Studio: Paper Street Films
Theatrical Release Date: July 17, 2009
Directed By: Morgan J. Freeman
Cast: Mischa Barton, Matt Long, Jessica Stroup
Review By: Marc Patterson
Film Review: Homecoming (2009)
It’s Homecoming in Mount Bliss. Mike, the quintessential small-town football hero, is headed home from University to catch up with friends and reminisce in his glory days as his high school ceremoniously retires his number. Having dated his college girlfriend Elizabeth (Stroup) for a few months he decides this is as good a time as any to bring her home to meet the family. But in a small town blood runs deep, and old ties aren’t so easily severed. Ex-girlfriend Shelby (Barton) now runs the local bowling alley and restaurant since the death of her parents. Financially things haven’t been going so well. The farm house has fallen into disrepair, the bills have backed up to a breaking point and she’s on the verge of losing everything to the bank. Nothing can curb her focus though. With Mike returning home she’s determined to get him back, at any cost. With the upsetting discovery that Mike has a new love interest Shelby brings her sadistic A-game to the table in a terrifying turn of events.
Morgan J. Freeman (not to be confused with the famous actor by the same first/last name) directs this tense thriller with mixed results. It’s a slick film utilizing all the usual “horror 101” tricks of the trade, as our two lead females play a fruitless game of cat and mouse around a dilapidated farmhouse. Escapes are thwarted, the “suspenseful” set-ups are see-through, and we have more mentions to cell phones that lack signal than at a backwoods “Tweetup”. It’s not a difficult climatic showdown to see coming, and any horror junkie worth his or her salt will have this plot line figured out within the first five minutes. Thankfully the technical aspects of the film are strong enough, and the characters interesting enough, to make this watchable, despite its incredibly inherent predictability and many flaws. Barton, whose past performances have been lacking to say the least, delivered an exemplary portrayal of a truly frightening psychotic ex-girlfriend. The film centers on her character, and Barton pulls out the stops delivering a creepy and totally believable performance. I couldn’t take my eyes off the screen when she was on it, and it wasn’t simply because of her good looks. Surrounding her is an equally capable cast of actors and actresses that were sadly generic, despite their clear acting abilities. I came into the film expecting more and wish I had seen it.
What was especially infuriating about Homecoming though, was how easily and effortlessly it would have been for the director to break out of the mold and deliver a killer film that would have kept viewers on the edge of their seats. The script provided ample opportunity for Freeman to take some bold chances, but at every opportunity he held back, and chose to play it safe, constantly hedging from taking risky moves, preferring to stick to a tried and true method of horror filmmaking, which ultimately creates a film that starts off as fun but quickly descends into a snooze-fest. Instead of designing the film to run the audience through the ringer we’re held at a distant arms length from the action, and watch this drama unfold from the outside. This is not engaging filmmaking, and when you fail to emotionally engage your audience you ultimately just fail.
While Homecoming will prove to be a highly entertaining thrill ride for casual horror viewers it’s not going to cut it with the diehard horrorphiles here at Brutal As Hell. Freeman loses to an all familiar battle: Play it safe and market it to the masses, or put out a memorable piece of horror cinema. It’s a bloody shame these things have to be seen as exclusive of each other. Unfortunately this one is destined to the hall of quickly forgotten horror films.
