Tribute: Arielle Kebbel

It is tribute time again. It hasn't been all that long since my last tribute post, but I wanted to work another one in before I hit my 500th post. It has been a long time since I did a tribute post for an actress though. The main problem I have with doing a tribute post for an actress, is that the ones I really get into don't do a lot of horror films. This post will be for Arielle Kebbel. It just happened to work out perfectly, so I could do a tribute to her. Earlier this month, I went to the theater to watch The Uninvited, which happens to star Arielle Kebbel. She has a supporting role in the film, but does still have a large role. Not long after that I bought an issue of Fangoria, where I discovered that a new film with Arielle would be coming out soon. It even had an article on the film, which I just skimmed through. Sometimes their articles give away a little too much information. I thought this worked out great! Arielle's fourth horror film (actually third, but I will get into that later) is about to come out, so I can work a tribute around that. My last two tributes I wrote, featured a guest review. As much fun as that is for me, and a time saver in a way, this one will be all me. So, here is my tribute to Arielle Kebbel.

Arielle Kebbel was born on February 19th, 1985, in Winter Park, Florida. She graduated from Appalachin State High School a semester early. Within the first week of moving to Los Angeles, she landed the role of Lindsay Lister on Gilmore Girls. She landed her first movie role in the film Soul Plane. In 2005, Arielle was cast as Cookie in her first horror film, Reeker. In an interview clip that I watched, she said that her mom used to think there was something wrong with her, because she would rent ten horror movies on the weekends to watch. It is nice to know that she is willing to act in horror movies as well. In 2006, she was in the film The Grudge 2, where she had the lead role in a subplot. 2008 marked the release of Freakdog, which didn't come out on DVD here in the States until mid February, and was retitled to Red Mist. This is the film I will be reviewing for today. I had trouble finding it on IMDb since I didn't realize there was a title change. While I thought this was her fourth horror film, since the DVD was release after The Uninvited, it turns out to be her third. This was pretty much the only information I could find about her, outside of her being 5'8, and being in the 2002 Miss Florida Teen pageant. I can't believe she didn't win that. Anyway, if you are interested in seeing the things Arielle Kebbel has been in, you can click here.

I first came across Arielle in Reeker. I enjoyed her character a lot in that film. I was also impressed with her acting. I can't say that I remember her too well in The Grudge 2 though. I don't think it was her fault at all, I just wasn't impressed with that film. I do recall the character, just not much about it. I was surprised when I found out later that it was Arielle in that role. I really liked her in The Uninvited. So far I think it is a tie between Cookie and Alex for my favorite characters she has been so far. I haven't watched the films outside of the horror ones she has been in yet, but I sure plan to do that soon. Actually, for all I know she may have been in more than four horror films. I am just going by the titles of the films that I haven't watched yet, which isn't a very good way to spot a horror movie.

Having read an interview, and watched a couple of others, I have noticed that she takes her acting choices very seriously. She only takes the roles that she feels will be a good fit for her. In talking about her role in Red Mist, she says that she talked with Paddy Breathnach, the director, about some changes that she wanted to see happen. Arielle says that Paddy was on the same page, and also wanted those same changes, so she accepted the role. There was a nude scene in the script which she says "wasn't going to happen!" As much as I wouldn't have minded seeing that, I completely understand. I don't think that is something I would do either if I was an actress. I know you can't get to know someone through film and interviews, but I do get the sense that if I knew her in person, she would be someone I could quickly become friends with. With each film I have watched, with Arielle in it, I have become more impressed with her. Add that she is very beautiful on top of that, I would have to say she is quickly becoming one of my favorite actresses.

These are the reviews of films I have done that Arielle Kebbel is in:

Reeker

The Grudge 2

The Uninvited

Red Mist starts off with a flashback of sorts. We see a boy, who is peeking through a keyhole, watching his parents fight. At least that is I assume they are. He watches as his mother gets beat up, and then sees a pool of blood forming from under the door. From there we meet Kenneth (Andrew Lee Potts), who is taking pictures with his cell phone of a dead woman, while cutting himself. We then meet a slew of characters: Catherine (Arielle Kebbel), Kim (Sarah Carter), Jake (Alex Wyndham), Harriet (Katie McGrath), Yoshimi (Christina Chong), Sean (Martin Compston), and Steve (Michael Jibson). All these people are in training to be a doctor. After trying to save the life of a medical dummy, they head to the locker room, where they plan for a party. As they leave, they run into Kenneth, who had been recording Cat on his cell phone. They don't catch him doing this, but they do think that Kenneth is a weird guy. At the party, which is at a bar one of them works at, Kenneth is there also and tries to talk to Cat. I don't think she really likes Kenneth, but doesn't want to be mean or rude, like her friends are being. She basically tells Kenneth she will talk to him another time. Kenneth seems fine with this, and starts to leave. Sean, being the jerk that he is, has to say something mean to Kenneth before he leaves though. Kenneth shows Sean a video that he recorded of Sean getting some drugs that he shouldn't have. Sean talks Cat into getting Kenneth to come back. While she is doing this, Sean is mixing together some drugs and alcohol, which he eventually gives to Kenneth. This, along with flashing lights, trigger epilepsy in Kenneth. There is a battle over to help Kenneth or not. They don't. Instead they dump Kenneth in front of a hospital, and drive off. Cat is feeling guilty when she discovers that Kenneth is in a deep coma. She decides to try and help him, by giving him a mixture of new drugs. This doesn't help Kenneth in the way she thought it would. Cat discovers that the drugs target the area of the brain that is believed to control out of body experiences. Will anyone believe her once her friends start turning up dead?

I liked Red Mist for one simple reason, Arielle Kebbel in the lead role. I also enjoyed the plot, since it is one that isn't used much. I really wanted to love this movie, but that didn't happen. The opening plot line goes nowhere. It does help explain why Kenneth is a little messed up in the head, but it could have been expanded on more. I know not everything needs to be explained about a character, but I would have liked to have seen more about Kenneth. That goes for all the characters really. That is the main problem with having a large cast, not very much character development for one movie. Some of the death scenes are pretty cool. We see some happen on screen, and then it switches to having them off screen.

The effects are well done, but it is a shame there aren't more of them. The best effect is one that shows the death of the character after she has been killed. It is a bloody scene that is fairly impressive. It would have been nice to have more effects, but that is how it goes sometimes. The acting wasn't too bad. Arielle Kebbel did very well in the lead role. Her character really surprised me at one point, in a good way that is. MyAnna Buring, who you may remember from The Descent, has a small role as a nurse. I would have liked to have seen her in a bigger role. Sarah Carter, who also has a nice bloody scene, surprised me when I looked at the films she has done. Sarah has also been in Final Destination 2, Wishmaster 3, Mindstorm, and Skinwalkers. Along with some other films.

Even though I did enjoy watching Red Mist, it wasn't as good as I had wanted it to be. I'm not ashamed to admit that I would gladly watch it again just for Arielle. I sure can't blame Kenneth for liking her. While that would be my main reason to watch this one again, it would also be because this isn't all that bad of a film. Shrooms was also directed by Paddy Breathnach. This makes two films by this director that I have enjoyed, but has just missed by a little bit. Hopefully Paddy will direct a film that will put all the pieces together that I like well enough. Until then, I'm looking forward to Arielle's next film, and I'm happy to say that she has at least three more on the way.

3 out of 5 Arielle can nurse me back to health anytime