Often, this tagline is solely a marketing gimmick, and the story in question turns out to be so preposterous that it ruins the entire experience of the movie when the creators tout it as real.” Since I feel this way, I’m always leery about watching movies with this tagline, and I certainly felt that way going into The Fields.
Moreover, I was afraid that I was in store for a mediocre movie when the opening credits rolled – which might be some of the dullest credits I’ve ever seen – and the first 10 minutes went by and I was left unimpressed and anxious that anything would actually happen. Normally, my impatience gets the better of me and I would normally start hating movies like this at this point, but I gave this one a chance and let it play out and in the end I’m glad I did.
The Fields certainly starts out slow and doesn’t really speed up until, quite literally, the final 15 minutes. While I’m still not certain it was worth the payoff, I will say the little story beats and character moments at the end are pulled off really well.
While these specific things are done really well in the film, it isn’t without it’s problems. The main character Steven, played by newcomer Joshua Ormond, suffers from the same kind of performance issues that the rest of the cast has. Sometimes he’s quite good, sometimes he sounds like an actor reading lines and sometimes he’s natural as a little kid (which shouldn’t be that hard considering he is one). But he’s not the only cast member that these problems are reflected on. Even veteran actress Cloris Leachman suffers from bizarre inconsistencies.
I think many people wouldn’t classify this movie as a horror movie and a part of me wants to agree with them, but when you look at the material this film is working with and the story beats that are supposed to be scary, it fits within the parameters of horror. While I personally didn’t find the movie scary there are certainly elements that will surprise the untrained viewer and perhaps make you squeal from fright.
Another horror movie marketing cliché that gets on my nerves sometimes is when a star is hung out in front of a movie, kind of like bait to lure you in. They want you to think, Hey, this person is in it, you know who they are! In this case, it’s Tara Reid – not everyone’s cup of tea, but I like her. She wasn’t the selling point of the film for me, though. Reid is in the movie for maybe 10 of it’s almost 100 minutes. Not exactly worth second billing in my opinion.
The Fields has a lot of weird direction problems. Sometimes the characters are downright annoying, sometimes they’re really, really funny, and sometimes they’re completely empathetic. Not the scariest movie on the block, but scaring the viewer isn’t what it strives for. The story is an interesting one even if the true events behind it seem more like fiction than fact. A slow movie with some very interesting sequences. Being only the second movie of the directing pair Dave Mazzoni/Tom Mattera I’d keep an eye out for their next picture, it could be the one that makes them big.
Rating: 7/10
