Lovely Molly, 2011.
Directed by Eduardo Sanchez.
Starring Gretchen Lodge, Johnny Lewis, Alexandra Holden, Ken Arnold and Lauren Lakis.
SYNOPSIS:
Newlywed Molly moves into her deceased father’s house in the countryside, where painful memories begin to haunt her.
The Blair Witch Project. The film that started it all. Apparently. Since its colossal and unprecedented success back in 1999, Blair Witch has been the catalyst for a new generation of horror movies: the found footage movie. Numerous pretenders to the crown have appeared in the decade since, with only a handful (Paranormal Activity, The Last Exorcism, even Cloverfield) being any good. As with many horror sub-genres though, saturation is ripe, and over recent times the fad has become somewhat annoying and unimaginative. What happened to the sheer terror of horror of the 70s and early 80s, when little girls elevated above their beds, and hotels used to cough up blood?
Lovely Molly, the new film for the co-director of Blair Witch, tries to buck the trend by merging both found-footage/filmed footage, with the normal movie narrative. But while the merging of these two entities is refreshing, it just hammers home the fact that these kind of horror scares have passed their prime, and to quote a great man, “must be allowed to die.”
The film is atmospheric and claustrophobic enough, with some neat flashes from director Sanchez as he tries to build tension and scares, but too many times the scares fall flat. It relies on shaky cameras and “night vision mode” to try to draw us in, but it’s repetition of all things “found footage” make it not only impossible to invest in the story, but fails to register any genuinely terrifying moments. The subject matter too is more uncomfortable than scary, and only adds to the frustration of the film.
Despite it flaws though, kudos must be given to Gretchen Lodge, who performs brilliantly as Molly throughout, and almost keeps the film together. In only her second film, Lodge brings warmth and humility to Molly, as she wrestles, quite literally, with her demons. much better than the material given to her here, I’m sure this won’t be the last we hear of Lodge.
Lovely Molly is technically excellent, with some neat camerawork and images, but falls flat in every department. Dull and unscary, the film only adds weight to the fact that the horror genre is in desperate need of a shot of creativity and originality.
Flickering Myth Rating: Film ★ ★ / Movie ★
Scott Davis
Originally published October 29, 2012. Updated April 11, 2018.
