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ACTOR
Celeste Marie DavisJim HanksJohnny PacarDevin Witt
DIRECTOR
Cindy Baer
SYNOPSICS
Purgatory House (2004) is a English movie. Cindy Baer has directed this movie. Celeste Marie Davis,Jim Hanks,Johnny Pacar,Devin Witt are the starring of this movie. It was released in 2004. Purgatory House (2004) is considered one of the best Drama movie in India and around the world.
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Purgatory House (2004) Reviews
The tag-line, "written by a fourteen-year-old girl" is more of a disclaimer.
Honestly, this movie is the reason teenagers don't make movies. The message, which, though undefined, is loosely construed as "Don't kill yourself" rings hollow, and, as a teenager, the complete lack of realism and depth to the characters makes it utterly unwatchable. I think it is wonderful that a young writer got her break, but it falls short of being anything meaningful or even well-written. The acting is dreadful, but not quite as dreadful as the stale, unrealistic dialog. The only saving point in this movie is Jim Hanks, but even his bright acting and excellent delivery can't save this sinking ship of a film. The real question? How does a movie that reads like a public service announcement written by well, a fourteen-year-old girl, win seven independent film awards?
Brilliant, moving and powerful
I recently saw Purgatory House at the Gasparilla Film Festival. This film is brilliant, incredible, moving, powerful and breathtaking. A 14-year-old girl wrote this story about a 14-year old who committed suicide and ends up in Purgatory House, a sort of dorm for teens who've killed themselves. They have to wear the same clothes they had on when they died, can do all the drugs they want (who cares?), and have to attend "school" where they watch Earth TV to keep track of the people they left behind. There were several funny parts (God is a drag queen who isn't really all that kind and loving, who makes the recently deceased compete in a game show to determine if they go to Heaven, Hell or Purgatory). In addition to being funny, Purgatory House is deeply profound. Parents should show this film to their children and movie lovers should show it to their friends.
A great 'teenage' fantasy/story.
This film was great. Talks about the trials of teenagers today. Really well done & written by a 14 yr. girl, who stars in it @ age 16. Lot's of neat F/X computer graphics. Although several "time shifts" are presented it all shows well looking at the picture in total. A 'must see' for all young girls and should be shown in all Jr.High Schools throughout the USA. Check it out today!!!!
I can't believe I wasted precious minutes of my life on this "movie".
I'm always interested in seeing teenage angsty movies like this one, since I went through that rather melodramatic period when I was that age. Usually, I'm not disappointed. However, this particular film was horrible. Perhaps the idea was to make it "artsy", but it just turned out bad. The quality of filming is awful, even for a film that tries to use jittery, "chaotic" filming. I could have made a film of the same grade with my digital camera and a couple of lamps. Of course, the special effects were horrifically bad. The acting was absolutely ATROCIOUS, especially the main character. Regardless of her "talent" to write and direct this movie, she was horrible. She had zero acting skill, horrible timing, and the inability to properly deliver lines. The supporting cast was almost as nauseating, with large gaps between lines and huge pauses in the middles of sentences that couldn't even be disguised as "dramatic effect". The music was weak. It was as though the people in charge of music had done a Google search for lyrics corresponding to the topic of the scene. There were several good songs, but often, I found myself getting utterly distracted from the film because of the songs. Not to say it was hard to get distracted. I was literally bored to tears in some parts. The idea is interesting, however, the style it is written in is very amateur, which makes it obvious that it was made by an inexperienced playwright. The lines lack strength and emotion- they sound like bad poetry out of a B-grade emo teen magazine. In theory, a somewhat clever idea for a movie, however, it failed painfully in execution. As someone who is only a number of years outside of the age shown in this movie, I have to honestly say that watching this movie MADE me want to go do drugs and then kill myself. So what kind of message is that supposed to convey? The ONLY reason that I'm giving this movie a 2 is because the scene where the main character died had the potential to be interesting. That's it. And, of course, the ending was horrible and nauseatingly predictable. I won't even bother spoiling it for you- just read the back of the case and I'm sure you can accurately guess what happens. Don't waste your time, unless you're a masochist. But even then, don't expect your type to be portrayed artfully. So it would probably be an insult either way.
A wonderfully crafted piece of film
Do you have Scotoma? Most people would say that they do not, most probably have no idea what it is. Scotoma is seeing what your mind wants you to see, it's your eyes creating blind spots. Most people see the world and think that there is nothing wrong with it. Ignorance is bliss....or so they say. The truth is, ignorance isn't bliss, it's anything but. Let me ask you, do you see the troubles of the world and the people involved in them? What if one of those people was your child? Would you continue to have a blind eye towards them or would you try to help them out as much as you could? Purgatory House is a wonderfully crafted (and at times, wonderfully resplendent) piece of film that expresses the true horrors that plague teenagers in this day and age. Dealing with drug addictions, alcohol problems, school shootings, and plain ignorance from everyone around them, Purgatory House brings these problems to the forefront of life to expose them to adults and teens alike in the hope of helping people understand that this is a real problem. Dodging all of these troublesome issues, Purgatory House is a chronicle of the life of Celeste Davis, a troubled young teen who used writing as an outlet to escape the sorrows of everyday life. Literally turning her world upside-down, she expounds a script that is among the best of them. Getting out of her world through her writing, Celeste has created an extraordinary way of helping out those who need it most. Celeste stars as Silver Strand, a troubled teen whose life is caught up in drugs. Having been abandoned by her father as well as her friends, Silver turns to the only person that will listen to her - her boyfriend Sam (played by the outstanding Johnny Pacar). Unfortunately, Sam is also a drug addict who has a habit of staying "high" all day long, and who persuades Silver to turn to drugs as well. Unable to cope with her life, Silver decides to commit suicide which in turn leads to her ultimate damnation. God (played hilariously by Jim Hanks in drag) won't accept her (or love her unconditionally), as she took her own life, so Silver is sent to a place worse than any you could imagine - Purgatory House. Forever doomed to live her life as she did on Earth over and over again, Silver encounters many young people like herself, stuck in this house for all eternity. Atticus (played by Devin Witt) is one of the many teens stuck in Purgatory House, and is the person to whom Silver bonds to most. Atticus, a teen whose rather interesting death landed him in Purgatory House, in turn bonds to Silver. Together, the two form a type of mystical, almost spiritual, bond that has the power to do the impossible. With the help of the other teens stuck in Purgatory House, they pull their spiritual power in order to escape their hell, in the hopes of going home. Cindy Baer, the feature's director/producer, has done a spectacular job in her debut. She captures the essence of the script in such a way that you truly understand the problems that the characters go through, even if you haven't experienced these problems yourself. She is obviously someone full of talent who will make her definitive mark upon the film industry. Remember that you were once a teenager. This could have been you. Luckily, it didn't happen to me, but it has happened to people I know. Be aware of this problem. Make others aware of it, and with lots of persistence, maybe we'll be able to turn the world around for the other people who suffer from this. As the old adage says, "Hope springs eternal".