Apocalyptic

I kind of expected better just because of the very positive user reviews here on IMDb, or else I wouldn't have had high expectations. It's mildly effective, not at all original. Doing films of this cult-type is very popular, just last year we had The Sacrament, and that one was definitely more effective, even if more of a rehash of the Jonestown events. The acting here is really good though, and probably pushes the film even higher. The cinematography is nice, for a hand-held, and it's also pretty realistic so there's props for that. Ultimately, this just isn't very original and doesn't do much new to like it a lot, but it's decent enough.

I went down to Melbourne (Cinema Nova) just to see the mans film himself Glenn Triggs new inspiring film "Apocalyptic". This was after seeing his prior film "41" I had high hopes which he did deliver very well :) Casting was fantastic! he did a great job, locations, character/s and story were all fantastic as well. I was captivated from start to finish the only thing that let me down the most but it was nothing major in terms of overall story or structure was the sound design I would of thrown a bit more sound design in there to really set it off and give it that Wow! Factor. I just felt that it was missing and really needed to give it that BOOM!! Shot of emotion. But other than that overall I thought it was a very well designed, put together film and I give it 7/10 i prob would of went up to 8 or 9 with the sound design.

Luke (Writer/Producer/Director)

Shilling Entertainment

The found footage film continues to be the go-to-guy when it comes to low budget horror film-making. A lot of people are fed up with the sub-genre and it is easy to understand why as, aside from the shaky-cam being capable of inducing headaches, there is also a certain over-familiarity about a lot of them. I consider myself to be fairly forgiving of these types of films myself though and do think the general set-up is one which can result in effectively sinister films when approached correctly. It would probably be fair to describe Apocalyptic as a bit of a mixed bag though. As it never escapes from a certain predictability inherent in found footage and does wind up with the kind of ending that an awful lot in this genre have. But it was still nevertheless a film which was successfully creepy and did keep me interested. Set in Australia, the story has documentary film-makers travel deep into the country to meet up with a religious cult to make a film about them. As could be predicted, these people prove to be very strange and some troubling events follow.

As is common with horror movies, character decisions here are often somewhat illogical, with the film crew hanging around for longer than they should and letting some things slide which they shouldn't. But I guess this is part and parcel of these types of movies to some extent. What was more of an issue for me was the central figure of the cult leader, who unfortunately was fairly badly acted by David Macrae, ensuring that this pivotal character had no charisma at all. I think it was quite damaging, as this is a leader whose actions are so extreme that they require some charisma in order to explain others going along with them so readily, such as the nightly ritual in which he chooses a different woman to sleep with every night, including a (very) young girl. These creepy details, along with the odd behaviour of the women cultists and what is discovered in the woods in the dead of night, are the kinds of things that make this one stand-out though and ensure that it does make some impact. It's a bit too basic and limited overall to be regarded as anything great but it does still offer some off-centre elements and ideas, and it never outstays its welcome.

Refreshing film from Australia picks up on the new trend of combining found footage and Cults. Two documentary filmmakers follow a trail of clues until they are invited to spend a few days at a cult deep in the forests of Australia. When they get there things start really getting bizarre.

As they start following the daily lives of the cult members and interviewing them it becomes clear that things just aren't right. The leader, a creepy old man named Michael, regales them with tales of the apocalypse and their little group's role in it. The cult is comprised only of women and girls. Where did the men go?

Comparisons can be drawn here to Ti West's "The Sacrament," and rightfully so, but this one is so much more bizarre and sinister that it seems more like a horror movie than a rehashing of the Jonestown Massacre.

There are allusions to pedophilia and murder and so much else. The mood is just perfect and the scenery is at once beautiful and strangely creepy. The ending is startling as well as ambiguous and just perfect for this type of movie. It definitely kept me enthralled throughout. Highly recommended for fans of the genre, and fans of horror in general.

In general, all found footage films require you to lower your expectations. The very nature of this method of filming is to eliminate the need for special effects, large crews and complicated staging.

"Found footage" is synonymous with "Expect less." That being said, the exercise in minimalism has a tendency to refine and strengthen plots and is more demanding on the actors. So there are strengths that arise.

This film shows few of those strengths. The acting is not abhorrent, it's reasonable, but still remained unbelievable. It felt as though it was trying too hard. My personal feeling is that the acting failed because the plot itself was unbelievable and didn't really hold it's own. There are simply too many holes in the idea. Tiny little questions that you end up asking yourself that pull you out of the illusion. "Why did he say that? Why did they do this? Why would ANYBODY do this?" Every found footage film's greatest challenge is a battle with common sense. If the actors don't behave in the way that any normal person would, then the illusion is destroyed. There are simply too many places where common sense doesn't prevail.

That and the predictability of the plot kept making me wonder why the actors didn't see it coming. It was fairly obvious which direction this was going to end up going.

And lastly, poor choices by the editors. Your movie can't appear to be real when the camera angles keep shifting but the SOUND doesn't alter.

It came off as weak. Or even worse, it was unremarkable.