THE RETURN

"I know this place"

After been involved in a car accident when she was eleven years old, Joanna (Geller) has never been the same. Plagued dreams that were not her own and memories of places she had never been, Joanna had left her native Texas behind, never able to settle in one place. When she has to return to the state of her birth on business, the dreams return but they start to manifest themselves while she is awake but this time she is old enough to face them and try and figure out what they mean.

After the end of the hugely successful 'Buffy the Vampire Slayer' series you would think that Sarah Michelle Geller wouldn't want to be typecast. Well you'd be wrong.

Since the end of the hit TV show, the star hasn't been very imaginative in her role choices having starred in 'Scooby Doo' and its sequel and two 'Grudge' movies. All three of these movies are within her comfort zone as they are all within a genre that she is very at ease with. As Daphne in Scooby Doo, she gets to fight monsters and in the 'Grudge' movies she has to act terrified of the ghostly apparition that becomes attached to her. Neither of these roles give her the chance to show what she can do as an actress or prove that she can be diverse in her role choice. Fans will remember her performance in 'Cruel Intentions' but as Joanna in 'The Return' she just continues to plod along in the horror genre.

'The Return' tries to mix psychological thriller with quick scare, jumpy horror but for the most part fails completely. The problem is the script by writer Adam Sussman. The premise is fine. A woman who is haunted by dreams and memories of places and things that she has never seen or done, Joanna is scared to go back to her hometown because the visions increase so much that she blacks out. The mystery of why this is happening is the driving force of the film but because of continued flashbacks and visions it becomes extremely obvious as to what is going on and what the conclusion is going to be. Instead of surprising the audience with a few twists and turns however, the movie just plays out exactly how you expect it to as soon as you realise what is going on.

The cast do their best with the material. Having all this experience in the genre, Sarah Michelle Geller is used to looking scared and reacting to dangerous situations. The role of Joanna is not a challenge to her at all and in parts she seems to be on autopilot. Australian actor Peter O'Brien (who played Shane in cult Aussie soap 'Neighbours') tries to make inroads into Hollywood and does well as the brooding Terry Stahl. His character has little development time however because of the construction of the story it means that we can't get to know much about his history or why he is so troubled. Adam Scott plays a totally unnecessary character from Joanna's work, who just appears to terrorise her, with no explained reason. Sam Shepard has nothing to do really as Joanna's dad and the rest of the cast just the same.

While 'The Return' is overly predictable and not the most original horror thriller, the film is superbly shot and a lesson on how to frame and design a movie like this. British director Asif Kapadia is an extremely gifted and visual director but he just needs to pick his scripts a little better because this film's story has very little to offer.

PICTURE & SOUND

Presented in Widescreen 1.85:1 Anamorphic with a Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack, the transfer is good.

BONUS FEATURES

None

OVERALL

The complete lack of any bonus features for 'The Return' is just not acceptable, especially when for a Universal release. This was a movie crying out for a commentary track or at least some interviews to reveal more about the approach to the movie and the story behind this. Fans will be very disappointed.

DVD