From Within

Directed by:  Phedon Papamichael
Starring:  Elizabeth Rice, Thomas Dekker, Kelly Blatz, Adam Goldberg, Margo Harshman, Rumer Willis


Every year the After Dark Horrorfest releases their "8 Films to Die For."  To me, that usually means 8 films to skip.  However, after hearing some positive reviews on a movie called From Within, I figured it wouldn't hurt to check it out and give it a chance.  The only movies in the 4 different Horrorfests that I have enjoyed have been Borderland and, most notably, Frontier(s).  It should be noted that Frontier(s) was too violent to be shown in theaters as part of Horrorfest II, so it was released separately in theaters, and then as part of the Horrorfest DVDs.  No wonder I liked it way more than the others.  It also contains one of the best kill scenes in horror history. 

Anyways, back to the movie at hand here.  From Within does not rely on blood and gore like the other films I've mentioned.  While it does contain several death scenes, many of which are satisfying, there is not a ton of on-screen blood being spilt.  This is not necessarily a bad thing, contrary to popular belief.  The story was well told, although it seemed to drag just a little, and the acting was believable.  The latter is definitely a 'must' when considering a horror movie to be enjoyable. 

The 1 film worth watching

From Within starts off strong with a suicide of a teenage boy, then moves quickly to blood-soaked Rumer Willis running down a street and hiding out at her father's clothing store.  On a side note, it is amazing how close Rumer's eyes and nose resemble her mother Demi.  Unfortunately for her, the rest of her head and body looks like John McClane.  Moving on... her part is not long lived and we move straight to the main character, Lindsay (Elizabeth Rice).  It seems that everyone around her is mysteriously committing suicide, and no one is safe.  Her boyfriend (Kelly Blatz) is the crazed son of the local pastor, whose family has turned the entire town against the outcast Aiden (played by the emo, pretty boy Thomas Dekker).  Aiden's family has been known to practice witchcraft in the past, so naturally all the Christian townsfolk blame him for the apparent suicides that are suddenly occurring. 

The story is pretty original, even though at times it felt like I was watching a spin-off of The Ring.  Luckily, this movie is much better, even with a fraction of the budget.  For the most part, the characters never do anything too stupid and I never felt like they could have easily avoided death.  A la Final Destination, if it was their turn to die, there was no escaping it. 

Overall, the direction was terrific.  There were a few memorable camera shots and death scenes, and the actors all did a believable job in their disturbed teenager roles.  Margo Harshman turns in a great, but limited performance as Aiden's cousin.  Funnyman Adam Goldberg (Saving Private Ryan) plays the redneck boyfriend effortlessly, and Elizabeth Rice is the cute little girl you can easily root for.  There really isn't much I can say about this movie that isn't good, without nitpicking too much.  While not being amazing, its a solid all-around film I can easily recommend to spend an evening watching.  The movie starts off with a bang (literally), and the body count rarely slows down.  Besides the fact the movie limps a little bit up to the big finish, the reward is worth the wait.  While I figured it was coming, I still enjoyed how it actually played out, especially after credits started rolling.  How many times can you say that about a movie?


Total Score:  6/10
Buckets:  2/5