20140219: Horror Review--Vanishing on 7th Street

Vanishing on 7th Street

1. Fundamentals, reception.
1. American live action feature length film, 2010, rated R, 92 minutes, horror, thriller.
2. IMDB: 4.9/10.0 from 18,381 audience ratings.  Estimated budget, 10 million USD.
3. Rotten Tomatoes: 51% on the meter; 20% liked it from 16,660 audience ratings.
4. Netflix: 3.1/5.0 from 456,060 audience ratings.
5. Directed by: Brad Anderson.
6. Starring: Hayden Christenson as Luke, Thandie Newton as Rosemary, John Leguizamo as Paul, Jacob Latimore as James.


2. Setup and Plot
1. The film is set in Detroit in modern times.  Paul handles the technical end of a movie theatre.  Luke had a nice job at a television studio.  Young John was with his mom.  Rosemary was a nurse.  One day darkness falls, so to speak.  People disappear, with their clothes left behind.  The period that the sun shines decreases rapidly.


2. Three days later, almost everyone is gone.  The four have found each other, and are trying to save Paul.  They have figured out that they need to stay in some sort of light.  Batteries that work are getting harder and harder to find.  Luke locates a truck that might still work.


3. The darkness comes after them.  Will any of them survive?


3. Conclusions
1. One line summary:  During a power outage, a dark force makes people vanish.
2. Three stars of five.


4. Scores
1. Cinematography: 6/10 It's a dark subject.  The camera work is pretty good for the trying situation.


2. Sound: 6/10 No particular problems, but the creepy music is not all that creepy.


3. Acting: 5/10 Hayden Christenson, Thandie Newton, and John Leguizamo all gave reasonable performances, but I have seen each of them do better in better films.  The script did not give them much interesting to do or to say.


4. Screenplay: 4/10 Short on ideas, useless ending.  The references to Roanoke Island did not seem to lead anywhere.