Rear End Window

Rating: Null/10 (6 May 2007)

I went to see this because of the advertised, "Rear Window."
That film was an amazing experience for me. Hitchcock can be said to have invented the curious camera, the camera that moves and explores as if it were a character. It probes, it withdraws, it discovers. It "finds" the story. It only does in some of his films. Actually, for most of his career, he was merely a highly skilled craftsman. But then he developed this idea. With "Rear Window" he turned it all upside down. The camera could explore: the world had to be a stage that was composed before and for the camera.
Its frozen noir. That film and "Touch of Evil" ended the ordinary noir period. Since then we can only reference it.
Just because it is a kiddie film didn't phase me. These sometimes have the cleverest nuances, the most oblique perspectives.
But oh, not here, not here. There's the slightest nod to "Rear Window," updated via "Blair Witch" to have the film within be a genuine film.
What we have instead is one of those irrelevant things about teen remoteness and improbable companionship. Onto that is spliced a modern horror bit, with a cabbage patch Hannibal. And only onto that dog's mess do we have the remnant of the fixed pane.
Odd, because the serial killer notion often finds its way into films with a strong story, and this is embedded as a movie within, often a counter-noir where the killer and his opposite fight for control over fate, the shape of fate.
Ted's Evaluation -- 1 of 3: You can find something better to do with this part of your life.