Restoration (2016) Reviews

• Swing and a miss. Big time.The Skeleton Key rip off.

  dodge-west2016-05-04

  So initially when I checked this movie out I thought I'd look on here and see what it's score was. Something that I do every time I watch a new film as I'm a bit of a geek. To my surprise it was the first ever film to not yet have a score as it hadn't yet had 5 people mark it. This should of been a warning sign. First off I'm always a bit reluctant about a movie when I see that they are written, directed and also star the same person. Very few people can pull this off and I'm sorry to say Zack Ward isn't one of those people. His acting is good but that's where the line ends. Characters are not believable. I couldn't route for the main couple as they were stupidly annoying. Apparently letting your wife sleep until she is late for work makes you a great husband. I guess as a doctor she never sets an alarm. A totally none convincing fight/argument over the fact that said wife finds out she's pregnant and rather than telling husband hides the test in the bathroom bin which he immediately finds.A love scene that is about as sexy as MC Hammers baggy pants and special effects that are far from special. It's all about a girl that'd dead but conveniently leaves her diary sewn up inside her bear that the couple find. After a quick bear fight (as you do) they realise there's something hard in that there bear so best gut it to find out what it is. Anyway creepy neighbours are creepy and yet Dr Wife sees no problem with that at all. Clearly doesn't like the situation but says nothing because.........Plot I guess. Creepy neighbours are actually soul stealer's who get fed up and move from body to body or some such nonsense. Same sort of thing that happened in The Skeleton Key but not done half as well. The big final fight lacked any sort of realism and the big final scare well wasn't scary as like much of the rest of the film it was just all too predictable. There's about 5 seconds of topless woman at one point and that is about the only redeeming feature.

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• No, No, No, let's call it a No!

  gothic-fiction2016-05-07

  Except the fact that it had nothing original whatsoever, it managed to act exactly like those before it, a plot that revealed itself far too soon and acting that could have been better. As this movie progresses, it sure makes a lot of mistakes, and absolutely all of them have been seen before. Many times even. So this is a B horror that copies some A ones and a lot of other such B productions, for the sake of what? I doubt it will gross it's budget back. It brings nothing new to the table. But sure, people want to make movies, they have to start somewhere, although it seems they are walking in other people's shoes and hope for the same destination. Hard to imagine this will work. Cheers!

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• Strap yourself in for a ride on the boredom coaster...

  paul_haakonsen2017-07-21

  I must say that I usually tend to be a bit hesitant about a movie where the guy who wrote the script also directs and stars in the movie himself or herself, which turned out to be the case with "Restoration" at the hands of Zack Ward. Reading the synopsis for the movie, however, did win me over enough to make me actually pick up the movie and give it a go. And having a nice looking DVD cover also was a selling point for the movie. One thing that I did like about "Restoration" was the cast, because it was all unfamiliar actors and actresses to me, aside from Zack Ward. And I do enjoy watching talents that I haven't seen before, as they are not Associated with previously portrayed characters and roles. "Restoration" is an unfathomably slow paced movie, and 21 minutes into the movie I was more than tempted to give up and find something else to watch, because there had been very little happening, and the characters were just so mundane and faceless that I didn't care one bit about them, nor could I differentiate between them. They could essentially have been played by one and the same actor or actress. There seem to be very little meat on the body in terms of storyline and plot here, and after 40 minutes of enduring nothing happening, I still was waiting for a coherent and clearly painted out storyline. You actually find yourself frequently checking the time to see how much time has progressed, and I must admit that I gave up on the movie just shortly after 40 minutes of pure boredom. This movie was so slow paced that it was almost torture to sit through. I have no plans or intention of returning to "Restoration" to finish watching it, because there was nothing, and I do mean that literally, nothing to keep me entertained or wanting to see what would befall the generic characters in the movie.

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• Total Garbage

  alanc882016-05-16

  Do yourselves a favour and give this a miss! The acting between the main couple is ludicrous. Even though she is a Doctor working long hours and under stress and he is apparently renovating their house, they are just too lovey dovey all of the time, especially the husband. The fun teddy bear fight like a couple of teenagers is laughable - even though the previous owner left over 400 teddy bears behind, they happen to throw the one teddy bear that contained the 'secret' diary - that was lucky wasn't it? When she finds out she's pregnant, the husband goes for a slash in the bathroom and finds the pregnancy kit - he comes out and throws a wobbly because she hadn't told him - she only found out herself 2 minutes ago! After reading the diary and doing some investigative work, they have to go to a loony bin to speak to some loony woman, who after all these years is still alive and luckily living in the local loony bin - another lucky stroke of luck. The Doctor woman tells some cock & bull story to get access to see her and is told to bring her credentials and paperwork with her. When she gets there, with her husband in tow, she is asked for her credentials before she can get in. After seeing her credentials, they are given 2 guest passes - one for her and one for Bob the friggin builder - how and why did they let him in? When they get inside to see this loony woman, the big beefy security guy says 'I'll be outside the door'. The loony woman is saying nothing, so Bob the builder decides to berate her and tells her what he thinks of her - quite loudly. Does the beefy bouncer hear this and coming running in to see what's going on - not a chance, he actually waits until she starts to cry and then he's in like a shot! I only gave it 2 stars because of creepy neighbour Zack.

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• Lessons to be learned

  WriteForever2016-08-12

  Abjectly, written and directed. This movie serves as a strong lesson to anyone who plans to write and/or direct a screenplay: "live" within the story – for an extended period of time - before production starts. (It's inside where you'll lay witness to any flaws.) In this debacle, the couple should not have been so loving. Clearly a better scenario: he should have been a belligerent, ill-deserving drunk while she should have come across as an overachieving female who, as a consequence of a flawed facet of her otherwise perfect personality, has made a terrible choice in a partner. (After this hated husband meets an audience-approved demise, a brother arrives to fill the void…only to meets his own grizzly death.) Having the too-loving husband quiver like a trembling leaf - as his wife faces a threat (with the assailant's knife a foot from her throat) – only detracted further from this downslide tale. One small thing: In a nighttime bedroom scene, is a lovely and calming blue light illuminating the window's curtains. Presumably, production assistants realized too late the mistake, so in post-production – like putting a Band-Aid on the Titanic- they dubbed in (mild) sounds of thunder. Didn't work. Dear director, as you read this… Your attempt underscores and asserts the aforementioned, hard truth that writers and directors must live within a screenplay. Stop daydreaming of award ceremonies and consider only the story and its elements. Better luck to you, sir.

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