La cinta prohibida

I'm not even half way through this flaming pile of garbage filler and I'm done. The bf, who stays behind the camera and delivers half the lines in the movie, is above and beyond annoying and his girly little prepubic voice is like nails on a chalkboard.

The gf is an airhead, cute but dumb as a box of rocks. I have no idea what stupidity is left in this movie but I'm sure it's not worth commenting on. I'll just be waiting and rooting for these two and anyone else in sure that pops up to die. If only this was a snuff film and it was for real.

So my girlfriend and I decided to give this one a shot because we are fans of found footage horror movies and really liked the Grave Encounters movies. We didn't expect too much from this movie, and that's about what we got. To sum up sxtape quickly, just imagine Grave Encounters...now remove all the parts where stuff actually happens, and you have this movie. Firstly, having only 2 characters for the bulk of the film really limits what can happen, especially when the story and dialog are as horrendous as they are here. The characters are not developed whatsoever and I feel like they act in completely random ways during the events of the movie and I don't get any kind of definition as to their character or personalities. The setting itself is great, but highly underutilized. Once again, we have yet another movie in an abandoned place where the director expects the location to carry the movie and make it "creepy" and "unsettling" by default without adding further elements to conjure those moods. So, we're left with a movie that mainly involves two people walking around in an asylum (that was performing lobotomies in 1982 apparently! to hell with sense. oh and the water and power still works. suuuure) and talking about random stuff (sometimes sex, sometimes "this is weird we should leave...but let's stay for some reason"). I didn't get the feeling that there was anything beyond a very loose story arc for this movie (there is going to be a boring intro, a "creepy" overly drawn out mid section, and a brief & very predictable climax). There was some stuff that happened, but there was no particular purpose behind any of it and none lead to any significant developments. One huge flaw I found with the movie is that any time a scene starts to pick up - you hear something in the distance, ominous music starts to play, some ghostly voices echo in the background, the cameraman starts to run...OK this is about to get good...and then, bizarrely, the camera shuts off and comes back on a second later in a different location where nothing is happening and nothing became of whatever situation was about to go down. This completely kills the mood. I have no idea why this "technique" was used over and over throughout the film but it made it a chore to sit through, since any time you think something is about to happen you are jarringly let down. I think there is also a plot about ghosts or something, but it is never fleshed out, nor does it have much bearing on anything that happens other than to provide a boo scare or two.

Ultimately, this is just a bland attempt to follow in the footsteps of movies like Grave Encounters. Not the worst thing ever, though not particularly worth watching unless you absolutely must see every found footage horror movie out there.

A young couple embark on a road trip to an abandoned hospital with the man filming everything along the way. The woman is a painter and the idea is to scope out the hospital to hold an art show there at a later time.

When their car is towed, they call a couple of friends to pick them up, but plans change and they all re-enter the building. This is when bad things start happening as supernatural forces begin to manifest.

The characters are so annoying and their decisions either do not make sense or just plain drive you crazy. Too little happens too late and what does happen is not very interesting. If there were more supernatural goings on and the characters were more likable I think I would have enjoyed this a lot more.

I should have known this would be miserable. And it was. The clue was the pretentious missing E but I actress was kind of hot and...well...I'm an idiot.

Jill and Adam live in the stereotypical "art space" that their parents probably pay for. They have a lot of sex and talk about "art". That's the extent of their relationship and about the only part of the movie that works. Adam finds an abandoned hospital and shows it to Jill. OOH! They can use it an an ART SPACE!. If you can get past the ridiculousness of this you have more tolerance than I.

They wander around making plans. Jill, in a clue to how much thought she put into her art, says she can just sign the garbage lying around and that's art. They find a room with a strap-down table. Adam straps Jill down and leaves her there for...well, we don't know how long, and she's assaulted by some spirit. Adam come back. They have sex until Jill's nose literally bleeds. Good job, Adam! They get freaked out, leave the building and...ruh-roh! - her car's getting towed away! Of all the BAD LUCK. They call for a ride from a friend who shows up with her dickish boyfriend.

And decide to go back in the building because it worked out so well the first time.

An hour later, the movie ends.

If you like movies where the characters actively work against their own self- interests simply because of the script and lack any kind of logic at all (the water, power and video equipment in hospital all still work) then you'll love this. If, however, you need even a hint of reality to your suspense, don't waste your time.

I see the reviews are harsh, I won't be the one to break the ice on a quite good one, in order to attract attention or mislead people, but for someone who never was into found footage movies, I got to say this one kept me still, watching, waiting for more.

It starts slow, some nudity, some jokes and builds up to the key point in around 20 minute. From there on, it grows more and more and starts to deliver. Sure, nothing mind blowing, but considering the fact that zombie movies and found footage are spreading like a virus lately, once you do find a good one, it's good to get things straight. In my honest opinion, SxTape is a good example and here are the reasons: 1) acting was good; 2) characters were typical and natural; 3) once the tension makes an appearance it stays there; 4) one or two good scares (let's face it, found footage can't really be scary anymore;) 5) the twisted situation involved.

So all in all, I would recommend this one, if you don't expect too much out of it, it will be OK. Somehow of a "Grave encounters", maybe better, dunno exactly. Anyway, if you do go in for it, enjoy!

Cheers!