Point Pleasant

[matt]

E4 showed the final episodes...it was getting a little better with the supernatural elements coming to the fore - but the acting was horrible.

Episode ended with Christina wrecking bloody hell on earth and walking off. I can't remember the rest.

[fenris]

Could have sworn that E4 pulled the show. Thanks for putting me right, matt.

[matt]

This is also in the wrong thread. I know we were looking for it to move it into General...

[fenris]

Elizabeth Harnois has the leading role(s) in new horror movie Solstice, which will shortly be debuting on Region 1 DVD. She plays a young woman who goes on a vacation with her friends to recover from the suicide of her identical twin sister - and finds herself being haunted by her sibling's ghost.

Here's a link to a short article containing the DVD cover and several photos of Elizabeth;
www.fangoria.com/news_article.php?id=5392

And here's another link, contaning a brief interview with the movie's director;
www.fangoria.com/news_article.php?id=2393

[fenris]

A friend got me the Point Pleasant boxset for my birthday, but I've only managed to start watching it this week. I've currently seen episodes #1 - 5, and although it's somewhat heavy-handed in places (America TV isn't known for its subtlety) I'm enjoying it so far.

One of the biggest complaints I've read about the show in various reviews and comments on-line is that it was too slow moving, and I can understand this criticism. Because I've viewed the episodes in batches of two and three with only a day inbetween, from my perspective the storyline seems to positively zing along, but I can appreciate that if I was watching the series when it was originally broadcast, and having to wait an entire week between episodes, then I'd probably find it dull and non-eventual as well. Point Pleasant is most likely one of those shows that works best when viewed in a marathon sitting, as opposed to the slow drip-drip-drip of a weekly screening.

My favourite moments so far include: the Kramers' yacht slowly drifting into view at the climax of Episode #2, engulfed in flames and with Father David's body strapped to the mast; a bewildered and upset Christina in Episode #3 (having just been rejected and cast aside by the man whom she's always thought was her father, and with her new best friend Judy Kramer hospitalised following an accident) seeking comfort from Ben Kramer and whispering possessively in his ear "Protect us, Daddy"; and the revelation in Episode #5 of Lucas's origins as a broken-hearted, Depression-era murderer.

There are problems and loopholes of course. Despite the fact that the yacht was presumably one of the Kramers' most prized possessions, full of memories of many happy occasions when Isabelle was still alive, in the subsequent episode it's only Christina who seems bothered by it's destruction. And how come Father David is still regarded as missing? Surely the police or an insurance investigator would have discovered his charred remains in the burnt out wreckage?
I also find it hard to believe that Amber (Dina Mayer's character) would have anything to do with Lucas after his devastating and cruel dismissal of her as a "fading prom queen" (a very brave scene for Mayer to play by the way, considering the American TV and movie industries' obsession with youth).
But I've still got eight episodes to go, so maybe some of these plotholes will be addressed and resolved in the remaining instalments - but I won't particularly be surprised if they're not.

[fenris]

Well, I watched Episodes #6 - 13 last night and this morning, and having now seen the show in it's entirety I can say that despite the various flaws, I enjoyed Point Pleasant. Yes, in the early instalments it's all a bit soapy, with mother-and-daughter team the Hargroves trying to seduce their chosen men, while the attractive young teen cast spend every other scene wandering about the beach in bikinis and swimming trunks.

But as the series progresses, things get more interesting and multi-layered. Everyone has secrets: Judy was having a covert affair with Isabelle's boyfriend; Jesse discovers a mystery surrounding his parentage and realises his destiny is linked to Christina's; several characters - Father Matthew, Jesse's mother and Judy's potential new suitor Nick - know more than they're letting on; Terry's bedridden and seriously ill father begins making cryptic remarks; and Ben Kramer keeps receiving the exact same video tape in the mail - no matter how many times he destroys it.

One of the best additions in the later episodes is Holly, Lucas's girlfriend from the Thirties. Having murdered her, he then sold his soul in return for her being brought back to life. As a result she's immortal but has to go through all the pain and fear of dying and being resurrected every day. Having endured this daily ritual for over seventy years, Holly delights in the devotion and enormous guilt he feels towards her, and their love/hate relationship (and it really is a mixture of love and pure hate) is wonderfully twisted. She's his only weakness, and she exploits this to the full - plus the scriptwriters give her all the best dialogue.

Another surprising aspect is the inclusion of the Believers, a covert Vatican assassination squad who secretly arrive in Point Pleasant intent on killing Christina. A no-nonsense, ultra-efficient bunch, they are certain that they're doing God's will, but are ultimately revealed to be a bunch of arrogant, blinkered, deluded fanatics, who actually make the situation much worse and are mostly responsible for Christina's fall into darkness - thus triggering the apocalypse they were certain they could prevent. Portraying a branch of the Catholic church (and by extension, all organized religion) as not speaking for God and having no idea of what His plan is, was a brave move by the show's producers. And I may be reading way too much into it, but I can't help but wonder if it wasn't a subtle comment on the America Religious Right's unblinking support for the neo-con Bush administration's invasion of Iraq, which had already turned into a disaster when Point Pleasant was initially broadcast.

I also liked how the personal journeys of several characters confounded early expectations. Some of the most sympathetic of the town's inhabitants - Jesse, his mother, and Judy - all eventually betray and hurt Christina, admittedly while acting with the best of intentions (the road to Hell, and all that). Meanwhile, those originally appearing to side with Lucas ultimately reject him and find personal redemption: Amber goes all-out to break up the Kramers' marriage, before realising that there's some lines she's not prepared to cross; Her daughter Paula is the town's teen bitch queen, but eventually does some soul-searching and finds true love with Terry, a boy she previously wouldn't have looked twice at; And Terry, practically a younger version of Lucas, selflessly ends his romance with Paula in order to save her from Christina's wrath, and is last seen leaving town with Holly.

Acting-wise, Grant Show steals every scene he's in as Lucas, but he's helped considerably by the fact that it's an absolute gift of a role. Elisabeth Harnois has been criticized in most on-line reviews for her portrayal of Christina, and while I'd admit it's not an outstanding performance, I think most of the time she does okay. She definitely made me care about Christina and her ultimate fate, and that's the most important thing in my book. In contrast, Sam Page gave a very underpowered and vacant performance as Jesse, and therefore I didn't give two hoots about him. Personally, the standout for me was Aubrey Dollar as Judy: she doesn't get much to do throughout the entire series except react to events, but she somehow succeeds in making the character extremely likeable. The mid-season episodes, in which Judy learns all about Christina's Anti-Christ status and becomes her loyal confidant and sidekick, were my favourite moments of the series.


Hmm. I confess I'm already getting ideas for a crossover fanfic, in which Lucas returns to New York and discovers that a certain British female ex-teacher has taken over in his absence, while an auburn-haired girl in a kick-arse leather coat, accompanied by an invisible lesbian ghost, arrives in Point Pleasant to clear up the Believers' mess...

[fenris]

Nov 5, 2007 20:13:26 GMT fenris said:

Elizabeth Harnois has the leading role(s) in new horror movie Solstice, which will shortly be debuting on Region 1 DVD. She plays a young woman who goes on a vacation with her friends to recover from the suicide of her identical twin sister - and finds herself being haunted by her sibling's ghost.

Solstice was released today (20/10/08) on Region 2 DVD.

[fenris]

Cameron Richardson, who played Paula Hargrove in Point Pleasant, is starring in new horror series Harper's Island, which is starting in America this month (April). It's basically the first slasher TV show, concerning a group of twentysomething friends all arriving at the title location to attend a wedding, who find themselves being hunted and dispatched by a mysterious killer.

[fenris]

Have just been looking at the message board for Point Pleasant on the IMDB, and found a post that I wrote there several months ago. Someone (presumably a Hex fan) had started a thread asking if there were any similarities between Hex and Point Pleasant. The following is my reply, which I thought I'd reproduce here;

I'm a fan of both Point Pleasant and Hex, and I would say that both shows explore very similar themes. In fact, if you want to know what an American version of Hex would be like, then Point Pleasant is probably a good indication. Both series have young heroines in the front-line of the war between Heaven and Hell, and neither has any 'monster of the week'-type stories. Instead their storylines unfold over an entire season.

However, Hex was set in a dark Gothic mansion, converted into a boarding school, and had subplots about drugs, abortion, suicide and infanticide. There were also several lesbian characters, sex scenes and nudity, and a plotline about a teenage girl successfully seducing a priest.

Point Pleasant - although an entertaining show, worth watching - was more lightweight and 'safe'. It's set in a sunny coastal town, with most of the teen cast wandering about in bikinis and swimming trunks. The plotlines are mostly like those in a soap-opera, concerning 'who's going out with whom' or 'who's trying to steal who from whom'. All the characters are 100% heterosexual, the only drugs seen are prescribed medication, and the only sex that takes place (hardly ever, and either off-screen or implied) is between couples in established relationships. Admittedly a young priest confesses to having personal feelings for a teenage girl, but he's killed soon afterwards, so nothing happens.

Ultimately however, if you enjoy Hex, you'll probably like Point Pleasant as well.

[fenris]

Have just noticed that the DVD box art for the Region One (ie: American) Point Pleasant boxset was - in my humble opinion - more impressive than what we received here in the UK.

To illustrate, click here for the Region Two/British box art. Now don't get me wrong, it's perfectly fine and acceptable and could be described as quite classy. But it doesn't compare with the Region One box art - click here - which is eyecatchingly stark and ramps up the eeriness considerably.
(Intriguingly, if comments made on Point Pleasant's IMDB message board are to be believed, that's not Elizabeth Harnois on the Region One cover, but another actress entirely.)

Incidentally, click here for the show's Australian box art, which I have mixed feelings about. While I love the outline of the town in the background, complete with Ferris wheel and lighthouse, I think the image in the foreground is somewhat cliched and therefore underwhelming. The overall impression is that the cover is trying too hard, with an abundance of distracting and unnecessary detail.