July 19, 2007

REVIEW OF MOH RIGHT TO DIE DVD

(Posted In DVD News Horror Random Geek Talk Reviews TV USA and Canada )

rightod2.gifI’m a huge fan of Rob Schmidts Wrong Turn. I think it’s one of the most dynamic and entertaining mainstream horror films of the new millennium but having said that I’m not sure I grasp his inclusion in this group of living legends. Right To Die shows him to be anything but a master of the sort of storytelling that makes Carpenter, Landis, or Coscarelli true Masters of Horror. Wrong Turn offered high speed gory thrills using a time honored narrative device ending on a real high note that showed Schmidt to be a promising talent but little of that promise flowers into anything coherent or new here. Instead we get sex and violence married to a story that frankly we’ve all seen before. Only the most jaded viewers who can’t resist a little T&A or MOH completists will see this as must have DVD. Tales from the Crypt did the twist ending better than the MOH series generally has and one is left to wonder what if any lasting impact MOH will have on a fan community struggling under the weight of way too much monstrous mediocrity.

Right to Die does offer a solid performance from the almost always compelling Martin Donovan as a husband who fights for his wifes right to die after an accident leaves her hideously deformed and in a seemingly vegetative state. The episode slowly reveals his motives for this may be suspect, as are almost everyone elses. As those who benefit most from her condition die he is increasingly haunted by visions of his wife and the circumstances that led to her death.

Hearing people talk about this episode as containing some sense of social commentary I can’t help but wonder why noone has responded by pointing out that Right to Die is actually quite shallow in the way it tackles the issues surrounding the so called right to die. Showcasing how people profit off keeping terminal patients alive is a duck shoot. Measuring patient wishes, family concerns, and financial realities against moral and ethical considerations is …well let’s just say the devil is in the details and this episode lacks exactly that- a precise sense of moral center- of being primarily about a specific thing. Instead Right to Die is really about anything but what its title implies offering a mostly incoherent blend of pretty graphic sexuality, intense gore at the service of way too many ideas. Granted they are all reasonably interesting ideas but they aren’t delved into deeply enough to offer anything new to the genre or ideas the film explores.

The extras here include a Making Of, a FX featurette, storyboard gallery, DVD Rom accessible screenplay, and an Audio Commentary with Schmidt.

» Posted by Canfield at July 19, 2007 05:18 PM
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Reader Comments

I haven't yet seen this, but I always find the questioning of certain directors' inclusion fascinating. It seems like most people have one or two directors they don't think should be included, but to me, people are just taking a title too seriously.

If I were to really look at the roster under that light I wouldn't question a single one. I question most of them. I think it's unfortunate that everyone's being judged by the title, but if people ARE being judged against it, then why are MORE directors not questioned? I mean, look at the roster and it's kinda obvious that to be included, you mostly need one pretty-well-received horror movie, sometimes less.

Lucky Mckee made a half decent horror movie in The Woods and an interesting genre study that I wouldn't even consider horror, in May.
Brad Anderson made a phenomenal haunted asylum story in Session 9, and a pretty interesting study of a guy going crazy in The Machinist.
Has William Malone ever even made a good movie?

John Landis made a classis in American Werewolf, but what other horror has he done?
This is a personal one, but as far as I'm concerned, Tobe Hooper has made one good MOVIE...two if you honestly believe he was the one steering the ship on Poltergeist.

Even the ones who nobody would dispute (Argento, Carpenter, Dante, Gordon), all but one (Gordon) seem to be in the death throes of their careers.

That said, yes, the series has had some real highs and some REAL lows, but a couple years down the road, I think it's probably time to stop bitching about who is or isn't a Master.

End rant.

» Posted by Garth at July 19, 2007 07:14 PM

So, in retrospect, that was a pretty pointless response...

» Posted by Garth at July 19, 2007 07:16 PM

Well, considering this point of this review was that "Wrong Turn" was a good film, I think that states it better than I ever can.
Truly one of the most insipid genre films in recent history. Not even if Dushku was naked in some extras would make this worthy of a nanoseconds thought.

» Posted by Plague at July 20, 2007 02:57 PM

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