A Noite dos Tommyknockers

Oh my, I can't believe I wasted my time on this. The intro was just PAINFUL ... I have seen better acting at the community playhouse downtown.

Then the meat of the movie started. I am not sure what was worse, the absolutely waste of a script, the poor timing of the directing, the even poorer camera work, or the even worse scene staging.

Sad too. It seemed a few of the actors actually had some talent and were hoping to make a go of it. And unlike many low budget films, this one actually sported more than just 4 people for the entirety of the movie. There were actually moments of good acting, but a VERY few bright spots can't make up for the rest of the problems.

Hope no one was hoping this film was gong to be their 'big break'.

Tons of micro-budget westerns flood the DTV space yearly, most best left unseen, but sometimes worthwhile fare emerges. The itch for more horror-westerns led me to Night of the Tommyknockers. Not good but not a disaster; it's under 90 minutes and doesn't shy away from monster gore once the bandits-vs-lawmen first half leaves its outlaws in a gold-rush ghost town besieged by gnarled Descent rejects.

If you can accept the meager production values this kind of film must scrounge up today, then this is an overly-talky obviously-cheap yet still enjoyable creature feature. Just mind the acting; although even that in regard, the actual character dynamics were fun in spite of the bad-to-average performances but I got to grade on a curve considering how rare horror-westerns are, let alone ones as relatively focused and action-filled as this.

Watched this film since the same team made another film with an actress I adore. She wasn't in this one, unfortunately. SHE would have elevated it, no doubt.

Man, was this worse than expected.

Script was all over the place. Lighting who? DAY/NIGHT? Light poured through windows when it was night outside.

Costumes were straight out of a high school performance of Oklahoma, along with the acting performances. Aside from the plethora of non-actors all whom paid for their few lines, the leads were all over the place. No one seemed to be in the same movie- tone ranged from over the top stage musical-like theatrics to barely-there performing. Tough to find any real substance in the muck.

There's "A", "B" and then this thing which is chock full of bad acting, horrible special effects and no direction. Bad lighting contributes as does the acting which is just pitiful. Watched 5 minutes and wish I could get this time back. Don't get me wrong, I'm all in for a good "B" movie but this looks like a bad grade school production. Some actors I recognize from 90's movies and I know have some talent. I guess they need the work but for this movie, I think they should have passed. The other "actors" seem to forget their lines at times. I'm certain queue cards were behind the camera. WHY did I try this!

A nice addition to the western/horror genre. The Mahal Brothers make great looking Indie films when compared to most, and they are usually a fun watch. "Night..." continues that trend. An interesting story, quality sound, and great looking creatures. I'm sure people will have issues with the lighting consistency, but for me it wasn't an issue because we can actually see what is happening as opposed to the usual pitch black screen in most horror movies. The acting performances were hit or miss which is par for the course in Indie films. Again, not an issue for me. Angela Cole owns this movie hands down. She's fantastic. Richard Grieco, Denny Nolan, and Shawn C Phillips were standouts for me as well. If you dig Indie Horror, give it a try.