Something Wicked (2011)

Christine Webb (Shantel VanSanten) is recovering from the shock of her parents' tragic demise a year ago and is now enrolled in Oregon Universtiy--stand-in for University of Oregon (UO). She is living with her older brother Bill (James Patrick Stuart) who is a state policeman, and his wife Dr. Susan Webb (Brittany Murphy), some kind of clinical psychologist. She seems to have forgiven her boyfriend James (John Robinson) who was driving when the train hit their stalled vehicle, though how someone who is handy with the machinery at the mill and who drives a motorcycle can't avoid a train or see it coming is beyond me. At any rate they are like to get engaged now that the impediment of her parents' objection is removed, and they have a nice secluded honeymoon cottage all picked out.

This is not an ideal picture. Christine is being stalked by a mysterious hooded character for unknown reasons and she thinks her dead mom is leaving cryptic messages for her from Shakespeare to warn her away from James. Even though she's living with a (state) cop, she goes to campus security and they call in the city police (UO security has since become a regular police force.) Add to that the County Sheriff patrolling their honeymoon cottage, and you'd think she's covered, but they are long on police and short on security, if you get my drift.

Being familiar with the campus and city and region where this film was made does not help quell my misgivings. Just the opposite. Christine's parents are buried in the Pioneer Cemetery adjacent to campus and is at the nexus of several locations in the film: the classroom where the authorities have a word with a student, the building housing the swimming pool where Christine gets caught undressed, the statue of the pioneer mother (another dead woman watching over us), campus security headquarters, and the student housing office. I mean, if the film crew had an extra long extension cord, they wouldn't even have had to unplug going from one location to another.

What really got me, though, is when Susan drops her daughter off at preschool, she doesn't leave her at the preschool building which is on the southwest corner of the cemetery but at the psychology building on the northeast corner of the graveyard. There are some deep psychological problems hinted at, but locals may think they're looking in the wrong quarter.

"Something Wicked" builds up the suspense with the camera slinking around to suspenseful background music until something wicked jumps out at us. This movie puts me in mind of Alfred Hitchcock, so masterfully is it done. The pacing is perfect and the sets oh so innocent looking. Brittany Murphy was the outstanding actress, though hers was not the lead part. Events just moved all the rest of them along as they did us.

I was utterly surprised by how good this film was and am giving it a ten out of ten. I've detailed various local insights on my personal web page at http://www.bibles.n7nz.org/movies/stwicked.htm