Não Me Esqueça

Showing in local theaters only now, this 2009 film has been re-titled as "Revenge of the College Ghost." From that cheesy awkward title and the awful poster of zombie-like ghosts, you knew instantly this was definitely going to be a B-horror flick. And surely enough, you get exactly what you imagined.

Let's pick on the new title. First, there is "Revenge". A mistreated girl Angela seeks revenge on the kids who were cruel to her. Of course, these kids die one by one in all sorts of violent gory ways. Then there is "College." This is a teen horror flick. But the kids here were high school graduates, just about to go to college. And then there's "Ghost." Angela's ghost was awakened during a juvenile spirit-summoning game the teens played in a cemetery, and she wastes no time to exact her revenge.

The only aspect I liked in the story is how after each character was killed, he or she was somehow erased from everyone else's memory (except for the lead character Sandy, who used to be Angela's best friend). This of course made poor Sandy look like a raving lunatic to the people around her. Aside from that though, everything else was run of the mill teen horror, from the sexy girls to the gory deaths. The actors were all unknown, generic and acted in a campy manner. The ghosts were portrayed in the style of Sadako in "The Ring" with jerky movements, only here they acted like they were in the "Thriller" video. Maybe good for a temporary shallow thrill. Do not expect too much.

Forget me not is an interesting attempt at making film that mixes traditional teenage American horror with a ghost story influenced by recent Asian cinema. You get a cast of teenage characters not unlike what you could find in a Final Destination sequel, mixed with a ghostly threat not unlike what you could find in a Grudge/Ring spin off.

The plot development pertaining to the Ghost is actually well done, and the flashbacks featuring our teenager crew when they were younger are interesting, in fact more so than they are in the present.

Unfortunately, what really kills this movie is crappy direction. There's really no attention to details, the actors (far from A-list) were obviously not guided very well either. Early in the movie, we see a girl throwing a necklace in a lake, moments later, she is seen clearly wearing it in a crappy edit that lasts but 2 seconds but leaves you wondering how stuff like this could be missed. From that point in the movie, you have to accept you're going to kill time watching an uninspired direct-to-video or turn it off.

I went with it and must say the basic premise and general plot could have made for an interesting movie. I don't regret watching this. I only regret seeing lots of high ratings by horror fans. As long as horror fans will be undemanding and accept to be short changed, producers will cut corners and deliver films which, like this one, needed a lot more work before being released.

In the end, do not expect much scares from this. But if you are a horror fan and want to see a mix of Asian and American horror, then maybe director Tyler Oliver's botched film will be enjoyable.

Now this was a pretty out of the Hollywood mold for teenage horror movies. It had everything you expect from a standard teenage horror movie.

The story isn't bad, don't get me wrong. In fact, the story was actually quite nice, and had a good constant flow to it, so you weren't left bored. Now, what makes the movie halt a bit is the predictability of every single scene. Everything here is by the Hollywood-book. You see everything coming a mile before it actually happens.

The acting in the movie was fairly good, though I am not really familiar with any of the cast. But still, they did a good job.

As for the apparitions, or whatever they are supposed to be, well they look pretty cool and move in a nice way as well. Now what ticked me off was whatever that was going on with their mouths. Every time I saw one of these apparitions I was laughing because of the mouth. So it was a bit hard to take them seriously.

Now, with the supernatural touch of the movie, this is a little bit more interesting than your average standard teenager horror movie. But it is dangerously close to being just another mediocre type.

Watch it if you like teenage horror movies, but don't expect to be scared out of your seat. There are some nice deaths and effects, but that is about the size of the fireworks.

Yes the movie is heavily clichéd and the acting in some areas is more than weak as well as a less than impressive start but I can see an effort to be unique is on display here. The movie starts off like most generic slasher films with a cast of beautiful unknowns who just recently graduated from high school and throws a huge party, get drunk, have sex and after everyone leaves a handful of close friends decides to drive to a cemetery and play a silly game that's like ghosts in the graveyard. A mysterious girl then appears and wants to play with them and they let her, then things turn for the worst. To me from there on the movie gets way better with effective kills and a way more effective dragging a victim to their grave underground than in Drag Me To Hell, terror and suspense also come and maybe a too complicated plot and story for its own good but I give it kudos for trying to be ambitious. The acting too for some reason gets slightly better and far less annoying than it was in the beginning with Carly Schroeder from the indie film Mean Creek stealing the show. The film never gets truly terrifying and the zombie like ghosts though at some points creepy and scary were mostly not effective enough and seems too similar to the killer ghosts in Asian ghosts flicks of the past and they could of done better in that department but for a limited budget they weren't half bad either. The twisted shocker of an ending which they all had it coming was very effective to me and kept me from giving it a lower rating but I just wish it had a better first half and setup like it did in the middle and last half and because of that it was uneven and it also could of gone further with its interesting premise. Overall it's like Prom Night meets I Know What You Did Last Summer meets Tormented and at that was an entertaining watch if you have nothing better to do or watch. Rent it! 6 out of 10

I saw the rating on this and wasn't sure I should bother, but I went ahead and watched it and I'm glad I did. The plot is interesting. I'm happy to see that there are some original ideas out there yet for horror, and it isn't all remakes. The acting wasn't bad, I really enjoyed the plot, and the effects of the creatures in it were awesome. I actually yelled once out of fear, and that rarely happens. Pleasantly surprised at how much I enjoyed the film, having never heard of it or heard about it. It's not the greatest horror movie of all time or anything, but it's worth a watch as long as your expectations aren't too high.