ATM

I didn't hate this movie and it was watchable. Was I not so bored, would I have bothered? Probably not, but once started, I wanted to see the end. The acting was very good. Surprisingly good given the reviews. The story line had promise. I think that's mainly what did this movie in. It was mostly well made. Just needed some oomph in the plot. The end scene was pointless without some history and I wasn't emotionally invested in the characters due to lack of back story.

In all honesty, I can really see why the film-makers thought that this movie would be a good idea and something that could work out well. You can really tell that this movie had some good ideas in it but things aren't really thought out well enough and the movie is incredibly flawed, mostly due to its story.

These sort of thrillers/horror movies set mostly at one location, are somewhat popular now days and this movie obviously tried to have a go at it as well and ride on the success of the genre. Nothing wrong with that, as long as the movie is good, which obviously isn't the case with this movie.

Problem is that its concept is ridiculously flawed and not thought out properly. The movie doesn't exactly feature, what you could consider, a tight plot. It's build around the concept of 3 people being stuck inside an ATM because outside there is an hooded maniac, looking to kill them, as soon as they get out. Now, this is something that could had worked if things got written a bit more tight and complicated. But this is all there is to the movie really; 3 people being stuck inside a small building, with 1 guy lurking around outside. It's really silly, once you really start thinking about it. First of all, it's 3 versus 1 and it's not like the guy has some sort of superpowers, or is armed to the teeth. I'm not saying that they should had taken on the guy but surely they could had ran out quite easily, the moment the guy was at the back, trying to break into the ATM. The movie is filled with moments like this, that just are plain stupid. It just far too often doesn't make sense and because of that, there also really is no true tension in this movie.

The movie still thinks it's being really clever at times, mostly toward its end, when the 'twist' comes but let me just tell you, the ending simply makes no sense at all and doesn't explain anything. It only makes things look more flawed and ridicules and besides forced. Why do these sort of movies often feel the need to have a 'surprise' ending in it? Sometimes a movie is simply better off when it's being more straight-forward and not by trying to be clever and surprise its audience.

This was an obvious low budget production, which becomes apparent through its looks but also really its acting. No, I definitely wasn't impressed by any of the acting in this movie, which was perhaps another reason why I just wasn't taken at all by it.

But it still wasn't a movie I hated watching. I guess it's too short and harmless for that. Maybe the more casual movie goer can still get some enjoyment and entertainment out of this movie, as long as they don't spend too much time thinking about its plot. But even those people have to admit at the end that this is a far from great or effective enough movie.

Really can't recommended it.

5/10

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ATM – TRASH IT (C) ATM is a mediocre movie, which doesn't make any sense. It's just when you are watching it, you are watching. There is nothing believable or relatable at all. It stars annoying Josh Peck, good looking Brain Geragthy and a different kind of bombshell Alice Eve. ATM is about three co-workers (Eve, Peck and Geragthy) stop off at an ATM late one night and soon find themselves confined to an enclosed area made up of an ATM booth and car park by an unknown hooded killer lurking outside. There premise is good for a thriller but it's the execution which lacks thriller. Overall, ATM is trash-able, wait for Star movies or HBO to show you late at night. That's the only way you should watch it for FREE.

That's quite a claim, I know. But bear with me... we all know from watching horror films, that there's at least one moment where the hero knocks the evil killer to the floor then just runs off, allowing him to get back up and chase them down all over again. We all scream, "No! Hit him again! And again!" but they never do.

That sort of thing normally happens once or twice in your average horror film. Not in the case of ATM though. You will find yourself screaming at the TV screen near constantly for about forty minutes of the film.

ATM is about three friends who use an ATM (or 'cash machine' as I always called them) in the middle of the night. They go inside to withdraw some dollars, only to find there's a psychotic killer (who looks a bit like Kenny from South Park in my opinion) waiting outside for them. And that's why he does - waits. He stands across the parking lot staring at them. They could just run away. They don't. It's also worth noting that these are the only three people in 2011 who don't have a single mobile phone between them. The killer then kills a passer by. While he's doing that, they could just run away. They don't. The killer then ransacks their car (which is parked right across the car park). They could just run away. They don't. The killer then wanders round the back of the ATM building they're in to hammer it a bit (why?). During that time he's banging on the back, they could just open then front door and run off without him seeing. They don't. And so it goes on.

These are truly the stupidest three people in the world. I watched it to the end, just to see if it got any better. It didn't really. And that was a shame as, believe it or not, the characters were actually quite well-written and funny. Plus the production values were quite high, putting it above many other modern horrors.

If you're expecting something clever and different like Phone Booth then you won't find it here.

This movie was okay, but there were a few holes in it in my opinion. I'm not going to tell you what they are, but if you've seen it you'll know what I mean. But it's not a bad slasher movie as there are some good moments of tension, but also it's not the greatest film you'll see, actually it is bad in some moments. I must admit there are more than a few horror film clichés in it but it did keep me interested to see how they get out of this situation even if there were a few times they could've done so easily. I admit I have seen worse films like this but this is not the worst. I won't be buying his movie any time soon but it was not a bad movie to watch for free. So I give this a 5 out of 10.