Alucinação

'thats what we call the indigenous people'....

says the "Irish" boy with the remarkably uncanny east London accent, whilst in observation of the local Irish folk picking up roadkill for dinner...er racist much? anyways despite the shockingly unauthentic accents, (well just the Irish ones that is), and the massive (and that is an understatement) clichés, all thrown at me full force within the first EIGHT MINUTES (ladies and gentlemen we have a winner), I proceeded no further in my investigation of this 'film' (and it was an investigation...I didn't fathom that a film by the name of "shrooms" would be in any way a thought provoking or groundbreaking affair).

Usually a movie like this would be seen out of sheer entertainment in a 'so bad its good' vein of things.

this was actually so bad...that it was switched off (precisely eight minutes later). The blonde virgin, stoner king of 'shrooms', and jock stereotypes made me yawn with despair. As for the Irish boy (clearly originally from Romford), don't even get me started.

Avoid

I am not surprised by the polarized opinions regarding this movie, although I do think there is a lot of overreaction.

Shrooms is simply a decent little movie that seems promising when you first begin to watch it, thanks in great part to solid direction tricks. However, eventually it fails to deliver because of a very, very weak story and a failed attempt at defying genres.

When you first start to watch, the movie grabs your attention with what seems like good characters and the remote set is also well showcased. You get some threads of character development and the story flows quickly to introduce the mood thanks to a character recounting a legend and one character consuming mushrooms.

Unfortunately, it's at this point that the movie starts going in all directions. Many reviewers seem offended that the movie didn't deliver a given experience which seems to be due to their expectations that this movie would follow a specific formula. Be it a "classic horror tale" or a slasher flick or gore movie. While movie fans would be wise not to make so many assumptions, one must admit there was a failure here by director Breathnach to develop a coherent mood and story.

For instance, the character development in this movie leads absolutely nowhere. In fact, many movies which do *not* rely on effective character development other than as a side-dish actually fare better than Shrooms. Yet we can't help but think it was sorely needed here. As well, the movie flirts between psychological horror, action horror and supernatural horror without ever hitting the marks. One can blend ANY genres if it is done effectively. But a mediocre story is much better off sticking to a proved formula.

One other fault of this movie is its derivative nature, borrowing tricks from a great many flicks such as Deliverance, Blair Witch and too many slasher flicks to name.

Finally, I have no idea if the director attempted a "plot twist" or not but I could see the plot twist almost as the seed was planted. I kept hoping there would be more to it, that it would be misdirection of some kind or that it would be made more explicit but no. The ending offers flashbacks explaining what happened, as if the audience wouldn't be aware of that! So what about the good? Well, the direction is really tight and some scenes, particularly early on, are effective at offering tensed moments. Lindsey Haun is also convincing as Tara. The rest of the cast is really forgettable. None of them are noticeably weak with the exception of Robert Hoffman, who really looked like he didn't belong.

I am left wondering if the editing is at fault here. Was a decision made to cut 30, 45 minutes of this movie that might have made it a great film? I certainly think this is possible. Almost none of the scenes felt boring. It just felt like an incomplete experience. Existential horror turned into classic slasher/survival movie midway into production.

Director Paddy Breathnach, who is more familiar with edgy comedies, is a welcome breath of fresh air compared to the very boring, repetitive directors who focus on the horror genre. But the screenplay by Pearse Elliott is at fault here.

Young people experience terrifying hallucinations after consuming hallucinogenic mushrooms. Okay, we get that.

But the development of the scenario systematically alternates between hallucination and what is supposed to be happening in reality.

So much so that we soon don't know very well what is actually happening, versus what is the product of drug-induced hallucination.

The movie editing does not offer a link between the images, which follow one another without transition.

The result is pure hogwash. Watching that movie is a total waste of time. I gave 5 stars nonetheless, since I consider that the actors are not bad. The scenario is bad. And the editing is worse. Far worse.

Shrooms basically is a Slasher Movie. 3 couples go to Ireland woods to collect magic mushrooms and trip out. Of course on their way they already meet some strange inhabitants of the woods and it doesn't take long until a creepy story is being told at the campfire which of course is more than just a story. So strange things happen, people start disappearing, silhouettes move through the woods and the creepy story starts to melt into reality. The idea of blurring the lines between reality and imagination is quite nice and works after the horror kicks in along with the effect of the mushrooms. Problem is that the pacing of the movie is damn slow and doesn't really pick up much till the end. So I often looked at my watch since it seemed and eternity. Shrooms is not a bad movie, it has some nice modern elements like the typical washed out colors, some nice tripping ideas like a speaking cow mixing in with the classic campfire story and haunted woods themes. Anyway its hard to be sucked into the movie... it tries to be hypnotic with the trippy visuals and permanent uncertainty of reality and imagination. But it just rides that horse too long and too slow... so when you get the ends twist you already might be too sleepy to care. If you want to see a trippy mix of Evil Dead, Blair Witch Project and High Tension go check it out, but don't expect too much action and gore.

Six dopes go looking for magic mushrooms in the backwoods of Ireland. While tripping on the shrooms, they encounter someone determined to kill them off and must fight for survival.

Awful, awful film! It's a disjointed, achingly dull mess. It feels like there is nothing happening 90% of the time. Watch as the lead runs from a cloaked figure that's anything but scary, then repeat ad nauseum. The editing, intended to be trippy or not, is just pathetic. I hated the characters. They're bitchy and obnoxious to the extreme. Terrible dialogue too, a great example being when two of the girls talk to a third about what she sees in her boyfriend. There are attempts at humor, but they all fall flat. The kills, or lack thereof, are weak. With a film this poor in all other areas, good kills were it's only hope of being anything but a total waste. Alas, we don't get to see half of them, and the others are nothing to write home about. I can't forget the ending, which is just laughable. I haven't been this annoyed with a movie in quite some time.

While browsing the DVD section around the time this was released, I had the misfortune of deciding to grab it on an impulse buy. Bad move! I fought the urge to just throw it in the trash, but the urge eventually won out. This thing belongs in a landfill.