Population 436

Being a huge fan of Jeremy Sisto, I had to check out Population 436. This was very good. It sort of plays like a twilight zone episode. Nice little town, what the hell is wrong with the people? Being a big horror fan, I was very pleased with this movie. Jeremy Sisto is such a great actor, He was really good here, just a simple everyman confronted with growing malevolence and secrecy. A surprisingly restrained Fred Durst also gives a nice performance as the deputy. Actually his presence almost kept me from getting this, don't worry, he's actually good here.

Simply put these townspeople are really sick. I highly recommend seeing it on DVD as this includes a very interesting alternate ending. I actually thought this was good enough for theaters, I guess the lack of gratuitous violence kept it out. It's a thinking persons horror flick. With the terror more implied than shown. Very good. In fact to return to the always brilliant Sisto, I don't really think he's been in anything poor, OK Hideaway (96) comes close, but this is another feather in his cap. Lets hope NBC's "Kidnapped" is a hit so we can see more of this fine young actor.

Jeremy Sisto plays a census bureau guy, sent to Rockwell Falls (named after the guy who sings "Somebody's Watching Me") to see why they've had the same population for 100 years in a row. But the people of the town have other plans for Jeremy.

I started watching this movie as one of my "luck of the draw" picks, not expecting much after the never-ending influx of poor crud I get to see all the time. But this film was good, actually good, and most shockingly: it was good because of Fred Durst, the frontman for rap-rock group Limp Bizkit.

Durst plays the town police officer, and does such a fine job of being cordial and friendly in one scene and emotional in another. Who knew he had it in him to be anything besides violent or obnoxious? Not to downplay Sisto's part, but Durst really stole the show with this one.

"Population 436" offers a blend of paranoia, numerology, isolation, entrapment and a little bit of romance. You won't get any gore, and you're not going to see nude vixens running around. But you will get a unique story. Sure, you have to ignore the obvious (like why the town is so isolated in 2006) but that's not as difficult as you might think because this film makes you want to believe.

Just watch it. Watch what lengths the town will go to in order to keep its population set firmly at 436. Somewhat bizarre, but completely believable.

Well, I was kind of hoping for a thriller with this movie, but around half way through you'll see the ending coming if you've watched at least half a dozen thrillers. And I have seen MORE than half a dozen so it was pretty predictable.

Can't say this was too much of a thriller, Michelle Maxwell MacLaren doesn't come anywhere near M.Night Syamalan and his thrillers and suspenses. The other thing that backed me off was the background score. Its always the same weird music which you'd get sick of 15 minutes into the movie. The theme is well... nice.

The story is unique, that I guarantee you, but kinda seemed lame to me. I mean a town with Population at 436 through a 100 years? You can always guess how the climax is going to be! Oh yes, there are a large number of plot holes too.

Decent performances though. Jeremy Sisto, through whose eyes we see the movie give a good enough performance. The camera angles throughout the film were average and impressed me only in the 'chase'. ;) OK, now this movie might be rated R, but the "brief sexuality and violence" lasts only a couple of sec. It should be PG-13.

Predicability and average plot with huge plot holes cause its downfalls. Decent performances uplifts it a bit. Overall though it doesn't fall into MUST-WATCH-OR-ALL-HELL-WILL-BREAK-LOSE, its worth a rental... maybe.... if you're too much of a movie buff.

I give it 5/10. Bite me.

This is obviously a movie made with a very low budget and low other resources. The movie however manges well with its limited resources and its good for what it is, although obviously its hardly a genre classic or anything else too remarkable.

The movie begins well but for the viewers it becomes obvious too early on into the movie what the story is all about and where the movie is heading to. It doesn't ever make the movie good as a mystery-movie but its atmosphere and other things compensate for this.

As other reviewers have pointed out already, the movie has a great creepy kind of "The Twilight Zone" atmosphere, despite that the movie itself not being scary at all. I am however convinced of it that if this was an actual "The Twilight Zone"-episode, it would be considered one of the best ever. The atmosphere and the professional feeling of the movie make the movie work out, even though it all is nothing too remarkable or original.

The movie has a good visual style and due to the fast directing (which was I think probably due to the limited shooting time) the movie flows well. It's cinematography is good and it provides the movie with a couple of pretty pictures. The movie also tries to be creative at times and also provide it with a couple of scare moments but this mostly does not work out.

The movie its concept is interesting and I guess that it even had more potential in it, than used in the actual movie now. All of the elements now used feel rather formulaic and predictable. The movie perhaps also feels a bit like a poor man's "The Village".

Jeremy Sisto is a good 'big' leading man for a this kind of movie, though I expected more from him honestly. The supporting cast does a good job although this movie of course hardly features any of the best performances.

Worth a watch, if you're into the genre.

6/10

http://bobafett1138.blogspot.com/

I was very surprised that this movie did not get a better rating compared to some similar titles that were very disappointing. Population 436 is a low budget but to its benefit as it doesn't play the usual visual and audio special effects. Actually, you don't even pay attention as it doesn't require a high-budget that would have ruined it anyway (i.e. The Wickerman - 2006).This movie has a good cast, good acting a very subtle creepiness. You will follow the main character inside a weird, cult society as with The Tenant, Rosemary's Baby, The Wickerman...If you like the genre you will like Population 436. Give it a try.