From: psperson1@ix.netcom.invalid   
      
   On Fri, 29 Jan 2021 07:16:38 -0800 (PST), Mark Leeper   
    wrote:   
      
   >THE LODGE is a production from Hammer Films.  Hammer was a British   
   >company that specialized in horror and science fiction from the mid   
   >1950s to the late 1970s.  In 2008 Hammer came back or (as many   
   >claim) a modern production company acquired the right to use the   
   >Hammer name.  The new Hammer has even taken images from the   
   >original Hammer's films as part of their logo.  Their first film   
   >was the obscure BEYOND THE RAVE, but their second was the much   
   >better known English-language version of John Ajvide Lindqvist's   
   >novel LET THE RIGHT ONE IN.  That novel had been adapted in 2008 by   
   >Tomas Alfredson into a Swedish language film with the same title as   
   >the novel.  This re-use of other material makes sense since Hammer   
   >won their stripes making English cinema versions of television   
   >shows and American horror franchises.   
   >   
   >Frankly I do not care if they really are or are not the original   
   >Hammer. They are making movies in the best tradition of Hammer   
   >Films. They are not in the same style, but they are solid genre   
   >films made intelligently to make the most of a smallish budget.   
   >That is the best tradition of the original Hammer.  Even if they   
   >only bought the name, they are doing well by it.   
   >   
   >THE LODGE is their eighth film.  A frozen environment is the   
   >setting, leaving the viewer with a chilled feeling.  Two children,   
   >their stepmom-to-be, and a dog are trapped in an isolated New   
   >England cabin in the woods during a blizzard.  (The father has   
   >taken the car to go back to the city.)  Compared with old Hammer   
   >horror films, there is more atmosphere, but the same or less   
   >character development.  The pacing is slow, perhaps to add to the   
   >feeling of isolation.   Soon strange things start happening.  While   
   >not quite up to Hammer's LET ME IN or THE WOMAN IN BLACK, it has   
   >its moments.   
      
   I found their version of /Let Me In/ superior because it settled for a   
   reaction shot instead of showing child porn like the Swedish version   
   did.   
      
   But neither was very realistic at the end. Perhaps I just don't like   
   the story.   
      
   /The Woman in Black/ was a bitter disappointment, nothing at all like   
   anything I have ever wanted or ever will want to see. Pure pandering   
   to spiritualist romance fans.   
      
   So thanks for the warning about /The Lodge/. If it isn't up to those   
   two, it can't possibly be worth watching.   
      
   As to the idea that these films bear /any/ resemblance to the original   
   Hammer films -- what are you smoking?   
      
   >Released 02/07/20; available on Amazon Prime.  Rating: high +1   
   >(-4 to +4)   
   >   
   >The new Hammer Films productions are:   
   >    BEYOND THE RAVE (2008)   
   >    LET ME IN (2010)   
   >    THE RESIDENT (2011)   
   >    WAKE WOOD (2011)   
   >    THE WOMAN IN BLACK (2012)   
   >    THE QUIET ONES (2014)   
   >    THE WOMAN IN BLACK: ANGEL OF DEATH (2015)   
   >    THE LODGE (2019)   
   >   
   >Film credits:    
   >   
   >What others are saying:   
   >   
   --   
   "I begin to envy Petronius."   
   "I have envied him long since."   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)