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Overall Rating : 5/10
Directed By : Don Michael Paul
Adam Taylor Gordon (Cellular)
Lance Henriksen (Pumpkinhead)
Sean Young (Blade Runner)
Claudia Christian (Maniac Cop 2)
Supplied By : Anchor Bay Entertainment
Film Reviewed By : Rick L. Blalock
Date Reviewed : July. 11, 2006
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| PLOT Sam is a young boy with big problems: He has bad dreams, he cuts himself, and he’s just been released from a mental hospital. But when he and his recovering alcoholic father are forced to stay on a ranch owned by the mysterious Ben Zachary , Sam’s nightmares become all too real. On this placid land, the dead walk, evil is alive and a terrifying prophecy may unleash the final apocalypse. As the suffering of the innocent takes root, will the taste of temptation lead Sam to the most shocking act of all? |
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| THE REVIEW In THE GARDEN, we meet Sam and his newly divorced father. Sam has been spending time at some sort of institution, because hw has been cutting himself and having bad nightmares since the separation of he parent's. As fate would have it, when coming home from the hospital, the two are involved in an horrific accident. Here we meet an old man by the name of Ben Zachary, the man seems kind and agrees to let the pair stay with him until they recover from the wreck, Ben seems ordinarily, but after the father and son's visit extends longer that expected, Sam begin's to notice something weird about Zachary, but his father, David is blind to it. Sam continues to have the occurring nightmares which seem to get stranger as they pass - all of which seem to somehow point to the mysterious old man. Later when Sam's psychologist shows up at the house for a checkup at the suggestion of Sam's mother, the young boy's suspicion about Zachary is confirmed when he later finds the old man slaughtering the doctor and stitching her mouth shut. When his father returns, whom has been out partying lately( which is strange behavior for him but he seems to be taking influence from Ben) he doesn't believe Sam, and says it's just another dream. It turns out that the garden that the old man keeps remotely close to his home is the "Garden of Eden" amd the tree standing in the middle of it is the "tree of life", it contains seemingly one fruit...and if eaten it we kill that person and begin the apocalypse thus freeing Satan, who in no secret, is Zachary himself. Before seeing THE GARDEN, I just didn't know what to expect from it, seeing that I have read nothing but negative reviews. But after watching the film I found that it was actually a lot more entertaining than people have made it out to be. I've never been that big of a fan of things relating to religion because I feel that sometimes it all goes way too overboard as it tries to push one belief on to you or the next, but I feel that THE GARDEN, wasn't too overbearing. Sure the film's main focus ultimately ends up being Ben's Garden , but the story truly emphasizes on just how Ben Zachary... can manipulate minds, most notably David, Zachary is a great character in my opinion, and I really thought his manner was creepy but the thing that does hurt the film is that it just doesn't give enough time for the tension to build up and the character's to fully develop. I think that the origin and Zachary's true identity was revealed all too soon and that if given more time and maybe a few other deaths would have occurred in between - it would have meant a lot more to the viewer, creating that unexpectance and eagerness that makes a viewer stay in their seats. The acting in my opinion was fairly decent, considering that at times the plot is difficult to follow. Adam Taylor Gordon puts in a great performance as the troubled youngster Sam - I had only seen him previously in CELLULAR, but here shows that he is quite talented and seemingly should have a bright future. It is always nice to see Sean Young, here she plays Sam's school teacher, who just may have something to hide. I was so glad to see that THE GARDEN was far better than the last Sean Young feature I reviewed, entitled THE DROP. But this movie would be nothing without the man, that is in my opinion, probably one of the greatest character actors of all time Lance Henriksen. Lance always does a great job of getting into a character and making it his own, no matter the size of the role or budget - this movie would not be too enjoyable without him... Overall, I love the premise and plot, and I thought the cinematography was pretty good, but the story, I fell needed more developing to make the said plot that much more stronger. But for what it's worth I feel it's a lot better than I was lead to believe. |
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| GORE
METER 4.5/10 A lot gorier than the title would suggest, but not over the top....mostly blood splatter nothing more. |
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| MUSICAL
SCORE 5.5/10 I thought the score was pretty decent, the film is accompanied by a lot of melodic creepy piano, that sets an eerie tone. |
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| OVERALL
IMPRESSION OF THE FILM I liked this film a lot more that I thought I would, the plot is pretty good in terms of entertainment, but I feel it could have been a little stronger nonetheless. I would still recommend a look at this if you are fans of Lance Henriksen or Sci-Fi fantasy films... |
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