Self Storage

I'm not one to use hyperbole a lot when reviewing films. I never use "worst movie ever" or "this movie makes me want to rip my eyes out", etc. That said, this movie is awful. Although it's probably not the worst I've ever seen, it's the worst all-around film I've seen in a long time. By all-around I mean the acting, writing, directing, music, editing...the works. It's all bad with no real bright spot at all.

Without giving anything away, the film follows a young guy who works at a storage facility who decides to invite friends over to his job to have a small party after hours. Soon, the carnage begins and the party turns into a fight for survival. The filmmakers try their hardest to make the plot more than just a slasher film but their idea falls completely flat and begs for answers to logical questions...these questions are never answered as a result, I suspect, of lazy filmmaking. For example (of lazy filmmaking), in the first five minutes of the film, you see the main character playing guitar, smoking weed, and basically acting like a slacker. This montage during the credits is meant to tell us that this is the cool guy--but like any bad filmmaker--they use a series of stereotypical actions to show us this fact.

This model of using stereotypes is pretty much followed for every character in the film. So much so that some characters don't even appear to act like human beings, but cartoonish stereotypes of the type of person they are trying to portray. Even Eric Roberts seems embarrassed to be seen in this film. He has a very difficult time keeping his part together surrounded by such horrible acting.

The music is awful. Just crappy rock and alternative numbers that are probably songs from a band the director knows. They use the music like films from the 90's during suspenseful scenes: Play some generic metal guitar riff during chase scenes and some horrible rock song (with words!) during scenes you want us to believe have tension. Yes, it's that bad.

You get the idea here. This is a bad film. I would suggest only watching this if you are looking for a "what not to do in filmmaking" example or if you like to torture yourself with laughable movies. Otherwise, beware.

A low budget, low rent slasher flick. As is usual for this particular genre, the film is blighted by poor scripting and poor acting, not to mention a godawful soundtrack as another reviewer has mentioned. It's automatically bottom-of-the-barrel stuff, albeit with a single exception: somebody brought in cast members Eric Roberts and Michael Berryman, teamed them up with lots of humorous one-liners, and made the film mildly watchable as a result.

Truthfully, Roberts and Berryman are the only good things in this. The humour they bring is a lot of fun, even if their character motivations remain resolutely unbelievable. Elsewhere it's just bad acting, random sex and drug scenes, and characters being irritating. There are some strong gore and torture scenes but they're not dwelt on too much, thank goodness, alongside some choice nudity from the actresses. It's all very poor indeed, apart from the scenes with Roberts and Berryman.

Director Tom DeNucci, working from his own well-crafted script, brings one of the most disturbingly frightening films in decades to the screen. Eric Roberts gives one of his finest performances as Walter in the horrific story of a self-storage maze where madness reigns supreme. The suspense is unrelenting and the terror so intense it's unimaginable. The director masterfully creates an atmosphere of dread and stark raving fear, never falling into any cliché trap. The characters are well developed and we soon to care for them deeply as they fight for their very lives. A stunning film of unknown terror and overwhelming tension, this is one motion picture that demands to be seen.