Stay Alive

For what it is, this movie rocks! I know it's silly and predictable and even just plain-out awful, but it is ENTERTAINING, and yeah, I had fun laughing at it. Also, Some of it was creepy, but in a very formulaic way. Very fun. You should see it if you want a silly horror movie that doesn't completely suck. The countess was weird-looking, and that was somewhat purposeful because she's a VIDEO-GAME CHARACTER. Malcolm in the Middle was in it -- too bad, I thought that kid was actually good. The house itself is pretty creepy, and the game, if it does or will exist, would be very fun to play. C'Mon! You can't hate it for being bad, it even makes fun of itself! It is really a good hour and a half of...something. Something okay in my book.

Loomis Crowley beta-test video game Stay Alive with his friends Sarah and Rex. All three are killed with Loomis dying exactly the way he died in the game. Loomis' sister gives the game to his friend Hutch (Jon Foster). Hutch, his work friend Miller Banks (Adam Goldberg), brother and sister friends Phineus (Jimmi Simpson) and October (Sophia Bush), geeky Swink (Frankie Muniz) and Sarah's friend Abigail (Samaire Armstrong) play the game together. Miller is killed by the Countess Elizabeth Bathory in the game and she comes to kill him in real life. Police detectives Thibodeaux (Wendell Pierce) and King investigate. Phineus continues to play the game but leaves before getting killed. However the game plays by itself. He is killed in a freak accident like in the game. The remaining group tracks down the origins of the video game. Bathory had drained the blood of young women to bath in to maintain her youth. She was walled up alive in a tower on her plantation. Detective King plays the game and is killed. The cops are after the group and they all go on the run to battle Bathory.

This reminds me of 'The Ring' plus the orderly killing sequence of 'Final Destination'. I like the idea of a real haunted horror video game. I like most of the actors in this movie. I want to like this movie more and I wish it was executed better. First of all, the kills are not bloody enough. The violence should be more gory and bloodier. Too much of it occurs off screen. The backstory is way too complicated. The movie tries to explain too much. It's better to leave it as something creepy killing them. I had a similar problem with 'The Ring' but this movie is much more severe. This movie starts with an interesting idea but the poor execution leaves a lot to be desired.

STAY ALIVE Rated PG-13 for horror violence, disturbing images, language, brief sexual and drug content. Directed By: William Brent Bell Starring: Jon Foster, Frankie Muniz, Samaire Armstrong, and Sophia Bush Runtime: 85 minutes

TO MAKE A LONG STORY SHORT

7 out of 10. Not very scary, but it is enjoyable.

THE LONG VERSION

OK. I was not expecting much from this flik from the get-go. Script although more original than most of the crap movies to come out lately, was still nothing ground breaking. And, having a relatively unknown director on the project wasn't giving this film any better buzz. Then the trailer was released, which made this movie look even worse. So today I see a matinée for this film with a friend of mine, and I'm surprised to find myself watching a genuinely interesting film.

Is it scary? Not really. There's a few boo scares thrown around, but none of them really work. I like during some of the creepy scenes how silent it was, but it never really paid off properly.

Is it at least suspenseful? Yes. It is, in fact, very suspenseful. There are some really cool chase scenes, and some pretty decent "what was that!?" moments.

Is it gory? No. The pictures were, as most suspected, quick shots in the film, and you barely saw any of it. This was, of course, to keep this flik pg13. That's annoying, but whatever, I could get over it rather quickly.

Editing, Directing, etc. was all pretty solid, nothing shocking, but nothing horrible either.

And now, to the part most people are probably interested in: How was the video game sequences? Awesome. This is by far the best part of the movie. When it goes into the video game, it gets really cool. The beginning shines best in this particular style the movie goes for. With some creepy "Samara" like ghosts crawling around, and plenty of stabbing, the video game sequences are the scariest and goriest parts of the flik. These are the scenes that truly shine.

So what else can I say? It's an enjoyable flik that floats in mediocrity until the video game sequences. Thats when it shines. Which makes this a 7 rather than a 6 out of 10.

All in all: Not very scary, but suspenseful. A pretty solid film that can entertain you, but there will definitely be haters. I say lean back and enjoy a decent rental (when it's released on DVD that is) It will be worth the 6-8 bucks you pay for it.

Stay Alive is a new game in which you have to stay alive or suffer the consequences in real life, it's a pretty cool concept and one that could have been executed way better than it actually was.

Surprisingly the film is far less cheesy than i figured it would be, the cast are quite convincing, albeit as pretty shallow characters and the direction, editing and general production are adequate enough. What let it down was the way it sets out the rules and then picks which ones it will follow depending on what stage the story was at, contriving every step of the way to make it fit.

It was mildly entertaining to watch and there is a decent sense of tension throughout, although the scares were all a bit cheap and clichéd, and it definitely didn't need the twist at the end, i hope it's not a setup for a sequel.

5/10

The kiddie horror market continues to baffle me.

Films like this get pounded by the critics as unimaginative, but them often achieve high viewer ratings on IMDb. This movie suffers low ratings in both spheres but is making money. Lots of it.

The genre demands predictability: some kids die, some survive (always including and often just a boy-girl pair), and at the end, the very end we see how the evil has survived to threaten the exiting audience.

I'll tell you why I went to see it, because I like movies where the "movie within" overlaps in some way with the containing movie. In this case, its a video game; same same. Some viewers compare this to "Jumanji," but in that case, the players enter the game, a fantasy world. In this case, the game enters the real world, more in the "Ringu" fashion.

Is it scary? Are any of these? Who cares? What I care about is whether the folding is done coolly, like in "eXistenZ." And whether the characters are as clever as the fold. A couple of these guys were fun, but typically the girls were clones.

I saw this with "I, Madman." Similar values: clever fold, boring presentation.

Ted's Evaluation -- 2 of 3: Has some interesting elements.