Morbid

Plot

A group of friends at a Halloween party play a Japanese board game called Morbid - where answers to the game could mean the difference between life and death.

Cast

Zero familiarity with anyone involved, and most were truly awful

Verdict

There's a sub-genre of horror I love, namely where people are thrown into a deadly game. Whether it be Cube, Circle, The Human Race, Would You Rather or one of countless others. I was excited for Morbid as it's another one, but boy it's not on the same level.

The first thing you notice is how cheap it all feels, the cast come across as untrained, the effects are pretty much non-existent, the kills are some of the worst I've seen in a long while and the plot is random imagery with absolutely no coherence.

I watched it with the missus and we both were in awe at the absolute mess we were witnessing.

I don't know what can be said other than I recommend it, as something to avoid.

Rants

Anyone seen Circle? That was a hell of a film, can be found on Netflix I believe or at least it can in the UK I think. Another movie with a bunch of people who wake up in a strange place and are forced to play a game of death where there can only be one winner. Full of moral and ethical choices it's fascinating, entertaining and one that keeps you thinking long after. Basically it's everything Morbid is not.

Breakdown

All feels cheap Terrible kills Plot is dreadful.

This is not as bad as some of the reviews would lead you to believe. The movie is low budget but doesnt look all that cheap.

The problem lies in the pretty crappy direction and really bad acting.

That sounds like a lot to bring the rating down, but certainly not to a one.

Yes, some of it is downright stupid and because of the poor direction it becomes rather tedious as the action proceeds, but it's an OK watch if you're not doing anything else for an hour plus.

The movie is sort of set up like an anthology flick with separate sorties involving each of the girls. It needs nudity to sustain the interest.

To get the blindingly obvious out of the way first: the acting is awful. It is so incredibly bad that I thought it was meant to be "tongue in cheek," but the longer the film wore on, the more it seemed that this wasn't the case. The "actors" all have the same bland, emotionless attitude, it is so bad I still can't entirely believe it wasn't intentional.

The bad effects, costume and props could be excused if this was either a parody film or a low budget horror where you can still tell an effort was made, but in this case the terrible acting and lazy ending just make the cheap props stand out even more - the whole thing seems careless and lacklustre.

The storyline itself is interesting, the overlapping experiences of the girls intertwining with one another is a nice concept that could have been explored further, but it's like the ending that should have tied it all together is just...absent. It just ends, leaving the whole thing as a poorly executed mess.

I stuck with it because I thought it must just be a really slow burn film with a payoff at the end, but no. Turns out it's just a waste of time. Do yourself a favour, watch something else. Time is irreplaceable, this film certainly is not.

As a person who has seen a vast number of horror films in my time I can whole heartedly say this is the WORST movie my eyes have ever been forced to endure. I can forgive the low budget props and effects, however there is no excuse for rhe lifeless performances within this production. When a small child who is in it for less than 3 minutes at the end is the best actor in the movie that says it all. Then there is the script... wow what a tragedy that is. People have said the game concept is ok but it is never explained enough to sy such a thing.

My partner and I tried to find one good thing about this film... we are still thinking. PLEASE DONT WASTE YOUR TIME WITH THIS MOVIE Life is too short! My partner has suggested watching it as it will make you realise how outstanding all other movies are... but I think paint drying would be more worth your time.

So first let me say that this movie is not as bad as some of the reviews I've read. It's not stellar by any means, but there are several comments on the acting. The acting is not at the professional level, but it's not what I'd consider bad. Nothing in the film looks 'cheap' to me either. It's well shot.

That being said, this one didn't score high marks with me on the story. I really liked the idea - they are going to play this game called Morbid which sounded like it might bring out monsters and demons and such, which of course it does, but what really got to me is that it then splits into 4 directions, one for each character. Again, that would be fine, but it still involved the same characters. So its sort of like the game sent in motion 4 alternate realities, so someone that's killed in one is still there in the others.