JG Hanks
Staff
Review originally written on September 21, 2008.
I bought this DVD when it first came out a while back and grabbed it off the shelf tonight to show a group of friends who stopped by for movie night. I described it as a kind of horror movie that wasn’t scary but kind of spooky and had Fred Durst in it but he wasn’t bad at all and kind of was the best character
Despite that terrible description from me, they still wanted to watch.
Even after multiple viewings, the movie still held up well as far as my enjoyment. I wouldn’t consider this movie Oscar worthy by any means but it sneaks up on you and if you pay attention to what’s going on, you will have an enjoyable experience. Jeremy Sisto portrays the main character pretty well and doesn’t ruin the movie but like I mentioned before, Fred Durst is surprisingly the best character in the film. So what’s it all about? Here’s my brief take on it while trying not to spoil the plot too much:
Jeremy Sisto’s character Steve works for the Census Bureau and is sent to a town whose population hasn’t changed in hundreds of years and for some reason Uncle Sam finds that strange. Well he gets lost looking for this place and turns down this dirt road and while watching Jennifer Connelly’s sister fall off a horse proceeds to drive into the worst pothole known to man which totally f’s both of his driver side tires. All this magically happens right outside the city limits of the town he got lost trying to find. Then Deputy Fred Durst rides up and offers Steve a ride into town, only after checking with his bosses making sure it’s ok. Steve says, No Shit? Thanks Fred Durst, and rides into town and all the townspeople treat him like the freaking man. Turns out the girl he was staring at on the horse is Fred Durst’s woman, even though she doesn’t know it and to top it off there are no hotels in Wicker Man Town so Steve ends up getting shacked up at Jennifer Connelly’s sister’s house with her Kathy Bates looking mom.
Steve starts doing his Census duties and finds some numbers just don’t seem right but are always 436 and then some freaky crap starts happening. Seems like this town is a bunch of crazy folks and Steve is their new plaything. He wants to get the fuck out of dodge but they say he has the fever and they try and keep him there. He ends up naked with Fred Durst’s girl, Jennifer Connely’s sister, and she tries to tell him what’s up with the town but in a vague way so we will keep watching the movie. More freaky crap happens involving a nut who thinks he is a doctor and this weird guy that knows all the secrets but kind of just wusses out and never tries to leave. Steve is getting batshit antsy to leave and the townspeople say hell no but you know he tries anyway. More stuff happens and at the end Fred Durst goes kind of gangster while crying I think and the movie ends in a way I hoped but didn’t think they would have the balls to do. Bravo to the director for that. There are two endings but I definitely enjoyed the original ending the best.
Watch this movie. I am pretty sure anyone who likes movies with suspense, weird cult towns and Jeremy Sisto will enjoy this. And you get Fred Durst as a bonus. Sweet.
