User reviews

If you're not into subtle slow burn movies, and you consider Marvel movies to be masterpieces this may not be for you.

It's slow, methodic, tortured and utterly heartbreaking... but a wonderful movie.

to the reviewer that felt the need to write a thesis on Siren and Mermaid lore, review the movie, we don't need a history lesson on mythology, geez.

I am not sure if the point of this movie was to be "artsy " but because of the poor editing it is really hard to track. It could have been a great story but I honestly couldn't tell what was supposed to be happening when and with whom. Time spliced editing is very tricky and if you don't do it right it can ruin your story.

I can't believe anyone would give this movie more than a one or two. I truly thought there must be some mistakes with editing because it was so disjointed and confusing. I had to keep rewinding, thinking I missed something, but the movie just jumped around.

This movie was so slow in great part because the director expended an inordinate amount of time trying to create an aesthetically pleasing story. Unfortunately, investing So much time in creating a cinematically pleasing movie quashed the story which became an ordeal to watch. It's a story that fails miserably to develop the characters Of the three actors and in the end leaves you asking why you ever watched this movie. Disappointing.

Really enjoyed this. Slow burn horror. Little dialogue and it wasn't needed to understand the story, so well done. (Probably not for everyone.)

The Siren had so much potential. If it was a first-time student film, I might give it a pass. The set-up of the two male leads provides a great opportunity to develop a nuanced, complicated relationship, which the film chooses to gloss over. Choosing to make one character openly gay and the other a strict Christian and having them form a friendship means something in the world we live in, but in the world of this film, it only serves as set dressing to give the illusion of well-roundedness. The same goes with the lead's muteness. I think casual representation is something we should all strive for in the stories we tell and consume, but if you're going to make something a central element of your narrative, why not explore it in a deeper, emotional and thematic way? Margaret Ying Drake delivers a competent performance, but the script, costuming, and effects give any reality she might breathe into Nina a lot to fight against. The use of music in the film is.... complicated. I see from some promotional material that it seems like at times this film has been marketed as The Rusalka, which honestly makes more sense from a mythological standpoint than a siren. The roots of Nina's character as a creature from Slavic mythology makes the use of music make more sense (mostly a capella vocals of folk songs). There was a moment when I recognized a song that was being used in the film, but once the excitement that I might be cultured of clever wore off, I realized that the meaning, the actual words, of the song, had nothing to do with its place in the film, and I realized that this honestly bold choice for a soundtrack was literally only there to create a spooky atmosphere by appealing to its "otherness" to an English-speaking audience. All in all, The Siren feels half-baked, and worse of all, just boring. If only it was even more poorly made it might've fallen into a so-bad-its-good territory, but, alas.

Maybe 2 stars at best and I agree a total waste ...

Even if this movie was condensed from 80 minutes to 20 minutes, it would still be just as excruciating to watch. The one thing that I kept asking myself was the rationale behind the plot and the characters, and the only word I kept seeing, as the minutes flew by, was 'pointless'. For example, one of the three characters is gay and apparently, a church going Christian. Why? His sexuality and religion hardly affected the plot. He might as well have been straight, or a woman, or a lesbian or an agnostic gender neutral. Heck he could've been a grey alien in disguise! And the mute character. Why mute? He might as well have been paralysed, or visually challenged. It wouldn't have made any difference at all. None of the character traits exhibited by the two main players had any real bearing to the story arc, or to character development. A complete waste.

I'm not sure why the glowing reviews are written in the poorest English imaginable, but they are. That and references to the production staff like they are know by the reviewer. I get people having bias to someone in the "business" that they know, but it shouldn't cloud your objective opinion. And these reviews are obvious in their bias, and favoritism.

This movie is glacial in it's motions to get to anything of substance. The "siren" is always in the water. Always. Now if they had named it Rusalka, then some sense could have been made of this never leaving the water. Though the original variation of the "legend" was more genial and kind to man. They made a character mute, I guess to justify having such a bad actor in the role, or to save on typing up his dialogue. Shame, because the actor is not bad.

Lighting? Horrible. Chemistry is bad, props are bad, situations are very unbelievable. As is the ultimate compassion, suddenly portrayed.

If you are one to figure a movie out quickly, don't bother watching this feeble attempt at disguised foreshadowing. It's obvious.

The actress playing the Rusalka has the most high-pitched voice since the original Valley Girl, so subtly is not something this monster has going for her. Plus the part about always being in the water. Always. Not sure if I mentioned that already or not.

I had high hopes for this one, because I thought "They Look Like People" was a great movie, slow, but ultimately awesome. I guess you can't win them all.

Boring, and without a story well put together. Music is particularly bad - lame attempt at creating some atmosphere of mystery, but failing miserably at that.

I'm glad I found this unexpected gem. The texture and feel of the film is consistent and perfect. The acting is very good, with minimal dialogue. The fear is there and the scares are there, made all the more real by the gentleness and emotional weight. Especially startling is how the composition of filming, lighting and sound made the girl blend perfectly with the water she inhabited. There are some very chilling scenes, and this is a movie that will stay with me in a good way for a long time. The music is beautiful, too.

For anyone knowing Slave/Slavic folklore, they may smile when reading about "Rusalka". Slavic humor is already grim, horror-like. Therefore, no room for horror stories or monsters. When you're the monster and invade others, everything else is fun. Henceforth, this movie will be perceived differently. Perhaps it should be Comedy/Horror.

The actors in this movies are very easy to look at, seriously attractive people. This makes it easier to watch. Some of the other reviews covering the origins of sirens and resulki (sp) are actually more entertaining than the storyline was. My only take away from this movie wasn't fear, but sadness that humans are so fragile.

Meh. At best. Where is the dialogue?

It just dragged on and was just meh. A collection of disjointed scenes. It did not feel at all that the director wanted to tell a story. It felt like the scenes did not make sense together and the music is really awful. What a terrible soundtrack.

Skip it.

The Siren has a 80 minutes film and it's excruciatingly slow. No 80 minutes film should be this slow. It's like after the premise is establish, the story is in freeze frame, until the ending. And even though is very well acted, especially for an indie film, i don't feel any chemistry between the leads and most of the times, the romance felt forced.

The camera work is somewhat 'bad', almost look...'amateur-ish', though, it doesn't bother me as much, . The editing is a bit confusing, it jumps in between scenes, i assume all these jumping scenes is the two leads fantasizing..?

I watched all Perry Blackshear's film, and i must say, this is his weakest film.. by far. I liked 'They Look Like People' a lot and genuinely enjoyed 'When I Consume You' despite its low rating, but The Siren seems very weak, and absurd, which is a huge disappointment.

5/10 I'll skip this one if i were you.

Thank God I check the user reviews before devoting any real time to a film. I took the advice of the reviewer who suggested watching the first 10 mins & then fast forwarding to the last few minutes. Unfortunately, I can think of a million better uses of those 14 minutes of my life.

THE SIREN is a deeply engrossing tale about the tragedy of love, co-dependency and addition. This is the second feature from Director Perry Blackshear who proves here that you can make a stunning film with a solid story, fantastic cast and a limited budget.

Inspired by the legend of The Rusalka, Blackshear has crafted a microscale creature feature taking time and effort to create something very special. Romantic and whimsical, Blackshear harnesses his unique aestetic to wrap his audience in a tragic love story that, at times, taps into its horror elements and executes them very effectively.

The cast are fantastic. As the "titular monster" Margaret Ying Drake is superb. Her performance as Nina is equal bits charming, dark and strangely sweet. Starring opposite her is Evan Doumouchel as Tom who appears as the catalyst for change. Handling his role with the right amount of charm and faith, Doumouchel not only stands his own but his presence is very much welcomed. Together, there is no denying the chemistry between the leads as this shines brightly like a lamp across a dimly lit lake. It's really beautiful to watch.

Rounding up the cast is MacLeod Andrews who plays Al, a man who is searching for his husband's killer. In the film, his character quickly forms a friendship with Tom but it's not long before he soon starts to suspect Nina is responsible for his husbands death. In the role Andrews nails each emotional beat of his character with precision.

Although this film is clearly not for everyone, I was blown away with what the team have brought to the table. As a film, it made me smile, it broke my heart... It was an emotional rollercoaster and it has me excited for what Blackshear comes up with next!

I really liked this movie. It was slower moving but it had to be. It built a relationship between the siren and the man. No other way could it have been done. For those who didn't like it don't appreciate this kind of film. That's ok. You though, have to watch it for yourself.