Dismal

A winner? Well yes, because chances that you'll ever stumble upon a horror film worse than this are slim or even next to none! Sometimes the title summarizes everything quite accurately, right? "Dismal" is a downright dreadful and almost pitiably amateurish fan-boy effort without any redeeming qualities whatsoever. The plot is derivative of approximately three dozen of other (and much better) films, the attempts to insert tongue-in-cheek humor and genre references are miserable, the acting and directing are utterly incompetent and the make-up & gore effects easily rank among the lousiest I've ever witnessed. Once again, a group of dim-witted college students venture into an unlikely backwoods domain, a swamp this time, hoping this will help them obtain better grades and a recommendation from their teacher. But, big surprise, the only thing they face is a cannibalistic and mentally deranged pair of brothers. Bo Buckley's script is dull, predictable and uninspired, whereas certain basic elements (like tension-building, character development or creativity) aren't even attempted at. The use of computer-generated effects in slasher films is already a bad idea to begin with, but some of the trash shown in "Dismal" is beyond embarrassing. The girl falling face-down in a bear trap, or another girl getting cut in half by a cable cord, are just two examples of the poorest and least convincing slasher-deaths in history. "Dismal" only deserves a rating 1/10, but I'm generously giving it a 2 because I like the images of the fake giant crocodile and because the three lead girls are attractive (especially the petite blonde). If they were ever hoping to build a career in the film industry, they surely auditioned for the wrong movie.

This is a really dismal horror movie with absolutely no horror or drama and it is truly dismal as the title suggests. For me its a very poor mans 'Wrong turn' because this movie definitely takes the 'wrong turn' many times. It might have been better if it was filmed in 'blair witch project' film because as an amateur film it would have been more effective. the crocodile and snake scenes were completely laughable and the only enjoyable bits of the film (if I can call them that) were the sex scenes (but this was not meant to be a porno movie of any kind). Nothing clever or unpredictable or intrigueing or compelling about this movie and like a boring goalless draw in soccer, this will soon be forgotten. Watch it if you like, forget it afterwards and move on.

OK, formula for horror movie is to take three generously endowed college students out into the swamp and see who survives. Not very original, but you have to start somewhere.

Now, when Eve (Meagan Reedy) was lost, it really took the wind out of the movie. She sure could scream.

The movie moved slow until the end when we were treated to an unexpected surprise.

Dana (Lydia Chandler) did manage to get over her inability to dissect. Maybe she can pass Biology now.

Look for something better.

I had read that this movie has gotten several negative reviews, I've always wanted to see it because i enjoy bill oberst jr's work. I finally watched this the other night, and i wasn't too impressed, but i guess it was pretty interesting. The kills weren't terrible, considering its a low budget flick. The plots been done before so many times, a group of students travel into the wilderness and fall prey to cannibals,but reminded me of the wrong turn movies. I'd never seen most of the cast in anything before, but they a decent job. The setting in this movie was actually impressive, it did the movie some sort of justice. I wouldn't recommend this unless your a bill oberst jr fan or a fan of low budget movies or enjoy cannibal flicks.

I love a good independent film. When a cast and crew can meet or exceed Hollywood's best efforts with a fraction of the resources and clout, I stand up and cheer. But this film is nothing to cheer about. It's clumsy, poorly written, and the acting is lame. This is NOT a good independent film. Period. But what's even more amateurish than this film itself, is the creator's attempt to pawn off self-penned reviews, as legitimate viewer opinions. The first couple of "10 star" ratings posted on this site are so patently phony, my 8 year old could see right through it. And he's a cocker spaniel. Not only is this bunch poor filmmakers, they are very bad liars. Don't they know that "average" people don't speak or write like PR executives? Apparently not. They read like press releases. Giving credit where its due, they were hilarious to read...One even said: "trust me"...Whoever made this film must moonlight as used car salesmen. Or vice-versa. Bottom line, read the phony reviews for a laugh, but don't bother watching this one. Trust me: the only thing worthy of this film is the title.