DVD - Donnie Darko

7.5 out of 10

Yes, I finally watched Donnie Darko. I've had it on my computer for about a year or so, but I procrastinated on watching it. Finally, I got the DVD in the mail, but still I procrastinated. I don't really know why. I wasn't sure what to expect except that it was supposed to be a mind fuck kind of movie and scary.

I think the scary part of it was what stopped me from watching it. For some odd reason, as I've gotten older, scary movies - especially the spooky ones -- are not as funny as I used to think. Especially stories with ghosts in them scare me. I had it in my mind that this was one of those movies where YOUR WORST FEAR is after you, whatever that fear it. A very personal kind of fright that chills you to the bone. Kind of like the movie IT. The book IT by Stephen King is the scariest thing I've ever read in my life. At the beginning of the movie Donnie Darko, the mother was reading the book IT .

And, it's like I knew that.

It's strange because in the past, I thought all of this stuff was hilarious -- all make-believe and the creepier they tried to make it, the more I laughed. All foolishness. I've always been superstitious, but I've never felt as much as I do today that the supernatural is a real and true force that exists all around us. That's why horror movies really tend to scare me these days. Because I think they can really be true. And, I do really believe that. I think these things happen around us all the time.

Anyway, Donnie Darko. Didn't make much sense, and it wasn't nearly as scary as I thought it might be or could have been. It's set in the 80's for some unknown reason, but the soundtrack is quite good: Echo and the Bunnymen (ha! just got it!), Joy Division, Tears for Fears, The Church, Oingo Boingo. The score was very good, as well. There were some funny parts, and what I think were nods to other movies. But, none of this held together all that well -- if it was indeed supposed to hold together. I always felt there was going to be something important that was going to happen. It really didn't. Ah, but Maggie Gyllenhaal was in it (whose movie Secretary I HIGHLY recommend!) , ah and Drew Barrymore. Jake Gyllenhaal was very good, but everybody else pretty much sucked and talked like they were made out of a block of wood.

All in all, it was good creepy fun, and worth watching just for the dreaminess and time to let your mind wander.


Cellar Door.