The Snare

Start with this, English in not my mother language. My apo's for spelling mistakes... How's your Dutch btw? :-)

The general opinion doesn't seem to agree with me. 3.4 vs 9??? Well, I've read the user reviews already here. And Shining, well (only applies to movie not book) always has been a little overrated to me. But I can see the parallels that were drawn. Alice in Wonderland? The woman is slowly descending into madness. If that's a reference to Alice in Wonderland I can see one in every movie. Just take it for what it is pls.

I just think it does not have the aspiration to be like that movie (Shining). At least not intentionally. I just watched it for what is was, and these are my personal conclusions:

It's a slow burner. You have to like that kind of movie. I know that put's off a lot of people. It relies heavy on it's creepy atmosphere. You have to invest in the movie to get really into it. The acting of the lead actress is outstanding. Her mental descent and physical transformation are really impressive. For me seldom seen in low budget movies. (The original Martyrs comes to mind as another exception) It is very scary. Not only by atmosphere but also by jump scares. It is visually stunning in it's simplicity, because it does not have that "Hollywood film" over it and yet it's able to grab you by the neck. It looks "European real (for lack of better words) It's also somewhat gory. Depends on what you are used to I guess. But there are definitely some stomach-turning moments. It is also erotically charged in a sick kinda way. First seduction and innocent flirting, then animal instincts taking over. And damn it is so creepy!!!

Watch this movie if you like slow burnin' horror movies. If you have a short attention span, go watch ghostbusters (n.o.) You have to like the genre, if not, that's the only condition I can think to let this one slip.

And for the love of god. For once they showed a boob. Just because it happened to be there... on a chest... of most women...

For starters, good movie, really enjoyed it.

Strong on atmosphere, great performances, a real sense of mystery throughout and nail biting suspense.

However, I would say that it is weaker overall in terms of story and character, although I don't feel this hurts it too much because of the type of film it is.

This film is more about an experience....an emotion driven, mood driven and tension driven piece and that is where and why I feel it excels.

It doesn't matter whether the characters are likable or not in this context. It's apparent from the get go that this film positions the audience as the cold spectator so that they can witness the horrific events that take place and then draw their own conclusions. It doesn't hold your hand, it's up to you which characters you like or not, feeling connected to them and empathizing with them is not important or essential when it comes to watching this.

Likewise, similarly to The Shining, which was obviously an influence, I get the impression you're not supposed to get all the answers, its not supposed to make complete sense, that's the very nature of what makes the paranormal frightening if you believe in that sort of thing.

It's what makes you think about it afterwards and keeps you talking about it.

Would recommend a watch.

What got me interested in watching this movie was the trailer, which turned out to be very misleading. It made it look as if it was going to be a bit of a creepy jumper horror, however it was quite the opposite. Scenes that were meant to be creepy were boring, and there was one scene that makes you jump throughout and it wasn't anything terrifying. Any movie producers that feel the need to mislead viewers with the trailer must know that their product is garbage.

Good notes would be the acting, as always with most British movies it is spot on, and the way it is shot is pretty good especially that end scene of the apartment they were trapped in. However that does not justify the unbalanced way the plot plays out, and how it drags without anything interesting happening.

So much potential not reached.

Taking a trip into the wilderness, a group of friends on a retreat to a remote seaside lodge find themselves alone and stranded inside a cursed apartment complex by a malevolent entity that holds a powerful spell over them and forces them into desperate means to get away.

For the most part, this one was a decent if unspectacular effort. Like most modern British horror films, the film is really undone by the languid and wholly uninviting pacing that just really drags this one out far longer than it really should be. The first half of this one is a prime example as this one just goes through such a sullen and drowsy tone that just starts this one off on a downbeat feel showing them at every stop along the way, taking their time getting set-up in the building and their initial interactions together makes this one feel quite challenging. That it takes a while for them to realize they're trapped and for the horror to kick in makes this one feel like so many of the recent British efforts which utilize the same factors, taking far longer to get its main point across since it spends far too long on the plodding build-up rather than anything else. That there's not a whole lot of intensity or energy to the proceedings as everyone tends to offer up no urgency in their actions really completes the picture for this one in how dull and drab it really sets itself up as being, and with the whole build-up taking so long this one does have some problems to work through. There's also the rather troubling issue here with this one really leaving a lot of elements open to speculation, really not letting it's burning mysteries get explored in any shape or form as so much of this one goes unexplored or unanswered throughout here. From the source of the visions showing the mysterious children playing in the woods, the scenes of her watching her memories from her abused childhood or the whole point of luring them to the complex in the first point, there's a lot on offer here that doesn't make much sense and it really lets a lot of questions go unanswered. These here hold it back somewhat even though there are some rather engaging elements within it. One of the film's better features is the fact that this one really manages to evoke a creepy and somewhat unsettling atmosphere with the way it builds itself up along the way. Once we get the impact realized that they're stranded and isolated together, this one offers up some great ideas of their plight together as the fear and paranoia they experience is manifested in their behavior as well as the increasingly strange and mysterious visions. Those are where this one really picks up, going from the quick flashes of people wandering down by the sea to the full-bore visions showing the happenings of the strange cult and how they end up altering her version of reality that really brings up quite a lot of nice freak-outs here to go along with that burgeoning paranoia. That all leads into the fine finale that brings about quite a shocking conclusion to it all as the revelation given here is quite a striking and shocking conclusion that wraps it all together quite nicely offering some decent blood and gore along the way. It's certainly good enough, but it's just too flawed to be higher.

Rated Unrated/R: Graphic Language, Graphic Violence, Brief Nudity, a sex scene, Rape, drug use and close-up shots of dead animals.

Must say, am not a huge fan of this movie after watching, as I feel it did have some issues. Although this is to be expected of course given the natural limitations of a low budget horror.

Despite it's flaws this movie does get a lot of things rights and is a very bold attempt to try and do something different and for that alone I highly commend it as this was so refreshing to see. Was relieved not to have sat through another empty rehash.

It must've took real f****** balls to make something like this in a market that's over- stuffed and over-filled to the brim with generic middle of the road SAFE horror pics.

Some genuine creepy moments in this too. Like on a whole another level of CREEPY!!!!

As for it's flaws, it would have been great to have seen more of Alice's backstory so that we can understand more about her relationship with her father, although I understand why a lot of this was left ambitious and open to speculation.

Also, some of the best bits of this movie are when the two girls are uncovering the fate of those who were trapped in the apartment before they were (won't spoil it here) but it would've been great to have explored this more and to have seen more evidence of 'those who came before'

Certainly don't regret watching and would recommend.