Mimic 3 (2003)

You'll never see them move in next to an exterminator

One could point to numerous areas of where this film doesn't play out like the first two and be completely right in that respect. It's not a special effects showcasing or a thriller with action packed scenes, as it plays out as a different kind of suspense feature. In one sense it does go for mystery for a majority of the time by giving snippets of clues till a final series of blows. This was handled by another director/writer and filmed in Romania, which gives the setting an off-look to portraying the US. "Mimic 3" tries to take a different route with the tone, pacing and story element, which fans should be all for to include diversity, but in its bold leap forward is still missing something to effectively further the series or completely encompass charging power on it own.

A 24 year old housebound man named Marvin, who was one of the last to get Stricklers disease 10 years ago, bides his time with voyeurism and photography outside of his high-rise apartment bedroom window. Yep, they did it on purpose with an indirect reference to "Rear Window" and all. His sister Rosy has a flair for the wild side, including getting high and hanging out with drug dealers, making her frequently spaced out and dressed in skimpy outfits. She brings a woman named Carmen over that Marvin spies on but they often get caught in awkward situations with his lungs burning from her smoke and perfume. He has no social life and snoops into other people's lives with a view from afar. Him and his sister think they saw a murder and report it to the police, though the detective, who has more an eye on his mother, believes it's a case of the boy who cried wolf and the girl who can't keep her mind focused. Soon enough Rosy and Carmen play amateur detective across the ways with Marvin only to look on helpless to the fact, until the murderers start to kill in the open and get closer and closer to his residence.

"Mimic 3" is essentially about one man who's locked up with little in the way of physical capabilities and then how he's able to overcome attacks against humanity on the outside even though he's one of the weakest of us in strength but not in conviction. Marvin often acts out the mannerisms of something like the "Rain Man" at points to give you an idea. In order to pull off a steady amount of on-screen power requires an amazing amount of range as an actor and the performer doesn't always nail it. He droops his shoulders, dodges physical touch and eye contact, not to mention can't live normally like others: all of which sets up sympathy. Not that much grows from him like other films that go for character development that starts as a seed and springs into a tree, as he essentially acts and maintains the garden and then perseveres despite outside obstacles. Nearly the entire film rests on the shoulders of the lead actor with his movements, emotion or how information gets passed solely through him. The biggest problem here is there isn't an equal balance of information and mysteriousness/wonderment to create a locked in driving point. As a result, a share of this feels like you're in the room with him but still a stranger.

The messages of the film don't come right out and say it, since little is told in the way of narrative, whereas the first two films had Dr. Tyler and then Remi to explain firsthand knowledge of what's going on, making those the more science fiction oriented films. In one sense, this doesn't retread like part two but in the other it's not always more contemplative despite its gradual flow that feels much longer than its hour and 17 minute run time. This is a subtle film where the messages are signaled from afar. It nearly takes the complete view point of Marvin to the point of only seeing things through his zoom lens, often times in the form of snap shots and then odd violin music frequently going like they're filming some 18th century aristocrat instead of some guy held back in modern times. It leaves a lot of questions open and it doesn't create the world of intrigue it wanted to like its predecessor "Rear Window" did. It takes a share of time before anything happens that is significant and this more or less plays on if he's imagining it or is it real and then why no one believes him. If you haven't seen the first two films, there's going to be more surprise with that sentiment, but otherwise it's not the best luring system for an acquainted viewer. The Judas Breed element is somewhat elusive as to why and how they're there, and then what explanation is told is said so quickly so as to miss the focal point. It makes the film wind down inconclusively and feel less part of the "Mimic" series, which is somewhat disappointing even if this tried to be different.

Rating: 4.5/10

Director: J.T. Petty (Soft for Digging)
Stars: Karl Geary, Alexis Dziena, Rebecca Mader, Amanda Plummer, Lance Henriksen
Link: IMDB

Monogamy (2010)

Cold feet

A photographer in Brooklyn named Theo, who normally snaps traditional wedding photos, recently started a service called "gumshoot." Participants are shot while they go about a scheduled activity of their choice while he hides in the shadows to capture something more genuine and then later gives the resulting photos in person. After about a dozen or so clients, he thinks he's got a pretty good impression of what to expect, such as an older gentleman carrying about a carefree day in the city with no scandal or malice involved. Though after getting contacted by the mysterious "Subgirl," for what's supposed to be a regular day on the tennis courts, he gets sucked into something more voyeuristic and naughty when she touches herself and only he can see it. She eludes meeting face to face and lets him choose the photos to send to an anonymous PO box, which not only builds up intrigue but places the rest of his life into a tailspin.

This essentially films the last stages of Theo (Chris Messina) just before he plans on getting married in drawn out and slow sequences. For those not familiar with such deliberately paced films, the key word is "natural": loose hand-held shots to make it more edgy, fractured dialogue that comes with enough stammering to compete with "The King's Speech," and casual humor that's so dry you could spark a brushfire. There are a few hints dropped to what it was like in the past with his fiance Nat (Rashida Jones), though this tried to show a breakdown in only a short duration by having him question himself and lose all perspective just from his fiance not giving him any, to the perverse new client Subgirl, as well as his two buddies--one bossed around in marriage and the other separated but happy in single life. They frequently attempt to have the camera do the talking and the main actor capture subtle emotion on his face for what he's contemplating and going through. However a proper outline of the past wasn't entirely established and the scenarios at present--despite being extensively shot--don't seem detrimental enough to sabotage what he has going for himself on a whim. It's hard to relate or reason with almost anything he's doing except to say he feels trapped and is using this as a long and fanciful way out.

"Monogamy" tried to be purely emotion as a share of Theo's motivations are based on raw feelings rather than life experiences or even logic. Eventually it makes you want slap the character up side the head because he's so catered to one side and tell him to just make a decision instead of acting like an immature 30-something adult who still uses passive aggressive behavior like a teenager. Theo starts to sulk, become erratic and sheltered from those around him. This isn't afraid to show him in a negative light, as he turns into a corner dweller, binge drinker, pot smoker, mask wearer, snooper, restroom masturbator, semi-cross dresser and in his self-destruction pushes his nice and pretty fiance away because monogamy is terrifying and how he's behaving apparently isn't to himself but some kind of screwball way of coping till a magic solution pops up. It's ridiculous that someone who lives in a bustling city and with access to thousands upon thousands of websites that show pornographic videos and images nowadays would be so naive and sheltered that this Subgirl woman would be cause enough to throw off his entire outlook from taking snap shots of her on only the second occasion. I mean this isn't some small town yokel or even young enough to be believably impressionable like Kyle MacLachlan's character in the film "Blue Velvet." He turns into an amateur detective to find out more about Subgirl, though the movie moves at such a lethargic pacing that the final secret about how to make it work in a monogamist relationship--while dissimilar to the usual material a la "Unfaithful"--is pretty evident by the halfway mark.

There's some potential here. The gumshoot concept that involves sneaking around to naturally capture someone was an intriguing idea. Just imagine how many people's vacation photos you might accidentally be in that are probably more natural than all those posed ones. It shows that not all relationships have to go the conventional route to work. It's nice to see a movie that at least makes an attempt at growth with characters, though I'd like to think "Monogamy" could have improved with some more back-story, possibly a younger cast or a smaller setting to make it more convincing towards their behavior, or some tighter edits in other areas where nothing substantial was going on besides the camera just rolling to get lucky and stumble upon something.

Rating: 4/10

Director: Dana Adam Shapiro (Murderball)
Stars: Chris Messina, Rashida Jones
Link: IMDB

The Resident (2011)

Somebody likes your toothbrush

This is a American shot thriller from a Finnish director and put out by the recently revived Hammer Film--yep, the British production company known for its atmospheric horrors. "The Resident" gives nods to "Single White Female," "One Hour Photo" and "Fatal Attraction," where it's a dark tale of infatuation that builds and builds into a roaring obsession due to an object of desire that's out of physical reach.

Some look for specific qualities or rewards in relationships than others, such as a momentary bit of comfort, physical release or warmth and security. There's a middle ground where you both meet in agreement, yet there are those that want things to fall specifically in place and only go the way they want them to. There's going to be zero compromise with those aggressively tuned people, just a one track freight train of a strong personality and another unsuspecting person caught frozen on the tracks.

A woman named Juliet, played by Hilary Swank, is looking for an apartment after hitting a rough spot. She works by day as a doctor and after living in her new residence for a short while she's being watched with a privy eye at night. This has a few unsettling moments, as the watcher slowly works themselves up to get close enough to know what the bristles of her toothbrush feel like, as well as the brand of her undergarments. There's no real surprise as to who it is as there's only four main characters shown and three of them quickly seem unlikely. The filmmakers realized about a third of the way in and dropped the whole mystery element in order to escalate the encroaching visits in first person to Juliet's apartment. If it wasn't predictable enough, she eventually starts to suspect something's amiss and decides to take matters into her own hands in order to figure out the truth about what's going bump at night and why she feels so weird in the morning. Though the closer she gets, it causes the person to step out from the shadows for a finale that wraps up somewhat abruptly.

"The Resident" has a formula that's been done before with films that deal with unabated fixations that lead to stalking and voyeurism. This was a common template for slasher films, though this is definitely missing the gore and guts, but intact is the cinematic thrills. This does take it another step further with a few memorable scenes that push things over the top even if it mostly hints at them without actually revealing them head-on in explicit detail. That seems to be the main purpose: to show some suspenseful scenes and to cut and paste characters into scenarios in order to make that happen, as the story itself felt straightforward and ultimately inevitable. This might be effective towards creeping out your squeamish girlfriend, as it gives paranoid thought to sleeping alone and putting blind trust into strangers, otherwise there's not a whole lot of substance here to mine or to come back to for replay value.

Rating: 5/10

Director: Antti Jokinen
Stars: Hilary Swank, Jeffery Dean Morgan, Christopher Lee
Link: IMDB