Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
THE RETURN DELIVERS THE GOODS, June 13, 2007
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!!!
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38 of 47 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Moving film about second chances, November 12, 2006
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.
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11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Really Good, June 9, 2007
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.
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