Double Feature: 'The Butler' and 'Insidious: Chapter 2'

Yeah, yeah, it's two consecutive reviews. Getting back on schedule has been more difficult than I had anticipated, and I'm still catching up. It doesn't help that Hollywood is releasing more wide-released titles per week than I'm currently able to keep up with, And so I'm finally getting around to two older, important films this week in Lee Daniels' The Butler and James Wan's Insidious: Chapter 2.

"You hear nothing. You see nothing. You only serve." If Cecil Gaines (loosely based on real-life Eugene Allen) had heeded that statement, we likely would never have gotten The Butler, which tracks the rise of Civil Rights from the antebellum south until the modern day, from the point of view of a longtime White House server. Featuring an ensemble cast and a story (and director) tailor-made for African-American audiences, it's obvious that this film is expressly geared towards the moviegoers that made The Help such a hit just two years ago.

Bowties are cool, now.

The Butler might not possess The Help's overall sense of charm, but it does have quite a bit going for it. The cast is largely excellent, headlined by the "Forrest Gump meets Bubba Blue" lead performance of Forest Whitaker (that comparison might normally be a complaint but it works here), but also by the bevy of talents -including James Marsden, John Cusack and Alan Rickman - as various US Presidents. The Butler presents a very unique perspective of the inner machinations in the White House, and some of the highlights involve Cecil being present (and in true fashion, completely ignored) as decisions are being made that affect worldwide events. The story, though long and at times overly familiar, does pull itself together in the final act, justifying every scene that one might originally have thought to cut.

Yes, that's Oprah. No, she doesn't deserve an award.

It's just a shame that not everything works. The Gaines family becomes representative of the Black American family, from losing a child to Vietnam to being the victims of looting and violence, but the fact of the matter is that Cecil Gaines is the least-interesting character in this tale. That's not a knock against Whitaker's performance, which does its absolute best to save the character from cliche hell, but with the screenplay, penned by a perhaps overly-reverent Danny Strong. Too much narration and too little to do means that we're far more interested in anything else happening. My favorite scene did not involve Cecil at all - it was a conversation between his sons - played by David Oyelowo (an amazing actor no matter his limited screentime) and Elijah Kelley - that I thought stole the entire movie. There aren't enough quiet scenes like this, with the scene so focused on the talents of the actors and nothing else. Speaking of which, Oprah Winfrey - in her highly-touted return to the big screen - is also not given nearly enough to do. Despite being a central character, and despite being involved in several sub-plots, Winfrey is often just shown as a typical dissatisfied housewife, complete with all the usual tropes, a big name wasted in a do-nothing role.

In Django: Unleashed they would now fight to the death.

The Butler's biggest problem is an unexpected one; at just over two hours, it's actually too SHORT for the tale it tries to impart, or at least for Daniels (an overrated filmmaker at present) to capitalize on fully. A miniseries on the same topic would have been a better fit (say, an hour dedicated to working for each President between Eisenhower and Reagan?), and allowed the amazing cast and the worthy story the time it needed to grow. Many people are talking about The Butler being up for awards this winter. I don't know about all that (MAYBE nominations for Whitaker and Oyelowo), but I do recognize some of the merits of their argument. Flawed as it is, there's a lot to like in this ensemble piece. I just don't think it's good enough to not wait for the DVD.

Insidious: Chapter 2 is also trying to reap the benefits of a predecessor from 2011, in this case the excellent supernatural horror film Insidious. Taking place immediately after that modern classic ended, Chapter 2 picks up with the newly-reunited Lambert family trying to recover from the events that had almost stolen their eldest son Dalton's (Iron Man 3's Ty Simpkins) soul from his body. Despite thinking they are safe from the malevolent spirits that had haunted them, the family begins to experience even more unexplainable occurrences, as a new threat begins to emerge. Soon, Renai (Rose Byrne) begins to suspect that the ghosts have a new plan for capturing her son's soul... and that her husband Josh (Patrick Wilson) did not come back from his trip to the spirit world without a malevolent monkey on his shoulder.

Maybe I'm just comparing Insidious: Chapter 2 to its progenitor, but I can't help but be a little disappointed in this sequel. The acting certainly is not the problem, as Wilson and Byrne are the same talented, under-appreciated actors who broke out back in 2011. And Simpkins, given a little more to do, was solid enough. Returning actors Barbara Hershey and Lin Shaye, as well as newcomer Steve Coulter, are wonderful performers, though they're given a bit too much to do, relatively speaking. (side note: one character runs off to spend a day and a half on an investigation... LEAVING HER FAMILY TO DIE) The film successfully manages to copy the tension and scare tactics of the original, thanks to James Wan's direction and horror experience, as he's already proven in this year's The Conjuring.

Hi, you're home! How was your night out? I was just putting the kid down!

Unfortunately, that's about all that is good here. As I mentioned before, the side character are not just given more to do, but TOO MUCH. Part of the first movie's charm was its focus on the trials of beleaguered parents Renai and Josh, but here they are sidelined for most of the film while others go off on frightening scavenger hunts. Also, while the atmosphere is amazing, the specific scares feel recycled, and there's nothing that matches the turntable playing "Tiptoe Through the Tulips" from the first film. The opening twenty minutes, which serve as a minor prequel and setup to the current story, feels like an afterthought, so horrible are the dialogue and the acting. Some of the jump scares work, but it's all less subtle than I remember from the original, and reeks of rushed script-writing by co-star Leigh Whannell. It's obvious that they were trying to pump out a low-budget sequel to a bona fide hit, and the story suffered from the haste.

He just read the script.

In the end, Chapter 2 has its moments, but doesn't match the overall brilliance of its predecessor. While I enjoyed how Wan tied everything together between the two films and the seemingly disparate plot threads throughout, it's not enough for fans of old-fashioned horror. If you really want to see a creepy, dark and sometimes unintentionally funny, scary movie, then a rental of the first Insidious should be MORE than enough to whet your appetite. The sequel is unfortunately a cobbled-together rush job, unworthy of the name it inherited, and MAYBE you can go ahead and see it on DVD if you REALLY want.

Creepshow

There are a few people who will dispute me on this, but 2010's Insidious is one of the most frightening, best-made modern mainstream horror films of the 21'st century. Within a sea of found-footage Paranormal Activity clones, the brainchild of Saw (just the first one) director James Wan was surprisingly moody, atmospheric, and well-acted for a budget film, delivering some of the best scares in recent memory. Add in being a money-making machine, and you've got all the ingredients for a sequel, which is due out later this year. But in the meantime, Wan put together this new horror which apparently has been trying to get the big-screen treatment for more than twenty years.

The Conjuring is based on the true story of Ed and Lorraine Warren, who for decades investigated paranormal instances around the United States. Ed was a demonologist and the only non-Catholic priest allowed to perform exorcisms (at least according to the movie), while Lorraine was (and still is today) a clairvoyant and medium who could communicate with dead spirits. The pair are perhaps best known for their study of the infamous Amityville Haunting, but they also claim to have taken part in over 10,000 investigations during their career. This film is based on one of those cases, as Carolyn and Roger Perron (Lili Taylor and Ron Livingston) and their five daughters find themselves haunted by a particularly vengeful spirit in their new home. With their lives a living hell and no place else to go, the family calls on the Warrens (Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga) to find out just what's happening and to stop it. What they find however might just be the most terrifying event the pair have ever discovered.

If the recording equipment wasn't clue enough, that sweater just SCREAMS the 70's

From moment one, when we see an earlier investigation into the case of two nurses haunted by a possessed doll, Wan's skills as a modern master of terror are established. This is a man who not only uses darkness to his advantage (because any decent horror director can do that), but can make something scary when fully illuminated through timing and not showing too much. A pair of undead legs peeking out from under a table or some kind of creature peering out from atop a tall dresser are absolutely terrifying under the right circumstances, and Wan is an expert at keeping that level of atmosphere prevalent throughout the entire film. As a result, you can be assured that The Conjuring is meant for horror aficionados and anybody who can use a good scare. If you balk at the tiniest of frightening moments however, this title (or in fact any scary movie) is not for you.

Yeah, we might just have a haunting here.

For those whose lives cannot consist of chills alone, The Conjuring also possesses a stellar cast led by Wilson and Farmiga. Wilson is of course a Wan veteran, also having starred in Insidious. While his performance here is certainly more low-key than it was in that scare-fest, he's an effective lead and moves the story forward more than most of his co-stars. While Wilson plays the Warrens' logic, Farmiga is the soul, effortlessly playing the mystical half of the investigative pair. Hers is an esoteric performance, full of life and emotion that leaves the rest of the actors in the dust. In doing so, she also happens to put in one of her best performances in years, even better than her Oscar-nominated work in Up in the Air. From the supporting players, the best is definitely Lili Taylor, who steals the screen with her classic wife/haunting victim on more than one occasion. Ron Livingston puts in more of an everyman performance, but that's all the script calls for from him, and he does so well enough. Their five daughters contrast between well-known genre actresses (White House Down's Joey King and Twilight's Mackenzie Foy) and ones not quite as recognizable (Detention's Shanley Caswell, Lie to Me's Hayley McFarland, and newcomer Kyla Deaver), but all are effective when called upon to perform, although with such a big cast it's not as often as I would have liked. Still, it's a more-than-effective cast that Wan has brought forth, and they really sell the horror of what is happening on screen.

Yup, I think there might be spirits here.

Unfortunately, what you see in the theater is pretty much what you've witnessed in any classic Exorcist-type film in the past twenty years. Wan might make it terrifying, but that doesn't change the fact that every single horror trope we've come to expect from the genre is back, even if it is with a vengeance. Obviously, for a story from over forty years ago, you can expect that details would leak into other, newer horror films of franchises. But while Wan's Insidious was instrumental in reinventing the budget horror classic, here he's just doing what everybody before him put on, and the result is definitely less than you might expect. It's actually kind of surprising that Wan and his crew didn't take discretionary control of the story, as "Based on a True Story" has never limited any director's ability to put interesting content first.

And she would have gotten away with it too, if not for those meddling kids.

Still, despite The Conjuring's less-than-original premise, you can't help but be scared out of your pants by Wan's effortless atmosphere and the horror that you are made to see through his lens. That and great performances can achieve quite a bit, and while there's no reinventing sliced bread here, it's still a VERY scary product that can be enjoyed by just about anyone looking for a cheap scare. Is The Conjuring the scariest movie out there? No. But it IS the scariest movie so far in 2013, and right now that definitely counts for something.

Insidious is... Pretty Damned Good

It's pretty rare for me to be scared by a horror film. Despite their supposed purpose, most horror titles might stretch a startled jump out of me, but rarely do "scary" movies live up to that particular descriptor. So it wasn't much of a surprise that I had little interest in and wasn't really looking forward to seeing Insidious, the latest haunting film by director James Wan. It's a bit far from his usual fare; Wan's Saw series practically created the torture/horror sub-genre, and that seems at odds with Insidious's apparent old-school style of tension and carefully-concealed scares. Non-informative trailers put forth very little to convey any real reason to go out and see it in the theater, and Insidious seemed destined to be one among many similar horror titles that only hardcore fans would bother with. Then the good reviews started appearing, and my buddy Southland Dan suddenly got extremely excited. Anyone who has seen us talk movies knows that me and Dan don't always agree when it comes to our opinions on film, but nevertheless we often get excited about the same things. All of the sudden I was roped in enough to check this film out on Monday (though it should be mentioned there was nothing left of interest to see, anyway). And so with Dan alongside, I made my way in town to see which of my two impressions would prove to be correct.

Peek-a-boo is not a fun game in this house

After moving into a new home in the suburbs with their three children, teacher Josh (Patrick Wilson) and homemaker/musician Renai (Rose Byrne) seem to have worked things out fairly well. Though they sometimes have problems, the couple and their family are largely happy and healthy. When their oldest son falls in an accident and goes into a coma that spans many months, Josh and Renai have more than enough problems on their hands. Problems don't let up however, and Renai witnesses several unexplainable events that make her believe that the house they live in is haunted. The couple seek help from an eccentric psychic (Lin Shaye) who gives them the grave news: it's not the house they have moved into that is haunted. The spirits they see are in fact haunting their comatose son.

With the cleaning power of Cheer(tm), this bloody stain will come right out!

The concept introduced here is actually quite interesting, and a nice twist on the haunted house motif. Every scene has some level of creepiness, proof of Wan's ability to keep the tension in play. Even better, he varies those tension levels so that no two scenes feel exactly the same, keeping the film from appearing stale or repetitive. One thing thankfully missing is the creepy kid scenario. Once Dalton (Ty Simpkins) falls into his coma, there's very little ability needed to play a sleeping kid. The other children disappear from the story once the truly insane stuff goes down, and we're left with the adults handling the situation, which is all I really ever wanted. The world doesn't need another Linda Blair, as one was quite good enough and unrepeatable, thank you. The creature designs are also extremely effective in their use. A good number of spirits haunt this family, each easily recognizable and scary in their own way. They range from a megalomaniacal dwarf to a sixties-era psychotic teenager to a demon that looks not a little like Darth Maul, each popping up unexpectedly and to great effect when they do. These elements create a great atmosphere in which to get the bejeesus scared out of you, much more than many recent horror film I can name.

Right through here, you can see the master bedroom, complete with its own wraith

The performers sent in to play the victims in this tale are definitely low-budget, but more than make up for their lack of high-roller credibility with amazing performances that work to enhance the film's vibe. Patrick Wilson has long gone unnoticed as a supporting actor in good films and a lead in bad or unpopular ones. Never very memorable, whether playing Nite Owl II in Watchmen or the evil Lynch in The A-Team, Wilson does all he can to put that aside in a very compelling role. Josh is a loving dad and husband, but doesn't always have the mental toughness to take on a trouble spot head-on, preferring to avoid adversity when it rears its head. In this way he's less able to handle his son's condition, and Wilson plays his part pretty damned well. Rose Byrne is better as Renai, and some of the scenes featuring the actress reacting to the strange happenings around her are the best in the film. Also a devoted parent, Renai is more willing to accept the idea of paranormal activity centering around her son, and some of the script revolves around these two very competent performers arguing over the correct course of action to take. Barbara Hershey may not have the same level of role that she had in last year's Black Swan, but she continues her horror career to great effect here as Josh's mother Lorraine and the couple's third-party adviser. Lin Shaye is also good as Lorriane's friend Elise who also happens to be a psychic with experience in the paranormal. Leigh Whannell (who also wrote the screenplay) and Angus Simpson make welcome contributions as psychic technicians working for Elise. They play the part of tension-relieving humor, but hold their own when the frights ramp up again. In all, we have a very strong cast for this genre that play nice and properly entertain the audience with their talents.

You, sir, are no John Hodgeman

I was afraid in the final act that too much would be shown, invalidating the genre by over-producing what should have perhaps been left to the imagination. Wan, however, excels here as well, making a journey to the spirit realm feel as fluid and realistic as can be, despite the film's small budget. When we were initially greeted by an atrocious opening credits sequence, I was afraid that the story following would be one I couldn't fully get into. By the time final credits had rolled in however, I was forced to recall that I had been on the edge of my seat for the entirety of the film, and jumped out of it on more than a few occasions. The only horror film I can recall that had a similar effect on me had been 2002's The Ring (I remember to this day Agatha So tearing holes in my arms in the film's scarier sequences, so frightening it was), and while there's nothing I've seen to match the terror of Samara I have to give Wan credit for creating the film I didn't think he was able to make. A surprise smash and one I wasn't sure I would rank highly, Insidious manages to come in at #5 for 2011. Far exceeding my few qualifications for excellence, I can't recommend it more highly for people who wish modern horror wasn't so often more of the same Saw and Hostel clones.