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The Marsh (2006)
Overall Score: 7/10
Artistic but not Deadly Watching this right now and the first thing you note is the feel, which is very nice. Pay attention to the words of the children's story they're very good, and the art is also very nice which offsets the general beauty of this film; the direction. There's an almost calming familiarity to the directing, but it's always very brief encounters like squeaky hinges on an old door. Gabrielle Anwar is good but not altogether memorable in the role. It is my belief they just didn't know how to direct her. Forest Whittaker has the best lines but everyone is excellent in the film and the transition shots are magnificent. The story actually contains character development, and not just with one character but many, which is a rare and refreshing thing to find in modern day horror films in the 21st Century. There's definitely a Poltergeist influence, but to be able to capture any of that atmosphere and bring it alive 25 years later in a real way takes real talent. Although while Poltergeist was relentless in it's intensity and gruesome ferocity, The Marsh is tame, but not bad. Ultimately the movie feels like a big puzzle locked in the mind. A puzzle buried, but no one expected one of the pieces to continue in the pocket of another girl, and to be reconnected with the whole. So the movie is about regret, and loss, and perhaps, second chances to resolve a memory we forgot, and those waiting on the other side. If you are looking to be scared, this movie will disappoint you, but the artistic camera work, dialog, and story make it worthwhile.
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