Movie Review: From Within (2008)
Phedon Papamichael’s Entry In The 2008 After Dark Horrorfest
From Within
Directed by: Phedon Papamichael
Starring: Elizabeth Rice, Thomas Dekker, Kelly Blatz, Laura Allen, Adam Goldberg, Margo Harshman, Rumer Willis, Brittany Robertson, Steven Culp, Jared Harris
DVD Release Date: March 31, 2009
From Within, one of the 2008 offerings from the After Dark Horrorfest reminded me a lot of an episode of South Park where the boys learn about corporations via a secret cave of gnomes that steal underpants for profit. A brief summary on the gnome/underpants business philosophy, phase one was collect underpants, phase two was a big question mark, and phase three was profit.
Bitch what don't you understand? Underpants = Profit
Why does this movie remind me of an episode of South Park? Simply put, From Within had a clearly defined beginning and ending but the middle was a big convoluted question mark. The movie starts with a rash of “mysterious suicides” that strikes a uber Christian community. Lindsay (Elizabeth Rice) helps a classmate, Aidan (Thomas Dekker) after he gets the crapped kicked out of him by her son of a preacher boyfriend.
Adam Goldberg gets laid more then anybody.
Apparently by helping Aidan, Lindsay has somehow stumbled into the dark and murky realm of witchcraft or something because the middle of the movie is muddled with everything from exorcisms and sinister townsfolk to allegations of witchcraft and murder. There are some awesome glaring contradictions as well, my favorite being the super religious stepmother who is an alcoholic and spends all her time shagging Adam Goldberg’s character (who plays a redneck and still slightly sounds like the crazy Goldfish cracker roommate on Friends). The movie does have a slight twist at the end, so I’ll spare you the spoiler but the payout at the end is that the body count does become fairly significant, albeit the scares remain pretty tame.
From Within isn’t a bad movie per se and there are some decent death scenes, it just felt like the entire story could have been succinctly bundled up in an hour for a Master’s of Horror episode instead of a full length movie. The movie felt like it ran too long, making this the first horror movie that I’ve had to get caffeine during the halfway point just so I could stay awake through to the end. Not exactly a glaring recommendation if you ask me.
– Brie
Magbo Invite Codes: 8727733PK6
