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Paradise Cove
USA 2021
produced by Sherry Klein, Dahlia Waingort Guigui, Jacqueline Carroll (executive), Rodric David (executive) for Thunder Studios
directed by Martin Guigui
starring Todd Grinnell, Mena Suvari, Kristin Bauer van Straten, Eddie Goines, Krista Allen, Horacio Galaviz, Eddie Rivera, Ruben Garfias, Kelsey Collins Keener, Karl T. Wright, Scott Anthony Leet, Jacqueline Mazarella, Javier Calderon, Marc Hawes, Dahlia Waingort Guigui, Nick Stellate, Jamie Morrow, William Guirola, Scott Bailey, Adrienne Frantz, Gunnar Blomgren, Paula Rhodes, Michael Teh
written by Sherry Klein, music by Jeff Cardoni
review by Mike Haberfelner
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Knox's (Todd Grinnell) mother has died in a fire in her Malibu beach
house, but fortunately the fire wasn't bad enough to actually wreck the
house, so he and his wife Tracey (Mena Suvari) decide to move in for the
time being, fix it up and then sell it for profit. Sounds like a simple
enough plan - if it wasn't for a squatter living under their house, Bree
(Kristin Bauer van Straten), a woman who claims (with some justification
as it turns out) the house once belonged to her and Knox's mum stole it
one way or another. And Bree just refuses to leave, no matter what Knox
tries, be it a bribe or the police. And she also seems to have a good
standing in the neighbourhood, so no help to be expected from the locals,
either. Now her staying would only be half as bad if she didn't after a
while start to terrorize Knox and Tracey - and no matter how hard they try
to evade her, she seems to always find a way, as the ventilation system
allows her to enter and leave the house as she pleases, and it also lets
her overhear their private conversations, which she uses to her advantage.
It really gets bad though when Bree kills one of the contractors (Eddie
Goines) working on the house, as now she has become the cat in the cat and
mouse game they were playing - and she's determined to play till the end
... A very solid and well-played thriller that doesn't go down
the spectacle route but takes a slowburn approach to things. In other
words, it uses its structure and build-up to create tension and suspense,
and this way really manages to get into one's head. It likewise chooses
atmosphere over all-out action, and actually captures the dreamland of
Malibu Beach at its creepiest. And all of this combines to a piece of
genre cinema one's bound not to forget anytime soon ...
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review © by Mike Haberfelner
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Robots and rats,
demons and potholes, cuddly toys and shopping mall Santas,
love and death and everything in between,
Tales to Chill Your Bones to is all of that.
Tales to Chill Your Bones to -
a collection of short stories and mini-plays ranging from the horrific to the darkly humourous,
from the post-apocalyptic to the weirdly romantic,
tales that will give you a chill and maybe a chuckle,
all thought up by the twisted mind of screenwriter and film reviewer Michael Haberfelner.
Tales to Chill Your Bones to
the new anthology by Michael Haberfelner
Out now from Amazon!!! |
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