The Rule of Jenny Pen

I can't begin to tell you how glad I am that this showed up at the local Regal. I figured I was going to have to wait and rent it. That being said, after you leave the moviehouse and think about what you just watched, you're going to be immediately fucked up. It's been a minute since I watched something that really is equal parts, depressing, vile, sinister and diabolically funny all at the same time. Thankfully, James Ashcroft is able to get two legends together in Geoffrey Rush and John Lithgow. The result is an early horror favorite of the year.

I can't begin to tell you how glad I am that this showed up at the local Regal. I figured I was going to have to wait and rent it. That being said, after you leave the moviehouse and think about what you just watched, you're going to be immediately messed up. It's been a minute since I watched something that really is equal parts, depressing, vile, sinister and diabolically funny all at the same time. Thankfully, James Ashcroft is able to get two legends together in Geoffrey Rush and John Lithgow giving their all. The result is an early horror favorite of the year.

Fewer moviegoing experiences are more frustrating than watching a film in which the creators have no clear vision for what theyre trying to say. Regrettably, such is the case with this second feature offering from writer-director James Ashcroft. When a revered judge (Geoffrey Rush) suffers a stroke, hes moved to what has to be the most ineptly run convalescent home in New Zealand to undergo rehabilitation. While there, however, he like many of the facilitys other residents becomes the target of taunting and abuse by another patient (John Lithgow), a manic dementia case who menaces them with a macabre hand-held puppet he calls Jenny Pen, the one who he contends rules over everyone housed at the home. When the judge protests, though, hes su...