| Blackwoods (2002) Cast:Patrick Muldoon, Michael Pare,Clint Howard, Keegan Connor-Tracy Patrick Muldoon stars as a man who runs into stern vengeance when he goes to meet the parents of his girlfriend only to find out that the woman he killed years go while drunk is related to the clan who give him a trial he won't forget, Pare stars as a sheriff trying to make sense of it considering he's not heard of this family and senses that Muldoon is a little weird, in this watchable yet confusing effort. I rented Blackwoods to catch up on actionstar Michael Pare's career and along the way I saw a movie filled with so many good ideas and indeed a story that could've been one hell of a movie but unfortunately the director is Uwe Boll. Boll is a director who is the not unlike Albert Pyun, both directors beef up the story with useless flashbacks that often times confuse or bore the viewer and they both chop up the action so much that at times we don't what the hell is going on. However where as Albert Pyun is slightly maligned in the B. movie crowd of directors from fellow webmasters who deal in B.movies, Uwe Boll is just a wretched director which is sad because he has decent material. Pyun could've made a far better movie with this, You know a movie isn't very good when one says that the guy behind Captain America could helm a much more coherent movie. And yet this Uwe Boll's best made movie (Keep in mind I've only seen the atrocious Alone In The Dark and House Of Dead) He makes a lot of mistakes but he does have a few reliable actors who make the movie watchable. Upon watching this movie I couldn't help but notice Michael Pare's overall expression throughout this is a guy who at one time was the star of Streets Of Fire but now second billed behind Patrick Muldoon, a guy who's claim to fame was being a supporting character in Starship Troopers, I understand that a lot of people don't know who Michael Pare is but certainly more know who he is than Muldoon. Basicly watching Blackwoods was somewhat depressing, a movie that has all the elements to be a great thriller is instead trashed by a director who has no idea of how to work with actors or shoot scenes that make sense. The film's only pluses are Pare's performance (The only sympathetic character in the cast) Clint Howard's welcome comic relief and a twist ending which adds a surreal vibe to proceedings. D.Uwe Boll** |