El granero

Today, we get a lot of movies that are supposed to be throwbacks to the 70's and 80's era of horror and exploitation. Usually, they get this wrong ("Malevolence", "Satan's Playground", "The Hazing", etc.), but sometimes, a movie gets it right. Fortunately, "The Roost" gets it right.

Opening with the type of horror movie host that you saw in the old days, "Roost" is actually a movie-within-a movie. The actually movie is nothing original: A group of friends car breaks down, they get stranded, and run into a deadly force (here it's bats that turn victims into zombie-like killers) While the premise and movie in a way is nothing that original, it works because of how it is all done. There is gore, but it's not a gore fest, as the movie focuses more on atmosphere and suspense (which fails on a few occasions) than gory slapstick gags and homages that can grow tiresome. Also effective is the way director sets up several scenes, including a sequence where a cop is attacked by bats. Adding to it is a wonderfully creepy screeching violin score, and some effective (but never over used) CGI effects involving the bats.

"The Roost" won't change the face of horror. It's not too original and the acting is mediocre at best. However, it's still a blast, and will be a treat to those who grew up going to see Grindhouse movies or who watched creaky, faded videos of horror movies.

This is such a typical "bad" attempt at making a horror film. The usual storyline: a group of random friends on a trip somewhere who take the wrong road, get lost, etc..etc...and find HORROR instead of a way back to the highway and anyone even remotely normal to help them. All of these people are hapless individuals who probably are fine in their regular lives...but put them in a rural setting...in the dark..with nothing..and OMG..they cannot function...alone or as a group. They spend endless amounts of time looking scared/confused/lost...and stupid in almost every scene. We should go..we should stay...OMG...what do we do NOW? And...they talk about it all the time...trying to make plans to do SOMETHING. If they go outside...SOMETHING will get them...in this case vampire bats are doing the terrorizing. Of course...they don't all stay together..one or two have to wander off...go look for help...get the car...they never should have left in the first place...blah, blah, blah. They know they made a mistake...and now...well..they have to deal with it...as one by one...they probably are all going to meet a gross and untimely death in some way. Tbe scenes are of poor quality..the lighting is bad...the reactions of the actors are even worse most of the time...over-acting is at the top of the list here. We don't cheer for any heroes...or find anything worth saving here as this film goes on and on and on. Yawn. If you played this one at an all night horror film festival...everyone would be asleep before the night even got started. Save the popcorn for something worthy...cos this one isn't even good enough to be found in a bargain bin at the dollar store.

I recently watched the Ti West throwback The Roost (2005) on Tubi. The film is framed as a late-night fright show and tells the story of a group of friends on their way to a wedding who end up at an abandoned farm-on the wrong night.

As previously mentioned, this picture is written and directed by Ti West (Pearl) and features Tom Noonan (RoboCop 2), Karl Jacob (Catfight), Wil Horneff (The Sandlot), and Larry Fessenden (You're Next).

It's clear this movie was made by someone who truly loves the horror genre. Tom Noonan is perfectly cast as the eerie horror host, and he brings a lot of fun to the role. The main storyline is fairly straightforward and nothing groundbreaking, but West makes the most of his limited budget. The makeup, costumes, and practical effects are solid-the infected look cool, and the corpses are impressively done. The bats are just okay, but they're easy to overlook. At just over 80 minutes, the runtime also feels just right.

In conclusion, The Roost is a fairly average entry in the horror genre, but you can spot early flashes of Ti West's emerging talent. I'd give this a 5/10 and recommend it to horror enthusiasts looking for something atmospheric and independently made.

Noonan is talented - check out his triple duty as the writer, director and star of 1994's WHAT HAPPENED WAS..., which features one of the most believable first kisses in movie history - so what in the world is he doing here? Either lending his star power to a needy friend, I suppose, or simply taking the money and running.

THE ROOST has absolutely nothing to recommend it. The writing, directing, acting, photography, effects, makeup and scares - they're all garbage. Even Noonan's own bit as the retro TV horror host is painfully lame, and the "shock" scenes are just a handful of uninspired shaky-cam attacks by some escapees from a WALKING DEAD convention.

You can - as I did - fast-forward through 90% of this sad excuse for a movie without missing anything, and the other 10% is equally worthy of oblivion.

And, please, can people stop hating on bats? The bat is a docile and remarkable creature without which we'd be up to our eyeballs in mosquitoes, and the vandalism of its habitats is an ignorant crime against nature.

I found this pretty banal - I watched in it London's cosy ICA cinema 2 - it's an art cinema, but if you get the right crowd (as they recently did for 'Thundercrack!', the atmosphere in this 45-seater is excellent.

However, I had to step past a guy who'd fallen asleep when the movie ended - the build up was excellent at points, but there was no payoff. It was pretty senseless, and although the grain lent it a spooky low budget ambiance, I'm not certain that was the intention.

Acting was reasonable, but the characters were beyond paper-thin. It was seriously hard to care about them at all, yet at the same time I wished them no particularly ill-will. Neither of these is a good sign.

Not recommended - not appalling, but not great by any means.