13 Eerie

Now it is not the worst pile of cheap filmmaking in the world nor is the the best by a long shot. Why do film makers of zombie movies insist on making the people in it do stupid things no normal person would do. This is what annoys me most about movies like this. They insist on not taking any cars out and they came on a boat but never think of getting out on it. They constantly run into dark old flimsy buildings. Shoot them in the head one of the girls explained. Next scene guy shoots zombie in shoulder. Doh! I am writing a zombie movie as a book at the moment and am eliminating the idiot plots most movies have. Anyone who directs and wants to work on a decent storyline. Give me a bell. B

I sat down to watch "13 Eerie" without a single clue as to what it was about whatsoever. And as the movie started up, I thought it might be a crime thriller or something, and being the zombie aficionado that I am, imagine my surprise when the corpses started to wake up. It was just priceless.

Well, the thrill was short lived, because "13 Eerie" turned out to be really flat and very generic. And what really brought down the movie enjoyment was the fact that these zombies were able to run, even with their advanced decomposition. I am not particularly a fan of fast and agile zombies, but this here was just a bit too stupid. And to make matters worse, then the zombies were making these growling sounds that would put even the biggest and ferocious of lions to shame. It was so bad. Zombies should not, and I repeat not, be making such noises, it just becomes a spoof and a comedy on itself. But wait, it doesn't stop there, these zombies were breathing as well - you could clearly see the hot steam exhaling from their mouths against the cool night air. It was such a painful thing to witness, and such a rookie movie-making mistake to make.

Well, I am not even going to delve deep into the storyline, because there is very little to delve into. The story is essentially about a group of forensics students brought out to a remote location where they are to be tested under strenuous conditions, when the cadavers start to come to life. And that is it! End of story! Brendan Fehr and Brendan Fletcher actually did carry the movie quite well. But the other people on the cast list were going good jobs as well.

The zombies looked like something out of a 70's zombie movie, bad make-up and even worse design. However, that was more than made up for in the amounts of blood, gore and mutilation that was in the movie. And that is also one of the major reasons as to why this movie scores a 4 out of 10 rating.

"13 Eerie" is the type of movie that you watch once, and never ever make an attempt to watch again, because it just has nothing to offer or support a second watching in any way possible. The movie is linear, predictable, not even remotely scary and just trots ahead in a rather monotone pace.

I had the pleasure of watching this at the Fantasy Film Festival in Germany. Quite a few have compared the setting of it with the movie "Mindhunters". There are similarities of course, but this one goes for the horror stuff. You might not like what you see, if you're easily offended and/or you're not able to handle the sight of blood. But if that was true, you wouldn't watch the movie now would you?

Effects are good and the direction is decent too. The actors are doing a fine job playing characters that have their moments. Of course there will be stupid decisions, , but they are all making sense more or less. The movie is good fun overall!

OK, so this is not totally totally bad and awful to get one as rating... But I also think that three would be too much...So, this gets two from me.

This is a horror movie about zombies. Or some creatures that should be zombies but they are ... whatever. Whatever is the word to describe the 'costumes' and effects. Really not convincing. Not scary at all. It has some gruesome moments but they are poorly done.

The acting is that of a high school drama meets wannabe horror actors. Very bad. No one is really convincing. And the girl which found her new best hobby - killing zombies and walking around with a gun is rather silly. The professor of those students is no comment. But I guess, it is worth watching only if you plan one day to film a horror movie to see what things ( and they are plenty!) not to do.

Cheap effects of smoke are laughable. Michael Jackson Thriller's kinda bumping into houses throughout the floor is silly. Night haunting with surprising lights in the bus is funny. So many things are just awfully done.

Regarding '13 Eerie', that it was low-budget, which from frequent personal experience is rarely a good sign due to that there are so many poor ones out there (though there are decent to good ones as well), made me apprehensive, as well as that there are more bad zombie films than good ones. Did like the idea though and the cover gave the impression it would be fun and creepy.

'13 Eerie' is sadly however yet another film seen recently, hence some reiteration because the exact same strengths and flaws present in those films are here, that to me was incredibly disappointing considering its potential which it doesn't do anywhere near enough with. It is weak despite a promising start, with so many huge flaws and doesn't do anywhere near enough with its potential, which was quite a good deal. There is hardly anything good here, just amateur hour for most of the film

What stops '13 Eerie' from being unwatchable is the first 20-30 minutes or so, very promising, does maintain intrigue and actually does live up to the title.

Katherine Isabelle also tries hard and carries the film quite well.

Unfortunately, '13 Eerie' falls completely downhill once the zombies appear, and the rest of the film is a complete and utter mess.

Going on to the negatives, the story does feel over-stretched and some of it comes over as vague and under-explained in the last third where the film especially became duller, more predictable, more senseless and less unsettled and never gaining momentum. All the characters are too sketchy and with cardboard thin and colourless personalities and with nowhere near enough to make one want to endear to them. Their annoying and illogical decision making and behaviours frustrates. The chemistry is bland and unfocused.

The sound quality is obvious and utilised cheaply (being too loud in the build ups and people's reactions) and all of the acting is lacking severely on the whole excepting Isabelle, that's actually an understatement as the worst of it is horrendous. There is no sense of horror or engagement with the awful predicament they're in, and no connecting with the character, it just reeks of indifference which makes the viewer not care less too.

Dialogue can be stilted and rambling while the pace and film drags on forever after the promising first twenty minutes, interest is lost fast. The ending has no build-up and just ends ridiculously and anti-climactically. Found too many of the supposedly shocking moments not surprising or scary and the atmosphere dreary, due to the excessive obviousness, a lot of dumb and vague moments and explanations and the lack of tension and suspense. Thrills are few, thanks to stodginess and excessive over-familiarity, and found myself never invested in the drama, which tended to be indifferently acted, interminably paced and statically directed.

A lot of '13 Eerie' has really dull and going nowhere plot elements and often nonsensical and confusing character motivations, while too many of the things to make you shocked are far from creative or unsettling. It all feels rather mean-spirited. The zombies are as far away from intimidating or creepy as you can get, the unintentional goofiness of their appearance is where the problem start, followed by the lack of personality, how poorly used they are and how severely lacking the zombie action is.

Very little freaky or interesting, no development and too derivative, while everything once the zombies appear is unimaginative and are more odd than scary, completely failing to show any sense of dread. There is very little interesting or illuminating with what the film was trying to do and the drama is overwrought, the zombie action has no guts or adrenaline and basically just lumbers along. Some badly sagging momentum too and a lot of weirdness. The direction is leaden, got the sense their heart was not in it and it lumbers just as much as the zombies, and the music is ill-fitting. '13 Eerie' is very amateurish visually, making one feel nauseous and actually did feel a headache coming on. It is haphazardly edited and the zombies look awful.

Overall, eeriness is sadly minimal. Started off well, felt like a different film once the zombies were introduced and it stayed that way until the end. 3/10 Bethany Cox