slayrrr666
"I've Been Waiting for You" is a more-than-serviceable witchcraft film.**SPOILERS**Moving to small-town Massachusetts, Sarah Zoltane, (Sarah Chalke) and her mom Rosemary, (Markie Post) arrive in a new house which is supposedly haunted by a witch burned at the stake hundreds of years ago. As she doesn't fit in with the regular crowd, Kyra Thompson, (Soleil Moon Frye) Eddie Garrett, (Christian Campbell) Debbie Murdock, (Maggie Lawson) Kevin Lane, (Chad Cox) and Misty, (Julie Patzwald) she is an easy target for their torments and insults because of her fascination with the occult. When she continually ignores their advances to include her, they reveal that they are descendants of the group which initially killed the witch and that she has a lot in common with that witch. After a series of accidents against them by a maniacal killer has the group thinking that she's a witch as well, she must race to get her name cleared before they take the whole exorcise way too far.The Good News: This one had some really good parts to it that make this one pretty enjoyable. One of the biggest pluses is the fact that this one contains much more action than expected, especially for a made-for-TV movie. The opening burning of the witch is pretty interesting and exciting, and the culmination of it is a lot more intense than would be expected. The main one for this, though, is the finale staking-attempt, which has a great set-up and begins rather nicely once they start to tie her up and begin to tease the burning, and once it gets to the killer's appearance, the brawling that erupts is a lot of fun and quite enjoyable. Other standouts include a fantastic set-piece when a building is set-on-fire from a supernatural source with a victim inside, and the chaos as well as what's needed to get out makes it pretty fun, as well as the film's biggest pluses, the variety of action scenes mixed with suspense in here. Several of them are just plain fun, as the car stalking on the deserted, foggy road where the killer appears and launches an assault on the driver, to a superb stalking scene in the house as well as the stalking scenes of two of the main participants that yield nothing but fun. One in the bathroom, where the long drill-pieces used as fingers are squeaked over a mirror before an exceptionally chilling round of peek-a-boo is played in the area, which leads to a very good wrap-up, and the other is the stalking in the woods. With a great, extended chase through down a dirt road to a great series of hiding amongst the trees as well as the final confrontation which is really good. There's a lot of good stuff to be had in other suspenseful happenings, such as the repeated use of the whispery voice during the phone-calls as well as plain normal circumstances, and they're quite good. The dream she has, where she approaches a dilapidated gravestone, only for a gnarled hand to emerge and drag her underground is played out nicely, and the events that transpire at school are really nice, from the set-up of the palm-reading to the flaming trash-bin and to the slamming locker doors when she passes by, all conspire to make their story all the more believable since it's plausible enough with all the evidence. It's also quite nice to be able to have a great back-story for that sort of thing, and this one manages to cough out a pretty nice one in here. The two plot-explanation sequences, one coming during a group-gathering while the other comes from the gathered research, allows for the creepy feelings they have to be plausible enough for them to be believable following such evidence, and that goes a long way towards making this one a little creepier. The last plus to this is the killer, even though there's nothing here to give him a body count. The mask is insanely creepy, and the drill-bits for the hand are an inspired choice. These here are the film's good parts.The Bad News: There was a couple problems with this one that are noticeable. One of the biggest ones is the film's insistence on having her try to join the society despite not having one real solid reason why it would be beneficial. It's a minor storyline problem in that there's never once a mention of why her being there is a good thing, as the nature of which she is introduced, doing palm-readings and showing a general interest in the occult, are traits that they are showed to have no real interest in, yet they keep hounding her to come join them. Even she says that she's rather not join them, and so the early parts of the film, filled with their failed attempts at doing that, are just flat-out confusing. Another minor storyline faux-pas is the inclusion of the scene where they sneak into the house looking for dirt on her, only to leave without getting anything done. It's over too soon anyways as they don't find anything, their playing of the Quija board makes no sense, and then they scatter, accomplishing nothing, setting up nothing down-the-road and generally not doing anything. The last flaw here is the rating, which is somewhat more harmful than the others. Despite their being a masked killer who uses a very impressive and potentially-brutal weapon, the cutaways during the attacks demand nothing too graphic, really damaging their impact. These here are the film's flaws.The Final Verdict: With a few problems in here that are pretty easily blamed on certain forces, the film's large amount of positives makes this one a pretty easy watch. Give it a shot if you're into the cast, an interest in witchcraft films or find it interesting, while those that don't approve of the flaws should heed caution.Rated PG-13: Violence and some Language
g404c
I saw this a couple of nights ago on Lifetime Movie Network, having never seen it before. This was like, attack of the mid/late '90s big time. Riding the wave of Scream, I Know What You Did Last Summer, Charmed, and even Clueless, I've Been Waiting For You has some elements from all the movies and the TV show I just mentioned. It is just the smaller-budget version.Sarah Chalke is Sarah Zoltanne, a high school senior who has just moved with her mother from L.A. to small town Massachusetts. The moment she arrives she has a bad feeling about her house, which she learns was home to a supposed witch centuries before. She is shunned by her new classmates at her new school for dressing "weird" and for hanging out with the black sheep, Charlie (Ben Foster). One of the popular guys (Christian Campbell) does takes an interest in her, though. I do not want to give anything away, so I will leave it at that.I would bet the makers of this movie, along with the actors, had a good time while making this--it is total fluff. See it and you'll see what I mean. Director Christopher Leitch (who also directed She Fought Alone) does a nice job here. I recommend I've Been Waiting For You, mainly due to the nostalgia of the '90s. This movie is soooooo '90s--the phrases, the jokes--it is pretty hilarious. It is also really fun. Do not expect much and you should enjoy this.
cindysky97
i thought it was a pretty good movie. It was a little predictable, but it definitely outlined the way the "in" crowd acts to outsiders. The script was OK, the dialog was a bit stiff. It had some funny moments. It was worth watchingjust to see Markie Post fall down the stairs. Great twist at the end, too!! I was so sure that the guy in the mask was Eric! The first clue that Sarah isn't an innocent was the cat. If you are a Sarah Chalke fan, i would watch just to see her play a spooky character. As far as Punky Brewster goes, she never did a good role after that, and this was no different. I just don't see her as a catty teen.
