The Garden (2006)

Admirable film.

n my opinion it was a great movie with some interesting elements, even though having some plot holes and the ending probably was just too messy and crammed together, but still fun to watch and not your casual movie that is similar to all other ones.

The plot isn't so bad, but the pace of storytelling is too slow which makes people bored. Certain moments are so obvious and unnecessary for the main plot. I would've fast-forwarded those moments if it was an online streaming. The ending looks like implying a sequel, not sure if this movie will get one

Great story, amazing characters, superb action, enthralling cinematography. Yes, this is something I am glad I spent money on.

I think ultimately, the viewer must decide whether or not what you are watching is a complete fantasy concocted by the delusions of a disturbed child or a religious battle between good and evil with the world's lives hanging in the balance. Henriksen has one of his better roles of the last several years as an enigmatic farmer who might just be Old Scratch himself perhaps seducing a child's father into taking the bite of an apple, reversing the apocalypse, giving away his soul since God has supposedly turned his back on him. Adam Taylor Gordon, in a mature, subdued performance, is Sam, a kid plagued with night terrors, portraiting his nightmares on paper. His father is David(Brian Wimmer, displaying a tormented soul), a somewhat reformed alcoholic hoping to bond with his son as they return from the hospital to his ex-wife waiting for Sam. Henriksen goes by Ben in the film, but director Don Michael Paul established upon his introduction something sinister and mysterious about this man. It seems that Sam has fallen prey to his troubled mind, but the movie remains ambiguous as to if Ben is Satan or not. Images of importance include a specter with a damaged face who beckons Sam, the hanging fruit just about ripe for the plucking, a wicked dead tree, dead victims(..who supposedly died at Ben's hands)who return to visit Sam, the four horsemen of the apocalypse, a serpent, and a flaming sword. Ben makes it clear that he will have David's soul and get revenge on God, with Sam threatening to stop him. Other supporting roles include Claudia Christian as Sam's psychiatrist who wished for him to remain at her hospital for further examination(..and perhaps suffers a horrifying fate when she comes to visit him)and Sean Young as a bible school teacher Sam befriends. The plot is chock full with religious overtones, and it's up to our determination as to if what Sam experiences is real or illusion. The finale where everything plays out like a spiritual warfare between both sides, is rather hokey, unless it's all in Sam's head..a final image, might contradict this theory, however. Every now and then, Henriksen acquires a role with some meat on it and he's quite creepy at times here. Some moments of startling violence, but the film is mostly a puzzler to evaluate.

You don't have to have big budget production and CGI FX coiling out the rear to make a great movie, and movies like this proves it so.The movie is basically about a problem young boy named Sam as in Samuel as in 'Judgement of God', turning his vices then into virtues within himself.It has to do with the imperfections of his father and the trials that he has to overcome within himself once he's found a cause (the love for his father)to come out majestically to defeat the devil's plan to reverse the apocalypse.Lawrence Hendrickson (who's a great actor) plays an excellent devil. He's odd, but old, he's calm but cunning but for the most part, subtle in his plans and not fire blazing like Al Pacino's portrayal (btw, The Devils' Advocate was an excellent film in its own rite).The movie is very symbolic in a lot of ways, bloody at times, and a lot of one eyed, lip sewn shut specters, flaming swords, and horses.The movie do kind of get's annoying with the ghosts whispering his name but plays out in the end for me. All in all, the plot isn't very complex but original and played out well.I suggest you go to your local crap-buster's and rent a copy and judge for yourself.

A troubled father and son find themselves staying farm that was the site of the Garden of Eden, and their evil host wants them to repeat history's first mistake in this interesting misfire. I find myself in a bit of a quandary with movies like this. I have given worse films better reviews because of a varied level of expectation. If, for instance, "Dark Town," had the same production values and the level of acting talent on display in this film, I would have been thumbs-down on it. However, as it was, I recommend it on what it was able to accomplish on a shoestring. "The Garden" looks great and features real actors and therefore has to stand toe-to-toe with the "real" movies I see in the theater. Sadly, it falls short on that level. The main problem is the script. It is a very interesting idea, but the internal "theology" ultimately doesn't make sense and therefore it isn't especially compelling. For instance, how is Sean Young able to "call" the sword protecting the tree? Is the Apocalpyse a good thing meant to help man that Satan is trying to stop? Why would another human eating from the tree through the moral universe upside down? Those are just a fraction of the questions I had that the film left unanswered. I should perhaps congratulate the film for making me think, but, I think I would have preferred to be entertained instead. A little sharper writing would have made all of the difference.This is the third of the recent Stephen J. Cannell horror films which I have seen. (The other two being "Room 6" and "It Waits.") All three featured good production values, acting and make-up effects. Sadly, I didn't find any of the three particularly compelling. Hopefully that will change as Cannell continues to make these films. I admire the fact that he is attempting to tell interesting stories and not just offering up more blades and babes films. I am relieved that someone is trying to tell horror tales that someone over twenty can watch. He just needs more compelling stories. I hope he finds them.

First and foremost, it's a VERY bad idea to schedule a mainly story-driven and atmospheric horror movie like "The Garden" at 3am during a Film Festival and after exhilarating movies like "The Hills Have Eyes"-remake or "Neighborhood Watch"! The subject matter "The Garden" brings forward is interesting, but too abstract and definitely not compelling (let alone exciting) enough to keep you on the edge of your seat. A divorced father and his psychologically troubled son are involved in a car accident and recover at the house of a mysterious old man (Lance Henriksen in his umpteenth inferior horror role). The old guy's garden turns out to be the genuine Paradise of Eden; the place where our whole existence began according to the Holy Bible. Through the re-occurring nightmares of young Sam, the apocalypse can be inflicted in this exact same garden (don't ask me how as I somehow must have missed that part) and maybe that even is what the old man desires to achieve! Don Michael Paul's second film as a director starts out surprisingly stylish with elegant camera-work and a patient drawing of characters and settings. The first murder-sequence also comes at the exact right timing and it's quite bloody, especially considering the tone of the film so far. For reasons I fail to comprehend, "The Garden" then turns into a confusing and painfully dull mess that eventually reverts to annoying clichés and predictable plot twists. The only elements left to enjoy near the end are the creepy music and young Adam Taylor Gordon's impressive acting performance which easily surpasses the quality of his lines.