To say that expectations are low for the third installment of a franchise that was fairly woeful to begin with is a pretty massive understatement. The original "Butterfly Effect" starring Aston Kutcher was more a vaguely interesting concept masquerading as a feature film than a fully-realized story. Butterfly Effect 2 is an inept pile of cinematic garbage that was only made because the same German audiences that go apeshit for David Hasselhoff also think that Butterfly Effect is the "Citizen Kane" of Aston Kutcher time-travel movies.
And, lastly, "Butterfly Effect: Revelation", the anchor of Horrorfest's 8 Films to Die For festival, has had such a lackluster marketing plan that it was nearly impossible to find out when and where it was playing until a few days before it opened.
So as the lights dimmed at the 10:00 showing of "Revelation" at Mann's Beverly Center Cinema, the odds were that it was going to be a long night.
But then a funny thing happened. The movie started and it was actually pretty...good. Okay- it was clearly made on a pretty small budget and there were some of the edges were a little rough, but generally this was a pleasant, if not elevated, genre movie with some good scares, at least one standout performance and an interesting take on a series that was worn out before it began.
Unlike its predecessors, the most surprising thing about "Revelation" is that it actually has a story and fully-realized characters.
A disturbing cold open murder in a Detroit park sets a gloomy tone and introduces us to Sam Reed (Chris Carmack) who callously watches the murder take place from a safe distance.
We soon learn that Sam possesses the power to jump back anywhere in time in his own personal past. Unlike the protagonists of the previous two Butterfly Effects, Sam uses this power not to change the circumstances of his own life but for a tidy paycheck from helping Detroit police to solve cold case murders.
This by itself earns the film, penned by up and coming screenwriter Holly Brix and directed by equally rising filmmaker Seth Grossman, a gold star over the previous efforts in the franchise.
The Kutcher version at least had novelty going for it even if it was missing a story but the second film is simply a remake of the first with an unknown cast and director.
Brix's script, while not perfect, is miles ahead of its predecessors in terms of creating a film that is more plot than gimmick. Grossman's direction is interesting as well but flawed. Some very nice moments in the film are undercut with overlong scenes and sloppy editing. Several times in the movie I caught myself mumbling the word "cut" to myself with increasing urgency. Good lines of dialogue that should have ended the scene were lost in unnecessary further expository jibber jabbering by the actors.
As the film goes on we're introduced to Sam's sister (Rachel Miner) who is both his caretaker when he is having his time traveling out of body experiences and his ward as an emotionally fragile, sardonic shut-in. Miner's performance nails a character really well and when she's on screen the movie really comes to life. Miner, best known for her relationship to the Home Alone kid, shines in this movie to the extent that she overshadows Carmack's heavy-handed take on his character. This appears to be a problem with the direction or casting as the acting is frequently uneven but Miner proves that all of the performances could have been better. Although spotty, Carnack manages to pump out a few scenes that reach an authentic emotional quality.
Sam soon learns that someone else is jumping into a mutual past and changing events faster than he can. Soon he is a suspect in the murders that he formerly helped solve and the real killer is closing in on him.
The killer's identity is well concealed until it is very close to being revealed at which point it seems the filmmakers had run out of red herrings to use as distractions.
Overall, however, "Revelation" is a pleasant surprise against such radically low expectations and, while it is not "Citizen Kane" it is an entertaining genre movie with some great writing, decent direction and an inspiring performance from Miner.
And, lastly, "Butterfly Effect: Revelation", the anchor of Horrorfest's 8 Films to Die For festival, has had such a lackluster marketing plan that it was nearly impossible to find out when and where it was playing until a few days before it opened.
So as the lights dimmed at the 10:00 showing of "Revelation" at Mann's Beverly Center Cinema, the odds were that it was going to be a long night.
But then a funny thing happened. The movie started and it was actually pretty...good. Okay- it was clearly made on a pretty small budget and there were some of the edges were a little rough, but generally this was a pleasant, if not elevated, genre movie with some good scares, at least one standout performance and an interesting take on a series that was worn out before it began.
Unlike its predecessors, the most surprising thing about "Revelation" is that it actually has a story and fully-realized characters.
A disturbing cold open murder in a Detroit park sets a gloomy tone and introduces us to Sam Reed (Chris Carmack) who callously watches the murder take place from a safe distance.
We soon learn that Sam possesses the power to jump back anywhere in time in his own personal past. Unlike the protagonists of the previous two Butterfly Effects, Sam uses this power not to change the circumstances of his own life but for a tidy paycheck from helping Detroit police to solve cold case murders.
This by itself earns the film, penned by up and coming screenwriter Holly Brix and directed by equally rising filmmaker Seth Grossman, a gold star over the previous efforts in the franchise.
The Kutcher version at least had novelty going for it even if it was missing a story but the second film is simply a remake of the first with an unknown cast and director.
Brix's script, while not perfect, is miles ahead of its predecessors in terms of creating a film that is more plot than gimmick. Grossman's direction is interesting as well but flawed. Some very nice moments in the film are undercut with overlong scenes and sloppy editing. Several times in the movie I caught myself mumbling the word "cut" to myself with increasing urgency. Good lines of dialogue that should have ended the scene were lost in unnecessary further expository jibber jabbering by the actors.
As the film goes on we're introduced to Sam's sister (Rachel Miner) who is both his caretaker when he is having his time traveling out of body experiences and his ward as an emotionally fragile, sardonic shut-in. Miner's performance nails a character really well and when she's on screen the movie really comes to life. Miner, best known for her relationship to the Home Alone kid, shines in this movie to the extent that she overshadows Carmack's heavy-handed take on his character. This appears to be a problem with the direction or casting as the acting is frequently uneven but Miner proves that all of the performances could have been better. Although spotty, Carnack manages to pump out a few scenes that reach an authentic emotional quality.
Sam soon learns that someone else is jumping into a mutual past and changing events faster than he can. Soon he is a suspect in the murders that he formerly helped solve and the real killer is closing in on him.
The killer's identity is well concealed until it is very close to being revealed at which point it seems the filmmakers had run out of red herrings to use as distractions.
Overall, however, "Revelation" is a pleasant surprise against such radically low expectations and, while it is not "Citizen Kane" it is an entertaining genre movie with some great writing, decent direction and an inspiring performance from Miner.