Séance Games: Metaxu

Came across this and as always checked out the reviews. I NEVER believe a "1" or "10" so thought I'd check out this newish movie and do my own review. The mystery-thriller components raises it above the basic horror genre.

The desert location and then the definitely spooky main interiors setting of the hotel set the stage for chills. The characters were engaging and then some became downright evil! That transition led to dramatic scenes. And the special paranormal effects definitely added to the overall spooky ambience.

Don't let the extreme ratings scare you off! This is a strong 8 - pop up some popcorn for yourself and a pal and prepare for some surprises!

This is a 2024 supernatural horror flick, but it's as if I was watching a 20 yo episode of Dante's Cove, it's all SO out-dated, amateurish, silly and totally NON scary!! The whole (intended) supernatural part of the movie is filled with smoke, rattling doors, rolling eyes, badly faked gore, and an increasingly annoying, supposed to be suspenseful score. Among the ghosts that appear in the clouds of smoke are a lady with blown-up lips and a bad wig, a post 60's hippie mother with according lingo ("yeah man!"), and - scariest of all - Eric Roberts, earning one of his easiest pay checks ever, having 2 minutes screen time and 3 lines to say.

The story is nonsensical, something with two highly popular influencers competing for a million dollar prize, by starting a seance in a haunted house while their millions of followers are watching. The settings are unconvincing, the view on the house from the outside is as if it was cut from a magazine and stuck on cardboard.

The only thing just a little bit bearable were the scenes and dialogues that concerned the relational problems between the characters. In my humble opinion Andrew James Ferguson and especially Madison Taylor are seriously good actors, but totally wasted on this ill fated project. Avoid, I would strongly advise (and don't believe the several raving fake reviews!).

The very beginning drew me in - working through the final scene but without context. It caught me immediately, though there was some curious confusion. At first, I was bothered by the cheesiness and thought the acting was sub-par. However, as I watched it, I came to feel more like it was an intentional artistic direction (especially when you consider some of the actors). There are some bigger names along with new names, which makes this small cast a great mix. You can see the true acting skill towards the end, as all of the anger comes out. This movie watched like a stage play on film. And . . . You know what? I liked it!

This was an enjoyable watch with some tense scenes and funny moments. The actors did a great job and there was a real chemistry between the cast. I think they found some real up and coming talent and it will be cool to see what they all do next. I also thought it looked good for a low budget movie with some cool locations and impressive practical effects. Some parts were intentionally a little bit goofy whereas others were more emotional and impactful. I don't watch a lot of horror movies and I didn't find it overly scary, so as long as you're remotely interested in horror I think you will be fine to watch it.

When I watched this movie, it had a 5.1 rating on here. I agree with several other reviewers that the high ratings came from friends, family and crew, because it's awful. Not the worst I've ever seen, but an absolute chore to make it all the way through so I could fairly rate it and contribute to bringing it down to a more realistic score.

Firstly, I should have run when the description started off with, "Social media stars...," because that warns us of a cast of unlikable, spoiled twenty-somethings. I can think of only two positive things to say about this film. 1) It's not very long. 2) The music, while not great, does rise to occasion more often than not.

The bad? Well there's a lot of bad, but let me narrow it down. The worst offender is the really terrible acting. Even Eric Roberts-who seems to be doing anything for a buck lately, which is a shame-is offensively awful. The pacing is ridiculous, there are plot holes galore, and as in all shows about paranormal researchers, once they actually FIND something, they don't know what to do about it. Instead, the movie makes a sharp U-turn into arguing and drama. Badly acted drama. And what makes a person who has just broken free from the spawn of Hell to run to the front door the house in the middle of nowhere, yell for help, then basically shrug and go back inside? And then top it off with a stale thud at the end.

This is a dumb movie. Maybe with better acting it could've pulled out an actual 5, but how anyone can honestly rate this higher, well, I guess to each their own.