Disquiet

The plot is so transparent and derivative that nothing I write here could possibly come as a surprise when it happens on screen.

I used to do SFX makeup for haunted houses where we had like 15 minutes per person and had to do a dozen each a night. Even though it was only (barely) seen in a dark, poorly lit room by kids and/or drunk adults, it all STILL looked better than what's shown here.

I swear, the brunette looks like her "stitches" are some kids temporary tattoos they're so bad. The "creepy" nails on the old man literally look like they're just cut out of old yellow tape and stuck it on. I am gobsmacked that anyone thought ANY of that was good enough for film, and I'm not even watching on an HD set!

Not worth renting, not worth watching. At all.

This is quite possibly one of the worst movies I have ever seen.

I for the life of me cannot understand why JRM would do this, he must have been in need of some quick cash.

The simplistic religious undertones are obvious as soon as one of the characters claims she is Dr. Lily and does not like to be called Lilith.

The whole thing is just really bad. It skips all over the place, uses illogical flashbacks within flashbacks yet tries so hard to be taken seriously by heaping on some childish heavy-handed morality play.

I can only recommend this movie if you want to see an example of what really bad filmmaking is.

I find it hard to believe one adult wrote this, another adult directed it, and another adult produced it, as it seems like something out of the mind of a 13-year-old hopped up after a Sunday school sermon.

Disquiet is a pseudo intellectual film, in the same way that M. Night Shyamalan films are pseudo intellectual.

You can tell they were going for a The Sixth Sense type of model here.

Though, it doesn't quite work as well.

The whole thing is effectively the same film as Wristcutters: A Love Story, just with people in comas, instead of people who have committed suicide.

However...it's just not very entertaining.

You strain to keep track of everything, knowing a big revelation is on it's way.

But it just doesn't hit like it should.

They got something akin to A Field In England going on- with angels and demons in play, to give it a bit of nuance.

Alongside a sort of Wizard Of Oz angle, where those trapped in this world must "learn their lesson" in order to escape.

But most don't.

And if you die in the game...you die in real life.

To be fair...there's definitely something to the concept.

It's actually a pretty cool idea (which likely isn't far off from the "real life" state of things - think, like The Matrix).

However, the story- and execution of the idea behind it- need to be improved.

I chock up it's failure to impress, to it's pseudo intellectual nature.

As it's just outside of that sweet spot in the middle ground.

Not being intellectual enough to please the cinerati...and too complex for your average Netflix viewer.

Meaning that it's not likely to please anyone.

3 out of 10 (for trying).

The plot (or lack thereof) and wooden, sometimes cliche dialogue and makes this feel almost like a parody of cheap horror films. It switches from trying to be somewhat realistic, but then there are stylised shots that are done in a cheesy way, like the 3 shots of the 3 demon women shrieking at the camera in purple lighting. It deserves at least 2 stars instead of 1 because some of the cinematography is decent. The story is about as deep as a puddle, it would probably seem like an epic horror film to a 10 year old, it feels like it was made by one because of how derivative and predictable it is.

What was a good feeling in the first 5 mins of the movie, then quickly deteriorates as the acting and script kicks in. It is so frustrating obvious to see what was trying to be done here, but sadly, the concept misses the mark completely. What could have been a horror masterpiece concludes with a plink plonk piano soundtrack to a lame finish as you hit that realisation that you should have just watched Silent Hill again, and then again.

Special effects can be decent. Make up is not. Boob job zombies are decent. Blurred shot of what looks a cracking pair of boobs is frustratingly not.

D- must try harder.