Pernicious

Supernatural horror that tries to incorporate too many elements. While not 'perfect', I wouldn't say its 'dreadful'...true, it could have been better. But if your sitting around looking to watch a horror movie, there are much much worse ways to spend your time. At least it wasn't 'formulaic'...well, not TOO much.

OK. The 'good'- 1) Pretty girls 2) creepy supernatural legend 3) exotic location 4) insane gore, ala 'Hostel' 5) nice twist AT THE BEGINNING, 6) The protagonists are smart, not like the typical 'tripping in the forest' or 'looking in the basement when they should be running the hell away'. Btw, did I mention it has some really pretty girls ? (no nudity guys).

The 'bad'- 1) Uneven acting (mostly from supporting cast), 2) Stilted dialogue and story after the first third of the movie.

As I said, it definitely could have been better. But you gotta love these people who continually pan certain horror movies as 'awful' and 'avoid at all costs'...its entertainment people !! You don't like it, turn it off and watch something else...or better yet, make your OWN movie. To say you want the 'two hours' of your life back...gimme a break...your life isn't all that exciting if you're sitting on the couch surfing for movies to watch.

Bottom Line: Like a 5 course meal with some of the courses a bit 'off', leaving you savoring the good bits and wanting more.

i watched it because the movie poster boasts some respectable endorsements. Then the movie starts... its all downhill from here. wait its in digital.. a HDcam movie. As soon as the opening starts, you feel kinda nauseous. Something felt amiss. It doesn't feel normal. Not movie like. The amateurish camera angle gave it away. Amateurish editing inter-cutting with the drone cam really shows that this guy doesn't know his stuff. BTW, the overhead shot really sucks. The opening scenes where you see the actresses talking without audio should really tell you of what is to come. Its like someone forgets to record the sound. The movie really got worst. I could not get past the first 8 minute. Felt sorry for the actresses for believing in the director.

OK to start off the film was absolutely rubbish, the acting was atrocious and the storyline was just plain silly.

As for the fake reviewers on here ( fosterchandler3-685-790349) i might add that this guy who gave this film 8 stars is very 'close and also knows his work schedule Lil ' with the director hence the big amazing review.THE OTHER FAKE REVIEWERS ARE "Camden Stewar"t & "cameronflores9" People really need to start watching the actual movie instead of praising a guy who makes a diabolical movie. People really need to stop using the rating system on IMDb to create false hope for people expecting a good movie. One tip i will give to the guy who wrote the 10 star review ( you may want to possibly not make it so obvious how close you are with the director and is fabulous work ethics. Please for the love of god get a grip. Bottom line this film should not have even been made its that rubbish take my advice people don't be fooled by these 10 star reviews from people who have only been a member for like the past month who only have the one review. Come on to the silly idiots out there who do this, people are not that dumb

"Pernicious" is a bad film in many ways. However, I cannot just dismiss it because it also, at times, shows a lot of promise-- especially since the director/writer, James Cullen Bressack, is so young and seems to have potential. It's a shame, with a bit of retooling it could be an exceptional horror story.

The film is about three incredibly smokin' hot women who inexplicably land in Thailand to work with underprivileged children!! I say inexplicably because the three look and act just like they are in a Spring Break sex romp and show many of the classic stereotypes. True to the types, they are mostly concerned with getting drunk and getting laid...which makes the entire working to teach poor children angle totally laughable. Had the film simply had them be three hot and terribly spoiled ladies (which they were) but without the silly children aspect, it sure would have made a lot more sense! As it was, this is how the movie started and I was immediately turned off.

What came next was also terrible. The three pick up three sleazy guys and it appears that the film is going to be a nudie picture. Surprisingly, it doesn't go there at all--and what follows is just god-awful. The three ladies torture and murder the men. This alone is not the problem--it did work with the plot that follows. But the scenes were often way too vivid and just plain nasty. I don't enjoy seeing folks' teeth getting knocked out nor their eyes shoved into their mouths! Call me a prude if you like, but at the very least, this sort of thing sure seems to lack subtlety!!

Had I not been asked to review the film, I am sure I would have stopped watching long before all this. Amazingly, however, despite thoroughly hating the film so far, the last half actually shocked me because it was quite good. The sense of horror and foreboding in the film was excellent and the back story about the Kumari* was weird but unique. I almost wish they'd redo parts of the first half of the film and then release it--making the ladies just stupid and vacuous instead of social workers as well as cutting a few of the more revolting torture scenes. It wasn't even because all the killing was that believable--but it was just unnecessary-- especially when the film otherwise did a great job of setting the mood without all the over the top gore.

*If you care, the Kumari is a real sort of thing from Buddhism but is from Nepal and does NOT involve murder and gore. Look it up sometime if you are curious.

Pernicious starts off like a rather naff TVM. Three models (supposedly teachers) rent a house in Thailand and experience some weird goings on, before shrugging them off and going shopping/clubbing. This pretty much continues for a good part of the film before they can ignore it no longer.

Actually the above précis makes it sound more interesting than it really is. There is no real script or acting to speak of, just by the numbers progression. I thought for a moment the film was dubbed because some parts have badly out of synch speech. After every trauma they remain immaculately presented, with not a hair out of place, and strangely unmoved by their experience.

There are a few scenes of Herschell Gordon Lewis style camp ultraviolence, which although obviously fake, is the only redeeming feature of the film. However, they jar with the pedestrian pace and made-for-TV style nature of the rest of the film.

Overall, although not terrible, you need to be seriously bored to bother with this one.