O Som

I like to think of watching horror movies like going on first dates: Does it have a likable personality? Is the memory of this film going to stay with me till the next night? Is it something I can go back to watching and still enjoy?

With The Sound, the only thing I'm left with is the thought of what it could have been. I could not be disappointed if I didn't have somewhat high expectations for it. The title is sufficient to pique my interest. I would have been satisfied if this was about a particular creepy sound. So many horror movies rely on visuals that it would be very refreshing.

It starts out promising: a campy little story with likable faces. But you soon realize it runs far too long for the punches it packs, which are barely a handful. Your mind starts working overtime to entertain you where the movie fails to, which includes not only imagining how different scares could be built up where there aren't any, but also poking fun at the vague and rushed plot. All this makes the movie a disappointing watch.

Loved the idea for 'The Sound', which for recent modest to low budget film viewings was one that was really quite creative. Executed right, 'The Sound' had potential to be quite decent. The cover/poster/advertising was attention grabbing and does make one want to see the film. Christopher Lloyd too is always watchable, despite being in a lot of bad projects in recent years.

It is unfortunate that 'The Sound' was yet another great potential waste, which is both frustrating and annoying. It doesn't come anywhere near close to being as attention grabbing as the cover/poster/advertising, makes a creative concept dull and ordinary and Lloyd is much better than this. Really wanted to like 'The Sound', but couldn't do it with such underwhelming execution of almost every component. Not all of them, but all but a few.

Rose McGowan is competent and Lloyd gives his limited character and screen time a lot of gusto.

First third of 'The Sound' is intriguing and creepy and some of the photography is atmospheric and slick enough.

The rest of the acting is not worth mentioning, Michael Eklund in particular spends the whole time looking like he was recovering from a hangover. The characters are sketchy at best and there is just nothing interesting or investable about them. Photography aside, 'The Sound' looks drab and like it was made in haste.

Dialogue is very stilted and muddled, the direction is pedestrian and after a promising start, the intrigue and suspense goes and the story for the rest of the film is a mess of incoherence, with too many things being vague, silliness and dreary pacing, complete with a rushed and petered out ending.

In summary, pretty weak. 3/10 Bethany Cox

This has been done over and over... however it had promise the first 12 minutes...then dropped... flopped and trashed...just like the awful wig Rose wears in the movie

I think I made it half an hour into the movie before the stream of incoherent hashtags had me rooting for the protagonist to get killed. There were a few brief interesting moments when Christopher Lloyd makes his entrance but the succession of characters that wander into the lack of a story just remind me of how unprepared our hero is for her adventure. As a "scientist" she should be worried about the real physical harm that can come to somebody wandering into "a rat infested pit covered with graffiti", to borrow a line from the movie. The story had some potential but it went nowhere for so long that no payoff could ever be worth the wait.

This film is dull, cliché, messy, over long, nonsensical and, worst of all, unscary. I watched it to the end but it was all I could do to stay awake, let alone engage with this film. I can only think that Christopher Lloyd was in this film as a favour for a friend or needed to finance a loft conversion or something similar.

Not really worth your time.