Don't let the title fool you. This film is billed as
"Wes Craven Presents They", but Wes Craven had very
little to do with the picture other than dishing up a few bucks
for the budget. He didn't write it, he didn't direct it, and
he doesn't have a cameo in it like he did in "Jay and Silent
Bob Strike Back". But, Wes Craven's influence is
dripping from this picture.
Like
"Jeepers Creepers", this is not your typical horror
film. There is something about this flick that recalls
horror movies from the early eighties and sometimes even horror
films from the fifties and sixties. Sure, the modern day
special effects and soapdish acting techniques are a little off-putting,
but it is sometimes easy to look past all that if the suspense and
overall creepiness are just right. In most instances in
"They", those aspects are timed just perfectly to
produce optimum scare and fright. Or, at least that's how I
felt about the whole situation.
The
plot to "They" revolves around occurrences known as
'night terrors'. They are a real phenomenon and are usually
experienced as children. They are very real and vivid dreams
that cause a person to sometimes sleepwalk, become
disoriented--and once they have awoken--impair their ability to
distinguish dream from reality. According to Billy (Jon
Abrahams) and his two eccentric friends (Ethan Embry and Dagmara
Dominczyk), there are demons that cause these night terrors.
Sometimes these demons take us as children, mark us with an
implant, and then come back to collect us as adults. Billy
explains this to his lifelong pal Julia (Laura Regan) mere seconds
before he pulls out a revolver and blows his brains out all over
the diner table. Traumatic, eh? The rest of the film
deals with these 'night terrors' and the attempts of Julia to
discover the truth and stop them. It turns out that they
only true way to keep them away is with, you guessed it, light.
So,
the plot sounds kind of, well, dumb. But, it really turns
out a lot better than it sounds. Director Robert Harmon has
really only had one successful film before, the Rutger Hauer
slasher flick "The Hitcher" which has become more of a
cult favorite than anything else. This film shows his talent
for timing and suspense, which he masters to an art with some of
the scenes in this flick. We never really see the creatures
close up, we only hear screeches and bangs and see the occasional
dark figure or shadow. The creatures do, however, bare a
striking resemblance to the creatures in the "Alien"
films. Go figure.
"They" does have a couple of flaws, however. The
ending hits us like a freight train and comes about way too
quickly. We are barely given enough time to work things out
for ourselves. Also, some of the dialogue and scripting is a
little boring and redundant. I know the director was going
for a mood, but "A Nightmare on Elm Street" does not mix
well with "The English Patient" and "Ten Things I
Hate About You".
Overall, "They" managed to startle me a couple times and
flat out scare me several times. This is not nearly as
startling as "The Ring" or "Signs", but it was
nice to be scared and entertained in November. It's a good
feeling. They (I don't know who 'they are', and if I did, it
would have spoiled this movie for me) should release horror films
near Thanksgiving more often. The Pilgrims would have wanted
it that way.
