Eye Candy #275 - "Memory"

Memory: Got this one for cheap, and it’s not as bad as it was panned to be. Billy Zane is Dr. Taylor Briggs, a medical researcher who, while on a speaking engagement in Brazil, is asked to assist with the autopsy of an American found raving in the Amazon, covered in a peculiar red powder. After accidental exposure to the powder, Briggs begins to experience waking “memories” of a masked killer who committed crimes before Briggs was even born, who kidnapped and killed young girls. Apparently the red powder has the ability to transfer memories from person to person, and the “memories” that Briggs is experiencing are of someone in his circle of friends, including painter Stephanie (Battlestar’s Tricia Helfer), his father figure Max (Dennis Hopper), and his mother’s close friend Carol (Ann-Margaret). The biggest weakness is the reveal of the killer – the character is the least expected while also being the least believable. This was sold as a horror film, but it’s more a thriller in the psycho killer vein like “In Dreams” and “The Cell” and so forth. First time director Bennett Joshua Davlin wrote both the novel and the screenplay for this film. So I bought it for about $2.50 and it was worth more than that (and I’ve certainly paid more for movies that were worth LESS than that). Woodchuck sez, “Not as bad as you were led to believe.”