Review by Peter Syslo
CRAZY EIGHTS (2006) is another one of the 2007 Afterdark Horrorfest films and honestly, this is probably my least favorite out of this batch of films. The story boils down to the typical, “something awful happened in this house and now the memories/spirits haunt the place” film and what makes it even worse is that the pacing of the film is just “off” – I will explain that later. There are a few cool moments and some of the atmosphere is decent and interesting, but those aspects really don’t enhance the movie. This type of film has been done before, it's been seen before, and it just didn't hold my attention that well. To sum it up, the film is SAW II meets IDENTITY meets GOTHIKA meets THE GRUDGE; aside from the first two movies I mentioned, that description of the film’s likeability is pretty accurate.
CRAZY EIGHTS is directed by James K. Jones and is written by Dan DeLuca, James K. Jones, and Ji-un Kwon. The film stars Dina Meyer, George Newbern, Traci Lords, Dan DeLuca, Frank Whaley, and Gabrielle Anwar.
The storyline involves a group of friends who gather at a mysterious house, after one of their own has died. Basically, everyone in the group feels a connection to the house and the try desperately to piece together their memories of the place. However, the evil that is contained in the place seems to be taking some sort of revenge on the group. The result is a mind-bending tale of the power of negative memories and everyone finds that their link to the house may be due to some sort of childhood experimentation.
Aside from the basic problem of the “worn-out-its-welcome” premise, I think that one of the main problems with the film was the choppy, jumpy editing. I know that humans are able to process information faster, these days, but editors do not need to fuel that potentially influencing factor for Attention-Deficit Disorder. Sometimes a slower pace is good for telling a story and quick cuts are not the only way to create a scare. Everyone could take a lesson from someone who is a master of pacing – John Carpenter. For instance, take the scene in THE THING when the men who are tied to the bench are having their blood tested - it is a perfect example of effective pacing/rhythm. It is an unbelievably tense scene and when you do breathe a sigh of relief, the blood jumps out of the dish and startles you. That was done without any fast cuts; it just used clever timing and pacing to create the scare. That's actually what this film needed - better pacing/timing.
Another problem with the film was the performances; I like all of the actors/actresses involved (except for Traci Lords – no offense, but I could take or leave her), but all of them seemed “underused” and their performances overall, were mechanical and bland. There really wasn’t much character development (there wasn’t time in most of the scenes) and I feel that the characters were just naturally plain and uninteresting; I wasn't “stirred” by any of the characters and I felt no inkling of compassion for any of them. However, I will say that Dina Meyer gave the best performance in the film. I have always liked her, as an actress – she plays the heroine well, and she is not the “cartoonish” tough-talking girl that is a cliché in action films (I'm sorry, but I have a very tough time watching ALIENS now – it was great when I was 16, but it hasn't aged well – Cameron's movies and writing seem to have that effect on me) . As for Frank Whaley and Gabrielle Anwar, I was a little disappointed – I wish that they could have done more in their roles; they are interesting and talented actors.
Cutting to the chase: Looking back on it, the movie reminds me of THE ABANDONED, from the first batch of Afterdark films. That movie was difficult to sit through and it left me with the same feeling as CRAZY EIGHTS. Both films are different examples of pacing; they both were a little “off” in that department and the films suffered because of it. CRAZY EIGHTS does actually have a decent premise (experimentation on children, etc.) but the “gray” performances and the jumpy editing made the movie a little difficult to follow. Regarding the kill/death scenes, they are a little on the bizarre side; meaning that you are not really sure if the person was really killed or what is going on, in general. But, the effects are actually decent; the most notable is the death scene of Gabrielle Anwar – you don't see real-time effects, but you do see the before and after (she has killed herself by sticking her arm down her throat). In short, the film looked good; there is some cool atmosphere, but the whole “haunted house” type of story has gotten very tired, by this point. If you like Asian horror, Americanized Asian horror, or ghost stories then you may like it. As for me, I give it a 3/10.