Seven in Heaven

I was going to write a longer review but it's not necessary. All you need to know about this flick is that they don't do anything interesting with the dimensional travel concept. Nothing of any particular consequence happens when the kids travel to the other dimension, and it's full of awkward discrepancies and inconsistencies. Nearly all questions it raises are left unanswered. The few answers it gives are completely mundane and make you wonder why this movie was even made. Anything they introduce that seems suspicious and/or like will be integral to the plot later turns out to neither be explained nor necessary to the plot. The characters face only the most rudimentary of trials and there is no payoff whatsoever. I'd love to hear how exactly the writer sold this movie. "Ok so check it out- we've got these kids at a party and then they travel to another dimension. The dimension is basically the same but different...somehow. Anyway they basically just run around for a while and are confused and then eventually they come back and yeah. Well...that's pretty much it right there". Wow, doesn't that sound so great? Oh, and a solid 1/3 of this is basically an entirely different movie which covers the rest of the kids at the party. The majority of that part is the cops trying to get into the house and the kids saying no, then every so often they bring the parent of one of the kids to come yell at them- even though none of these characters was previously introduced nor are they mentioned again making it all feel very tedious and pointless. Avoid this. I love this type of movie where the characters and audience are challenged to question reality, but this one doesn't deliver in any way.

I liked it. It was announced as a horror movie, but that doesn't cover it at all, it's more a thriller, maybe you can even call it sci-fi, since the story deals with hopping through time and dimensions. On the other hand, that may make it sound too pretentious, it's actually a very small project, no special effects, just a few major characters, hardly any settings beyond a few houses and some streets, clearly a low-budget thing. But within these restrictions they did a very nice job, I found the story entertaining and original and the acting surprisingly good. I especially liked Travis Tope, he has this endearing Tobey Maguire quality and he is actually very funny. Don't mind the panning and sour reviews, just give it a chance, you'll be surprised.

I'm not really sure what this movie is supposed to be about? I kept waiting for some cool plot twist to bring it all together and it never happened. The scenes didn't flow, creating a non cohesive storyline. These two kids go to some alternate reality, one person there knows what's going on, but the kids never ask him? Wouldn't that be your first question, what's going on? Overall, I thought the movie lacked character depth, lacked emotion, and lacked an actual plot. On the positive, the acting from the kids was okay, and the cinematography was good.

I actually like this movie. Of all the movies I've watched that make no sense at all, where things happen for no reason and nobody's behavior is ever explained, it's probably my favorite. That's really saying something. It sorta seems like, they got 99% of the way to making a really cool, fun teen sci-fi movie, but then, the editing guy was drunk and just ruined it at the very last minute. You can tell that if it had made sense, it would have been a really cool movie.

Plus, either way, it strikes a personal note with me, as when I was in high school, Gary Cole was my guidance counselor, and I never knew when I saw him whether he was going to try to help me or run me down with his car.

As the movie Us (2019) came after this one, I'd have to say the inspiration may have been something like Coherence (2013), with a dash of Truth or Dare (2018). Unlike most people I didn't see Coherence as a revelation. I admire the originality of the idea, but from that idea the movie only goes so far as to create acting opportunities for the cast, much like an episode of Thank God You're Here (2006). Similarly, Seven In Heaven is an opportunity gone begging. It hasn't the abrupt violence, distortion and frantic tension of Us, or the dystopian dimension. The tension in Seven is blasé, and even a little illogical. The cover of the dvd puts one in mind of Paranormal Activity: The Ghost Dimension, but Seven lacks any special effects at all. Nor did Seven have the visceral horror dimension of Truth or Dare. These points are all opportunities that have gone begging. The writers and filmmakers needed something much more ambitious, hard edged and visual to really make this source material sing. It needed more time in the think tank. I thought the ending was a little cruel. That was what decided me to give this only a 6. I was certainly entertained, the premise and the actors did display skill, but I think that most people over the age 16 may think this movie a little tame by today's standards.