Smile

Pros: The plot had a purpose. It was mysterious and revealed itself at a good pace. The payoff was pretty good too.

Cons (numerous): Why do writers think that annoying characters make the story more compelling, especially when their annoyance is due to stupid behavior. This isn't really a spoiler, but the group is in a very remote town far from home and packing up for the next destination when one is missing. The pissed off character who knows the other one got on a train for home says, "I don't know where she is, how should I know". Does this idiot realize none of them are going anywhere until the other person is accounted for? That is the most idiotic reaction with zero upside. If he would have held out not telling the others, like the childish infant he was acting like, they'd be stuck in that town for weeks looking for her. That isn't compelling writing for an emotional character, that's dumb. Also, early on, some of the characters are so annoyed with each other I was thinking why would this group that apparently hates each other plan a vacation together? If they would have smoothed out the rough edges (idiotic ones) it could have been a satisfying low-budget movie.

"Take lots of pictures of your friends, what is a great moment if you can't prove that you had it?" A group of friends on vacation lose their camera. They meet a nice dealer (Assante) who give them a great deal on an old Polaroid camera. After the friends begin to wind up dead they wonder if the camera is the cause. I will start by saying that this was better then I expected. That said this is also nothing that hasn't been done before. Group of kids...evil guy...group gets killed off...yada yada yada. Much like a "Final Destination" type movie where you know who will die next and you just wait for it to happen. The best part of the movie hands down is the last 2 minutes, an average movie with a sweet ending. Overall, this plot has been done 1,000 times, but this time a camera is involved. This version is not that bad though. I give it a B-.

Would I watch again? - Not this one, but next month I'm sure another version will some out.

After the mild success of the 2022 film called Smile, I decided to give this different movie, of the same name, a try.

Well, simply put, it was so bad that it was a struggle to watch the entire movie.

There were countless times I just wanted to give up.

Horrible acting, horrible flow, bad editing. I felt endless moments of awkwardness at how poorly put together this one was.

The story, in its essence, has great potential. Its location is majestic and mysterious. The plot is an interesting idea that could have been portrayed with great imagination, vision, and thrill. Sadly, it was not even remotely done. It is bewildering to me at how badly this film messed it up.

Hmm, not great at all. The acting is not all that good and the story itself is not motivated enough. Too many unanswered questions. Quite forgettable, actually. There are way too many other good movies out there to sit through this.

Several students on a school holiday discover a mysterious camera, but after several of them start showing up dead after having their picture taken, they start to realize this camera is much more than they bargained for.

As a horror fan and especially a fan of Italian horror, I was hoping there would be something redeeming about this film. But, in short, there just was not much to offer and it seemed more inspired by 1990s American horror than Italian horror of any decade. A pity, really, because we are sadly lacking someone to pick up the reins from Bava, Soavi and Argento.

Not to say the film is a complete failure, but there is nothing that jumps out as must-see and it is a shame that such a good-looking film just has no soul.