Skip to main content

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:

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Rebuttal: 17 Disturbing Horror Movies You Will Never Watch Again

When I'm not watching movies, I'm reading about movies. I stumble across all kinds of articles, blog posts, book excerpts, etc. in my quest to absorb as much movie knowledge as possible. Now, I'm snotty and loud-mouthed and opinionated but I'd never begrudge another human their opinion. Seriously. You're absolutely welcome to have any opinion about any thing you want. However, I must warn you, if I think your opinion is stupid, I'm absolutely going to say so. I've recently stumbled on an article completely  brimming with so many idiotic opinions that I'm actually compelled to craft a response. Here's the gist of the original article: there are some horror movies out there that are so disturbing , you'll only ever want to watch them once. I've have taken her original list and refuted her claims without pulling her entire article over. You can read the original article here . Let's start at the beginning, with her opening statement

Escape From Tomorrow

I love creative people who are willing to take risks with their art. I appreciate the refusal to do things by the rules. I'm also terribly impatient with mediocrity. Enter  Escape From Tomorrow . Created by a team of rogue filmmakers, the movie was shot in the video mode of high-end still cameras. Actors shared scripts and shooting locations across their smartphones. Shot on location at Disney World, the parks were completely unaware this was all going on right under their mouse ears. I wanted to love Escape From Tomorrow. More than that, I wanted to be completely taken with its ingenuity and creativity and - oh yes - its originality. And there is really a simple brilliance to their covert plan; all families are roaming around the parks, taking videos and chatting on their phones. Just blend the fuck in, act like you belong, and you won't get caught. Too bad the movie can be summed up as: ambitious but Rubbish. As you can imagine (or possibly know), there was a ton of con

Mother!

Alright friends and readers–this one is probably doubly filled with typos and grammar errors because I wrote it while angry. Good luck and happy reading. There are unpopular opinions in every realm. As a film student, you can truly strike a nerve when you say things like, "I fucking hate the self-indulgence of independent films and the way people idolize them." Or, you know, "Low lighting and slow pacing does not a good movie make." Or whatever. You can of course, objectively, understand how this happens. When you are creating art–when you are outside the system  so to speak–you are free to explore things (subjects, techniques, etc.) that may need to be addressed and that freedom can become intoxicating and go to one's head. While it may seem only right  or only fair  to respect and accept each creative endeavor that every artist undertakes, it is unreasonable to believe that the world will remain forever patient with the self-obsession artists have. Th