This is a film that just comes across as a barrel of fun. This is for a number of reasons. The cast is a lot of fun, the chemistry between all is believable, the action is great, and in the end, it's a new plot that isn't done all that much, which only adds to the excitement of the film.
With all the pros do come a lot of cons, however, which is unfortunate. To begin this, Kyle Godfrey and his crew chose a horror idea that is very hard to pull off, even for big studios. This leads to a lot of moments with plot holes or plot conveniences. It's extremely hard to pull off a film where the monster/villain is something that the heroes can't look away from or else it will move. This of course leads into plenty of tough scenes to create, which Godfrey cleverly pulls off, but of course he doesn't pull them off perfectly. In one scene the main hero, James (played by Godfrey himself), is stuck in a room with two of the mannequinized and hides behind a corner. He looks at the mannequinized person and then ducks back into the corner. While Godfrey pulls this scene off fairly well, it fails in a sense because it doesn't produce the tension it wants to, and it simply doesn't make complete sense. It's scenes like this that throw in plot holes.
The main thing working for "The Mannequin Man" is that it is made for YouTube. Therefore, it presents itself humbly as just that -- made for YouTube, and it helps the film a lot. Then again, the film's savior is also its poison since the "made for YouTube" quality sticks out a lot and keeps audiences heavily reminded that they're only watching a YouTube film and nothing really out of the ordinary. It does hold the film back a bit, but for what it is, "The Mannequin Man" really is quite excellent to watch.
The cast does a fine job, and most of this is because a lot of the cast are friends in real life, so their chemistry comes across as very believable at times. Unfortunately, when watching it's obvious that the cast members are "just acting". But, I think what helps the cast a lot is that it's clear everyone pours their hearts out into these roles. A lot of these people have put their lives into acting. The best performances are definitely from Keanu Bertrand, who plays the comic relief Ethan, and does a great job at doing so, Kyle Godfrey, who plays the lead James, he is probably most believable for the most part, and Julian Dipaola, he plays Roman who's that one bully who thinks he's better than everyone. Heck! Roman's even got a full gang of cronies that throw random, but hilarious insults around at everyone.
Out of all of this though, I think what helps the film the most is that Godfrey and everyone, they put their entire heart and soul into making these films for their audiences. It's clear that creating this content for their viewers is one of their top priorities. It really shows too, because the viewers can tell that the cast loves what they're doing, and you can tell that all the cast members have true connections with each other.
The story is riveting, and it makes the film one of those where your eyes are glued to the screen the whole time. I can't really name one moment where I wasn't engrossed in Godfrey's work here, and that's because the viewer never really knows how "The Mannequin Man" will play out. It's all so spontaneous, and that's something that works so, so well for it.
With a little more work in his craft it's safe to say that Kyle Godfrey can become a great filmmaker in his own area. He just needs to work on certain areas of his technique and then he'll be able to craft amazing things. It's clear that his viewers can expect Godfrey to create great things in the future, and it seems "The Mannequin Man" is just the beginning of Godfrey's entry into greatness.
