Room 6

When it comes to horror flicks, I'm a nice guy. I am not too picky and I have a very high tolerance for cheesiness and things that make little sense. With "Room 6", I was willing to leave aside the unintentional funny moments and the occasional bad acting, but, unfortunately, the ending just ruined the whole thing, and this is not exclusive of this particular movie. Horror films that came out during the last five years (or so) appear to follow the same trend: a lot of intriguing things happen during 80 minutes and, then, towards the last minutes, something extremely stupid ruins what, at first sight, seemed like a decent flick.

In "Room 6", a young school teacher named Amy, finds herself struggling with very unpleasant circumstances, after a tragic car accident she suffers with her boyfriend, Nick. Amy, who has a phobia of hospitals, decides to face her aversion and looks for her boyfriend... except, the doesn't even know where he is. Right after the accident, Nick was mysteriously taken by two ambulance workers, who refused to give Amy any information about where they would take Nick. Desperate and with no one else to turn to, the young school teacher, hopelessly tries to find her boyfriend in a strange reality, full of people who seem to be hiding something from her and some weird demons on the loose. Simultaneously, another young man named Lucas, who was involved in the same car accident, finds himself in a similar situation and decides to team up with Amy in a search that makes them experience some of the most bizarre circumstances.

I actually believe the story is not all that bad, the problem is that the execution was terribly done. First of all, there are things that simply don't have and explanation and they only add confusion to a simple story that doesn't need all these "comes and goes" that lead to nothing. Also, even though the two leading actors are fairly respected (Christine Taylor and Jerry O'Conell), their acting just seemed... off. Ellie Cornell was the best thing about this film and not only because of her acting, but also because her character, a low-class and foul-mouthed trailer-trash woman, works as some kind of comedic relief.

"Room 6" is not unwatchable, if anything, it is worth the watch, at least to enjoy some eerie moments and creepy imagery, but, in the end, it's just one of those frustrating flicks that leave you thinking "Aw, well, this could have been a decent flick, if they had done [...] instead of [...]".

A woman and her boyfriend get into a car accident. After the man is taken by ambulance to an unknown location, the woman (Christine Taylor) goes on a hunt to find him along with her new friend (Jerry O'Connell) -- along the way encountering demons for some reason.

I am sad to report that Christine Taylor makes for a very weak leading lady. I loved her in "Dodgeball" and "My Name is Earl", but for some reason she comes across as very flighty here (more in the first half than in the second). Is she not capable of drama? Is acting scared just not something she can do? I don't know, but I was let down. (I'm still jealous of Ben Stiller for having such a hot wife, though.) The early parts of the film are very tedious. There is lots of empty, repetitive dialogue (both in the opening hospital scene, and shortly after when Amy is getting picked up from school). The less each person says, the better the scenes are in this movie. Unfortunately, in the first ten minutes no one will shut up long enough to let the movie have a solid start. (The phrase "I'm awake" probably is said no less than twenty-five times in the first five minutes.) What I found also odd was that although the makeup was decent (the demons looked like demons), the special effects were not very impressive. Rather than use a trick syringe for an injection, for example, they slid the syringe under the sleeve of a patient. Maybe I'm picky and the average viewer wouldn't notice, but I felt cheated.

Now, the scenery was nice. The abandoned hospital, the ambulances, the demons. There is a scene with vampire lesbians (or something like that) which I thought was quite alright, although it was more of a tease than anything.

Somebody decided to cast Jerry O'Connell, and I'd like to know whom that was. In all fairness, Jerry was a better actor in this film than Christine Taylor. But he just calls to mind crappy films like "Tom Cats" and the show "Sliders". I like Sliders, but this guy is a cheesy actor. He's right up there with Brendan Fraser. His very presence makes a movie's suck factor increase. This one was no exception.

Horror icon Kane Hodder (better known as Jason Voorhees) shows up to be a demon bum. I enjoyed seeing Kane Hodder, but the part was not important and could have been played by pretty much anyone. (And really, if you're casting for a bum, get someone who's bum-looking, not a weightlifter.) I will give the Best Actress award in this film to the little girl named Melissa (played by Chloe Moretz). She actually had my full attention when she was on the screen, like everything she said or did was crucial. Excellent. Moretz is becoming what I would call "the Dakota Fanning of horror", because she seems to be the person you call when you need a little girl. (Moretz has so far also appeared in "Wicked Little Things" and "Amityville Horror".) My biggest problem with this movie, besides the poor acting and weak production value, was I was constantly asking myself: did any of this add up? Demons, lesbian vampires, a hospital that doesn't exist, ambulances that steal loved ones. The film makes some attempt to explain this, but that attempt is incredibly weak and I was left trying to piece things together. But I felt like I opened a 500-piece puzzle and 700 pieces fell out. What the heck? 2006 has offered some quality horror films. "Slither", "Feast" and "Saw 3" just to name some off the top of my head. "Room 6" is not one of them, so unless you spend most of your free time watching really crappy movies (like I obviously do), don't pick this one up.

"Room 6" is a film that tries to be a mindfak horror, but fails in almost all fields. The idea is interesting, but so confusingly elaborated that instead of keeping you on the edge of a chair, it will keep you on the edge of boredom. The acting is not good enough to connect us with the characters, the dialogues are poorly written, and the overall atmosphere leaves the impression of an amateur film. Only the scenes with Chloë Grace Moretz have some strength, but no matter how good she is and how much I like her, she can't save a failed movie on her own with just a supporting role. I don't regret spending my time, but I advise you to skip it unless you're a big fan.

4/10

Well I was in the local game story and looking through the movies and I see this movie with a $1.99 price tag and say "Well this movie has to be worth at least the $1.99 that I pay for it" I'll admit oddly that I was right.

As horror movies go this is definitely an enjoyable watch with some creepy moments that are definitely worth a peek. This movie is much like the movie Sublime about a creepy ghost hospital that takes it's victims away and never gives them back.

There is a fairly good deal of acting and anyone that sees this should be truly creeped out. I say spend your 2-5 on this movie it is worth that much at least.

As the trailer shows, a woman and her boyfriend get into a car accident after which he is whisked away by unknown paramedics to an unknown hospital. From there the movie can be broken down in 2 major parts. For the first hour of the movie she struggles to find where he's being held and some haunting memories of hers are alluded to. The rest of the movie is comprised of her having to face her dark past if she wants to save her boyfriend from an uncertain fate. I say uncertain because the immediate danger to him is never made clear. The whole movie lacks the sense of desperation and urgency that horror movies depend on. It really felt like everyone involved was merely going through the motions in front of the camera. I never got attached to any of the characters. There is a twist at the end that should invoke an emotional response from the viewer but I felt nothing. The direction and camera work is lackluster, as is the make-up and special effects. The entire thing has a made for TV feeling attached to it, which isn't surprising given the cast. There are plenty of moments where the viewer is supposed to jump out of their seat but they are executed so poorly that I found myself looking at the flaws in the make-up and totally detached from the story. Believe me though, this isn't the worst movie ever made. I'd call it a good idea in a mediocre movie. You won't hate yourself for watching it, but there's plenty of better movies to watch first. Oh, and I love nudity as much as any other man but the one nude scene in the movie is so out of place I actually wish it had been taken out.

5/10 -- Mediocre