Lost Signal

This movie sucks! The acting is a joke. The screenplay is horrible. The real-life story was unnecessarily altered by preposterous details such as the couple had been given LSD when, in fact, they had taken a ton of meth. This is one of those movies you watch to make fun of. What a waste of 2 million dollars. It could have been made so much more interesting if the writers would have stuck to the facts and not made it a "horror" film. It was like a bad lifetime drama. Do not watch unless you have an hour and a half of your time that you don't mind wasting and you know in advance what you're getting yourself into. You have been warned.

I believe this movie is based on the Nebraska couple, Mike Wamsley and Janelle Hornickel. I first saw their story on Dateline or 48 Hourse, one of those shows. Then I rented this movie, titled as Dead of Winter, and started to realize it was following the same storyline of that real life Nebraska couple. I can't guarantee this is the story that McNamara based his film on but it sure seems to be. Anyway, really unfortunate situation those two kids got themselves into.

Overall I think the movie pretty good. Some of the interior shots, especially the scene where Kevin talks to Tiffany's father, were pretty hot and washed out. The night stuff was done well and the snow backdrop at night was effective. I think the pacing is good and with so many bad horror or thriller indies out there, this one is above those no question. If nothing else, it's worth watching for the story and what happened to these kids.

Simply put, this is ridiculously bad. The film's first 15 minutes or so caused me to divide myself. Half of me was moaning "Boo! I've seen the slasher movies all before. Well, maybe this time it'll actually be scary" and the other half is screaming "Bring on the gore!" Neither is correct. Instead, I was treated to an unbelievably terrible movie that wanted to be something it most certainly is not. It's the psychological thriller version of a when a TV show tries to recreate a Hollywood disaster ... OK, I know that barely makes any sense but neither does the movie ... or the acting ... or the fact I wasted £3 on it. Maybe I should spend longer explaining my previous statement but that would mean giving the movie more of my time and I've wasted enough buying it, watching it and now trying in vain to make sure none of you decide to make the same mistake. You have been warned!

This movie is not a slasher-horror which is what I like about it. Instead of just hacking up a bunch of teens, the filmmakers actually made a story about how bad drugs are and how scary it can be to be messed up on them.

I thought the movie looked way bigger than 2MM and the acting was great. I would recommend watching this movie if you see it on TV or on DVD. It is better and more original than most movies I have seen lately.

I also thought Brian McNamara from the show Army Wives was great as the sheriff and as a director. I look forward to seeing his next directorial project.

Dead of winter, also known as Lost Signal, follows Santos and McCoy, a young couple who are unknowingly slipped a high dosage of LSD at a New Years Eve party. As the drugs start to take effect, and the couple leaves the party, they start to become paranoid that someone is out to get them. After a car accident leaves them stranded in the woods, their trip continues gaining momentum as does their fear.

I found this movie by total accident in the wee hours of the mourning. I was bored and needed some background noise while I was studying for finals. Before I knew it I was drawn in and hooked, not able to take my attention away from the movie. I've seen quite a few movies with the "Bad Trip" scenario, and hated most of them, but what makes this movie stand out from the rest is there is no madman, no monster, you are simply viewing two people who have no clue that they are having an extremely strong LSD trip. The actors who play the two mains do an excellent job of portraying this terrifying situation as well, both are very believable during the entire movie. I really had a good time watching this film. It turned out to be one of those random "it came from Netflix" gems I find now and then when sleep isn't an option. I highly recommend giving this movie a chance, it is very much atmosphere driven so don't expect ton's of story or over the top special effects. If it wasn't for the super cheesy special effects, that caused me many times to be reminded that what I was watching was only a movie due to how silly they were most of the time I would of given this film a bit higher of a score. But none the less I feel its worth your time.

6/10 - Ritualistic The Liberal Dead http://liberaldead.blogspot.com