"Love Object" is a nice thriller/horror film.
**SPOILERS**
Kenneth Winslow, (Desmond Harrington) a technical writer at a large firm, is assigned to a special project that no one else wants. His assistant, Lisa Bellmer, (Melissa Sagemiller) causes him to become behind in his work, and a visit to a friend to get his head on straight puts him in connection with a company that makes life-size sex dolls. When it arrives, it changes him around and he manages to get back the spark in his work. As Kenneth and Lisa start to form a friendship outside of the office, he gets the paranoid feeling that the doll at home is jealous of his relationship with Lisa. Starting an actual relationship with her, she finds out about the doll, and it all comes crashing down.
The Good News: This is actually a better film than it's roots give it. While on the surface it appears more like a drama, it actually manages to shift styles quite competently. It manages to change from several different styles with ease, and while one of them is on display, there are still qualities and examples of the others woven in together. When the tone becomes all-out horror later on, it becomes a more straight-forward horror tale and it gets some great moments in. A thrilling parking garage scene gets some good scares in, mainly due to it's placing in the film. The angles and shadows work just as well as the placing, but it still gives off some good creeps and jumps. A lot of what goes on in the third part is mainly due to the old-school use of sound effects and off-screen noises used to add creepiness and uncertainty as to what is happening. Those are really effective methods used to invoke a sense of unease in viewers, and the fact that they are put into a modern film is a nice change of pace to see. When the violence arrives, it's enough to satisfy the more traditional horror fans, with a mostly excellent torture sequence that is pretty short but gets the point across about it's intentions.
The Bad News: There is a lot of dramatic moments and themes in here, and for the more hard-core horror fans that like it straight, this can turn into a pretty dull film. There is really not a whole lot going on in the beginning and middle of the film. The horror comes in at the end, which means that it needs a large amount of patience to get there. It's possible, as the story is pretty clever and there are some individual moments in there worthy of keeping interest in the film, but it takes a while to set everything up and get to those moments.
The Final Verdict: If it can make a tighter first half, this might be a better film. It falls much clearer into the thriller category than out-right horror, it still gets enough gruesome moments for most horror fans. If you like more dramatic moments mixed with your horror, then give this one a rental. Those that prefer a faster pace with more obvious horror might want to exercise caution with this one.
Rated R: Doll and human Nudity, Violence, Language and continuous off-screen sex sounds
**SPOILERS**
Kenneth Winslow, (Desmond Harrington) a technical writer at a large firm, is assigned to a special project that no one else wants. His assistant, Lisa Bellmer, (Melissa Sagemiller) causes him to become behind in his work, and a visit to a friend to get his head on straight puts him in connection with a company that makes life-size sex dolls. When it arrives, it changes him around and he manages to get back the spark in his work. As Kenneth and Lisa start to form a friendship outside of the office, he gets the paranoid feeling that the doll at home is jealous of his relationship with Lisa. Starting an actual relationship with her, she finds out about the doll, and it all comes crashing down.
The Good News: This is actually a better film than it's roots give it. While on the surface it appears more like a drama, it actually manages to shift styles quite competently. It manages to change from several different styles with ease, and while one of them is on display, there are still qualities and examples of the others woven in together. When the tone becomes all-out horror later on, it becomes a more straight-forward horror tale and it gets some great moments in. A thrilling parking garage scene gets some good scares in, mainly due to it's placing in the film. The angles and shadows work just as well as the placing, but it still gives off some good creeps and jumps. A lot of what goes on in the third part is mainly due to the old-school use of sound effects and off-screen noises used to add creepiness and uncertainty as to what is happening. Those are really effective methods used to invoke a sense of unease in viewers, and the fact that they are put into a modern film is a nice change of pace to see. When the violence arrives, it's enough to satisfy the more traditional horror fans, with a mostly excellent torture sequence that is pretty short but gets the point across about it's intentions.
The Bad News: There is a lot of dramatic moments and themes in here, and for the more hard-core horror fans that like it straight, this can turn into a pretty dull film. There is really not a whole lot going on in the beginning and middle of the film. The horror comes in at the end, which means that it needs a large amount of patience to get there. It's possible, as the story is pretty clever and there are some individual moments in there worthy of keeping interest in the film, but it takes a while to set everything up and get to those moments.
The Final Verdict: If it can make a tighter first half, this might be a better film. It falls much clearer into the thriller category than out-right horror, it still gets enough gruesome moments for most horror fans. If you like more dramatic moments mixed with your horror, then give this one a rental. Those that prefer a faster pace with more obvious horror might want to exercise caution with this one.
Rated R: Doll and human Nudity, Violence, Language and continuous off-screen sex sounds