 | ON: Content is age-appropriate for kids this age. |
 | PAUSE: Know your child; some content may not be right for some kids. |
 | OFF: Not age-appropriate for kids this age. |
 | NOT FOR KIDS: Not appropriate for kids any age. |
Memory
- Review Date: August 20, 2007
- R
- Genre: Horror
- 2007
Common Sense Media says
Convoluted fright flick less scary than confusing.
Parents say
Kids say
What parents need to know
Parents need to know that this confusing horror movie depends on dark shadows, spastic camerawork, and not-spooky-enough music to make up for lack of sense and tension. The main character's nightmares/memories occur erratically and confuse -- rather than clarify -- matters. Sexual activity is brief, starting with drinks and strip poker and ending with a couple in bed under the covers. The serial killer doesn't appear to commit sexual acts on the kidnapped girls, but he does frighten them and make plaster casts of their faces before killing them off screen. A couple of kidnappings are visible and creepy, with girls screaming in fear. There is some social drinking, and the effects of hallucinatory drug (delirium, anxiety) are shown. Language includes several uses of "f--k."
What's the story?
Dr. Taylor Briggs (Billy Zane), a researcher who specializes in Alzheimer's syndrome (his mother is afflicted), is exposed to an ancient Amazonian Indian powder that purportedly allows users to see the past through the eyes of their ancestors. Taylor's best friend/fellow researcher Deep (Terry Chen) calls it "mystic mumbo jumbo" -- but Taylor is soon having "memories" that seem structured like nightmares, in which he runs through mud and woods after a figure dressed in a porcelain mask and a black Burberry trench coat. Conveniently, the figure leaves a newspaper for Taylor to find, dated March 21, 1971 -- a year before he was born. As the memories become more elaborate, Taylor learns that the subject was also a kidnapper and killer of little girls. He also discovers a local artist, Stephanie (Battlestar Galactica's Tricia Helfer), who has painted a scary figure in the woods who looks just like his nightmare/memory. They're soon sleeping together and working to solve the mystery.
Is it any good?
Memory's slide into total nonsense (made concrete in an intricate, multi-room killer's lair decorated with decades' worth of collected trophies and throbbing green light) is set up early. The fact that the film raises worthy questions about experience, memory, and identity is too bad. They're pretty much lost inside a forgettable plot.
What families can talk about
Families can talk about different types of horror movies. What category does this one fall into? Which movies is it similar to (and different from)? Why are so many movies made about serial killers? Families can also talk about the connections between memory and identity. What does Taylor mean when he says that "Our lives are nothing more than our memories"? The director says the plot is based on science: Does it seem possible that people might transmit memories through DNA to our children?
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| Studio: | Eastgate Pictures |
| Director: | Bennett Davlin |
| Cast: | Ann-Margret, Billy Zane, Dennis Hopper |
| Genre: | Horror |
| Run time: | 98 minutes |
| Theatrical release date: | March 23, 2007 |
| DVD release date: | May 22, 2007 |
| MPAA rating: | R |
| MPAA explanation: | language and frightening images. |
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