Nightmare in the Desert

I had dvr'd this back when it aired and finally decided to sit down and watch it. What a mistake that was! The acting - and I use that term loosely - was so bad I thought I was watching a third rate MadTV skit. Particularly awful were the "actress" playing the photographer's assistant and the leading actress's boyfriend, who chewed the scenery with their cartoonish delivery. The only saving grace was the leading actress, Gia DeSauvage who has a true star quality and was the only one giving any sort of credible performance, which is commendable considering the tremendous obstacles she had to work against. The script and plot were laughable. I would say the acting of everyone (except for the lead actress) was community theatre level if I wasn't afraid of every community theater in America suing me for defamation!

Wow. Where to start is a challenge. Let's start with acting- the lead actress was well below average- cardboard like- no emotion. The 'park ranger' also was sophomoric. I found myself laughing at everything he said and did. The actors who played Chris and Rachel were better, we felt like the actress who played Rachel should have had the lead role and the actress who played the lead should have had the Rachel role.

The writing was sooooo lacking. Let's talk first about the lack of reality in the injury situations. Chris falls 100 feet onto solid rock and miraculously walks away a few minutes later. Guess it was only a flesh wound. Rachel gets shot through the abdomen and after laying- bleeding out- for most of a day, patches herself with a first aid kit and not only walks away but builds a fire and then is able to walk away with Shae as they escape the park ranger. Wow. In the land of make believe I guess anything is possible.

Now let's think a minute about Shae's response to her baby daddy being missing in the desert as night approaches. She says they should go to Larry's house to see what ideas he might have. But first, she says, she needs to stop by her house and clean up. So she takes a leisurely shower while the park ranger goes through her underwear. After the shower they go to Larry's house where he grills steaks for all of them (that seems to be the only idea Larry comes up with during the movie.) While having steak and drinking beer, they don't come up with anything in the way of a plan. And Shae would probably have shown more emotion if it were her dog that was lost in the desert.

I was tickled as I read the two reviews that gave the movie 10/10 ratings. They sounded too stock and too glowing to have been real. When I looked them up it was the first review either one of them had ever posted on IMDB. It could be coincidence, but methinks I smell a rat.

This movie clocks in at just over 1 hour, which is a blessing. I would guess this was a student film if it weren't for the somewhat half-decent production values. The actors seem like beginners from some acting school.

Especially bad are the lead actress and the park ranger. Neither come across as authentic. They are both obviously "Acting!". And awkwardly, at that. I can't remember when I last saw acting this bad. They were just reading lines, with no emotion behind them. It actually made me feel bad for the actors, since this will be forever in their credits.

The"third reviewer" here who gave this a bad review (which seems to have disappeared) was right - the 10 star reviews had to come from people involved in the project. No one could possibly find the characters believable. Or the plot, which was predictable. There was no suspense at all. For example when the lead actress looked over the cliff, we all knew what she was going to see. The whole movie was like that.

What is surprising is that the director has some credibility. Why he took this job is a mystery. It must have been for some quick bucks, considering how short the movie is, which means it didn't take long to make.

Nightmare in the Desert was the front runner Lifetime needed to kickstart their fall line up of movies. This film elicits suspense and questions from the rip, and the audience is snatched along for the ride. The locations are great, with perfect transitions between night and day, adding to the thrill and race against time - and villain - that the protagonists must overcome. With a realistic plot and well written script, I found myself jumping at the commercials in anticipation of what would happen next. The cast all carry themselves and their characters through complex, 3D emotions. Gia, Tristan, and Allen are stars in this picture and I can't wait to see what cinema has in store for them next!

The storyline of this movie was somewhat predictable but enjoyable to watch. I watched it with my son on a lazy Friday afternoon. Unfortunately, I had a hard time connecting with the primary characters. I found their interactions to be very scripted with not the right amount of emotion. The supporting actors in my opinion, (Chris the boyfriend ),were much more authentic and believeable than the primary characters. I enjoyed them and what they brought to the film. The music added to the overall fun and thrilling effect of the movie.

The setting of the movie is near and dear to me as it is not far from where I live!!