Lovely Molly

A Haxan Films and Amber Entertainment presentation. Produced by Robin Cowie, Gregg Hale, Jane Fleming, Mark Ordesky. Executive producers, J. Andrew Jenkins, Robert Eick. Directed, put together by Eduardo Sanchez story, Jamie Nash.With: Gretchen Lodge, Johnny Lewis, Alexandra Holden, Area Blauvelt."Lovely Molly" signifies a spooky but scattershot attempt by author-director Eduardo Sanchez to meld the initial-person handheld aesthetic of his 1999 horror landmark "The Blair Witch Project" getting a far more straightforward bump-in-the-evening thriller. Around Sanchez aided to pioneer the found-footage technique that has since produced numerous imitations, the gimmick feels ill motivated within the muddled tale from the youthful lady who foolishly moves in to the house where she spent her abusive childhood. Still, before it tips over into banshee-wailing, screwdriver-transporting unpleasantness, this experimental exercise produces some legitimate shivers that could lure fringe horror fans in niche release. Wedding couple Molly (Gretchen Lodge) and Tim (Johnny Lewis) have chosen to economize through getting into the old, creaky countryside manse that has been in Molly's family for many years and contains been not lived on since the dying of her father. Nobody thinks to warn the happy couple it is not truly the best strategy -- not necessarily Molly's sister, Hannah (Alexandra Holden), with whom she clearly shares uncomfortable girlhood recollections that are never clearly laid bare. Soon security sensors and unsettling noises are disturbing the couple's slumber, and Molly is rattled and shook and shook having a noisy pounding at her door, even though regular police visits don't arrive evidence of an thief. With truck driver Tim frequently on the road, Molly becomes progressively disturbed and, a la "Paranormal Activity," starts employing a video camera to record her actions at home, wanting to capture evidence of the menacing presence she will get so really. These nocturnal sequences are undeniably effective at first, masterfully drawing the viewer's anxiety over what might lurk inside the shadows, lower the staircase or behind a closet door. But it's something that can't sustain itself. An early on, costly-forward video capture of Molly, hysterically addressing the digital camera while clearly inside the advanced stages of madness or demonic possession, seems to wink at Louise Donahue's close-up monologue in "Blair Witch" -- an assessment that serves only to underscore how shoehorned-inside the technique feels in this more routinely frightening context. It's tough to shake the notion that Sanchez (working in the story by Jamie Nash) made his protag a newcomer filmmaker partly to draw attention away within the deficit in the material, as Molly's derangement leads her lower the expected paths: leading to problems in the office, shunning clothing and making inventive usage of household tools. With sharp features together with a detailed-sprang look of your hair that lend her an abnormally tough, spunky visit a horror heroine, Lodge provides a completely committed performance, sometimes going screechily over-the-top but creepily finishing Molly's transformation in to a dead-eyed, bare-bodied succubus. Holden and Lewis work enough as her concerned family people. Having its bare walls, sparse decor and overall atmosphere of chill and rot, the house provides all the production value "Lovely Molly" needs. Tech package is rough by design, and no matter the problematic juxtaposition of first-person and third-person perspectives, d.p. John W. Rutland and editor Andrew Vona get a reasonably coherent combination of footage. Soundscape is remarkably detailed, though repeated wailings of "Mollyyyyyyyyy..." tether the film for the cheesy horror tradition it's clearly trying to transcend.Camera (color, HD), John W. Rutland editors, Andrew Vona, Sanchez music, Tortoise production designer, Andrew White-colored set decorator, Natalie McAdoo-Howard appear, James Ridgley appear designers, Matt Davies, David West supervisory appear editor/re-recording mixer, Kevin Hill effects coordinator, Mark Fenlason visual effects supervisor, Tim Carras visual effects, Comen VFX casting, Pat Moran. Examined at Toronto Film Festival (Evening time Madness), Sept. 15, 2011. Running time: 100 MIN. Contact Justin Chang at justin.chang@variety.com