Hot Picks
|
|
|
Jonah Lives
USA 2012
produced by Gary Andre, Cesar Carvalho (executive), Paul Vaz (executive) for LuGar Productions
directed by Luis Carvalho
starring Jocelyn Padilla, Nicole Lasala, Ryan Boudreau, James Barrett, Rob Roy, Aaron Peaslee, Brinke Stevens, Cesar Pereira, David Nuovo, Bernadette Oliveira, Nina Darcy, Cheryl Phenix, Antonio J. Oliveira, Brina, Jeff Carvalho, Sandro G. Açoreano-Rapartist, Arthur Wahlberg, Stephen L. Cabral, Lino Farias, David J. Garfield, Bob Boulos, Douglas G. White, Kenneth Davey
written by Luis Carvalho, music by Russell Estrela, special makeup effects by Ben Bornstein, Timothy Considine, Erick de la Vega
review by Mike Haberfelner
|
|
|
|
Available on DVD! To buy, click on link(s) below and help keep this site afloat (commissions earned) |
Always make sure of DVD-compatibility!!!
|
|
|
|
|
A bunch of teenagers (Jocelyn Padilla, Nicole Lasala, Ryan Boudreau,
James Barrett, Rob Boy, Aaron Peaslee) need something to do holed up in
the basement while their host Francis's (Ryan Boudreau) parents (David
Nuovo, Bernadette Oliveira) have this big party upstairs - so Francis
fetches a Ouija-board for a nice little séance, which everybody is
immediately up to except for Tony (James Barret), who's against making fun
of the spirit of the dead ... but of course, everyone else thinks it's
just baloney, and so the séance commences, and soon enough they find the
spirit of one Jonah, who tells them he has been poisoned by his wife ...
and before you know it, the friends are falling into chants to call Jonah
into their midst, all but Tony who is shocked by it and ultimately
thrashes the Ouija board ... and is thus made the brunt of the others'
jokes. Thing is, Jonah (Cesar Pereira) is an actual person, an actual
dead person, actually, and he hears the incantations and answers to them
by paying the teens a visit ... to of course kill them off one by one ... Fan
favourite Brinke Stevens plays Jonah's poisonous widow, who's actually the
center of the party upstairs ... Jonah Lives is above
all good genre fun - sure, it does nothing to reinvent the genre, despite
many a surprise twist and turn stays happily within the genre formula, and
you are treated to quite a few genre clichés along the way ... but
none of that really matters all that much when watching the movie as it
builds up its tension and suspense really well, places its shocks and gore
carefully, features a cool undead baddie, and is populated by a believable
cast of characters embodied by a competent ensemble cast. So no, no genre
classic, but utterly enjoyable while it lasts.
|