Desolation

Going into Desolation I had no idea what to expect, it was a nameless pick & mix movie for me.

It tells the story of a pair of friends and a teenage boy who go hiking in the woods only to be stalked by a mysterious figure in black.

It's very paint by number stuff but is done well enough to be entertaining.

Our delightful stalker has no gimmick, he has no motivation and I really didn't like that. This Rob Zombie looking git had no character at all which hurt the film.

Ultimately it delivers provided you aren't seeking originality or surprises. Its copy and paste the movie with every cliche in the book, but is just good enough to get past that.

The Good:

Well made

Fairly tense

Decent finale

The Bad:

Nothing original

Dull antagonist

Things I Learnt From This Movie:

Maybe the killers motive was that kid being really annoying

Look, I love a good scary movie. I'll be the first to admit that I even like bad scary movies. So I figured, what the hell, I'll watch this on Netflix. It's bad but not in a good way. The "bad guy" just lingers in the distance, does not have one single line of dialogue, and has no apparent motivations for doing any of what he does through the movie. The relationship between the mother and son is good, but that's the only positive thing I have to say about this. I was bored and actively wishing the movie would end. Also, Mr. Bad Guy, who wears sunglasses in the forest at night? What's your deal? You were so boring but also so intriguing. What even is this movie? Skip it.

I guess when you are setting out to make a "dead camper" type horror movie you should really pay attention to the impact the killer or stalker will have on the overall affect. We find out in the first few minutes that this mute dude seems like he got lost in the woods coming home from a rock concert and is to shy to ask for help finding his buddies. Any horror movie creep or killer that you feel like you could just walk up to them at any time and say hey $#@ head take a hike, is not very intimidating. I think had they cast a better stalker this movie would have received much higher grades.

The script is so one layered and even the conversations if you listen, don't actually make sense between the characters and it sounds like they're reading right off a page. The setting is very cool, and the actor playing the son is the most likable in the script. But it felt like the Director just filmed straight from the page and didn't give a hoot about making it natural.

This is a decent film. There's not a whole lot that's memorable about it, but it's not terrible by any means. There's a good chemistry between the two lead actresses and the actor who plays the son holds his own. There are a few moments of decent tension throughout, but nothing that really made me jump or put me on edge. Depending on who the viewing audience is, I think it could be rather effective.

I liked the fact it didn't follow all the standard tropes you might expect something like this to fall into. That was a pleasant surprise for me. The movie moves along at a good pace and the short runtime is actually to its benefit. I think any longer and there would have been too many 'hurry up and get moving' moments.

It seems this was done on a lower budget and there are times when it's obvious, but it doesn't affect the story so I can give it a pass when it comes to those moments. I'll warn you if you're a gore hound and looking for a lot of gore, this film has next to none. If you're looking for everything to be telegraphed and laid out for you, you may not enjoy it. There's a lot left up to the viewers to figure out and piece together. But, it's a horror/thriller and I personally don't really need everything explained, I can just go with it. I know that's not the case for everyone. So, be warned, if you're that type of viewer, you might want to skip it.