Sequence Break

A very lame and boring horror movie wannabe. The acting are bad, both Oz and Tess.

This begins as a very appealing film about Oz (Chase Williamson), who meets Tess (Fabienne Thereze) - two happily 'nerdy' young people who love playing, and are very knowledgeable of, arcade games. Oz is games technician in a store due to be closed down, and they discover an arcade machine not seen before in the shop. As they play it against their better instincts, it displays unknowable powers ...

That's about as much of the story revealed without going into deep spoiler territory.

The genuinely delightful romance that blossoms between these two slightly eccentric outcasts remains the best thing about this. The horror elements, which straddle the kind of world HP Lovecraft wrote about and David Cronenberg directed, are unusual, bizarre, mostly unexplainable and increasingly fragmented.

The latter half of the film gives itself entirely to this strange world, and the story, such as it is, becomes redundant. This is a shame, because it seems to go nowhere, until an equally strange finale comes along and ushers in the end credits.

I applaud director and writer Graham Skipper for going for something different, but the result doesn't quite satisfy, despite the naturalistic and appealing performances from the main players. My score is 5 out of 10, mainly for the first half.

Saw 'Sequence Break ', being fond of horror regardless of budget (even if not my favourite genre) and being intrigued somewhat by the idea. Being behind on my film watching and reviewing, with a long to watch and review list that keeps getting longer, it took me a while to get round to watching and reviewing it.

Giving 'Sequence Break' a fair chance with being interest and apprehension, it turned out to be far better than expected. Won't say that 'Sequence Break' is a great film because it isn't and the potential, while not wasted, is not fully lived up to. Considering the large number of films seen recently being mediocre and less and wasting potential, was expecting worse and was relieved that while wanting in a fair few areas it was actually one of my better recent low-budget viewings.

'Sequence Break' started off quite well, the first twenty minutes or so starting the film off on a promising, unsettling and atmospheric note that really does intrigue.

Production values did have some eeriness and nowhere near as cheap as expected, and the music, which not the most memorable in the world, didn't detract from the atmosphere.

The setting is effectively spooky and the acting was not bad all round. There are spooky and suspenseful moments and it isn't dull. The direction doesn't feel phoned in. The effects were surprisingly decent as well in a nostalgic sort of way.

However, the story was severely wanting. It is very disjointed and after the promising start the final third especially loses atmosphere, one loses interest and things start to not make sense. Too much of the film is vague and doesn't explore some elements and story strands enough, things happen too conveniently and the romantic element is too hastily done.

Ending is unsatisfying, on top of feeling hasty there are too many loose ends hanging in the air. Got the sense that the writers didn't know how to end the film. Would have liked much more tension and suspense, scares could have been more consistent and some weren't surprising enough.

Found too the script to lack natural flow and with a bit of cheese going on, and the characters bland with some adopting some annoying and not always logical decision making.

Overall, better than expected but not great still. 5/10 Bethany Cox

Not talking about the movie of course, but a game within. Of course as a viewer we are sometimes ahead of the main characters, giving them advice on what to do or not to do. Then again, if they'd always listen, we wouldn't have a movie. Still some things may seem to convenient or too easy (especially considering the way the woman behaves, kind of is stretching and probably just to get the story going).

Apart from that, the effects are really good and there is value for money to be seen. So if you're after that, you are going to be served quite well. Script has some issues, but you wouldn't or shouldn't expect anything in particular. Characters serve the really out there story, that some may actually get a feel for (where it's heading that is). It's a mind thing - and it's also a taste thing. If you are into this, there is stuff to enjoy and enough suspense to go around

This movie is an obvious homage to 80s style horror films, borrowing elements from Cronenberg especially, but also some nods to Wes Craven and others. As an homage, it's lovely. Especially the bit where the video game becomes soft and erotic (even if they do kind of telegraph how the did the effects).

As a story, though, it kind of falls flat. In particular, the ending feels rushed, and I'm not exactly sure what's supposed to have happened. If a movie is going to play with the timeline, it's important that the audience understands the rules - if not right away, at least at some point.

Anyway, I think it's a worthwhile watch for the body horror sequences. They really will make you nostalgic for films like Videodrome.