Seraphim Falls and Creepshow 3

Seraphim Falls

It’s 1868 in the vast Ruby Mountains of Nevada, and James Bond is out camping.

In this chase-centric western genre parable, Pierce Brosnan plays Gideon, a solitary man who finds company in the worst possible way: with a bullet. Within a few minutes, he’s shot by unknown predators and on the run.

It’s soon revealed that the man behind the attack is Carver, played with steely resolve by Liam Neeson. Flanked by a mercenary posse as he pursues his wounded but fast-moving prey, we’re never quite sure why the chase is unfolding. Slowly, bits and pieces fall into place, ultimately revealing both characters’ motives. Here is where the film should have ended, but unfortunately it rides off into the sunset at a snail’s pace.

The movie is very well-acted, sumptuously shot, and is certainly suspenseful up to a point. So even though it does get shot full of holes at the end, “Seraphim Falls” is still well worth a look.

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Creepshow 3

“Creepshow 3″ is a quintet of badly acted, drearily directed, poorly filmed horror vignettes.

The stories, disregarding any connection to George Romero, Stephen King, or ’50s horror comics like “Tales from the Crypt”, present scary alternative realities (“Alice”), possessed electronics (“The Radio”), vampires and serial killers in lust (“Call Girl”), mad inventors (“The Professor’s Wife”), and visitations from beyond (“Haunted Dog”).

As an aficionado of the original “Creepshow” film, this sequel ticked me off more than it would have, had it simply been presented as a standalone low-budget horror anthology. Other fans should steer far clear as well.