Raccoon Valley

Less of a movie and more of a proof of concept. The idea is to show you how far $175 can go. I think that's amazing and they should be applauded for what they put together with that, but sadly I don't think it's fair to take that into account when recommending the film. It's an interesting watch, but I would not call it captivating so much as a curiosity.

The narrative is fairly straight forward. As stated in the summary a woman is left behind in a biohazard outbreak and must navigate safety and escape a hostile, spooky environment. There's no dialog. Instead you interpret what's she's feeling via a sort of amorphous soundscape score and her actions.

This is where the movie, at times, fails the viewer. The woman never shows any emotion what-so-ever. It's like she truly doesn't care, but that contradicts her actions as she desperately moves from one situation to the next. Additionally a lot of the things she does are not only unrealistic, but especially not in character for her special circumstance. There's just many examples throughout where she doesn't "act" how someone in her situation would, categorically, for very specific reasons. This unfortunate because it's not budget related. I think if they'd done a little more research, the protagonist could have been portrayed more realistically, to the benefit of the film. Lastly, while I quite enjoyed the soundtrack, there's a few scenes where the tone didn't shift to fit the situation so it ended up being almost bright and bouncy when it should have been heightening the tension.

All that said I never really threw up my hands and walked out. This is a slow burn film and I think it did it well. There's a scene in particular that straight up gave me goosebumps. There's a million ways they could have screwed that one up, but man it felt lifted out of a nightmare. That moment alone elevated this from a 3 to a 5.

I wish I could give this a higher rating considering the budget, but I think for non-cinephiles and anyone not a film school student this will likely be a pass. It's only going to be for folks that enjoy hard work shown in a film rather than the whole picture.

I went into this flick not knowing almost anything about it other than the very basic synopsis: a girl is trapped in an 'outbreak' area.

Well, thats basically the whole movie. We have a deaf, silent protagonist who gets trapped in a quarantine zone because she is deaf. That really is basically the entire plot so there isnt much to 'ruin' per se.

The opening of the film almost put me off as they tried to make the movie look like a bigger budget film but their attempt came off very amateurish

The 'soundtrack' is interesting as a lot of it consists of sounds the woman, that is what she is called, is made up of sounds she remembers from the past before she lost her hearing, like ticking clocks and ethereal voices. Most of the film passes in silence, which I have seen done before elsewhere far better.

The woman also makes a lot of very stupid decisions in our time with her. She, rightfully so, worries about the infected getting into her home, yet she constantly leaves doors open everywhere she goes. I dont mean unlocked, I mean completely open. She also enters rooms and vehicles without really using any caution, flinging the doors open or entering dark areas without a care in the world. Then when she is outdoors she acts like she is on a leisurely nature walk and not stuck outdoors, unprotected, without watching her back or checking her surroundings. You know, the thing someone who can only rely on their vision as they cannot hear would do. Even when her life is in danger she barely reacts at all. I honestly felt like she was not only deaf but also mentally handicapped in some way. I dont know if this is fact or not but it sure seems like it!!!

We dont really get an idea of what the infected's abilities or consciousness is but the stupid decisions extend further with the woman as she does things that would be the LAST thing you would want to do in this type of situation. She puts what would clearly be a loud generator outside, and fortunately doesnt draw any infected. Then later she plays an electric keyboard. While we are not sure if the keyboard is on or not, in her 'mind'; it seems to be.

The infected are... bad. As said, we dont really know what their deal is but they just slowly shamble around or stand somewhere menacingly. They dont seem like much of a threat at all. The makeup was also pretty poorly done and amateurish as well but they are rarely in the movie so its not that big of a deal.

At the end of the film we are told that Turner Clay is the: writer, director, producer, score, vfx, sound design, and editing. For a single person doing so much the movie is actually surprisingly good. That doesnt make the movie ITSELF good. The sad thing is this movie is sooo close to being good. It is reminiscent of this years 'A Quiet Place'. If it came out next year I would say that this flick was totally ripping it off. I dont know if it is coincidental, but if not only the broadest strokes of A Quiet Place as used.

The scenes are mostly shot fine, with a decent atmosphere built throughout the entire flick with the haunting sounds of what the woman remembers hearing in her past. There are some flashbacks but we're not really given enough to put much together. Since the woman seems to have only one expression: neutral, its hard to really feel attached to her. If we found out she was a robot at the end of the film, I would not have been surprised.

The name is clearly trying to use the Resident Evil games Raccoon City as a way to draw people in by calling it "Raccoon Valley" and it being a movie about basically zombies.

I didnt hate this movie, but it has too many flaws for me to consider it good. If you want an atmospheric, haunting, quiet film that might give you the creeps, then this might be worth a watch. I'm a sucker for a halfway decent horror flick, but this isnt really horror.

I feel like this movie could have been made without the infected and been just as good. Have the deaf woman left behind after a general evacuation due to some human transmitted virus then stuck in the confines of her town as she has to deal with looters or others who were left or stayed behind. In fact, I think that would have made this film all the better as the infected were really pointless.

I wouldnt mind seeing Turner Clay do something with an actual budget and actors and crew. Just, stay away from 'zombies'.

This movie has a premise, but really lacks a fulfilling plot. Lots of missed opportunities. The main character keeps making boneheaded moves, so it's difficult to feel for her. I was hoping it might be a prequel to the Resident Evil franchise, but no dice.

Going into this you must be aware that the guy who wrote and did almost everything on it from tea boy to director only cost a total of $175 and review it as such.

It does not have zombie hordes or explosions and mass CGI but has a haunting atmosphere, rather subtle music and a very different way of attacking a movie making project and this is what it is and should be reviewed as such.

So yes, it is more of a movie project and less of a film but it does well with what little he had in his wallet and shows what can be done with a very little amount of cash and has to be congratulated for the end result. There will not be many who will appreciate it in this day and age of mass CGI and multi million pound blockbusters and if you are expecting this then you probably will not appreciate or enjoy this film, but hey give it a try and think try to appreciate what could be produced with $175 in your pocket.

Budget was just about nothing. But it was very high quality. I wouldn't watch it again only because part of the entertainment was anticipating what would happen and why. There's no exciting action because it's about how the protagonist is dealing with what's happening. The only reason why I gave it a 5 was because it was too slow and was not a full story in my opinion. But I could see a fuller and longer revamp (if with the same writer, director etc) being rated much higher.