Reindeer Games

Need I say more? Well actually I should because that was the only good part of this movie. Not even good just hysterical. Because of that I gave this movie a 2. The highest rating I've given any of the movies I have reviewed thus far which isn't saying much considering the fact that so far I have reviewed dreamcatcher, juno and avatar.

This movie is sooooooooooooo stupid. Sucha waste of time. Go see it. See for yourself. Please.

I don't even know what else to say. I went to two blackbusters with a friend to find this movie and needless to say it was the smartest thing I have ever done in my entire life!

Compared with the big-budget Ben Affleck flick of the same name four years later this offers per dollar, way better value. Rough around the edges perhaps, but still a "worth seeing" little item.

Kyle Rankin is Alec Clark..."Mr extreme average" who loses the plot of his own life and finds it necessary to vent his frustrations (and/or perceived lack of manhood) on a young girl Kate Regan (played by Mary Skinner) who he sees fit to relocate, fully tied up, in his own basement. Kate has a problem.

Acting and direction are above average for the budget constraints here and you could do far worse than watch this one night.

Just rented this from Hollywood video today and i have to say I'm semi-impressed. The opening trailers on the DVD had me worried. They were TERRIBLE. But i can honestly say had this film been on TV i would have watched it. Sadly i payed money for it... not sure if it's worth that. I REALLY wanted to smack the creators of the DVD cover (although i should shake their hands they were doing their jobs) I fell for the PROJECT GREENLIGHT tag attached to the film. That's what i get for not doing my homework before renting this. I thought THIS was the horror film which project green-light was working on and thus the reason why i rented it. Only later did i realize that it was just running off Kyle Rankin and Efram Potelle's "Battle of Shaker Heights" (a MUCH better movie). Silly girl. I should have known not to take it when the title "A Cult CLASSIC" was proudly displayed. And had I taken a moment to USE my college degree and actually decipher the coded quote from ABC News on the back i might have put the film back completely. "... makes silence of the lambs seem like breakfast at tiffany's". First off, and ellipses at the beginning of ANY quote only means that the writer had something else to say, but the editor decided it would either a)not be important or b)not work for their purpose. My guess after watching this, the ABC News reviewer was saying that this film made Silence of the Lambs look like a classic (which it is, so really that's redundant). I'm really not trying to bash this film, it was a great first effort and there are things about it which are great. Kyle's performance as Alec Clark is quite good. Mary Skinner is great, even if she did sorta come off like a cross between Charlize Theron and Ashley Judd, but hey what's wrong with that? It was just some of the lines and the overall feeling of boredom which kinda made me wish i had just stumbled onto this on cable one lonely night.

My only question....

Why is Hollywood Video renting this as a film called The Girl in the Basement? No one owns a title of a film. I can call my film Casablanca if i want, so why change the name from Reindeer Games to that, unless you're worried about it getting mixed up with that horrible Charlize Theron, Ben Affleck piece of junk. (hmmm Kyle looks a lot like Affleck, and Mary looks a hell of a lot like CHarlize... crazy). If I were them i would have left it, or at least contacted IMDb some how and let the know that the film has a new title.

To wrap up, not a bad film, not a good film. I give it a solid 4 out of 10

So "Reindeer Games" is actually one of the few decent independent films I've seen. You have to remember: This comment is coming from a guy who despises Kevin Smith for wasting my time with every movie he releases. I fear I'll never learn my lesson with that guy (but I just have so much hope in my heart.) Reindeer Games is nothing like the Affleck version (which is utterly disgusting.) It's about this guy named Alec who works at a restaurant in downtown Portland, Maine. He accumulates a crush on a co-worker and manages to finally land a date with her.

After the date she makes it clear that she never wants to see him outside of work again, so he does the only logical thing: knocks her out and locks her up in his basement.

There are suspenseful moments--but in that independent film kind of way. The chief of police for Portland (Mike Chitwood) makes a cameo on the end. Not bad considering he violentfied the entire police force--it only makes sense to have him appear in a violent movie like this.

There is one shot they did that I still can't figure out (it appears more vividly in the trailer--where a shadow looms over a chair in the foreground. Anyway, that's about it.

-EE

I rate this film so highly out of respect for how much the filmmakers accomplished with virtually no budget and an all-volunteer cast and crew. The acting is surprisingly good for a Red-Cross group (a couple of holes in the minor roles, but forgivable under the circumstances). The lead roles are done well. The grandmother is believable as a supporting character. The cinematography is quite good. These guys knew what they were doing.

The product is solidly entertaining for any psycho-thriller fan, and a must see for independent filmmakers (especially of the low-low-budget sort... This film will be an inspiration to make your next one!). On the creepiness factor: They got a good deal of "creep" for their film-making dollar.

Check it out. It's worth the two bits and an hour-and-a-half.