So I was at the movies today, watching 30 Days of Night (read my review, by the way) and I saw the trailer for the next Japanese horror import, One Missed Call. This time around, we’re supposed to afraid of our cell phones. The way it works, from what I can glean from the preview, [...]

On Golden Pond revolves around the lives of one family teetering on the edge of the end of its time line. Norman and Ethel Thayer are approaching the end of their lives and decide to visit their summer home on Golden Pond. Norman (Henry Fonda) is turning 80 and his moved-to-California daughter, Chelsea (Jane Fonda), is coming to visit with her new boyfriend and his son, Billy.

In 80 years, Norman has slowly (or quickly) turned into an old curmudgeon, griping about life and taunting death with a quick barb whenever he can. If Ethel is the music that soothes the savage beast in Norman, his daughter Chelsea is the noise that drives him mad. Or at least nitpicky. This is apparent when she finally arrives and Norman grills her over the kind of car she rented. Here we discover the uneasy past Chelsea and her father have, which coincidentally mirrored the rocky relationship the real-life father and daughter Fondas had.

The premise has been explored before: How crappy of a situation would it be if you were being assaulted by a mob of vampires and you had no access to sunlight, their greatest weakness? Very. And what if daylight took a vacation for 30 days? Very. Times 30. That’s the kind of situation Eben Oleson (Josh Hartnett) and the townsfolk of a remote Alaskan town find themselves in as the sun goes on its annual 30-day sabbatical. Full of stingers, camera angles that reveal just enough and all of the other horror movie conventions, 30 Days of Night will not disappoint and does a great job of ushering in this Halloween season.

Writing about vampires is always tricky, because it’s a popular concept and people get touchy if one gets a little too creative with the license. Throughout the history of cinema, different movies have tried to throw in new takes, like a “master vampire” or “daywalker vampires.” Some vampires even suck blood through their tongues, that have a tiny mouth at their tips. 30 Days goes for more conventional vampires: pale skin, Eurotrash accents, black trench coats, etc. While seemingly as intelligent as you or I, these bloodsuckers don’t seem to care about anything other than savaging people. This was probably the one thing that bothered me the most. These bad guys had no character. Was this all they did? Kill people? If they’ve been alive for centuries, you’d think they would have evolved a better fashion sense. When you become a vampire, does the Nosferatu Union assign you a standard black uniform and prohibit you from trimming your nails? Sure, I’m being silly. After all, in a movie like this all we need to know is that the bad guys are bad, but if you go through the trouble of designing a look for a set of characters, I’d like there to be a reason behind it.

This movie was better when it was called Saw.

Typically, I don’t mind low budget films. I can tolerate mediocre visual effects, sub-par camera work, and shoddy acting. I can even stomach a movie switching from film to video after the first five minutes. What I cannot forgive is when a film skimps on the writing. Are You Scared does exactly that.

The concept had potential, revolving around a reality TV show that was based on conquering fear; but rather than having to simply eat live worms, the contestants have to face more gruesome fears, like being awake during surgery. The consequence for not successfully facing your fear, however, is death. This could have been a wonderful commentary on reality TV and the commodification of people. This could have been a subtle screed about the selling of life for entertainment. Instead, it’s a rip-off of Saw, complete with modulated voice. Oh yes, there will be an intellectual property lawsuit.

I’m always wary about movies that are heavily advertised. It’s the equivalent of overselling a product. In this case, I can forgive 300, because those trailers looked so good, I didn’t mind seeing them over and over again, but that’s also the problem. While the snippets of scenes were great and allowed me to fill in the blanks with equally great images in my head, the actual movie doesn’t live up. Some will say that’s my own fault for letting the hype get to me. Others will say that’s the studio’s fault for hyping up the movie with so much advertising. I think it’s both.

Let me just say, that I enjoyed this movie. It’s entertaining. The visual effects are highly believable, considering that the entire environment is green screen (though it’s a shame what passes for blood these days). The acting ranges from adequate with everyone in the cast to very good with Gerard Butler. Lastly, there’s plenty of carnage to be had and even a little sex. You will have a good time watching this film.