ThiefHott
Too much of everything
Pluskylang
Great Film overall
Mandeep Tyson
The acting in this movie is really good.
Leofwine_draca
THE MOTH DIARIES is an attempt at a creepy reworking of J. S. Le Fanu's CARMILLA, a classic Victorian vampire story about a female vampire. The story was previously adapted to great effect by Hammer in THE VAMPIRE LOVERS, LUST FOR A VAMPIRE, and TWINS OF EVIL.Sadly, this sedate and all-too-mainstream version of the story doesn't have much to offer apart from a few diluted thrills and atmospherics. With such a full-blooded tale as source material, I'm not sure why they would go ahead and make such a subtle and insipid film, but they did. And THE MOTH DIARIES isn't even particularly creepy or atmospheric to make up for it.The reliable Sarah Bolger (INTO THE BADLANDS) stars as a prim and proper young student who soon realises there's something odd about her new classmate, played by model Lily Cole (who's no actress on the strength of her non-performance here). After a hell of a lot of repetitive dialogue and various surreal encounters, there's a climax of sorts, but not before most viewers will have dozed off. And whoever thought the scenes with the silly CGI moths were a good idea wants removing from the film industry.
kevin-1272
I randomly selected and streamed this film last night on Netflix, enjoyed it, and checked today to see what others were saying about it. I was surprised to find harsh words about the film, and they made me wonder why people would react this way to a well-made story like this. The cinematography is lovely. The music is so well suited that it plays unnoticed beneath the visuals – never clashing with the emotional content of the scenes. The sound editing is top notch. The young actors are all excellent. Set design is spot on for the story. No dialog is wasted. Etc. etc.So what was the problem? My personal reaction was quite good. When it started, I expected a bad film – another sappy story about girls at school. In fact, the only scene I didn't care for was the girls "partying" in their rooms. Such a cliché rendering. But the rest was endearing. The film seduced me, drawing me in further and further as I watched. It's not revolutionary, to be sure, but why does every film have to be revolutionary? We don't hold music to that type of criteria. "Oh, another blues song. That's been done…"Harron's achievement here is in the mood of this piece. I see people complaining about the connecting scenes, and I think about how much they must hate a film like Upstream Color or Tree of Life or Melancholia (though those films are rated quite a bit higher). The Moth Diaries is not like those films because it has a much more grounded story. Why are people down on this film? My best guess is that the negative reactions this film received are indicative of the altered nature of film itself. The Moth Diaries takes a different tack than contemporary blockbusters. It's not The Conjuring (a great horror film), which twists every few minutes and keeps throwing shocks at you, making you squirm in your seat. But it's not intended to be. It's not a shock piece. It is a mood piece, and Harron does a beautiful job of establishing a consistent mood throughout, a mood that captures appropriate emotional content for the age-rage of the characters in the story. Had this movie been released in the 1970s, it would have found a large, receptive audience. I, for one, found it refreshing to watch a film that takes its time building mood and environment and character. The strength of the film is its subtlety. Unfortunately, it appears that subtlety is lost on many contemporary film goers. For me, The Moth Diaries returned me to the days when movies could be captivating and sensory without abandoning story in service to "art." I liked it and I'll be tracking Mary Harron's work from now on.
CloverCandy
This movie is slow, predictable, & not in the least bit scary. It feels like a made for TV movie. Yet I still kind of enjoyed it! Lily Coles performance alone makes this movie worth watching. She's perfect in her part as the creepy new girl. The other lead actress isn't bad either. When it was over, there were still a couple of questions left unanswered. A really good movie will leave you turning things around in your head but in this case, once the main question is answered you just really don't care. In the end, not something to watch if you're in the mood for a good scare but not a total waste of time. I would rather see a movie like this one than a bloody gorefest with a crappy plot any day.
GL84
Going back to their boarding school for a new semester, a young girl finds that her best friend has fallen under the spell of a seductive newcomer and begins acting strangely under her spell while a rash of murders on campus point out the real truth behind the new student.This was a pretty disappointing and eventually not that worthwhile vampire effort that has precious little going for it. The main factor going against it is the whole drama approach, both in tone and content, as the fact that the film's so slow to get anything going it's barely able to showcase anything because it's got the wrong pace to do that with. While the romance and seduction of the student is nice, it's got the wrong victim as the lead is more damaged than the friend and is therefore more susceptible to the charms and advances, and moreso it doesn't show anything at all despite being set at an all-girls' boarding school as the whole romance takes place off-camera or behind closed doors. The rash of murders are never seen committed or raise anything for the students, and the whole subplot comes off as sloppy. It does have a few good moments, as there's some great imagery in the finale before their finale battle, and the fact that this is one of the cleverest ways to play out a book adaptation without hitting it on the head saying their doing so is pretty clever, but overall this one is just not that worthwhile.Rated R: Graphic Language, Violence, Nudity and drug use.
