Buffy the Vampire Slayer/I Spit on Your Grave/The Innocents
By Starrleena Magyck, 9th Jul 2012 | Follow this author
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In a chilling adaption of Henry James novella, “The Turn of the Screw,” comes the movie, “The Innocents.”
Jennifer Hills (Sarah Butler), comes from the city to rent an isolated cabin in the country to write her next novel.
Imagine Sunnydale, California that is centered on the Hellmouth?
BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER
Imagine Sunnydale, California that is centered on the Hellmouth?
Creator Joss Whedon created an icon classic when he created “Buffy the Vampire Slayer.” He first brought us the movie “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” which starred Kristy Swanson as the female slayer. It didn’t do as well as the television series. In the 90’s, he came out with the series that starred Sarah Michelle Gellar as the female superhero, Buffy Summers, who slays vampires and other demons. Buffy’s circle of friends, who became known as “the scoobies,” were Xander Harris (Nicholas Brendon), Willow Rosenberg (Alyson Hannigan), Cordelia Chase (Charisma Carpenter), Oz, a musician and werewolf and Willow’s boyfriend (Seth Green), Tara (Amber Benson), Willow’s girlfriend after her break-up with Oz, and Anya (Emma Caulfield), a vengeance demon who was forced to live life as a mortal and had a romance with Xander. Then there is Buffy’s trainer and watcher, Giles (Anthony Stewart Head), an Englishman who became the school librarian where Buffy and the gang held their “meetings” about the latest demon.
The most dramatic romance for Buffy was Angel (David Boreanz), a 240-vampire with a soul. The two became involved and when they finally consummated their tortured love, Angel turned evil, because of a gypsy’s curse, when he found perfect happiness with Buffy. Angel tortured Buffy throughout the second season, but it ended when Angel regained his soul. Buffy and Angel’s romance ended at the end of season three, which led to the spin-off series, “Angel.” Buffy’s next romance was Riley Finn (Marc Blucas), a mercenary in “The Initiative,” a military organization that captured demons for experiments, and more. The romance of Buffy and Riley seemed to be on the mark and seemed to be working out, until Buffy started keeping Riley at a distance during her mother’s (Kristine Sutherland) mystery illness and subsequent death. But the romance that took off was the lustful romance Buffy had in the sixth season with vampire Spike (James Marster, due to the chip in Spike’s head that lead to him not being able to feed on humans and Buffy coming back from the grave).
The episodes that were ingenious, were “Hush” and “Once More With Feeling.” Whedon outdid himself in the episode when he created an episode in which the cast performed with no dialogue, except in the first and last few minutes of the episode. The episode was about monsters called the gentlemen who took the town’s voices so they could gather the seven hearts that they needed. Buffy and the gang still managed to bring down the demons without their voices. In Once More With Feeling, Buffy and the gang, including the town of Sunnydale, California, found themselves in song and dance routines. Who knew that most of the cast had so much talent? Gellar, Brendon, Hannigan, Head, Caulfield, Benson, Marster, and (Michelle) Trachtenberg, outdid themselves in this musical episode.
Perhaps the most intimate love interest is the addition in the fifth season of Buffy’s sister, Dawn (Michelle Trachtenberg). Dawn was really a key that the god, Glory (Clare Kramer) was looking for that led to another realm. Dawn was put in Buffy’s care and Buffy, her mother and her friends were implanted with memories to hide Dawn’s true identity. But ultimately, Glory found out about Dawn’s true identity and tried to use Dawn to get what she had come to Sunnydale for. She lost the battle when Buffy threw herself into the portal that would open a new realm and died, thus ending the fifth season.
I SPIT ON YOUR GRAVE
Jennifer Hills (Sarah Butler), comes from the city to rent an isolated cabin in the country to write her next novel. But a group of local “men” decide to subject Jennifer to a nightmare of degradation, rape, and violence. Assuming she is dead, the “men” are at the mercy of their victim as she inflicts on them severe and physical torment that far surpasses the ordeal she endured from them. When it is all over, not one attacker is standing as the victim becomes the victor.
As appalling as this movie sounds, some good performances came out of this movie. Sarah Butler was ferocious as Jennifer Hills, the victim of a horrendous act who emerges the victor. Jeff Branson (All My Children), Daniel Franzese (Bully), Rodney Eastman (A Nightmare on Elm Street 3 & 4), Chad Lindbergh (Supernatural), Tracey Walter (The Silence of the Lambs), and Andrew Howard (Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen) were all engaging as Jennifer’s attackers. As emotionally unsettling and disturbing as the title suggests, the cast provided an exhilarating ride to see how the victim would take revenge on her attackers.
THE INNOCENTS
In a chilling adaption of Henry James novella, “The Turn of the Screw,” comes the movie, “The Innocents.” Deborah Kerr stars as a governess who comes to care for two orphans in a Victorian mansion. When eerie apparitions start appearing, the children’s behavior becomes strange. Is the fate of the last governess and her sadistic lover, or is it just restless spirits who wish to corrupt innocent children? This is a spine-tingling, chilling ghost story that is set in 19th-century England. Kerr is riveting as the new governess and her attempt to save the children she is hired to care for.
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