'Mad World' drew me into seeing it, with a cool poster/cover, an intriguing if not particularly original premise and as someone with a general appreciation for the genre. 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 as well as the low rating and poor reviews.
It is sadly however yet another film seen recently, hence some reiteration because the exact same strengths and flaws those films have are present here, that to me was incredibly disappointing considering its potential which it doesn't do anywhere near enough with. 'Mad World' is yet another terrible film, with a plethora of problems (huge ones too). There is nothing to recommend here, no redeeming qualities at all.
The acting all round is pretty diabolical, exceptions are none, with a bad mix of hamminess and phoning in.
Visually, 'Mad World' looks drab and far from slick, with a cheap, limited set that completely fails to show any sense of claustrophobia or tension, drab photography and not always cohesive editing. The dialogue is from the very start to the silly and anti-climactic finish has no natural flow and makes one cringe. The ending doesn't feel like one at all, it feels unresolved, abrupt and incomplete.
Characters have minimal at best development and are either bland, ridiculously annoying or both with some illogical decision making. The story is dull, never coming to life, dreary in atmosphere with no tension or suspense at all and fails to make sense too often. The direction is as flat as a pancake and what should have been intriguing was instead ridiculous and barely plausible.
Overall, terrible. 1/10 Bethany Cox
