Reel Evil

Really?????? 3.0 out of 10 IMDb. After watching some God-awful found footage films like Episode 50, Back from Hell, Bucks County Massacre and Knock Knock 2 it was nice to embrace another gem. You can line Reel Evil next to other greats of the sub-genre such as Evil Things, Evidence and Crowsnest. This film had great acting for this type of film, FANTASTIC location in a real insane asylum in Los Angeles and some nice chills packed into a tight 72 minute creep-fest. My only problem with the film was the last five minutes but I am willing to forget about that and give Reel Evil a solid 7 1/2 out of 10. As a side note there was another horror film released in 2006 called Boo that was filmed in the same hospital.

Reel Evil is a found-footage paranormal flick directed by Danny Draven and starring Jessica Morris, Jeffrey Adler, Kaiwi Lyman-Mersereau, Jim Tavare, Galen Howard, Lino Dumont and Spencer John Olson. The movie follows struggling film makers Kennedy, Cory and James who are hired to shoot a 'behind-the-scenes' documentary for a major studio production. The story has the young crew spending down time on the shoot exploring an old hospital facility that seems to be rife with entities. It is a classic case of haunting of malevolence. This film comes from Full Moon, a studio that whether you love them or hate them has a pretty tight systematic approach to horror that has lasted for decades.

The story for Reel Evil is pretty cut and dry. A standard tale of haunting where the spirits are far from friendly. The film uses all the expected tricks of found-footage that has come to define the sub-genre so there is nothing new within that aspect of the movie. The effects are a blend of traditional organic effects combined with the more modern CGI produced material. In this film the director took care not to over use the computer generated effects so that what is used is tolerable. When it came to the gorier organic effects there was just as much care taken and it provides expected realism to those necessary moments. The story is a good story which is entertaining and convincing. It doesn't seem contrived or forced upon us. The actors are pretty tight in their performances and give a believable performance as well which makes the movie watchable.

Reel Evil could have been one of those opportunities for the studio to shine but unfortunately as a horror story the movie fails. The director seems to have forgot the main ingredient-the thrills. There are absolutely no moments in this film that are scary or suspenseful at all. It is a pretty standard ghost story that tells a great tale but beyond the standard cookie cutter pattern of story telling there is nothing that stands out about Reel Evil. Watch knowing it will be a cool ghost story from a staple studio in the horror genre but don't expect to be scared or have those intense moments of suspense because they are just not in this movie.

A-Z Horror Movie of the Day..."Reel Evil" (NR - 2012 - DVD)

Sub-Genre: Paranormal/POV My Score: 4.5

Cast=2 Acting=4 Plot=5 Ending=6 Story=3 Scare=4 Jump=6 F/X=4 Creep=6 POV=5

Terror becomes reality for the filmmakers as they uncover the malevolent secrets of the hospital, and the sinister doctor who once ran it.

"Oh my God...are those fingernails?" You would have to be a hardcore POV lover to even consider this...and I am so I watched it. It was really low budget and the script is horrendous..."What's that noise?" and "Let's go explore" were just a few of the cliché trademark POV movie quotes splattered throughout the film. There were some jumps and creeps, but I can't go and recommend this for the standard horror movie fan. Best to steer clear unless you make a drinking game out of it.

When people say they "don't like found footage movies" this is exactly the kind of movie they're talking about... Bad acting to start, but what's worse is whoever wrote the characters made everyone cringy and gross. They're all poorly written stereotypes for some reason? From the unnecessary sex scene (in like the first 15 minutes) to the unoriginal, not climatic, not scary buildup - You're better off passing on this one.

1. Your idea of horror characters are the lazy, stupid, self-defeating trope of being people the viewer cannot sympathize with. 2. You think some nudity is a band-aid for your crappy script. 3. You pretend your movie is found footage but you can't even be bothered to make it actually look so. 4. Your movie sucks when it doesn't have to.

This film is called Specters on the streaming platform I started to watch it on (maybe an alternate version)--alas, I used "started" because I simply refuse to watch a modern horror movie that has the things I saw in my 15-minute cut off. It looked cheap (didn't have to even with a small budget), it was ridiculously obnoxious for no reason, blatantly stereotyped (no, there were no minorities, at least to the point I watched it, but I mean characters like "responsible, serious girl," "oversexed d-chebro," "arrogant celebrity/boss," etc.). These are not people. These are paper dolls that are moved around on the screen, and since I don't have to, I won't continue to watch. It's to the point where I'm instantly skeptical indie horror movies if they're made in the 2000s/2010s because so many of them are the same: low-effort and awful. Some people might not like the psychological family drama style of horror movies that are popular these days, but at least they know how to create interest and empathy and they are relatable. I can even look at old exploitation, modern "hood" films, etc. and find something to care about. But nothing here.

I don't care who likes it, stop making movies if you're going to be so lazy. It's clearly not your proper field! And, no, money isn't the issue. Look at Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Night of the Living Dead, and the original Star Wars. They had smaller budgets but became films that have stood the test of time and inspired countless other films. Films like this one inspire nothing. It's lazily derivative.