lizaio1

I ran across this on OnDemand one night and was absolutely delighted throughout. Anna Kendrick is charming as Martha, a down-on-her-luck quirky girl (but not silly quirky ala Garden State, etc). Sam Rockwell (and I'll admit some bias here because he is my favorite) is edgy, sexy and his character is so very interesting. The best thing about this film is the chemistry between the two, which is bananas. The action gets a little out of hand, and it's pretty violent, but overall really fun and refreshing. RZA was a nice touch, and it was good to see Tim Roth, though he gave quite a nod to his character in Reservoir Dogs. Anson Mount was barely tolerable, as usual, but it worked. That's the thing about this film. It works on so many levels that the places that could be better really don't matter. If you want a fun, funny, romantic, action-filled delight of a little film, check it out.

I'll start off by saying the bar was set pretty low for this flick. While I love horror, slasher horror is one of my least favorite types. What made this film for me (along with several other reviewers) is the cinematography. It's a real visual treat - pretty in parts, gritty and terrifying in parts, with a "we're stuck in the middle of dry, dead earth" type of despair to it.

I didn't want to think Amber Heard did a good job. I don't think the role of Mandy Lane required much but a really beautiful girl (which she is), but her delivery and execution is spot on. Michael Welch held his own and all the supporting kids were believable.

When the killings start, it's pretty obvious who is doing it. The first murder is particularly brutal. The "twist" is not much of a twist, but it's well executed.

I had a lot of problems with the dialog, but then, I have a lot of problems listening to teenagers talk in real life. So I'm betting the dialog was pretty standard and not as cringe-worthy as I thought. I'm not familiar with the writer (Jacob Forman) and originally decided to watch this movie because I mistakenly thought Jonathan Levine wrote it. He directed it, but I like his writing (The Wackness, Warm Bodies).

Certain parts drag - I get that we need to build that droning, neverending party feeling but I wish there was a way to do that without a droning, neverending party. There is a lot of violence but it's....muffled. I don't know how else to describe it. It's effective because taking the edge out of it makes it seem more real.

If you like horror movies, you might like this. If you like slasher movies, you will probably like it.