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Lovely Molly

On paper - the details of Lovely Molly are wonderfully horrific: a newlywed couple moves into the wife's childhood home. Immediately she becomes haunted by "ghosts from her past". Her deterioration is rapid: she's raped by a ghost (a la The Entity), she begins stalking and secretly filming her neighbors, she begins talking to a dead deer she's keeping in her basement, she seduces and murders the local priest before going on to kill her neighbor's child and her own boyfriend. This situation leaves her fairly distraught so she slits her throat.

Typically, this is the type of movie I would absolutely blast with my cynicism but, there's something not entirely detestable about Lovely Molly.

A perfect example: found footage.
Normally I'd just write off a movie that jumped on this fad bandwagon and used this cheap, cop-out, cover up our shitty writing skills crutch of a technique but, the director, Eduardo Sanchez, is the father of our recent obsession with found footage. Had he not given the world The Blair Witch Project, we may not even be having this conversation.

You could take this as a reason to hate him even more but, I've actually discovered that he's good at using found footage to further his stories. I think that may be a skill, and I'm willing to accept a little found footage in my life, when used well.

Another example: the plot is anything but new.
There's elements of An American Haunting, where the protagonist is haunted or possessed by memories of their past abuse at the hands of a family member. This is a plot element that has become immensely popular in horror, but there's something about the insidious inescapability of these lingering wounds that feel more uncomfortable than in most other instances.

Related note: the thing I found strongest about the movie was the lead actress, Gretchen Lodge, who must have studied Charlize Theron's performance in Devil's Advocate for months before filming this movie. Her ability to act crazy is top notch. I've rarely seen better portrayals of insanity in any genre.

To further isolate Molly and make her insane stories unbelievable, we're told that she's a recovering addict, so of course you can't trust her. She's clearly a liar. Absentia used this tactic as well - it seems to be a recent plot trend.

Another related note is the secondary strength of this movie: the visuals. There are some truly unsettling images peppered throughout this movie.

Overall, my day didn't feel entirely wasted after watching this one. I'm still trying to put my finger on why that is. In the mean time, it's your turn: start by watching the Lovely Molly trailer here:


And pick up a copy of some of the movies I mentioned in my post here:

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