June is a movie that we’ve all witnessed before. We’ve seen The Omen, we’ve seen Firestarter and we’ve seen Carrie (if you haven’t watched any of those movies, get off my website and give them your much-deserved attention now.) Why bother watching a movie that we’ve all seen before? Well, I’m here to tell you to not bother, as June was a boring flick, that didn’t provide anything worthwhile to enjoy. I sat through the 83-minute run time, waiting for something wild to happen, but I was left with an empty feeling inside, one that was caused solely by a film that was missing what makes a horror flick, a story that provides at least one or all of the following: chills, gore, nudity, a plot, backstory, likeable characters, relatable characters, developed characters and finally, just a fun time. None of that was provided with June, a movie that is void of any emotion, much like the expressionless and unemotional title character.
PRODUCT DESCRIPTION
DISCS: 1
RUN-TIME: 83 min
ASPECT RATIO: 2.40:1
RESOLUTION: 480i
AUDIO: Dolby Digital 5.1
SUBTITLES: None
REGION: 1
RATING: NR
PRODUCTION DATE: 2015
RELEASE DATE: Oct 13, 2015
PLOT SUMMARY
A coming-of-rage story about discovering your true self and overcoming your inner demons to find love in a chaotic world. A nine-year-old orphan named June has become the vessel of a supernatural being called Aer. June struggles holding Aer back from lashing out when other kids tease and bully her. Aer leaves a trail of damaged and destroyed foster homes in her wake. June quickly bonds with her new adoptive parents Lily and Dave. But she must discover her true identity to overcome this inner demon in order to save herself, her new family, and to find love and acceptance in a chaotic world.
MOVIE
Nine years ago, a baby (June) is nearly sacrificed to some weird Deity named Aer, who controls the earth, wind and fire (the elements, not the band.) We as a society have failed Mother Earth and now it’s time for us to be wiped out, or so says the Cult of Aer. The only way to do that is to chant some hocus pocus and make a baby the embodiment of this Aer Deity, but they fail. Nine years later and in walks June from stage left, who after experiencing the failed cult ritual, is only partially evil and when I say evil, I actually mean a slight annoyance. Whenever she enters Hulk Mode, her eyes go black and she causes either environmental concerns, such as rain or the occasional fire; or the telekinetic problem of breaking all your dinner plates. What a nuisance this little June is and it seems no one will adopt her, that is until Lily (Victoria Pratt) and her unhealthily obsessed with his camera husband Dave (the forever to be known as the main guy from Starship Troopers Casper Van Dien) decide to take her in. Cue some scenes of terrifying rain stopping suddenly, dishes breaking, or even worse, a few broken light bulbs! Oh, my!
June doesn’t look like a poor film on the outside. It’s got a professional style about it, especially the opening credits, and a soundtrack that is quite pleasing to listen to. However, the story is what is causing most of my heartache, as absolutely nothing happens. We watch her try to adapt to a household, she goes a little crazy, rinse and repeat for a bit and throw in a cult for good measure. Boring! I want action, violence, gore, shit raining down from the sky and squashing people. I don’t want any of this dish smashing business I’m being subjected to, as I could easily just do that myself. Ugh, this is a big ol’ pass from me.
DVD
What can I say about the DVD that I haven’t already said about DVDs before? There isn’t much, as I’ve already mentioned that the movie looks nice, so the DVD is fine in that regards. Plus, the music is pretty gnarly, so I’m happy that the disc doesn’t have any issues with the audio. The special features are surprisingly plentiful, with numerous interviews, both with cast and crew, along with acted out interviews with the social worker who’s worked with June through her numerous homes. They interview the people she lived with and you get to enjoy a boatload of shaky acting. Last, but certainly not least (kidding), there is a fake, short documentary about the Cult of Aer. It’s made to look like it was filmed in 1982, or so the credits would have you believe, but I didn’t think it looked anything like the 80s and no amount of neon and grain filter is going to change that.
DVD SPECIAL FEATURES
- The Elements of June: Making-of – Cast, Make-Up, Music, Producing
- Social Service Files
- The History “Aer”
VERDICT
As you’ve probably already surmised, I didn’t enjoy June. I was bored, I was annoyed and I was disappointed. The flick is a copy and paste of plenty of other better movies, so wouldn’t it make more sense to just sit down and watch those vastly superior films instead? Yeah, that’s what I thought.