Cookers

I wasn't much of a horror/gore fan, but late one night, this movie converted me. Rescued from a $1.99 bin at a video store on Halloween, we fully expected this to be a standard, low-budget haunted house flick. It turned out to be so much more. Creepy and compelling, the film builds in tension with every frame and surrounds you with a constant feeling of dread. You just know something bad is going to happen, you just don't know when. Helped along by decent acting and some very clever audio design, there are a couple of scenes that should make your flesh crawl, a few that will surprise you, and some that will make you say "wait...was that reality or a hallucination?" Good movie for a late night fright or two.

The premise for Cookers is simple; three white-trash crystal-meth addicts on the run lock themselves up in a farmhouse in the middle of nowhere. Things quickly get strange for the trio as they begin to see terrifying and ghastly apparitions. Is it the massive amount of drugs their taking or is their hideout truly haunted?

After I saw this film I kept thinking about it for quite some time. The acting is great (Brad Hunt is amazing once again) as was the storytelling and the direction. Cookers is the type of film a studio would never make. Everything isn't spelled out for you and there's no Hollywood type BS ending. You actually have to think about what you've just watched and have to make decision about what actually happened during the film.

This is an intelligent Horror/Psychological Thriller that stays with you after the fact. The last move I saw like this that forced me to think was the brilliant Donnie Darko (even though that had themes of time-travel and sci-fi they somehow fit in the same genre).

"Cookers" sure was a nice surprise, as I expected very little from it. A good tagline for this one could possibly be "Tweeker Hell", or something. Because I've seen quite a few people act a bit "weird" while "under the influence", but those were a far cry from the way freak-junky Hector behaved in this flick. Man, that guy was messed up. Totally. The whole time. It might have been an accurate portrayal when it comes to "speedy" behaviour. It might have been exaggerated. But I do not want to even know how much dope it takes to make a guy act like him. Anyway, so the drug-part was pretty fascinating in this one, but the 'ghostly/haunted'-part was, well, pretty good (with the creepy stuff interacting with possible drug-induced hallucinations and all), but near the end it seemed like the movie went a little too "Blair Witch" for my tastes. Well, at least that's how it seemed, because unfortunately my DVD started messing-up near the end (pause-continue-pauze-etc), so I couldn't quite make out all that was happening there... Still, I'll gladly give this one another watch, just to see what's up with the ending.

Most low budget horror movies are pretty bad, hence the desire to watch a lot of them hoping to find the gem that publicity has overlooked. This is that gem.

The storyline deals with a crew of methampetamine cookers who hole up in an old house to make drugs. Since this is a horror movie, the house must be haunted, and of course it is. That the plot is predictable doesn't take away from the entertainment; you might know what's coming, but the way it's presented is the enjoyable part here.

The pacing, the story, the acting - all good. The way that tension was gradually ratcheted up throughout the film speaks well of the director. I especially enjoyed the brief hints that the people were not alone in the house, somewhat reminiscent of The Grudge, but not as blatant.

You'll know how it's going to end, of course, and that's OK. Again, knowing doesn't detract from the movie in any way. The humor is understated, the horror is creepy, and the cast is entirely believable.

Absolutely had to write this review to say the either these are the greatest actors in the world, or Brad Hunt was genuinely wired off his face. If all the "high" or "wired" drug acting in films i've seen, he unbelievably pulls off the twitches, the glances of his eyes at things and reactions to sounds... I'm genuinely sitting here wondering if he had a *boost of confidence for his acting.

The other guy and Cyia were good too. Surprised to learn she was actually a trained dancer and member of the pussycat dolls.

Anyway, this film is pretty spot on with the atmosphere of being in a meth binge and how some people ive encountered act. The editing really sells it all, so kudos to the team behind the movie.