Well I may not have been as active as I was last year with reviewing movies that have to do with Halloween, but while that holiday has passed, I'd still like to share my take on a thriller and a horror movie that I saw in my Editing Asthetics class. (I know I'm bringing up that class a lot, but hey, there was a fair amount of movies I just have never seen before there.) And I would like to start reviewing them with the rather unique thriller, Duel.
Plot: David Mann is a salesman who is driving to a business trip on a two-way highway in the California desert. But during the trip a mysterious large gas trailer truck seems to pester him but later on begins to chase him and apparently try to kill him. Hardly anyone he comes across believes him, and so he is left alone to try to find a way to either avoid the truck or fight back.
Just from explaining the plot, you could probably see why I find this movie to be rather unique for something that's a thriller. What's even more interesting is that this film is actually Steven Spielberg's second movie that he ever directed. And for what it is, it carries out what it's trying to do very well. Dennis Weaver does a great job in showing how scared David really is and is always trying to figure out what to do whenever he keeps finding the truck. And while we see tiny glimpses of the truck driver himself such as his boots or his hand on the crutch, at the same time, we see Spielberg play out the Truck to the point where it seems to have its own menacing and powerful character all on its own. Now the only real down I have with this movie doesn't really hold up for me as actually being scary. I mean come on, a truck trying to kill a guy just from saying that alone doesn't sound quite as intimidating as zombies, evil forces or psychopathic serial killers. But even with that being said, it does keep you interested at what is going to happen, the climax was very exciting to watch and... I'll admit that it did make me jump a little during one or two well timed moments.
And that's my review for Duel, it's a little odd to view it as a thriller considering the story, but it's done in a good enough way where you could be on the edge of your seat with what is happening between the main character and this big menacing truck. It's not particularly scary, but it plays out well for what it is to make it an entertaining movie to enjoy watching at least once just so that you have.
No comments:
Post a Comment