Pod

I didn't know much about this at all going in other than the story- line (which I thought sounded intriguing), I decided to bypass the trailer and the reviews and just pop this in with an open mind. I'm glad I did, because this was an entertaining flick.

The movie kicks off with a lot of dialogue and I think this is one of the main things that through people off, but personally I enjoyed it. The actors did a really good job at capturing exactly what sibling dialogue sounds like. I'm sure some people found their bickering annoying but for it just made the movie more realistic, I started to really feel like the actors were actually brother and sister. The dialogue eventually leads up to a pretty thrilling last 20 minutes that had me tense right up to the end credits.

This isn't an amazing movie, it's not super original and it's not going to win any awards, but it entertained me for the entire length of its short run time and in the end that is really all I ask for from horror movies. Go in with realistic expectations and there is a pretty good chance you will enjoy this one.

6/10

Family reunion can be awkward, but these siblings take it to the next level. Nearly the entire script consists of bantering and screaming. It's quite the shame since the premise shows a glimpse of isolation that could've been better utilized for sci-fi or horror, instead we are presented an exhausting spectacle of dysfunctional family more than the actual mystery.

This is a small cast, with only three leads. Marty is the secluded brother and his siblings are worried about him. This leads to a long verbal standoff, arguing whether Marty is delusional or not. There's a lot of yelling and cursing involved, and one can't help but wonder if they could resolve the issue with better communication skill and whether the excessive shouting is merely padding to prolong the already short runtime.

After a while the loud screaming becomes numbing, and the thriller aspect doesn't get going until much later. It displays the hint of eerie atmosphere, although it doesn't manifest seamlessly and as usual shaky cam is expected. If it had more refined screenplay that focused on the mystery rather than family squabble as though they were in a cheap reality show, it could've been decent.

Scarce on the thrill and heavy on the cursing, Pod is a much tiresome and less horrifying affair than it could've been.

Entertaining, kept me intrigued with the mystery, and despite what appears to be a very low budget the film is equal to or better than many high budget films. Character development was good, maybe very good and definitely, better than average for thriller/horror genre. Few special effects, but very well done. Great atmosphere throughout. Ending follows the classic horror model- too bad and a let down.

There is like two movies in one. The first, lays out what Martin thought he saw. And Ed and Lyla responding to his cryptic phone call, as Ed is his brother and Lyla is Martin's sister. Martin is in the woods with his dog, hears his dog yelp, and finds the dog dead, and he starts shooting into the woods. He calls Ed, telling him not to come. Martin was in the military, has really bad experiences with the VA, feels he was experimented on, has a tracking device in his tooth, and he tells Ed he has something in the basement that will confirm his story. Ed seems to be a mental health doctor, and isn't interested in anything that contradicts his predetermined ideas, while Lyla feels Martin believes what he is saying. This is the first part, and when Ed goes into the basement (of course) this is the second movie. The music becomes loud, there are strobe effects and jerky camera moves, and thing get frantic. And it seems rushed. There is no pod in the basement, but there certainly is danger. For me, the movie doesn't seem either complete nor polished. Martin does a decent job of playing his role, while Ed seems too wooden. Lyla, shown to have an alcohol problem, contributes little.

Although the acting and character development in this film are very good, I was left at the end with too many unanswered questions and unexplained plot holes. It's always difficult to realistically display mental health disorders in a sympathetic and factual way and this title managed to cover such an emotive subject in a sensitive way, which was quite impressive. However, the storyline isn't a strong one and does little to explain who the characters really are, let alone how or why they make the choices they do. People are introduced and never explained, leaving you feeling that you have no idea where people have appeared from or what their motives are. I understand that sometimes as a viewer you have to 'Put the pieces of the puzzle together yourself' but it constantly seemed as if a lot of the pieces were missing and there was no way to see the whole picture. Overall, this movie was rather disappointing and missed the opportunity to create a great atmosphere as well as subjecting us to a rather strange and badly thought out narrative.