The Lottery (1996)

Well it scored a 7/10 from me for making me jump near the end.9 times out of 10 horror or scary movies, just don't scare me... Movies on the other hand that are subtle and less up front about their content scare me more where it's left for you to think what happens. I find them more effective. Anyone agree here? I think it was on Monday this week because I had taped it but not gotten around to watching it, but it was a movie called "The Lottery" and the premise of the movie is that there is this small town in middle America where they have an annual lottery and the person that gets that one special ticket has the "treat" of the whole town stoning them to death. The problem with this premise being that a newcomer comes to this town and finds the grave of his mother and several other people. The catch is that the dates on all the headstones were the same date and we even get to see him being almost forced into this town's ritual as they all gather at the lottery drawing. He arrived during the lottery period. Anyway they show us the effects of the stoning by having a lady cast as the unhappy victim and even show her being stoned, first knocked to the ground by a hit to the head, then a succession of other stones all over her body. That was right near the end of the movie too. He escapes the town only to bring back a disbelieving state trooper and other official but can't prove anything. The movie ends with him back in this office outside of the town and a doctor interviewing him. Then you hear a strange voice in the background say "never tell him the truth"..... The movie then ends....

I hated this film. I wouldn't even call it a film because it was so bad. It was entirely too lifetime-ish for me. The writing was bad, and the acting was even worst. 'I love you, but I'm just not in love with you anymore?' Oh my gosh. Not to mention the fact that the story is absolutely disturbing. I cannot believe that an entire town thinks it's fine to stone someone to death just so their town will be 'perfect.' When Felice's mother was stoned I couldn't help but cringing and feeling sorry for her. Everyone was so scared picking their ballots, and so relieved when they found out they didn't pick the one with the black marking. If they were all so scared of being picked each year, why would they continue to have the lottery? The ending also added to this already horrendous film. I didn't like it at all.

There are some things in this world that are tied very exclusively to one time period, and though their essence is eternal, there is a need, sometimes, to bring subtle changes to the details in order to allow other generations to share in their merit. Unfortunately for the film version, 'The Lottery' is not one of these. The original short story by Shirley Jackson is the perfect encapsulation of every interesting facet the story had to offer. it beautifully and subtly creates tension and then shocking horror, and makes us question ourselves and the things we hold to be normal. It does all this in a few scant pages.The movie drags on and on for about an hour and a half, and the payoff is exactly the same. Along the way you have to sit through mercilessly lame acting and flat, dull characters. The idea that the town has a mysterious secret is introduced almost immediately, but the film's final climax is where everything is revealed. Simple enough, but it unfortunately means that through the vast bulk of the movie, the same theme is repeated over and over. Jason comes to a situation that seems mysterious. But the townies won't tell him what's going on! Even if it were well acted, even if the subplots were remotely engaging, there just isn't any way to get around the tedious repetition. And folks, the acting is not good. And the subplots are just corny as all hell. Keri Russel in particular seems unfathomably cast. She stands out as totally inappropriate for the role of a small-town girl with her modern vernacular and of course her suspiciously flawless tan. Most of the other character actors just play the predictable role of "belligerent small town sheriff" and the like. Nothing to see here. The film particularly produces groans with it's implausible romance -replete with an exploding car, natch - and absurdly vague expository dialog.As for the end, its executed with appropriate style. But the wait it takes to get there just isn't justified. All and all, the film can't get past the troublesome point that there just isn't enough there to fill an hour and a half. Read the short story instead, its impact is at least as potent. And considerably more eloquent as well.

This film is based on the disturbing short story by Shirley Jackson; I was horrified by the short story and as I was watching it the story seemed familiar. It does a great job depicting the atmosphere of the creepy small town, and accomplishes its main goals, which I think are to tell Jackson's story with a modern twist and scare the audience, make them think. It's definitely a different kind of horror film, one that makes you wonder and search your mind for answers to why they did what they did.