Purgatory House

I'm always interested in seeing teenage angsty movies like this one, since I went through that rather melodramatic period when I was that age. Usually, I'm not disappointed. However, this particular film was horrible. Perhaps the idea was to make it "artsy", but it just turned out bad. The quality of filming is awful, even for a film that tries to use jittery, "chaotic" filming. I could have made a film of the same grade with my digital camera and a couple of lamps. Of course, the special effects were horrifically bad. The acting was absolutely ATROCIOUS, especially the main character. Regardless of her "talent" to write and direct this movie, she was horrible. She had zero acting skill, horrible timing, and the inability to properly deliver lines. The supporting cast was almost as nauseating, with large gaps between lines and huge pauses in the middles of sentences that couldn't even be disguised as "dramatic effect". The music was weak. It was as though the people in charge of music had done a Google search for lyrics corresponding to the topic of the scene. There were several good songs, but often, I found myself getting utterly distracted from the film because of the songs. Not to say it was hard to get distracted. I was literally bored to tears in some parts. The idea is interesting, however, the style it is written in is very amateur, which makes it obvious that it was made by an inexperienced playwright. The lines lack strength and emotion- they sound like bad poetry out of a B-grade emo teen magazine. In theory, a somewhat clever idea for a movie, however, it failed painfully in execution. As someone who is only a number of years outside of the age shown in this movie, I have to honestly say that watching this movie MADE me want to go do drugs and then kill myself. So what kind of message is that supposed to convey? The ONLY reason that I'm giving this movie a 2 is because the scene where the main character died had the potential to be interesting. That's it. And, of course, the ending was horrible and nauseatingly predictable. I won't even bother spoiling it for you- just read the back of the case and I'm sure you can accurately guess what happens.

Don't waste your time, unless you're a masochist. But even then, don't expect your type to be portrayed artfully. So it would probably be an insult either way.

I received the DVD today and i watched it and most of the special features. OH MY GOD!!!! I cant believe how fantastic this movie is!! Celeste is truly a gifted writer and actress, i cant believe she never acted before this she was so great. You have no idea how much this movie has touched my heart. In the last couple of months in my life i have been through a lot and seen my friends go through a lot, not to do with drugs really but to do with family and friends dying, getting hurt and getting sick. I have felt like killing myself a lot of the time and so have many people i know. If everyone at high schools around the world watched this movie then maybe they would think twice about killing themselves or ignoring other peoples pain. Through a lot of this movie i cried because i remembered that a 14 year old girl wrote this and felt this pain. A lot of people go through this pain everyday and we don't even realize it but this movie makes you realize and pay attention. This story is utterly true to life and i will never forget it.

I was not sure about this movie at first, but after learning more about the writer and star of the movie I was very pleased. The overall felling of the movie was more like a play then a movie, and I think that is a good thing.

The director of the movie did an outstanding job. The move flowed with ease from scene to scene. And I can't wait to see more from this young woman.

The 14 year old star and writer of this movie was GREAT!! Her acting was far better then many so called established stars at twice her age. And considering this was here first role, she has a great future!

I hope many have the chance to see this movie, the ideas set forth in it are profound and complex.

I must say, this is the best movie i've seen since American Beauty. I saw this movie at Waterfront Film Festival in saugatuck, Michegan, and loved it. the fact that it was written by someone MY age, just opened my eyes in a lot of ways. i can't wait until this movie comes out on DVD, it will definitely be part of my collection. I loved the way she portrayed God, as a dragqueen, and how she didn't lie about the s**t kids go through, its not all that fantasy for kids to shoot up in their high school bathroom. It is on my favorite list, (which also includes American Beauty, The Hours, Requium for a dream, Kids, you know..syco drug movies.) well thats my thoughts, go see it, its wonderful

This movie was quite excellent, definitely one of my all-time favorites. and I"m a tough critic on movies. So many movies are too fake, and totally miss reality. I related to every person in this movie like they were people I know. but I related to Silver the most because I don't fit in either, and i never show how I feel. so don't tell! My favorite scene was "Who wants to go to Heaven". That was hysterical. God reminded me of Tom Hanks. That's funny too. And I liked the death scene second best. I thought the guy who plays Sam did a very good job. My third favorite scenes was the wedding with Elvis as the priest. Ha! Most of the music was awesome too. I give it 4 thumbs up.