the MGM TV channel and films with characters understandable and cute, similar to those presented in Visions, than to pictures with the word “horror” in the line “genre”. Calling “Visions” a new version of the famous mystical film “Others” is certainly wrong, but the director of the story about pregnancy and its external complications, definitely this film, starring Nicole Kidman, watched and presented his original version of the story that the past, present and future are one space.
The idea underlying the plot of this picture is not new, but with the right approach of the authors to the implementation and presentation to the viewer can result in a very worthy and interesting product. But only in this case, the authors ineptly merge everything by.
The main character, Evelyn, had an accident. Someone that accident just beat, and sent others to their forefathers. And unhappy Evie begins to blame herself for everything that happened (although, as it turns out, she is not guilty there, and she herself is well aware of this). Unable to cope with the far-fetched sense of guilt, the girl is tightly addicted to antidepressants. And after a year of such a life suddenly becomes pregnant.
In fact, already here it becomes clearly noticeable all carelessness approach creators to their work. Evelyn, of course, jumps off the drugs immediately. But only in the past time has already been such a chemical blow to the body that the health of the future offspring can actually put an end. What were the young parents thinking before conception? Or were they not planning this at all? However, there is no general opinion among the spouses on this matter - the wife actively promotes a healthy lifestyle without pills and categorically refuses any pharmacological intervention in her body (correctly, smart); but the husband, stunned by so sharply returned from the twilight state and now continuously throwing out circus numbers, strongly recommends her to continue the course of treatment. Trying to draw the perfect family (and at first glance it seemed so), the authors very carelessly turn its inside out, showing the standard and rather shaky cell of society. My husband looks pathologically selfish. Even the purchase of a farm, allegedly made for his wife, looks strange - very problematic, arid and barren land, capable of eventually bankrupting him and sending all his relatives to the street. Was it worth the prospect of investing so much money?
The mystical component of the tape is confused and incomprehensible. It seems that they initially try to present it to us as hallucinations of abruptly tied Evelyn. She herself is ready to believe it, but some crooked accidents realize that something here is not clean. And it begins. All the supernatural in the tape is served very confused and crumpled, there is practically no system and order, it is not even possible to track. In parallel, there is an incomprehensible nonsense from the neighbors behind the fence. Why this was in the story, I never understood.
The acting is just no, Isla Fisher could just as well play a tree. All the others are no better – gathered, walked back and forth, the text was spoken, a couple of emotions squeezed out – voila! Enjoy it! And already boring and fresh cinema finally loses the remnants of its faded colors.
To be fair, there was a brief episode closer to the denouement that suddenly disinhibited me and forced me to get close. This very episode, as a lifeline, managed to save the whole picture, not allowing it to plunge into the abyss of longing and despondency.
However, there is nothing more to praise and nothing more.
Spontaneous desire to go to the cinema at night for something, with a bias towards horror, led me to watch this film.
I'll go in order as usual.
The visual component is pretty good. Good camera work, beautiful landscapes, quite tolerable special effects (not meticulously studied, but if the eye did not catch, then order). Of course, this is not a sample, but it is quite pleasant and easy to watch.
The soundtrack is slightly worse. No soundtracks were seen, but moments of the kind: "Boo!" did not pump up. The latter was actually the only thing that made me afraid. Not the best option for horror (I am a fan of atmospheric films, and not such attractions), but somehow they were able to make the viewer shake up.
The story is not bad at first. Immediately we are immersed in the events, showing an interesting plot. Better and better, and ... collapse. Let me be clear: while we were scared, the plot really interested. When they showed the denouement, I felt nothing but disappointment. First of all, boring. Second, corny. Third, the events at the end are not so shocking as to justify the preceding scenes. Apparently, the inspiration of the creators has run out. Or it wasn't there in the beginning, just an idea for a couple of scary scenes. Even it seems that the writer almost finished the script, but suddenly died and took his place another, who just finished the first version, adjusted to the already written. What a naive happy ending. There is no deeper meaning in the film. The conclusion that people are the main universal evil in this tape seems too far-fetched.
As a plus note, the film looks easy and fast. They do not drag on: they plunge, as I mentioned above, into events with their heads immediately and keep the dynamics until the end. This is mainly due to the short duration.
The actors did not leave any special impressions, either positive or negative (I will note that I am not finicky in this regard). The characters of the film in general do not cause complaints, although sometimes the terminal degree of stupidity skips, which is slightly annoying and kills empathy.
Result: Result, if you know what to expect. As a full-fledged film, it is worthless. Once quite pull, because it looks easy and fast, which is explained by the short duration. It does not create a frightening atmosphere, but there are a couple of frightening moments. Of course, the effect is enhanced by sharp sounds and changes of frames, which has long been outdated, because he does not claim genius. It is a pity that the potential was not realized, because all the outlines were. So a neutral score is more than the maximum you can give this film.
The feelings of the future mother are sharpened like no other person.
Probably many have already come to terms with the fact that for forty years the concept of a house with oddities has not lost the proud title of the most exploited among horror films. 2015, as returned to the screens some forgotten brands, and presented to the court of public opinion new. Among the second – not remarkable, from the point of view of box office ambitions, the film “Visions” from the director with outstanding experience in the franchise “Saw”. Looking ahead, I will say that the project is able to pleasantly surprise, although this is not a new word in the genre, but rather successfully re-exposed the old – the saying about the well-forgotten here is very relevant.
According to tradition, a young American couple settles away from bustling cities and technological progress, with an obvious desire to start over. The bundle is more than banal and the first half an hour causes a constant feeling of déjà vu. The story works on a rolled-up scheme, where strange and inexplicable things drive the main character crazy, against the background of the indifference of the spouse. At the same time, there were two bright moments. Firstly, visually the film was shot more than decently and there is no feeling that the crew only counted the time to the next portion of the fee. Decent work of the operator: a game with depth of perspective and light, contrast transitions. In short, there is not that annoying fatigue from the story of the haunted house told for the hundredth time.
The second glimmer of light is associated with the theme of pregnancy and its weaving into the traditional plot palette. On the palm of originality, again, does not claim, but well-known things are served interestingly and not annoying. “Visions” is generally a very pleasant film in terms of the absence of sharp angles, which are usually clinging to the eye and common sense. Even the main character, whom someone will call only “American blonde”, quite harmoniously fits into the story, without causing irritation with illogical behavior. I hate to spoil the experience, but the film unfolds in the second half, but rather in the last 20 minutes of what is happening. Here, the plot, although actively borrowing ideas from such films as “What lies hide” and “Signs”, gives interesting emotions when the story comes together. To make another comparison, I got an order of magnitude more impression from watching Visions than from this year’s mediocre reboot of Poltergeist.
7 out of 10
Visions is a movie that could scare the viewer, a movie that was initially intriguing, frightening, but the further it went, the faster I realized that this film is another miscarriage. The movie is very stupid, I just regret wasting my time. But everything in order.
The storyline here is quite simple, standard, and already just well, which makes me sick. Family, home, paranormal phenomena. How many movies can I make about this? I don't know about the others, but personally I'm sick of it. A family of two moves to a grape farm, an old house. Husband David decided to start a business, namely, to make wine and invested all his fortune in this business. Evilin’s wife is not enthusiastic about her husband’s decision, moreover, after a terrible accident, she began to overcome terrible visions that drive the girl crazy, only pills can help, but she refuses to drink them as she is expecting a child.
The plot is just to tears of despair in the soul, disgusting me. Everything is so stupid and unprofessional that the movie looks like a cheap rag, in which each of those who took part in the creation spit three times, beautifully wrapped and presented to the audience. The beginning of the film foreshadowed a very good, if not atmospheric horror cinema, then at least not a bad screen show, but ... we can say that all my hopes collapsed by about 15-17 minutes of the film, when it became clear what they were going to “scare” the viewer. Inappropriate and absolutely not terrible screemer moments, in addition to a completely unrealistic scenario, allow me to say so: “Take red paint and paint your piece of review red.”
From acting, I wanted, covering my face with my hands, to start crying like a woman who lost her husband in the war, because every time I watch new horror films, I am convinced that this genre has long been in a hole that everyone is not lazy and this genre has almost died. Screenwriters are not able to come up with anything new and take the same template, the same script, making only small changes to make the films at least something different. The actors were just terrible, there is no one I could put a plus for his performance. They did not convey their images, in any way. Ridiculous and absolutely not expressive emotions, even the mannequins in the film showed themselves better than the actors. While watching the film, even girls who are usually afraid in this genre absolutely everything, sat occasionally whispering giggling at the stupidity of the situations shown in the film.
I want to say that everything is done very empty, it does not even smell original, the film has no weight - another empty space. Well, come on, the ending makes it clear that the film may have a sequel and the second part I definitely will not go! But in order not to put too bad a score on this film, I will try to find something. You can take that atmosphere into account in the first 15 minutes of the movie and maybe a little surprise at the end. All on the plus side.
In summary, I note that this movie is a simple, yet another miscarriage of American cinema. A talentless script, talentless actors and a completely missing logic in some of the actions of the actors and the script in the film. For those two pluses that I could hardly find, we record 1 point. Thank you for reading my review and wasting your time. My advice to you: watch good movies and do not waste your time on such films as “Visions”.
2 out of 10
A year ago, a child died in an accident involving Evelyn (Ayla Fisher). The girl was not guilty of this, but she fell into depression, from which only medication could save. After recovering, Isla became pregnant and, along with her husband David (Anson Mount), moved out of town to open her own distillery. Locals warmly welcome the couple but say their new home is infamous. Soon Ayla begins to pursue strange visions.
A house where something terrible happened. The cornerstone of many horrors – both classics and passable cheaps, whose creators do not even seek to bring any new ideas to the genre. When the writer lacks the courage or talent to take risks, it is better to rely on a proven technique – many have succeeded. What about Lucas Sammen and Latricsa Goffigan’s upcoming duet, who composed Visions? For most of the film, they monotonously catch up on the viewer longing, pretending that they came up with a very boring and routine movie, but in the finale they still make you wonder and give a quite decent twist. Although not shocking, but at least distinguishing their work among the dubious horror films that come out on the big screen.
Such, by the way, is enough in the short-lived directorial career of former editor Kevin Grotert: he put “Jesabel”, “Saw 3D” and the sixth “Saw” – none of the films was met by audiences and critics with applause. Hardly break the jackpot and “Visions”, but Groter is step by step fixed in his niche, even if he does not look like an innovator.
“Visions” are tailored according to beaten patterns and for a long time seem, frankly, quite a bad movie – suspense is pumped up by music that you have clearly already heard somewhere, and every boom-moment (be it a mysterious figure in the hood close-up or something rising from the bottom of the pool) is preceded by such an obvious pause that the effect of surprise disappears completely. In addition, the plot also does not shine originality: Isla hallucinates, David believes that his wife needs a psychiatrist, the others give meaningless phrases or meaningfully silent. Drive is absent completely, but this is a strained claim to horror, although fair, given that “Visions” offer the viewer almost nothing.
Isla Fisher, as it turned out, is not created for horror – yes, the character she has cardboard, but to breathe life into him artist fails: zero charisma, complete playfulness. Mount looks more interesting, but the guest stars - Jim Parsons and Eva Longoria - are present in the film only for a tick and work as bait. Their names on the poster provide any interest, and the viewer who goes to see what Sheldon looks like in an unusual way will be disappointed - Jim's participation in the film is limited to a couple of lines. The same applies to Longoria - what it is, what it is not.
Throughout the film, you wait to get out of the room and brand "Visions" - they say, as long as it will continue, how much you can torture the audience with low-grade horror. However, the creators have a weighty trump card. This, of course, is not the “Sixth Sense” and not the “Others”, the place in the Golden Fund “Visions” does not shine, but they make a move that is very difficult to calculate and which dramatically changes the picture, adding several points to it at once.
Delicately masquerading as not the most inventive horror movie, "Visions" show their real face only at the very end. Spirits, ghosts, ghosts, the supernatural – people fear what they don’t understand, although the answers tend to lie in obvious places. And the worst evil is man himself.
5 out of 10