Vicious

Vicious
Starring Dakota Fanning, Kathryn Hunter, Mary McCormack, Rachel Blanchard
Directed by Bryan Bertino

Horror movies are at their best when they tell a story dealing with real-life issues in horrifying ways. "Talk to Me" looks at dealing with the death of a parent. "Bring Her Back" about the grief of losing a daughter. "The Babadook" about how not to deal with grief. The list goes on, but sometimes there's horror movies that take real-life issues and turn them into caricatures, almost a side thought to a movie that is instead riddled with jump scares, nonsensical plots, and stupid decisions made by the protagonist. Such is with "Vicious," a film written and directed by "The Strangers" writer/director Bryan Bertino, who seemed to be of two minds: director Bertino throwing in scares to hide the thin script writer Bertino wrote.

Polly (Dakota Fanning) is a directionless 30-something with no children, no husband, and no job. She is berated by her mother for not finding work, and the only love she has in life is for her niece Aly (Emily Mitchell). One night she gets a visitor in the form of an elderly woman (Kathryn Hunter) whom Polly invites inside. The woman then reveals her true intentions: she tells Polly she's going to die that night unless she gives the box what it wants - something she hates, something she needs, and something she loves. Polly is at first against the idea, but soon finds her home overrun with demons who taunt and test her resolve, prodding her to give the box what it wants - before her life ends that night.

There's a novel called The Box that was also made into a major movie and centers on a morality story: a mysterious man arrives at a couple's home with a box and a simple premise: press the button on the box and get one million dollars, and someone they don't know will die. That's the vibe I got from "Vicious" even though this premise is a lot less interesting because it's essentially a study on a woman's desire to end things, but told in a very roundabout way that trudges its path so slowly I lost interest about twenty minutes in, and when it graciously did end, it left me with more questions than answers - but I didn't care to find out the answers.

Dakota Fanning does extremely well as essentially the only actor on screen as Polly, a generic thirty-something who has no real direction in life. She's not married, has no kids, doesn't have a job (yet a very stylish, lavish house I wonder how she pays for), and no real purpose. The only thing we really know is she loves her niece, and talks to her mother on the phone. Other than that, there's not much to know about Polly really - just that she's haunted by demonic visions that threaten her life once she comes into contact with the box and hourglass that slowly...slowly...SLOWLY...trickles down.

The premise itself is very simple: she's to sacrifice something she hates, something she needs, and something she loves in order to survive. It's easy for most people to do this, but for Polly it's a whole ordeal that leaves her repeatedly shouting at nothing and wandering around aimlessly as jump scares abound. In what could've been a few minutes' time, the movie elongates itself to try to show Polly's struggle, but it's really just a test of endurance for the viewer to sit through it.

Even the ending isn't all that remarkable, as it's something expected to end fifteen minutes before it does, only to continue to add more confusing elements to the story that aren't needed and muddies everything up exponentially more. By the end, you're left wondering what the point of all if it was, and how exhausted you are with all the cheap jump scares that try to make up for the lackluster story.

The Score: D