The School

Got a bit confusing, but its one of them type of movies that u have to let it unfold & pay attention to if u really care to figure it out. The kids tried their best, but kinda ruined the movie & had a "lost boys" kind of feel to it. I wouldnt really call this a horror movie nor scary, but it had its interesting moments & well set up scenes for seeming so cheap. I can't really hate on the movie cause it was a good concept, but I feel if it had more money it may have went a bit better on the horror side. This seemed like a scary movie for kids "with their parents".. Is it worth it to watch I can't say no, but I really wouldnt recommend it to everyone.

This was correctly promoted as a fantasy / horror. It isn't a horror so for those after that they would have been short changed. It had some genuine scary moments and the main character did a great job. Set design, make up and costumes great. Worth a watch

I went into The School knowing absolutely nothing (The way I like it) but within moments had my concerns that this was not going to be something I'd enjoy.

The reason being is that the movie plays out both in the horror scenario and flashbacks and I immediatly sensed that I knew what was going on, what the twist was and basically had the entire movie mapped out in my head based on similiar titles.

Was I right? Pretty much yeah.

It tells the story of a doctor who wakes up in a bathtub in a mysterious rundown school. She's surrounded by kids led by a lunatic that has them living in fear of him with a host of ludricrous rules. The school and it's perimter is also populated by the undead!

In the real world flashbacks her young son is in a coma and she's doing everything in her power to prevent the powers that be from turning the machine off as it's rapidly approaching two years.

Have you got an idea of what the twist is and where she is in your head? If not I'd be surprised. I've seen several films with essentially an identical plot before but generally they didn't have the kind of budget they did. So could that salvage anything?

Well The School does make best use of this recycled plot to its credit, a couple of the cast were capable and it looks great. Sadly when the finale kicks in and the whole thing is really quite expected it didn't have quite the impact it needed to elevate it beyond mediocrity.

Some nice ideas, but too many unanswered questions and I simply don't like movies of this general premise.

The Good:

Some decent ideas

A couple of standout performances

The Bad:

Been done before

Doesn't meet its potential

Things I Learnt From This Movie:

The Littlest Vampire seems to be lost

They whitewashed Katana!

It's very Peter Pan-esque mixed with a darker, mature tone. It's not the typical jump-scare type of horror film but instead tries to make you feel uncomfortable and tense, which I like. Can it get a bit boring at times? Yes. You're gonna have to buckle down with the story and enjoy the decent acting, especially by Will McDonald's character, Zac. Mesmerizing from the start, he completely sells you on the idea of how psychotic and deranged his character is. And when his acting does fall flat it's because of the sub-par script. The editing could've been better, too. Having seen a set photo of Zac's make up I at no point saw that in the movie because of how terribly lit the film was (a cheap tool to get out of extensive post-editing). Overall, it's a standard thriller film that tries to disgust and creep you out, but doesn't quite hit it's marks. Will's performance and some parts of the film are the only reason I could think of to convince anyone to watch it.

The concept was a good one, and it sounded like one that would be relatable to the viewer. One that sounded like it would be a creepy film with some emotional impact. 'The School' may not have the most exciting of titles, but it did have its premise going for it and was more than willing to look past the poor rating and reviews.

Good news is that 'The School' does have its moments and redeeming merits and it is not a waste of time, didn't find myself severely regretting watching it at least like has been the case with some films recently. While there was a lot wrong with it, 'The School' is a little better than has been indicated (personal opinion of course). The bad news is that 'The School' is not really a good film still and should have done much more with its concept. This is coming from someone who was really intrigued and thought it could be decent if executed well instead of the semi-watchable to lacklustre film it turned out to be.

It does have its slick and atmospheric moments visually, there are far cheaper films out there. The audio is not too obvious and it didn't intrude too much.

Found the acting better than average with a empathetic female lead, apart from moments of over-acting from the younger cast, and the characters at least had some rootable traits and didn't bore or annoy me. There is some unsettling creepiness in the early stages, as well as some emotional impact.

On the other hand, the storytelling does get muddled and confused in the final third especially (although most of the film is vague) and ends feeling incomplete with too much left hanging in the air. The middle also drags quite a lot. The creepiness should have been much more consistent, things do get predictable and the tension and suspense dissipates the duller and more confused the film gets later on.

Will McDonald's performance is uneven, sometimes good but at other points he overdoes it. Similarly the direction has assured moments but also too many pedestrian ones too. The dialogue is a mix of contrived and limp and the editing is too often rather choppy.

Summarising, semi-watchable but didn't quite do it for me. You can do with far worse though. 4/10 Bethany Cox