Offseason

Remember that computer game from the 1990s called Myst? This is like that video game, puzzles, creepy atmosphere, cool sound effects, difficult to figure out. Unlike the game of Myst no one has made a walkthrough of this movie yet. I kind of liked what I saw but I understood very little of it. This isn't a terrible movie, but it is slow paced, and like mentioned by numerous others, difficult to figure out. The surface story is clear enough but the underlying mystery needs a bunch more explaining. There are a lot of good effects that are totally creepy and the ideas behind the story make it worth a watch if you are curious.

The movie looks good, and the idea is good and the whole thing could have been creepy, but there are just so many weird inconsistencies.

A character will go from "I am not leaving because X!" to "No we have to go now!" within the span of 20s. The characters also seem to teleport around the island, going from cemetary, to beach to djungle within 10 steps. The exposition is delivered clumsily and either to early or too late in the movie.

Theres so much footage of the main character walking slowly through fog with nothing happening that it really felt like they didn't have enough movie to fill the run time.

Just a huge letdown.

Premise is a standard horror trope. Someone called back to a remote town or village by what seems to be circumstance, but ultimately is a plot by a mysterious evil peril. And in this case, we seem to be borrowing the milieu from Lovecraft.

This film is anchored by a protagonist who has to carry the entire enterprise on her shoulders. Jocelin Donahue pulls it off. She is lovely, tired, scared, confused and is a solid actress that makes it work. No other character has that much screen time or relevance, but nobody really does a bad job. Melora Walters is solid in her role as Marie's mom.

The little town filled with weird people who don't ever answer questions when you ask. The plot device of a townie who pulls you aside to let you know something isn't right and they will help. There is nothing new here. And we have a low budget, and no grand affects. So we need pacing, music, flashbacks, quick cuts to keep us engaged and for the most part the director, Mickey Keating does a good job.

The story is about impending inevitable doom. So this is just a ride watching Donahue's Marie character react as she is led further and further into the trap being set by evil.

We start, carry on, and end in fairly standard horror movie fashion. There is nothing new or wild here. But overall, it is engaging and fairly well-done. This type of horror maybe lacks the cheap scares that certain movie-goers require, but as a fan of horror, I can appreciate it for what it is. A well executed small budget horror movie.

I'm the type of viewer who doesn't mind seeing people walking around, investigating an interesting setting for long stretches of time. If you like to see a film with regularly-marked story beats and linear progression, this one ain't for you.

Really enjoyed the efforts to create atmosphere in thick layers, especially some earlier scenes in an ocean-side grove. At times I could sense a Lucio Fulci vibe, which the director effectively channeled. Actors are all working hard and do a good job.

It's all very watchable, but the conclusion holds no real surprises. The film runs fairly short, and left me with a curious feeling - even if it ultimately goes nowhere, I wanted an enjoyable ride to last a little longer.

This was okay, the plot is unique, the scenery reminds me of silent hill. I liked the mystery going around the movie but it somewhat got boring because all we saw was a woman running around the island searching. I wish there was more to the plot and the ending didn't do the movie any favors to be honest.