Was drawn into seeing 'Desolation' with a cool poster/cover, a very intriguing if not creative premise and as someone with a general appreciation for horror. That it was low-budget, which from frequent personal experience is rarely a good sign due to that there are so many poor ones out there, made me though apprehensive.
'Desolation' is a film it doesn't do enough with its potential (although there are far bigger wastes of potential in film) and could have been much better, can't say that it is a great film because it isn't. It is not a terrible film though, as far as recent low-budget film viewings go it's one of the better and more watchable ones easily. It certainly could have been far worse, considering the large number of films seen recently being mediocre at best and irredeemably terrible at worst.
Lets start with the positives. The scenery is atmospheric and spooky and 'Desolation' is surprisingly well shot and easy on the eye, was expecting a cheap looking film and to me that wasn't the case here. The music is suitably ominous.
Found that the acting was not bad, found it better than average if not much more.
Also that there were a few nice moments that intrigued and there was tension, suspense and creepiness, the first half is very promising and has a good deal of unsettlement. At least the film was not hard to follow and the story structure was generally coherent.
Unfortunately, the story does feel paper thin, disjointed and over-stretched and after the promising first half the film became duller, more predictable, more senseless and less scary in the second, with the outcome revealed too early and the ending not feeling tied up enough. The characters are too sketchy and with nowhere near enough to make one want to endear to them and some of the decision making and behaviour induces face-palming. The effects are ropy at best.
Dialogue can be stilted and rambling, with lots of clichés and no depth whatsoever (definitely one of the worst assets), while the pace goes to a standstill very quickly and drags with very little going on worth caring about. Found too many the supposedly shocking moments not surprising or scary and the supposedly creepy atmosphere dreary, due to the excessive obviousness, a lot of dumb and vague moments and explanations and the lack of tension and suspense. Tonally, it feels unfocused and muddled from trying to do too much.
There are too many underdeveloped plot elements and often nonsensical character motivations, while too many of the things to make you jump or shocked are far from creative or scary and are pretty tame. There is not enough threat here and what there is of it tends to be used poorly, too much of the second half is unimaginative and more odd than creepy, with little sense of horror or urgency. Momentum sags later on and the direction has its assured moments but inexperience also shows. There is a general lack of creativity and shocks.
The sound editing can be on the obvious and over-loudly recorded side. The editing is haphazard at times, but really it's the script and the second half that are most problematic here.
Overall, not great but worth a one time watch. 5/10 Bethany Cox
