Customer Reviews

Killing Ariel

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Killing Ariel is a true masterpiece, taking many of its psychological thriller/terror influence from classic films from the past. The entire film is very similar to "The Shining", yet establishes its own unique identity as well, without being a straight copy of the film it is trying to emulate.

The film starts off by showing the audience a terror-filled child by the name of Rick who witnesses a gruesome scene of violence that would terrorize anybody, especially a child of his age. Rick's mom had been having an affair with another man, this was brought on from her sexual neglect at the hands of her husband, who cannot perform due to his contraction of polio. Rick's father feels guilty about her need for another man and constantly tries to console the young Rick. These events continued until that final night when Rick's mother told her husband that her lover all these years was actually an incubus, a sex demon. Shortly after confessing this to her long time life partner, Rick's mother commits a homicide-suicide, all while Rick witnesses the entire confrontation.

Years have passed, and now the once terrorized child is now a grown man. However, the film displays that for some reason Rick is now locked away in what appears to be an insane asylum. After a few initial questions from the doctor, Rick begins to narrate a story as to how he got locked up to begin with.

We are taken into the past, and the viewer witnesses Rick's daily life with his friends, his wife, and his two children. Everything seems to be going great for him, until one night when Rick dreams of a succubus entering his bedroom to have sexual intercourse with him in his sleep. Initially brushing it off as a nightmare, Rick begins to question whether the event was a dream or if perhaps it actually occurred.

Suddenly, the once calm, family oriented Rick has begun to act differently, as if he was a different person. He suddenly is overcome with lust for a woman whom he witnesses jogging on a daily routine. As time progresses, Rick begins to stock the woman, and eventually approaches her. After his conversation with the woman, he takes her up to his old home, the same home in which his mother killed his father, then herself. Leaving his wife and children behind, Rick and the woman begin to engage in explicit, constant, sexual activities in various locations of the house. We learn that the woman is named Ariel; a beautiful half Asian, half European woman, who can somehow feel the events that have occurred in the old house when Rick was but a mere child.

Rick begins to hallucinate, seeing different women throughout the house, all the while Ariel tries to convince him that she is the only one in the entire building. Rick begins to freak out more frequently as the film progresses, with more visions of the demon that his mother was having an affair with. In the midst of his fears, Rick accidentally shoots, and kills Ariel, forcing him to bury her body in the middle of the night. Yet, despite his actions, Ariel appears to be unharmed, reappearing in the bedroom of the house as if nothing even occurred. Is Rick going crazy? Is it just a dream? Or is there more than meets the eye to Ariel?

The film continues to develop more twists revolving around Rick's sanity, his meeting with "Ariel" and an explanation of what actually happened during that one weekend. The film leaves you asking yourself, "Was Rick just insane, or was there really a demon trying to kill him?" A question that the film leaves up in the air for the audience to piece together for themselves.

A truly remarkable, in depth movie, that keeps you guessing, keeps you on your toes, and provides enough twists to keep you thinking hours after the film is over. A masterpiece in the psychological thriller genre, very reminiscent of the classic film "The Shining" as we watch a man slowly lose his sanity, yet ask ourselves how it even happened in the first place. A must have film for any fan of horror movies.

I rented this movie this week. I thought it was pretty good. Where as it's not completely like I have not seen these types of movies before its hard to see anything completely original these days. Having said that I still will say it's entertaining and worth a watch. In fact it's one of those movies where you understand it much better with a second viewing,
little comments the characters make really come much more into focus then. If your not a horror fan then you will not like this film. If you are then I believe the opposite will be true. Now for the plot: Without giving too much away it's kind of like Ground Hog's Day meets The Evil Dead. A little bit anyway. All in all I give it a very good rating.

I picked this movie up at the used DVD display at my local gas station. I was expecting the usual lame attempt modern movies make at the classic horror genre. I was surprised by the well put together story line, plot twist in the middle, and screen composition.

There is a bit of nudity. Not so much as to ruin the movie if that isn't what you enjoy, and not enough to make it the reason to buy the movie if that's your cup of tea.

The performances of the two main characters were great. It's a good thing too, since the movie hangs on them for the majority of the time.
I really liked it.

After witnessing a horrible occurance as a child, a man takes his mistress up to a cabin in the woods for a weekend of fun. What happens is the exact opposite. This is a very well done dark comedy. Great acting, good script, a great musical score and quite a few moments that will have you doing double-takes. Don't go into this expecting a straight up horror and you will be very entertained. If you're hoping for gore this one will probably not scratch that itch for you. If, on the other hand, you're looking for a some entertainment in the horror/comedy genre, pick this one up. Bears some resemblence to Evil Dead. While it's not the most original movie I've ever seen, this is one of the best movies I've seen in a long time.

A nice departure from the average horror offering. The lead actor did a great job.

Killing Ariel (Fred Calvert and Daniel J. Negron Jr., 2006)

Calvert (Emergnecy +4, an animated spinoff of the seventies TV drama Emergency!) and Negron (a storyboard artist) collaborate on this predictable, but entertaining, horror flick. Rick (Michael Brainard, who collaborated with Calvert on Toi and Poochie), a happily married man, is visited one night by a demon. He falls under her spell, and somehow winds up going away for the weekend with a perfectly wonderful lass named Ariel (Room Service's Axelle Cummings), who is not his wife. Things get a bit out of hand, and Rick ends up killing Ariel (accidentally). Except that Ariel won't stay dead.

Some amusing lines here and some decent acting (as well as a cameo by the always-welcome Joseph Gatt), but you'll see the ending coming a mile away. Some less-than-optimal choices in editing lead to a pace that isn't as tight as it should be, but this could be that the ground has been so well-trod that even when Calvert (who also wrote) tries to be original, there's just not much to be done--leading to keeping in bits that would probably have been best taken out. Not a bad idea, but execution could have been better. **