The Waystation: Prelude

A friend of mine passed this along on DVD. The beginning is cool when a couple of people are sucked into a painting.

I really liked that it was a 'fantasy' set in a very real world. I felt like it was something just outside of normal and that was what made it different, like X-Files or something.

I also thought it was interesting that the main protagonist was a woman coming to terms with some kind of power - and not a man. It made for a really different dynamic between her character and the main villain.

The story stops just when I felt it was getting started and I guess that is good because I really wanted more. Kind of felt like a tv pilot for the kind of program I wish were on television.

I saw the film and it was a tease - I wanted more. Some good stuff. Interesting blend of things. I wanted more of the bar and the bartender - it would help to see where it all came from. Looks a lot like a music video in parts and I could have used some more exposition but it definitely could be a full-length movie.

I think this idea has serious potential for bigger things - all I can say is that I was really getting into it and then it ended, I wanted to see what happened after they all met up at the bar!

I think I understand it all, so from what I gathered I think the overall idea is really interesting and I hope to see more of it.

I liked the music too, the soundtrack was great.

The Waystation: Prelude is an intriguing glimpse into a potentially promising feature film. The imaginative story line made me forget that I was not watching a full-length movie. Visually stimulating with solid performances along with a riveting Dolby Digital 5.1 sound track.

Saw this piece of work at a film fest in CA. My god, what was the director thinking? Film professors should use this film as a case study on what NOT to do when making a short film. First off, this project makes absolutely no sense whatsoever. The film takes place partially in "The Waystation", some stupid vapid bar in the middle of nowhere, where nothing really takes place.

THe acting is beyond bad. So bad in fact that I almost thought it was a comedy. The lead actress Julia Reading is a step below the acting in most amateur porn films. There is one or two decent performances, including the guys who played Jacob and Fenner but it's like the director had no clue on how to work or use his thespians. The only thing worse than the acting was the dialogue, which bordered on absurd. The writer (whom I assume is also the director) writes each character like they are auditioning for a comic book villain.

The overall production value is pretty good, but to be honest, with a film this bad it's easy to overlook it. The production design is pretty good, although the Waystation looks like any ordinary bar. The costumes and make-up are okay, and I understand the production was working with a low budget. It's just when the characters speak, or they try and push the plot forward, the film unravels into a muck of crap.

As I've said, this film is god awful. It's like the director/writer watched a lot of sci-fi films and threw all the parts he liked into a blender and came up with this. My only hope is that he used other people's money on this, because if he used his own, he's a total sucker.