11.03.2012

#232 -- Lovely Molly (2011)

Rating: 3 / 5
Director: Eduardo Sanchez

Eduardo Sanchez is known for creating The Blair Witch Project, which I've never been a fan of. Lovely Molly, however, is a massive improvement, I think.

It's about a woman who is haunted by the ghosts of her past, and the family that has to deal with her and take care of her. Molly was played by Gretchen Lodge, a fairly new actress who I think has great potential. She did a wonderful job with the part, and I'm pretty excited to see her in some more horror. Molly's husband, Tim, was played by Johnny Lewis, who I know from the remake of One Missed Call. He's adorable, and he also did a wonderful job as the concerned and abused husband.

Right after Molly and Tim get married, they move into Molly's childhood home. Both of her parents are dead, physically, but it is obvious that Molly isn't able to entirely let go of them. The film hints that Molly might have been molested by her father, and her sister played a big role in protecting her near the end. Molly and Tim are a beautiful couple, until things start to go sour. We discover that Molly is a recovering drug addict, and her current situation drives her back into her old ways. Since Tim is a truck driver, he has to leave Molly alone often. The house is old and creaky, which is scary enough; but Molly becomes convinced that the ghost of her father roams the halls. He tells her a secret, follows her everywhere she goes, and torments her to no end. Eventually, his spirit possesses Molly, turning her into a completely different person.

The first incident happened when she tried to bite Tim's lips off. She then seduced and murdered the pastor of her church. Molly's sanity quickly plummets from that point. Since Molly is known for doing drugs, it is difficult for  her to get anyone to believe her. She says that it happened once before and no one believed, so this time she's determined to show them. Whenever something "ghostly" happens around the house, she grabs her video camera to get a shot of the spirit. So we've got a few "found footage" type of scenes in here. I am not a fan of those kinds of movies, but I was glad to see that the entire movie wasn't like that. The reasoning for it made sense, unlike all the others I've seen. Anyways, for the majority of the movie, I myself was unable to tell whether Molly was actually seeing ghosts. I had a feeling, as well, that the spirits were simply drug induced. That question was answered at the end of the movie, but I'd hate to spoil it for you, so...

This movie relies entirely on atmosphere and mood to get its point across. There are no jump scares, and there's very little real action. But that doesn't mean it wasn't good. Ghosts or no, seeing Molly's downward spiral was frightening and interesting. She and Tim were a very attractive couple, and there was one extremely steamy sex scene. So you've got that. The actors were magnificent, the mood was great, and all other technicalities were on point. The only problem I have, really, was the pacing of the movie. It was a bit slow, but that doesn't really diminish the entertainment factor of the movie.The ending I wasn't ecstatic about, but it kind of worked. Overall, Lovely Molly, while not perfect, is an interesting and enjoyable ghost story. Eduardo Sanchez really stepped it up from Blair Witch, and I'm actually interested in seeing what else he has in store for us.

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