The Luring

First off, let me say that I don't understand the low ratings here... "The Luring" is a pretty well-made suspense film - a rarity in the genre, and for that I was EXTREMELY grateful! They are rare enough from big studios and rarer still in the indie film world. The attention-grabbing opening scene immediately engaged me, making me want to find out the rest of the story of "the cabin in the woods" - which admittedly is a standard horror film trope, but it was done so well that ...trope/schmope. I'm IN. Production value is top notch, with simple, yet effective practical effects, and the acting of the entire cast is strong. The story flows well most of the time - but as is the case with many films like this, the viewer occasionally needs to work to suspend their disbelief. The child actor (Jake Katzman) in the opening scene was particularly good. Not easy to find effective child performers, and the other kid actors were good as well. Don't want to give too much away, but there were times while I was watching where I was literally screaming at the TV for Claire (Michaela Sprague) to ditch Garrett (Rick Irwin) because...DAMN - what a whacko that character is! Then there is another character who reminded me of The Tall Man in Phantasm, and he is appropriately creepy. Also very creepy was the ultra tall clown, and I wish there was more to that subplot. Overall, There is a lot to like with this indie thriller, and director Christopher Wells' work. Recommended.

The movie is exceptionally poor in pretty much all aspects.

The acting pretty much gives away what kind of movie it will be from the start. The performance is akin to a high school play with nervous kids that force their lines and overact. The cinematography is not too bad, although that alone amounts to nothing in the end considering the convoluted and disconnected plot. You know how in a dream you are convinced certain things make sense but when you wake up you wonder how come you didn't see the glaring contradictions with reality? That's how this movie plays out. There is a multitude of cliche horror elements - an eerie red balloon, a psycho kid killer, children hurting children, mysterious plot device shadowy man, a toy of unknown significance which the camera zooms in on regularly, etc. etc. Events do unfold, but saying they are in any way coherently connected is like answering a math problem with "green". I wouldn't even call this one pretentious as to me this is simply a bad movie due to bad writing and directing.

This is the type of movie that will have a few people pretend to understand its "profound" meaning and will insist that it is so deep that nobody gets it but do not be fooled. Deep applies to this movie like "dry" applies to "ocean".

This is a movie that I suspect has a specific niche group of fans. I enjoyed it. there were confusing bits but overall, I was happy with my understanding of the story. I don't think this is a horror per se, but more psychological horror/thriller would be the way I classify this one. There are themes that are disturbing. That aside, there is a story here. Not sure if it was deliberate but there are clues and symbols scattered throughout the movie, which explain some things. This movie is weird, moody, dark, and interesting - and is comparable to the likes of Twin Peaks in the way it makes you feel as a viewer. Not everyone will like this, but there is definitely a niche audience that will enjoy this one.

Arriving at a cabin in the woods, a man begins a journey to recollect lost memories of a traumatic incident from his past, yet the closer he gets to uncovering everything the true nature of the incident is revealed putting those around him in greater danger.

This was an okay if somewhat flawed effort. What works best in this one is the general build-up and atmosphere of something being wrong with the house. The opening flashback to the encounter as a kid is quite chilling which is quite nice, while the constant attempts at reconnection to the fateful birthday provide some fun foreshadowing as it sets up the genuinely unnerving final half that spells out the true intent of the hauntings. These are what hold this one up as this one does have some issues. The biggest problem here is the disconnect we get from the main couple who in no way, shape or form come off like a believable couple who have been together for a certain amount of time. Not only is it obvious he's a closed-off, emotionally-distant sociopath who thinks flushing the toilet while she's showering is funny and calling her attempts at connecting cheesy, they display very little chemistry or warmth together despite the excruciatingly long build-up in the first half that tries to say otherwise and gets worse the longer it goes. That brings up another flaw here in the dragged-out pace that doesn't make this one all too thrilling. In addition to the constant attempts at making us think they're a loving couple, the rest of the running time here is devoted to flashbacks about the fateful party which paint him as an even bigger selfish brat than he is as an adult. It's barely worth wanting to stick around trying to figure out the mystery at times where the focus on him being so unlikable causes these to be so boring and unwatchable. As well, the other issue here is that so much of the film's insistence on tropes and ideas for its scares and tension-building is just routine ripoffs and cliches. The focus on the balloons is obvious, while the small-town cliches including the stranger who knows too much, the secretive stranger with a score to settle and the inquisitive girlfriend who gets caught up in everything just come off as pointless as none of it's scary due to being complete cliches. Combined with a wholly confusing and underwhelming finale, this one does have some problems.

Rated Unrated/R: Graphic Language, Violence and intense themes of violence-against-children.

This was an absolute waste of time. Please do not waste your time watching this horrible car crash of a movie. I cannot believe anyone would pay for this, I am so baffled how it even got produced . It was all jumbled and all over the place, the acting was extremely low, the scenes did not connect, nothing made sense. I have NO idea how one person in the reviews said they watched it 3 times, probably because nothing was making sense and they couldn't accept that fact.