Just for the record, it was very clear from the outset that 'Downhill' was in no way intended to be high art or a film one does try to judge it overly seriously. Actually did watch it accordingly and really tried to take it for what it was aiming to be, which is always the case with everything watched and reviewed. Have never watched a film with stereotypical views of what a film should do and with the mindset that there should be rules in what a film should be (i.e. not expecting every film to be "entertaining", because quite a number of films are not that type of film).
Despite judging it fairly and with the aim of being encouraging rather than giving off the sense of being difficult to please (mostly am pretty generous), 'Downhill' didn't work for me sad and sorry to say. The idea was not a bad one and it was for that reason as to why the film was seen in the first place, as well as it randomly appearing in my recommended for you section. It was the execution of it that was badly off.
The best thing about 'Downhill' was the make-up which did have an eeriness and professionalism, never being goofy.
Actually, the production values in general were the film's least bad asset. While not incredible-looking, for the budget and concept it really did not look bad, there are far cheaper looking films around.
Unfortunately, that is where the praise ends. The acting is poor all round, with a mix of not being comfortable and being robotic instead and also a jarring over-the-top-ness. They do have to work with characters that are neither interesting, with very sketchy development, or with anything worth investing in, every one of them are either bland, annoying or both with vague motivations and frustrating decision making. The dialogue always sounds improvisatory-sounding that it affects the flow and the cheesiness makes one cringe.
It's the story that's the biggest problem with it being bad enough to pretty much single-handedly bringing down the film. 'Downhill' is not even a film that starts off well, even at the beginning it felt very confused. Things get even more downhill from there, with sluggish pacing, no tension, suspense or creepiness at all, too many far-fetched moments and with so many unanswered questions and implausibilites the whole thing fails to make sense. Especially in the last half hour, which is an overcooked, incoherent jumble of areas that don't gel.
Summarising, very bad film. 2/10 Bethany Cox
