The Lost

THE LOST is one of the most disturbing real life movies I have ever seen, period. I thought Ketchum's "Girl Next Door" was about as disturbing as you can get, based on a true life crime, but this one is much worse and very graphic. Actually, Ketchum took two real crimes, the first about two women that get shot in a woods because some psycho thinks they are lesbian, and the other crime which occupies the rest of this movie. Ray Pye is a twenty-something psycho, that with his good looks and car and crap attracts a few followers and girls in this small town. He puts smashed beer cans in his boots to make him seem taller. The movie moves ahead four years, after the girls in the woods are killed, and Ray is having a ball, balling who ever he wants, and partying and drugs and the whole nine yards. But his egomaniac world is starting to come crashing down along with his sanity, when his girls start to turn against him, especially the beautiful Katherine (Robin Sydney). He pretty much goes berserk, and the last twenty minutes or so of this movie are very hard to watch, even for this old gorehound. It turns into almost a cross between Last House on the Left and the Manson murders. Ray even references the Manson murders when he takes his hostages into an unsuspecting couples cabin, with a young couple, the wife being pregnant. Even Jack Ketchum says in the commentary how difficult the last twenty minutes were for even him to watch. This is incredibly brutal material folks, and the director holds nothing, and I mean nothing back. Ray looks to me like a young Tom Cruise, or maybe a cross between a young Elvis and Tom Cruise, that seems to be the look he is going for. When he snaps, and I mean snaps, it's like the devil himself has taken him over. This is a hell of a movie, and it did make me flinch a little, and that to me is very impressive. Not for the easily offended for sure, but for everybody else, put "The Lost" on your Want List immediately!!!!!!!!!!!! I could not recommend this extremely disturbing movie any higher. Very very well made by the way.

Caught a special screening of The Lost this past weekend at Horrorfind Weekend in Hunt Valley, Maryland where author Jack Ketchum was in attendance. Ketchum introduced the film by saying how impressed he was with the end result. An opinion I share whole heartedly. First of all, the cast is a top notch mix of veteran character actors and relative novices, all of whom are very good at what they do. This is something one doesn't often see in such a low budget project. Many familiar faces grace the screen and talented ones at that. It is the presence of such a cast that sets the film apart from the crowd right at the start. The Lost also has a great look to it. Aesthetically speaking, the film doesn't appear to be as low budget as it actually is. That's an element which can really hold a film back and one which I was afraid might be an issue here. Fortunately the film looks wonderful. As I mentioned, The Lost is a very faithful adaptation of Ketchum's book. This isn't to say that a few liberties aren't taken. Nothing that should offend fans of the book though.

In all, The Lost is a very satisfying film which Ketchum fans should enjoy. Hopefully the film will be shown the appreciation it truly deserves.

I saw this film in the Sitges film festival. I like very much. It's a very realistic and visceral drama in the same style of David Cronenberg's a history of violence, Clint Eastwood Mystic River or Sam Peckinpah Strays dogs. The direction & the actors are amazing. The dramatic a violence scenes are excellent & the music that accompanies to them it's great & ideal. The edition of this film are amazing, totally moved away of the video-clip style. The photography is in the same quality of the edition of this movie. The character & the acting of Marc Senter is amazing ... it's in the same style of Christian Bale's Patrick Bateman. Great adaptation of the Jack Ketchum book & excellent American drama.

Wasn't knowing what to expect. It being on tuni & the date it said released I thought was a lot more recent that it actually is. Therefore it actually was a mess. Like nearly everything today.

The film does feel slight B movie on starting & you think eel I'd this going to be a shaky bad acted mess. But it actually improves as it goes. They're are some why questions etc. Why the girl he seems most keen on suddenly doesn't care to see him, why gp for sally & why his og blonde GF would be so idiotic to reveal secret in a tantrum knowing he's a killer. I also would've liked to see more tbh. The film goes pretty quick considering time length. I could see lil bit of inspiration from some 90s cult classics.

The films quite well acted, especially from the lead Antagonist Ray. Who pulls of some good acting for 1 looking so young. We just needed more in depth story into him on why he's ended up that way. There was a random scene at drug house but it wasn't used for anything except some dirty look & snide comment and none were used in story again. If your bored and want a pass time. This should be find. He really did act his arse off at the end but I'm not sure it should've bern at the house idkw? Was a lil hard believe he wouldn't have been caught long before then. Would I watch it again ? Yh maybe.. but not often.

The Lost is a film that had a lot of potential, some great directing, a good cast, and a decent script. The problem is that it goes on forever.

The movie starts with a bang, and then kind of slows down, and the audience is given a group of characters to follow around. It is during this part of the film that all structure falls away, and things just kind of float. There is no real movement. Now, The Lost is based off of a novel, and the scenes in the novel probably had a bit more power because the reader can get into the character's head. It is much harder to do that in film, and because of that the importance of some of the scenes is unclear. Whole scenes could have been excised, and nothing would have been taken away from the story.

Then we get to the ending. I'm not going to say what happens, but I will say that it is very easy to see when things are starting to pick up and get back on track, and once they do, all bets are off. The ending of this film is one of the most disturbing and painful things I have ever watched in my life. The thing is, the audience knows that this is coming, but still, it is hard to brace yourself for the intense cruelty that you'll witness.

This is a film that gets an A for effort, but a C+ for execution. While the beginning and the end are tight, the middle of the film seems to lack direction and focus. Nothing happens, and very little is gained. So, this one is a rental.