Customer Reviews

The Return [Blu-ray]

5 star:		(23)
4 star:		(13)
3 star:		(15)
2 star:		(15)
1 star:		(16)

 

 

THE RETURN is a supernatural chiller, starring Sarah Michelle Gellar, that is surprisingly effective!! The film opens at night with a little girl and her father (Sam Shepard) at a carnvial, where he quickly loses her and she hides from a mysterious menacing ponytailed man who calls her "Sunshine". I've always found carnivals creepy at night, just a personal creep factor of mine.

Fastforward to the present. Joannna is an upwardly mobile adult in sales, constantly on the road and the fast track to success. She makes a business trip in another city and sees an old friend. While there, she has a series of strange visions and blacks out. Her friend finds her later, passed out on the bathroom floor with a large self-inflicted wound on her forearm.

While trying to make sense of this disturbing behavior and the visions, Joanna ends up in La Salle, Texas. In La Salle, she finds the same buildings and places that she has already seen in her visions, giving her an unsettling sense of deja vu.

I won't reveal anymore, but THE RETURN is well worth your time. It is 90 minutes of suspense, the supernatural and ultimately, a ghostly love story that defies time. The theatical ending was good, but check out the alternate ending on the DVD special features. It made everything so much more crystal clear and I think that the film would've been so much more successful if Hollywood higher ups would used that ending instead of the one they did.

But still, watch THE RETURN. It's well worth your time!!!

I have read several reviews from different sites, claiming that this film was confusing. Why it is confusing to people completely eludes me, because the end of the film explains everything perfectly. But I'm getting ahead of myself.
The film starts at an amusement park. A father (Sam Shepherd) and his daughter Joanna have just been in a car accident. Almost immediately, the girl begins acting strangely, seeing a mysterious man who isn't there. All he wants to do is talk to her. This may seem bizarre at first, but it gives you the first clue to an unfolding story about a woman running from her past.
As an adult, Joanna (Sarah Michelle Gellar) is a salesperson. She likes her job because it keeps her ahead of whatever evil seems to be chasing her. Even though she has sworn off territory in Texas, she changes her mind. This trip brings her into contact with an old friend and her father. The longer she remains in Texas, the more her strange "visions" or dreams take hold of her. She eventually finds herself pulled to La Salle, Texas, where she encounters a man whose wife was murdered years before.
I won't reveal the ending, but suffice it to say that the reason some viewers may be having trouble deciphering this film is because it is rooted in Eastern religion. Life isn't linear, but cyclical.
I found the film to be deeply moving. Sure, the pacing is languid like the Texas heat, but it allows the story to unfold. There also isn't a heavy metal soundtrack and young photo-perfect pin-ups crying while some masked madman tortures and then kills them.
Horror film fanatics seem to fall into two camps: those who like axe wielding maniacs and those who like atmospheric ghost stories. I prefer the latter. To be honest, my stomach was in knots throughout "The Return," because the director creates an undeniable sense of doom.
If you enjoy Japanese or Korean horror films - heavy on atmosphere and unsettling imagery - you'll enjoy "The Return." If your cup of tea is "Texas Chainsaw Massacre", you'll do yourself a favor and skip this one.

The Return is an effectively suspenseful psychological thriller and not the standard type of horror movie that the trailer implies. It has the feel of Korean cinema with small-town overtones, which add to the overall vibe. Many reviews have complained that there are'nt any jump scares and the story evolves slowly, but that makes the uneasiness all the more effective. Please don't let the misleading trailer cloud your judgement. Immerse yourself in the story and you'll appreciate this film. The cast do a great job, especially Sarah Michelle Gellar who, as always gives a believability to the character of Joanna and creates a vulnerable person that can be easily empathised with. A movie that should be seen more than once and that, in time, will be given the accolades that it deserves

When I opened the DVD box, I noticed there were no inserts, so my first thought was, "Oh, this is definitely going to be a B movie." Also, it's hard to see Sarah Michele Gellar and not think of "Buffy," even if she's died her hair brown; however, her character was very un-Buffy-like. I knew from the outset that this would be more of a psychological thriller (which I love) than a gory or scary movie, so I was right in that assumption. I spent most of the time trying to figure out what the plot twist would be. I didn't figure out the exact ending, but I was pleasantly surprised. I have seen one or two movies with similar plots like this before, but they are rare. They never spelled out the terminology, but these days, the "reincarnation" is actually termed a "walk-in" soul, in case anyone cares. I find this a fascinating topic after my own near-death experience years ago, which left me changed (to say the least). Anyway, I don't want to give away the ending, but this movie will stick in your mind. It's not scary; it just makes you think.

It wasn't until the last five minutes of "The Return" that I realized I was watching a halfway decent film. The story, about a young businesswoman who begins to have strange hallucinations, is meted out in artful bits that play mum with their secrets until the final frames of the film. As some have remarked, this is not unlike The Sixth Sense, but that movie's twist was propelled by the plot, and the meat of the movie had enough drama to keep less astute viewers interested. "The Return," on the other hand, spends ninety minutes making very little sense at all and taking its sweet time to do so.

An oddly aged Sarah Michelle Gellar plays our lead, the tormented Joanna Mills. Gellar is filmed in harsh, unflattering light and spends much of the film looking confused (and rightfully so). It turns out that the decision to frame her in such ashen tones was deliberate and, given the movie's twist, well-advised. Not so smart was the decision to have her walk around in an ineffectual daze while she sees people who aren't there, revisits locales she's never seen before (?), and watches her eye color flicker from brown to blue. Gellar's Joanna is hardly there at all.

Also absent in the film are any elements of suspense or tension. The story tries to use things like an aggressively lecherous coworker (the shrew-faced Adam Scott) and a repeated bar from Patsy Cline's "Sweet Dreams" to spur the suspense. It's hard, though, to prickle the spine when a viewer has no idea what exactly they're supposed to be afraid of.

Movies with the requisite twist only really work when the audience is led to believe something erroneous and then has that misconception yanked out from under them. "The Return" leads you to believe nothing, asking instead that the well-executed ambience be enough reason to stick with the script's senselessness in the hopes that the pay-off will be enough to justify over an hour of quiet confusion.

The pay-off, to be clear, is well-done. It brings to the story a cohesiveness that is almost enjoyable. It is the sort of "Ohhhhh!" moment that gives meaning to every mystifying element that came before it. The story, in light of this, is well-written.

But it is not well-done. The movie is only good in retrospect, but not from front-to-back. The presence of an always-excellent Sam Shepard and the excellent closure of the conclusion don't make up for the mind-numbing (and confusing) clap-trap that makes up 95% of the viewing experience. "The Return" is artistic, tightly plotted, and composed of interesting ideas. But it's still not that great.

Two word review: It Sucked!

Watching this movie was similar to watching paint dry - only without getting high off the fumes.

It's a tedious third-rate film with horrible acting, no plot and little meaningful dialoge. The actors annoyingly whisper their lines for much of the film. That annoyed me until I realized how boring the film was...then I just made up my own story.

Unfortunately, the FEW attempts to scare are your basic low-budget "lady in mirror", "guy walking around with knife while girl hides under bed", and an occasional "loud noise that jolts you (because it has no context in the scene)".

If you are looking for a good suspense film...continue looking. You will be sorely dissapointed and bored by this film. If your dumb enough to rent/buy it (like I)...you'll know why they titled it "The Return"...I'd like to return it right now!

This underrated gem was inexplicably hid from critic screenings and dumped into theaters with zero marketing the week before Thanksgiving 2006 amid a half dozen major hyped-up studio films. It was as if the studio wanted this film to fail. And I have no idea why, because this is a beautifully crafted, complex, moody, story driven supernatural horror mystery. Sarah Michelle Gellar, maybe the best leading actress in horror and thrillers today, is terrific and gives a very moving performance in a complex role. Also of note is the moody cinematography by Roman Osin, and the haunting score by Dario Marianelli.

There are many reviews out there that are claiming "The Return" is the worst movie of all time. Clearly, these people have not seen many movies. This is no masterpiece, it won't be winning any Oscars, and it certainly won't even be remembered in 2 or 3 years (or even months), but it does have it's good points.

First off, if nothing else, it's a Sarah Michelle Gellar fest for die-hard fans that ends up being far more entertaining than "The Grudge," and far more of an acting film than "Scooby Doo." In other words, it's no piece of fine cinema, but at least we can see SMG act again. She's far better than given credit for.

I don't appreciate that this movie tries to play itself off as a horror film in advertisements. It has moments of creepiness, but there is just far too little of it to be considered a horror, it's barely a suspense film. It just doesn't have enough creep to make it suspense, but it doesn't really have enough meat to be a drama. With that, it's almost like two half movies that don't really add up to anything great.

The plot doesn't really make a lot of sense, but of course some are going to claim that you just "don't get it" if you don't like the plot. It's not a strong plot, and there are major holes. Still, it's interesting, and it's something that we haven't seen over and over and over.

It is well shot, and has a nice feel throughout. The creepiest part of it is the look, which is much appreciated.

My overall grade would be a 2.5 for this movie, but I rounded up because I think this movie is too harshly criticized. It's no Friday Night Watch a Scary Movie with your Friends, but this will appeal to certain people -- and for that, it's worth it.

Lately the horror genre seems to be churning out the same kind of movies. Some of them are good for what they are but as a horror fan, I've been dying to see something new and original. The Return is that movie. Because it's different and because you don't know what you're getting, it's even scarier than you'd expect. Just realize it's more supernatural suspense than blood and guts horror. But still very creative in how the story lays itself out and comes together in a big twist in the end. Not to mention it's visually amazing. The creepy atmosphere is totally filled with dread and keeps you on the edge of your seat so that when the scares come you really do jump in your seat. The other surprising thing was Sarah Michelle Gellar's acting. I never really gave her much credit before but this was so much better than her other movies. The role actually demands a performance and she delivered. Overall, I'd say watch this movie if you're looking for something scary and completely unexpected.

Having seen this movie twice on HBO, I think I can make a fair assessment on it.
This is not a typical horror movie. It is a drama with supernatural elements. And as such, it succeeds admirably.
Think of it as going out on a dark night alone then hearing, in the distance, a long mournful wail. It frightens but at the same time, one detects great sadness in the sound.
I'll leave it to others to describe the plot. I will add that Sarah Michelle Gellar delivers a powerful performance. It is miles far away from the perkiness of Buffy.