Respire

I had been wanting to see this ever since I heard about it a couple years ago (and I liked the director's last film a lot) and I can say that I enjoyed it...for the most part. A dying woman gets a new lease on life when she inhales from a mysterious vial but then she starts having weird visions and murderous tendencies. Sounds pretty simple, right? If that's all the movie was about, I think this would totally rock. As it is it only sorta rocks. There's an awful lot of back story that needs to be told for you to understand what's going on. That's okay but it does make the middle drag. The opening credit sequence which follows a box through all of the decades is really, really well done and the last half hour, once it actually becomes a horror is entertaining as well. For the acting, the two leads are good. The rest of the cast...eh, not so much. I would say that if you go into it knowing that the middle part drags but will pay off later on (there's a pretty cool scene with a tied-up girl where you would swear that the actress is genuinely terrified of what's off-screen), then you might enjoy it a little more. Overall, I'd recommend it but only if you're not looking for a super scary horror and you're willing to pay attention the whole time. By the way, if they released a soundtrack, I'd buy it. Some of the songs were really good.

The story itself was a great idea but the execution left something to be desired. The acting was better than I expected, however some of the acting, primarily by the young couple/bullies, was so bad it actually distracted from the better acting. Some scenes were well written while other weren't as much and many scenes seemed rushed and left you wanted more.

While there was a nice unexpected twist, I must say the end was so stupid, it almost ruined the movie. It was so cheesy and low, low budget special effects. The ending (red zone) is what made me give it a 4 instead of a 5.

Although I wouldn't really recommend the movie, I wouldn't completely discount it either.

Exceptionally well thought through and cleverly crafted little low budget exploitation piece that transcends it's genre beautifully.

Brilliant performance from Tracy Teague as the film's heroine. It's also refreshing to see the indies casting a "woman of a certain age" in the lead. Kudos to the producers.

Excellently paced,loads of intrigue and very well directed. David Cross is clearly going to be a genre talent to keep an eye on.

From a technical standpoint the opening sequence is breathtaking for such a low budget picture, stunningly put together and once again adding so much scope for something that could have been so much smaller.

I'm sure Hollywood will come á calling for this talented lot - let's just hope they don't sell out to the mainstream just yet.

Check it out you won't regret it. An Excellent eight.

Respire took me back to my youth when my brother would take us to the drive in movie. We would watch the simple mystery/horror through hands pressed against our faces to protect us from the boogie man. But that is about as far as this movie got for me, memories of getting scared as a kid. Which usually didn't take much effort in a horror movie.

As an adult however I had to constantly remind myself that there wasn't a lot of money thrown at this film which may be why some of the script gets very "home movieish" at times. I shouldn't have had to think of excuses for stiff dialogue. But the plot twists are fun to watch as they are revealed just as all the red corn syrup is fun to watch squirting out of wounds.

Compared to more widely released films, this one passes the test of a good scary tween/teen movie but fails to live up to the standards set by Halloween, Saw, Nightmare on Elm Street and others. I guess I am stuffy that way.

But graded simply on its own merit, it is worth including into your teenager's weekend slumber party. Providing you don't mind some on again / off again violence (and the required red corn syrup).

Don't expect much and you won't be disappointed. You might actually enjoy it.

Movie was good at times but sunk into typical horror pitfalls. With a little more thought, and a few better actors this could have rated a 7 or 8.