Let's Not Meet

2 out of 10. One for the girl with the red hair that could act, and one for the cool-looking monster. 'Nuff said.

I've seen better acting in junior high drama class. If my child made this as their film school project I'd stop sending money for tuition. Boring and underdeveloped plot and characters. Terrible acting that is more like awkward recital of barely memorized lines. Poor camera and lighting quality. Choppy edits.

They should have made a found footage to help hide their poor talent.

High school rivals are reunited when a fateful night brings them together in a battle for survival deep in the woods.

The Good: For starters the main characters include a religious pizza delivery girl and the It Chicks who once bullied her in high school, as well as a couple Park rangers in training. That's a clear recipe for fun and the writing is spot on. Everyone stands out with their own motivations and characteristics, and the actors breathed authentic life into them.

The music was, for lack of a better term - great. Often these low budget affairs have terrible stock music that ruins any possible tension the film may've had. The music here is really effective, atmospheric, and elevates key moments.

Great story with multiple threads that come together in the end. Everything makes sense and it's easy to figure out as the movie goes along without insulting the audiences' intelligence. Nothing is spoon fed which I always appreciate.

The lighting was also quite good. Some of the scenes in the woods looked far better than they should've on a low, low budget.

It's effective. Some scenes are actually scary, even without jump scares, and there's a good amount of humor throughout.

The Bad: It's a low budget film. If you're exclusively into Hollywood stuff this probably won't be for you. The film looks good, but not $50,000 camera good. Production values overall are closer to a tv show or syfy flick. If that would bother you - skip it.

Also some of the lighting was inconsistent in some of the tent scenes. I noticed only because in some shots it's really wonderfully lit - lots of shadows and a certain edge to the visuals. Other shots it's well lit and loses the eeriness a bit.

Overall it's a really solid film

Not as good as what I would expect from a high school film project. Bad writing, worse acting and directing. And as usual for films like this a story that makes abdolutely no sense.

A homeschooled Christian pizza delivery girl, a resourceful girl scout, a couple of bratty IT girls, and two park rangers who know their stuff - are all brought together over the course of one long night when they fall prey to sinister figures lurking in the woods.

The film was made on a microbudget and there are some problems (as they are with any movie, big budget or small), but frankly you can tell that from the trailer and lack of name actors. From where I sit the money was spent well enough.

The 3.8 rating is absolutely absurd. We could debate the acting, but overall I think everyone did a good job in their respective roles. Breanna Engle especially shines as our unexpected hero, but Kate Kenney, Hiram Ortiz and the others all held their own. No one is overacting or wooden.

The writing is strong. Smart dialogue, and unlike most horror movies today it actually has three acts and solid character development. There is a lot going on in the movie but it all ties together in the end. I also found a lot of the imagery striking, especially the use of shadows in certain scenes. Best of all nothing was too dark to see which is often the case with these movies.

The pace in the first half hour or so could be a little uneven. I watched it with some friends who had to be pulled back in -which they were once the stuff hits the fan. We could also debate character decisions. That being said, when you're 10 miles away from your cars in the woods, running is not always the best option. Especially with bear traps lying around and injuries.

And yeah, it was clearly not made for a lot of money. But anyone rating this movie a 1 or 2 out of 10 is being a little ridiculous. I really liked this movie, but even if we're being objective - there is a lot to like here.