Residue

Reviewed by: Dare Devil Kid (DDK)

Rating: 1.5/5 stars

One of the most insipid, lackluster, and soporific horror films of all time - yes it's that bad. Right from the buildup, which was haphazardly presented to the progression of the story, which was monotonously dragged on with little or nothing really happening to the supposedly anticipated, big reveal in the climax, which ended up petering out like a damp squib - just nothing went right for this film.

While the cast tires their level best to elevate proceedings, the hackneyed writing by John Harrison and Alex Garcia Lopez's pretentious direction leave absolutely no scope for redemption.

When you've been watching a lot of prestigious award winners and Hollywood commercial blockbusters as I have then you need to change the record slightly and throw yourself in to a guilty pleasure . RESIDUE sounds like the film I might be looking for . A sort of conspiracy thriller come horror movie . In some ways it sounds like a British version of THE CRAZIES . I'll say one thing for it - it's definitely guilty . I'll say something else - it's not a pleasure

An explosion kills 246 people at a nightclub in London and the area is evacuated . Four weeks later murders and bizarre suicides start happening on the periphery of the area . Is there a connection ?

Reading this synopsis it does sound rather like a pulpy James Herbert pulpy trashy horror tale . No one involved with RESIDUE is kidding themselves they're going to winning an Oscar but there is a potential of a good seed there somewhere but instead of growing in to a mighty tree it ends up shrivelled in fungi and quickly dies

To be fair to director Alex Garcia Lopez some shots are very well framed for what is very obviously a film constrained by a very small budget . However he doesn't do anything else well at all . Everything is overdone with constant creepy music drowning out the soundtrack . It's a horror film ? Yes Alex we noticed and can you spend more time developing the story instead of the constant and non stop reminder of the genre we are watching ? What drags the film down is the dire screenplay by John Harrison . We can forgive the ridiculous idea that the government have kept a chemical weapons dump in the heart of London if it's just used to set up the story but many things wrong with the story are unforgivable . The dialogue is always on the nose , unnatural sounding especially when voice over is used and quite frankly just bloody awful . Considering the actors weren't very good to start with their job is made impossible with the tools they're given and I doubt if Anthony Hopkins , Ian Holm or Daniel Day Lewis couldn't have given much of a performance with the lines they have to spout here

Some people on this page have mentioned RESIDUE isn't in fact a stand alone feature length movie but a pilot for a much longer project . In that case let me remind everyone of the Joan Armatrading song lyric " Drop the pilot smell my perfume" because RESI-POO stinks

Just wanted to to say to all those reviewers that keep saying things like 'It's ambiguous,' 'It feels like nothing was resolved,' and 'I'm no wiser at the end as to what the explanation was

• That's because this is a pilot!!! As the director says:

"The thing I had envisioned was quite a long story. The movie that I was pitching them was essentially the beginning of the mythology, and with success we would have the opportunity to do more, so television sounded really exciting to me, given how it has evolved over the past several years — the novelization of television. Also, many of the networks are really getting creatively engaged with genre material, which was not always true in the early 2000s and going back."

And:

"It's really only the beginning of the story, according to Walls. "'Residue' Season 1 is really an extended pilot and should be thought of that way," she said. "Netflix don't necessarily do the Amazon- style pilot season. But 'Residue' is really more in that model where these first three chapters are live before the existence of a full season."

So now you can all stop moaning about it and trying to be clever! And get to supporting it so the rest of the story is resolved - with a full series!

http://www.indiewire.com/article/how-to-sell-a-TV-show-to-netflix- 20150401

I'm just about never the one to complain that a movie is 'too slow'. 4 hour silent Russian epic? Sign me up! But this movie got the better of me. I'm fine with slow if there's a purpose. Letting a mood or scene sink in... letting characters establish themselves... but in Residue there were loads of scenes where nothing happened and while it established a good mood/atmosphere early on... after a while it just felt like padding. Stylish and good looking, but padding nonetheless.

No surprise then that this is a pilot for a TV show. That leads me to think it's like one of those overwritten Stephen King novels that weighs in at 500+ pages when it really could have been a short story. As it is, since there is a mystery at the core of this setup it has me thinking Lost... do I really want to keep watching for some trumped up ending that won't satisfy?

Also, the characters. If it weren't a pilot then the main character would have been one of the three main ones here. As it is they're all spread thin and none of them engage. The cop doesn't do much of anything, the photographer just stares at her picture and types in her thoughts, her public relations boyfriend is the most proactive but even he doesn't get much to do.

I came away irritated... lacking good will to continue on with the series. I just expect more drawn out stylish nonsense with no real tale to tell.

Really liked the concept of this adaptation, but unfortunately fell as flat as its victims. So much promise and really loved the paranormal element to this, but the tale lost its way badly in the second half of the story. What started as intrigue and the lead's curiosity and finding out about the paranormal elements quickly diminished into a scrambled story that tried to prevail more, but ultimately fell flat as the minutes passed. This could have made superbly, as again the first half was very interesting. Shame, as a good explanation of the paranormal phenomena would have tied this plot together better. Shame.