PopHorror Let's Get Scared
Sometimes you’ve heard about a movie for what seems like forever and you can’t get your hands on it. This is what happened to me with the movie The Girl. You can imagine how excited I was when I was looking at the upcoming new releases brochure – yes, I get monthly brochures – and low and behold THE GIRL! I called that video store to reserve my copy and, to my disappointment, all five copies were all rented out by the time I had gotten out of work. This routine went on for the next four days until Saturday came around and BOOM! Was The Girl worth all that time and effort or was it just wasted?
The Girl, also known as Psychopath, was co-written by Bradley Marcus and Kevin Marcus and directed by Jennifer Blanc-Biehn. Her name change may have had something to do with why I had such a hard time tracking it down. Not to mention, The Girl was filmed in 2014 and I was not even able to rent it until 2017.
The Girl is about a disturbed family man called Father (Michael Biehn) who has been capturing girls for who knows how long and is looking for the perfect captive to keep in his shed. His wife, Mother (Tia Carrere), is an oblivious home-shopping network fiend and doesn’t even pay attention to her son, never mind her husband. Their son, Tommy (Tristan DeVan), has started to catch on, paying more attention to Father and what “projects” he has going on in the shed. The plot really comes full circle after Father has captured his latest victim, The Girl (Evie Thompson). When Tommy finds her, they become fast friends and he tries to find a way to help her. Will Tommy be able to save her or perhaps she will be the one that saves him?
What worked for me in this film is the opening sequence. By using disturbingly awesome music and images, Blanc-Biehn almost gave the film the feel of a Rob Zombie movie. It captivated my interest right away. The story and twist were done well. However, the special effects could have used some improvement. I’m not too big of a stickler for those things but at times, the film left me confused as to what I was watching until the ending. I have to say I loved the cheesy home shopping sequences – that was entertainment I was not expecting. The stand out performance certainly goes to Michael Biehn as Father. He literally made my skin crawl, so major kudos to him!
Final Thoughts:
Aside from some of the corny acting, cheesy effects and a 5.3/10 rating on IMDb.com, I did thoroughly enjoy this film. As I stated before, that opening credits scene was incredible. I wish the whole film had that grit to it. I am very excited to see what else Jennifer Blanc-Biehn has in store for us next as I believe she is a very promising director and The Girl showcases a lot of her talents.
