The Off Season

I must agree that low budget does not automatically mean a movie is bad. There is plenty of talent in the world and much of it does not have the funding of a wealthy, big time production company in tow.

Just after watching The Off Season, I was disappointed. The low budget was glaringly obvious in the overall quality of the film and in the acting. One particular plot turn I found to be VERY unconvincing, thus lessening the credibility of the movie. It felt way too forced in order to move the story along, or maybe an actor backed out (or was fired) half way through.

After some thought, I found there were many redeeming qualities to the movie. The atmosphere was surprisingly creepy for such a simple and generic setting (dingy hotel room). And such a small space gave a disturbingly claustrophobic aura to the film, while affecting the characters in negative and understandable ways.

It was interesting to see Angus Scrimm acting with dialog instead of merely presence (ala Phantasm), and he certainly did an acceptable job even though the writing was less than great. Last but not least, there were a few decidedly potent scares via some of the supernatural shenanigans. One particular scene involving a phone call made my skin crawl, and that scene alone practically made the film worth watching in my opinion.

In terms of horror, one can do better, but one could also do a lot worse. If you are a horror fan with an open mind, then Off Season may be just what you are looking for.

To say this movie is low budgeted is an overstatement. If you like the quality, the production value, and the acting of a poorly done student film, you will love this one.

The story: Two people decided to hole up in a small room at a rundown motel so he could write his next great play while his girlfriend works at a menial job in town to supporting him. Right off, strange things begin to happen in this cramp room. As the day gone by, things become worst and worst.

The good: the first two minutes of the movie, when I thought this is going to be a reality style horror movie shot on video instead of film.

The bad: The next 83 minutes of the movie. First of all, the surroundings of this movie doesn't promote any scariness nor creepiness. The motel room the haunting is suppose to take place is not big enough to fit two people along with a ghost. I mean, if a ghost wants to haunt the room they are in, one person needs to leave the room first. The directing is amateurish and so is the camera work, especially halfway thorogh the movie when the camera-person decided to play with the zoom lens. The sound is hard to heard. The male lead is a poster boy of over-acting. Nothing in this movie is remotely scary for a ghost story. I am very glad that I only rented this movie instead.

I think this one goes down as the worst horror film of all time, if not the worst film of all time. And I'm really not kidding.

I was misled into watching this piece of garbage when I spotted the cover at a local Hollywood Video rental store. The cover looked promising, and I was thinking this would be a millennial indie horror spin on "The Shining" but I was so very wrong (note: I later noticed that on the cover, a critic (must've been a dumb one at that) quoted this "The scariest horror film since The Shinning". Yes, "The SHINNING").

This film is basically about a couple who move into a cracker jack box hotel room at some cheap seaside hotel, and they begin to see weird stuff in their ten-foot by ten-foot room that is somehow related to the hotel's past.

The only thing remotely memorable about this film is Angus Scrimm's performance (well known as The Tall Man from "Phantasm"), but other than that, the rest of the film is just complete and utter trash. I will say this film created a sense of claustrophobia considering 99% of it took place in that tiny hotel room, but it was just plain awful. If it was trying to be an exercise in claustrophobic horror, it failed miserable. If it was trying to be an exercise in horror at all, it also failed miserably. Terrible acting, extremely weak script, nothing scary at all, really bad cinematography, etc. I'd say this is even way below your average B-horror film. Avoid at all costs, unless you want to laugh and make jokes for 90 minutes. Even then, I don't think sitting through it is even worth the laughter. 1/10.

Shot on video...and not very well. Amateur acting. Did not use Scrimm very well. Director has no sense of pacing. Shot over ten days and looks it. Scares not scary. Motel location is extremely colorless. Too ordinary. Camera work is languid, lighting too harsh. Probably cost nest to nothing nothing to make. So all in all, this another shot on video waste of time that show a complete lack of talent on the director's part. The actors seem to struggle with the dialog. Only Scrimm seems to stand out, but the director does not cover him effectively. Premise of the script has merit and could be utilized well in a more expensive production, but is let down by the threadbare production values of this film.

This movie was the worst movie I have ever seen. Besides not being scary it had bad writing and directing. I won't even get started on the soundtrack. The scariest part of the movie was when I knew there was going to be a ghost in the shower, that guy was freaking creepy looking. Me and my roommate laughed through the whole thing, so funny I am glad I started with this movie. It wasn't a complete waste of time I got a lot of laughs and lot of smart ass lines that I will use on my roommates. (You you you you you you) Alright what is with the blackouts they just didn't feel like writing that part. "The Making Of The Off Season" "Well we went to this small town in the middle of BFE and I had my sister's hand held camera and I handed my friends the napkins I had wrote the play on and we had a pizza and some beer and by the next morning I had a movie." Finally, I will leave this movie alone on this last note, please tell me that they aren't making a sequel and they just left the end like that for the hell of it. DO NOT WATCH THIS MOVIE. GO TO THE STORE FIND THIS MOVIE AND THROW IT AT THE OWNER FOR EVEN HAVING THIS MOVIE IN HIS STORE.