Beneath the Surface

Beneath the Surface is a brilliantly crafted film on so many different levels. I'm not one to toss out high ratings but this film gets an easy 10, and deservedly so. For an independent film, it holds together strong with a capturing story. The movie hooks you from the very beginning and doesn't let you go. The dialogue is extraordinarily well done and there is plenty of realism, as far as raising the dead goes. The quick, witty one liners and/or comedic scenes are well received and help to fill transistional points throughout. Having seen a ridiculous amount of high budget and low budget horror films, I push you to see this as it is simply one of the best movies that I have seen in quite some time. Blake Reigle is a great writer/director with an even greater vision and with time and the given opportunities, we will see even greater films to come. See this movie!

This pretty boy knows how to direct a movie! Damn fine job! Some of the acting was not up to par, but the directing was superb! With the budget he had, he absolutely rocked it. The film was just charming, just a damn treat to watch. In some ways it was better than zombieland. It left you with the feeling of just being totally charmed by the female lead, who kind of stole the show without really doing anything. The casting was pretty spot on, and overall the voodoo theme was good, but the budget revealed itself in some of the poor acting takes, although that almost seemed intentional. The only thing I didn't like was the totally obnoxious and irrational behavior of the teenagers in the film, but it was well written and true.

Despite this film's obviously low budget and amateur cast, it really was surprisingly good. The editing was quality if not edgy. The story came off as interesting and believable (for a zombie-revenge film) and lacked a lot of the stupid twists and successive inconsistencies of similar films.

The music was pop-rock/metal, obviously youth oriented- not exactly my cup of tea but it wasn't offensive, and given the cast of mostly adolescents it didn't feel out of place.

Although they won't be winning any Oscars for this, I never felt annoyed or contemptful of the acting- it was actually really good for the level of production attempted here and all the roles felt pretty comfortable to me.

Plot wasn't exactly complex, but also it wasn't over-reaching which is important for a production like this. Better to accomplish what you can do than fail at something you aren't really capable of.

So I give this film 6/10, because even though this exceeded my expectations, cmon, this is an amateur flick. Sure, it wasn't bad, even pretty good considering, but also nothing groundbreaking here.

A solid enjoyable film in the teen zombie genre, minus a lot of the cheese you typically find, despite the fact that it looks like a college-level film. Give it a try if you're the type that likes to watch up and coming filmmakers, because these guys impressed me.