Indy's Summer Movie Marathon - THE CELL 2 (2009) and THE END OF THE LINE (2007)

Well, with my wife and kids out of town, I am watching two B-movies or so a night for as long as my budget holds up. After suffering through FIRED UP last night, this morning I went out and mowed the yard, then came in and popped THE CELL 2 into the ol' DVD player.

This movie has a very similar plot to THE CELL - a special agent of the FBI is actually able to project her mind into the head of a serial killer and access his memories. However, Jennifer Lopez was not available (or perhaps not interested) in playing the lead in this one. So they got a relative unknown (to me anyway) named Tessie Santiago to play another psychic named Maya. What makes this movie work is the villain, a serial killer known only as "the Cusp". He kidnaps his victims - all young females - and kills them by various means. BUT he doesn't just kill them once. He kills them, resuscitates them, then kills them again, over and over, until they BEG for death. And our FBI agent heroine, Maya, is not just a random psychic - she is the only one of The Cusp's victims to escape. This movie is kind of hit or miss in places, but the freaky psychic trances and the pure evil of The Cusp definitely make it worth watching. Of course, you have the heroic local sheriff and the jerkish FBI skeptic who are stereotyped beyond belief, but the helicopter chase at the end makes you forget about how predictable their characters are. Oh, and GHouck, this one had about 1 minute of female nudity. So this one is worth a rental, especially if you can return it early and get half the money back.

Now we come to THE END OF THE LINE. No, I don't mean my review is done. That is the title of this 2007 horror film, and it is one of the strangest and most disturbing horror films I've seen in a long, long time. The "opening scare" is a real shocker, and the movie winds up twisting in a direction you do NOT expect it to go. First of all, you see mental patients breaking down and having bizarre visions of demons invading the city. But then what happens, as several characters get on a late night subway bound for their homes, is a freaky religious cult begins killing everyone who is not a believer in their way, chanting "God Loves You" as they stab nonbelievers with cruciform daggers in order to "save their souls." This movie has some EXTREME gore. Be warned. There is a near decapitation scene that is more grisly and disturbing than any "head goes flying" decapitation a la FRIDAY THE 13TH. And if you are bothered by violence against pregnant women, avoid the last fifteen minutes or so. And the ending of this thing is truly a "mess with your head" moment. I must admit - my front room where the DVD player is gets VERY hot in the afternoon, and I did fast forward through some of the dialogue in the second half of the movie because I was getting uncomfortable. But even at that, I found this to be a VERY, VERY disturbing film. One of the most gruesome and bizarre horror movies I've seen in a long time. So if you like horror and have a strong stomach, you really need to see this one.

Now, for my sectarian rant . . . how is it that, in both B-movies and A-list movies, whenever there is someone killing in the name of religion, especially on a large scale, it is ALWAYS some neo-Christian cult toting Bibles and crucifixes? One would think that churches spend every Sunday giving lessons in knife, gun, and Decapitation 101. I think everyone knows that, in the 21st century, the vast majority of religious violence in the world is perpetrated by Islamic fundamentalists. I can't remember the last time I heard a news story about a Mormon, or Buddhist, or Southern Baptist suicide bomber! Yet, consistently, Muslims get a free pass from Hollywood, while Christians get ridiculed, mocked, or else portrayed as scheming hypocrites or suicidal nutjobs. It just gets a little tiresome sometimes.

OK, rant over. Tell me what you think of these two films.