INNOCENCE
By: John ’Doc’ Strange
Directed by: Hilary Brougher
Cast: Kelly Reilly, Sophie Curtis, Graham Phillips, Linus Roche, Stephanie March, Perrey Reeves, Sarita Choudhury
MPAA Rating: PG-13 (for some violence and bloody images, thematic material, sexuality and drug content – all involving teens)
Selig Rating: DOLLAR
Runtime: 96 Min.
The Warner family was a close-knit family. One fateful day the Warner family goes to the beach in Montauk, Beckett (Sophie Curtis) and her mother to surf while her father, Miles (Linus Roche), watches from shore and takes photos. Beckett’s mother drowns when she is thrown from her surf board.
Four months later, father and daughter leave their home and Montauk and move to an apartment in Manhattan. Miles will continue to write while Becket will attend the exclusive Hamilton Preparatory School. But the Beckett who will be attending this school is not the girl she was only months before.
Beckett is received at the school with open arms but her thoughts are bedeviled with visions of death. She sees visions of students who have died in previous years. She is also a witness when a young girl commits suicide by jumping from the roof of the school.
There are too many questions and not enough answers to satisfy Beckett. Is there something evil going on or is her damaged psyche only imagining it? Are these visions being sent to her from another plane of existence to warn her?
The suspense is decent but sadly the climax was telegraphed. This film has a lot of actors and actresses you will recognize from various television shows. Were it not for the violence this could easily have been a TV movie.
Movie Site: https://www.facebook.com/innocencethemovie
The Selig Rating Scale:
FULL PRICE – Excellent movie, well worth the price
MATINEE – Good movie
DOLLAR – OK movie
CABLE – No need to rush. Save it for a rainy day.
FREEBIE – Good that I saw it on the big screen but wish I hadn't paid for it.
COMMERCIAL TV – Commercials and cutting to the allotted time will not hurt this one.
FORGET IT! – Bad. If you see this one, do yourself a favor and keep it to yourself.
GET YOUR TORCHES – BAD! – Burn the script, the writer, the director and maybe even the actors!
This movie is an unashamed exploitation flick – it’s got horror, vampires, beautiful teenagers, etc. Clearly they didn’t exactly spend a lot of time or money on the script, nor the special effects.
That said, for a B horror film it’s got really good camera work and the acting was probably above average, too – Sophie Curtis is good in the lead role of Beckett and the young Ms. Sutherland clearly had the acting gene passed down from daddy and grandpa. On a side note, I really liked that they used “Cannibal Love” by White Sea during the scene where Beckett and Sam ride the subway together and giggle as they observe all of the other people on the train and the city around them. So haunting, yet catchy.
All in all, if you’re a fan of the genre, it’s worth a watch, but only when it comes out on Netflix/Hulu, etc. Don’t make the mistake of seeing it in theaters like me – you’re really better off just reading the book.