ATM - Tödliche Falle

An all-too obvious attempt at replicating the unexpected success he enjoyed with Ryan Reynolds' 'Buried', 'ATM' sees writer Chris Sparling returning to a claustrophobic conceit, pitting three individuals trapped within the confines of an isolated ATM against a hooded parka-wearing figure standing outside. The premise is gimmicky no doubt, but Sparling had managed to turn a similar high-concept into a surprisingly tense and thrilling experience the last time round, so it isn't unreasonable to think that he could do the same with this movie.

Alas, 'ATM' is not even half as smart as his previous 'Buried', with its three characters behaving so ridiculously that you end up rooting for their demise instead. Indeed, there are so many moments where you're bound to go 'now why did they do that' or 'now why didn't they just do that', which of course does little to convince of the plausibility of the entire setup. And if it proves to be entertaining, it only manages to be so for all the wrong reasons.

Unlike 'Buried' where we are thrust from the very first shot into the tight space, director David Brooks takes about twenty minutes to get to that point- although this extended prologue does little in garnering any empathy for any one of the characters. All three- David (Brian Geraghty), Emily (Alice Eve) and Corey (Josh Peck)- happen to be colleagues at the same investment bank on their way home from their company's annual Christmas party. And oh, if it makes any difference, this is also the first time David has plucked up his courage to talk to Emily the intern whom he has a hopeless crush on.

Upon request by the tactless and thoughless Corey, David makes a slight detour so Corey can take some money out from an ATM in the middle of a desolate parking lot to get supper. Following some narrative contrivance involving David's faulty card, all three co-workers end up in the ATM booth- trapped inside by said masked figure whom they watch stabbing a passerby to prove to them as well as the audience that he is no Santa Claus. It doesn't occur to them that there's three of them and one of him, neither does it dawn on them earlier on to trigger some sort of alarm (which David eventually does) to alert the authorities.

On the contrary, they wait like sitting ducks while their terroriser figures out some way to flush them out- which again he only does, and we mean 'flush' literally, towards the end as dawn approaches. Not only do the trio come across as unresourceful, there is little that the script nor Brooks does to get you to root for them- least of all Corey, who is cast as selfish and callous. From one dumb missed opportunity for them to escape to another, the movie wears its audience's patience thin waiting for the dim-witted affair to be over.

Worse still, for those willing to give it the benefit of the doubt and wait for some smart twist at the end, Sparling squanders that opportunity for redemption with an opaque explanation that offers little of the villain's motivation. What is the point of watching David, Corey and Emily squirm in that ATM booth? Sparling offers no clue, choosing instead to divulge a little more of his villain's methodical planning for a next ATM, hinting at the dreaded possibility of a sequel.

To his credit, Brooks tries his best to maintain a tense atmosphere throughout, and there are a few effective thrilling moments in the film. Ditto for the cast, especially an understated Geraghty, who seem genuinely invested in their characters' circumstances. Nonetheless, both Brooks and the cast are let down by the loophole-ridden script that demands its audience throw all semblance of logic out the window.

Like its confined setting, such a premise requires tight plotting- and given that Sparling knew as much in 'Buried', the flaws in 'ATM' could only be due to sloppiness. How else would you explain why none of his characters thought to park their car right outside the ATM, instead of 100m away in the freezing cold weather?

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In all honesty, I can really see why the film-makers thought that this movie would be a good idea and something that could work out well. You can really tell that this movie had some good ideas in it but things aren't really thought out well enough and the movie is incredibly flawed, mostly due to its story.

These sort of thrillers/horror movies set mostly at one location, are somewhat popular now days and this movie obviously tried to have a go at it as well and ride on the success of the genre. Nothing wrong with that, as long as the movie is good, which obviously isn't the case with this movie.

Problem is that its concept is ridiculously flawed and not thought out properly. The movie doesn't exactly feature, what you could consider, a tight plot. It's build around the concept of 3 people being stuck inside an ATM because outside there is an hooded maniac, looking to kill them, as soon as they get out. Now, this is something that could had worked if things got written a bit more tight and complicated. But this is all there is to the movie really; 3 people being stuck inside a small building, with 1 guy lurking around outside. It's really silly, once you really start thinking about it. First of all, it's 3 versus 1 and it's not like the guy has some sort of superpowers, or is armed to the teeth. I'm not saying that they should had taken on the guy but surely they could had ran out quite easily, the moment the guy was at the back, trying to break into the ATM. The movie is filled with moments like this, that just are plain stupid. It just far too often doesn't make sense and because of that, there also really is no true tension in this movie.

The movie still thinks it's being really clever at times, mostly toward its end, when the 'twist' comes but let me just tell you, the ending simply makes no sense at all and doesn't explain anything. It only makes things look more flawed and ridicules and besides forced. Why do these sort of movies often feel the need to have a 'surprise' ending in it? Sometimes a movie is simply better off when it's being more straight-forward and not by trying to be clever and surprise its audience.

This was an obvious low budget production, which becomes apparent through its looks but also really its acting. No, I definitely wasn't impressed by any of the acting in this movie, which was perhaps another reason why I just wasn't taken at all by it.

But it still wasn't a movie I hated watching. I guess it's too short and harmless for that. Maybe the more casual movie goer can still get some enjoyment and entertainment out of this movie, as long as they don't spend too much time thinking about its plot. But even those people have to admit at the end that this is a far from great or effective enough movie.

Really can't recommended it.

5/10

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...in all honesty, ATM had a small chance to be modern day thriller. The actors are decent. They can certainly get into character and that's were it all ends. All logic and common sense goes out the window from the point they reach the ATM, and park 100 damn feet from it. LOL. The thought process these 3 main characters go through trying to escape one man, leads me to believe Poppa Smurf could have held them hostage at Disneyland. Successfully. Forever.

Everything the ATM "stalker villain" does makes sense, because the 3 captives simply have zero.

Watch this flick if you're a fan of "b" movies, or simply bored and want to pick it apart and cringe and a very bad script. Again, I think the writers and directors could have had something, if only they put in a bit more thought. Great idea, horrible execution.

Yes OK, this movie gets you angry especially towards the end and the ending in general. BUT it definitely was a movie that had me on the edge of my seat. It wasn't creepy or necessarily scary but it had its jumpy moments and the 'killer' was pretty creepy himself. It wasn't the best, the acting was good, I enjoyed the plot, it wasn't as predictable as you'd think, the ending could of been done differently but if you enjoy 'edge of your seat' movies and have some free time I'd recommend giving it a watch! All in all it wasn't at all as bad as some people are making it out to be. It killed time and if I'm honest I kind of enjoyed it, but that's coming from a 16 year old. Haha.

That's quite a claim, I know. But bear with me... we all know from watching horror films, that there's at least one moment where the hero knocks the evil killer to the floor then just runs off, allowing him to get back up and chase them down all over again. We all scream, "No! Hit him again! And again!" but they never do.

That sort of thing normally happens once or twice in your average horror film. Not in the case of ATM though. You will find yourself screaming at the TV screen near constantly for about forty minutes of the film.

ATM is about three friends who use an ATM (or 'cash machine' as I always called them) in the middle of the night. They go inside to withdraw some dollars, only to find there's a psychotic killer (who looks a bit like Kenny from South Park in my opinion) waiting outside for them. And that's why he does - waits. He stands across the parking lot staring at them. They could just run away. They don't. It's also worth noting that these are the only three people in 2011 who don't have a single mobile phone between them. The killer then kills a passer by. While he's doing that, they could just run away. They don't. The killer then ransacks their car (which is parked right across the car park). They could just run away. They don't. The killer then wanders round the back of the ATM building they're in to hammer it a bit (why?). During that time he's banging on the back, they could just open then front door and run off without him seeing. They don't. And so it goes on.

These are truly the stupidest three people in the world. I watched it to the end, just to see if it got any better. It didn't really. And that was a shame as, believe it or not, the characters were actually quite well-written and funny. Plus the production values were quite high, putting it above many other modern horrors.

If you're expecting something clever and different like Phone Booth then you won't find it here.