The Marsh
The Marsh
R | 17 April 2007 (USA)
The Marsh Trailers

Writer Claire Holloway is troubled by nightmares of Rose Marsh Farm. She decides to vacation at the farm which unbeknown to her is haunted by the ghost of a little girl and a teenage boy. Claire enlists the help of Geoffry Hunt to help uncover a decade old tragedy.

Reviews
p-stepien

Claire Holloway (Gabrielle Anwar) is a children's book writer specialising in nightmare bedtime stories. Most of those are taken straight out of her own dreams full of marshes, weird houses and things that go 'chlup' in the middle of the night. By freak chance she watches a glimpse of a house which haunts her dream in a ecodocumentary about swamps. Interneting away she quickly finds the dream-house and naturally decides to confront the situation by making a nice little vacation by renting the house. Soon after dreams start becoming more real and soon she must confront the nightmares that have been scratching at her brain for years. Fortunately she has a trusty sidekick parapshycic Geoffrey Hunt (Forrest Whitaker) to hold her hand on the way of solving this truly Scooby-Doo mystery.The Marsh is truly a movie bogged down by its own script. It starts out promisingly enough only to spiral into absurdity and illogical plot solutions. The multiple twist endings make you smile instead of say 'Ahhh!' as they make the story consistently... well... dumb. Most key to the story: A dead ghost kill off people whose only fault was being asleep at the time of tragedy. But in general plot points stick out like a sore thumb and basically nothing makes much sense. Questions answered are answered badly. And if the two very last scene in the movie doesn't bring out a smile of pity for the movie I will be sincerely surprised.Other than that acting and tech credits are fine, but nothing memorable. Passable at best, laughable at worst.

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Claudio Carvalho

The successful children's writer Claire Holloway (Gabrielle Anwar) is troubled by scary nightmares and is under psychological treatment. While working out watching television, she sees the landscape of the Rose Marsh Farm in the Westmoreland County, and she notes that the farmhouse is linked to her nightmares. She decides to spend her vacation in the farm, which is located nearby a swamp, and she is haunted by the ghosts of a little girl and a teenage boy inside the house. She is befriended by the local publisher and historian Noah Pitney (Justin Louis) but after a sequence of disturbing visions, she decides to contact the paranormal consultant Geoffry Hunt (Forest Whitaker). Together, they investigate the mystery and disclose a tragedy that happened in the farm about twenty years ago."The Marsh" is a flawed but entertaining chiller quite underrated in IMDb. The eerie story has a bad screenplay that leaves many unanswered questions and never explains what happened with Claire's parents (I believe they died in an accident based in one dialog); or her relationship with the little girl (was she her friend or sister?); how the little girl was murdered (I believe the boy tried to rape her, there are many evidences); why Mercy was taking care of the girls; did Claire live in the farmhouse?; how could she completely suppress her childhood from her memory?; what kind of portal was opened in the room? last but not the least, the incident in the beginning of the Twentieth Century has nothing to do with the plot, is just presented to confuse the viewer. Anyway, disregarding these flaws, this film is above average in the genre. My vote is seven.Title (Brazil): "Not Available"

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Ross Wheeldon

Over the past few years I have despaired of the horror genre. All of the recent films have been sick, over the top and unnecessarily gross (House of Wax etc). I grew up with the Carpenter movies where shocks and scares were important. This film is a refreshing change, yes its slow, yes its subtle but the important thing is it is scary! Claire Holloway is a likable protagonist. A children's book author haunted by vicious night terrors. She is told to face the source by her psychologist. She then sees a documentary that includes a shot of the house in her dreams. Claire is played with feeling and maturity by Gabrielle Anwar, whom obviously enjoyed the script and filming. Hunt is the stereo typical character of the piece. When his Wife and Son died he plunges himself into the research of the paranormal. Forest Whitacker is obviously intrigued by this film but not so much to give one of his most stellar performances. In fact if you compare his portrayal of Hunt to his character in Species, they are pretty much the same. The shooting of the film is excellent, the cgi ghost effects start subtly and build up nicely, the photography hits the right visual cues and the score adds to the tension and visual elements without giving away any clues as to what is about to happen. The only negative I have would give away some of the plot so you'll have to guess. If you liked House of Wax or The Texas Chainsaw Massacre do not watch this movie! However if you enjoy sitting round a campfire trying to scare your friends this is for you.

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goldesprit

A Halloween movie--not terrible if you actually watch it on that Holiday, with a few drinks, as you do other things.Not an amazing or terribly original film. Smooth and seamless special FX.Forrest Whitaker does a very fine job...with what he is given screenplay-(and direction)wise.Just don't expect to be amazed by the plot and execution.No one who worked on this project should be shattered if some viewers notice that it was done for the money.Nothing wrong with that.Entertainment.

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