Sequence Break

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.

So what we have here is a lovecraftian horror set in an old school arcade console repair shop. We have a small cast involved, mainly consisting of four people, two of which share the majority of screen time. There's Oz, the young quiet loner working repairing consoles for his kind boss Jerry until an attractive yet somewhat quirky and forward young woman named Tess comes in to look at what they have in stock. Jerry later excuses Oz and tells him he needs to get out and have a little fun and to go have some drinks at the local bar where he meets Tess once again who sparks up a conversation. Due to her outgoing nature they somewhat hit it off and plan to meet up later which becomes the beginning of a relationship that spans the rest of the movie.

Shortly after a mysterious package arrives at the shop holding a chip board which Oz installs into an empty stand up arcade console. Upon playing this mysterious game Oz experiences a loss of time and becomes violently ill. Meanwhile a creepy homeless man repeatedly appears on the outskirts of the story observing Oz and Tess. Time goes by, Tess and Oz become closer, and the ominous game begins to affect our two protagonists in dangerous ways leading to mind altering body horror sequences commonly seen in Lovecraft inspired horrors.

What I liked about this movie is all the special effects were real world common sense effects with little to no CGI. Good old fashioned disgusting special effects based on gooey melting bits and loads of slime and fluids. The story while bizarre is tight and paced well. The relationship between Oz and Tess seems rushed but they have pretty good chemistry. This movie won't be for everyone, some will find it confusing as it doesn't have a well outlined explanation for the events going on, but it's not meant to. Anyone familiar with Lovecraft themes should be able to appreciate it as well at those who enjoy the body-horror genre. I would definitely recommend it to these two groups with a soft recommendation to more mainstream horror fans.

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

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

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.