Spike

I LOVED IT! I really did. Started as a typical horror film with a small group of friends stranded then we meet Spike! I mean yes, it is a just another slasher film but one that surprised me. The characters were typical fodder and that's alright in my book.

So glad I bought the DVD! Wondering if it ever came out on blu ray.

With a running time of 80 minutes I suppose it's pretty damning to say that it was probably 65 minutes too long.

Judging by the audience reaction at the 'World Premiere' as part of the Edinburgh Film Festival, plenty were in agreement with me. It is never a good sign when you see people leaving the theatre early or sharing bemused looks.

It doesn't help when the marketing describes the film as "Angela Carter rewriting La Belle et la Bête as an episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer".

Trust me, the artistic resemblance to any of these works is non-existent.

Holy God in Heaven this is one of the worst pieces of garbage to ever hit the straight to DVD line up. If I ever have the displeasure of seeing something this bad again I promise I will never watch another movie again. This movie is nothing but terrible acting piled on top of useless plot set ups that never develop into anything. I don't know where they found the funding for this "movie" but the person who funded it cannot be too happy with how it turned out. Honestly I can't find one good thing to say about it besides that fact that a girl kind of gets naked in it, even though that isn't even that great because of her terrible "acting abilities". The movie was under the horror section in my local redbox and let me tell you it does not belong there. The synopsis said it was a movie about four people who get lost in the woods and hunted down by a spike monster. Not only is this not an accurate portrayal of the "plot" but it makes it sound like a real movie, which it is not. To sum up what I'm trying to say this movie wasn't worth the 1 dollar we rented it for and I wouldn't recommend it to my worst enemy.

SPIKE is a love story with a tragic, spiny mutant in it. It's sort of a cross between BEAUTY AND THE BEAST and EDWARD SCISSORHANDS with a bit more blood.

There are enjoyable female characters, including a tough, resourceful woman with medical training. There's also a man who spends most of his screen time on his back, bleeding.

As for the "monster" himself, he's an emotional wreck, unable to get past the love of his life.

Is SPIKE sappy? Yes. Does it drag on quite a bit in places? Yes. Is it a complete catastrophe? No, not entirely. Both the beginning and the ending are enjoyable enough. It's the movie's midsection that bogs down in longwinded silliness. If this had been shortened or even excised, this film would have been far more entertaining.

The thorny suit of the main character is pretty cool, though...

The cover for 'Spike' looked really appetising. The premise sounded great, being apparently indebted to 'Beauty and the Beast' (a favourite, story and the 1946 and Disney films). It looked good, this was not something that looked cheap. There are quite a number of good and more first-time director films, so there is certainly no bias against debut directors. These outweighed the low rating and mixed to negative (on here) reviews here.

Seeing 'Spike for myself', am going to have to regrettably side, or should that be agree, with those that disliked it and am really sorry about that. Didn't think it was that bad to warrant the lowest possible number of stars, there are far worse films out there and didn't find it one of those beyond redemption films (have thankfully been seeing less of those now), but if there is one thing that really frustrates me when watching something it's when good potential is wasted when strictly speaking it shouldn't be. That applies with 'Spike'.

Lets begin with the saving graces. On the visual side, the advertising doesn't lie as 'Spike' does look good. Especially the photography which is both atmospheric and dreamlike, making for one of the best-looking modest-to-low budget films seen recently and in a while and that is me being serious.

Also thought the acting was better than average, with an initially intimidating but deeply felt performance from Edward Gusts worth singling out. 'Spike' starts off well, the first 10-15 minutes did intrigue and entice me.

However, 'Spike' is primarily let down by an often interminably sluggish pace and a story that after a promising start is far too stretched out (too little story content for a feature-length film) and not always easy to follow. The romantic element doesn't charm or move enough, although the actors were not bad at all on their own their chemistry didn't come to life for me. Didn't feel an awful lot of dark suspense and 'Spike' left me cold on an emotional level, a big problem because 'Beauty and the Beauty' is a very moving story.

While successful on the visual side of things, the direction showed inexperience on the momentum and character interaction. When there was dialogue it was pretty banal and awkward, while the music was completely inappropriate and like it was meant for a different film.

Summing up, disappointing but with a few merits. 3/10