The Dead Room

It's one of those horror movies with a lower budget because apart of the usual swinging chandeliers, slamming doors and flying objects you won't see much else. Not that it's necessary bad if there's nothing else to see. They just worked within their budget. With the right ambiance and sound you can still create some suspense and in The Dead Room there is definitely some suspense. The last fifteen minutes you get a bit more and it's a pity they didn't do more with that in the movie. The cast is okay. I don't know any of them, maybe they are known in Kiwi land but I never heard of them. The acting is not the greatest but it's fine. All in all for a low budget movie it's still decent to watch once.

It's rare to come across a horror movie that takes itself and its characters seriously. More often than not, it seems horror producers take it for granted that the plot consists of illogical supernatural things happening and people dying in gory yet cinematic ways. To this end, very little is done to give the story or the characters any heart.

This movie does just that. It has an innocent story of three ghostbusters investigating a haunted house. The characters are, not only NOT obnoxious but downright likable. I could watch 90 minutes of this even if nothing spooky happened because they managed to keep my attention and were thoroughly well fleshed out.

It's not very scary, but it gives you the delicious little glee of watching one of those 'spooky phenomenon' movies. Won't make you jump, but will make you wiggle your toes in your snuggie.

The ending was kind of rushed. I would have liked to know more about the dead room and what transpired all those years ago to put the spooks in that situation.

Overall a very enjoyable watch.

People here forget to imagine what would be like being in a supposedly haunted house. There are no zombies or ghosts jumping after 5 minutes of the movie, or CGI everywhere.. and I'm glad. Slow pacing, brilliant light & shadow photography.

What can I say? It left me wanting more. Characters are uncomfortable near each other and so they should, since they don't know each other very well anyway.

The end could be extended and reworked a little better, but all in all, until the final ending, it is a thrilling experience from start to finish, one of the best suspense/horror spirit movies i saw this year.

Don't let the low grade keep you from watching it. If you like ghost movies, slow paced suspense with a somewhat real touch to happenings, this is a must.

An interesting little movie really. The bad - The acting from some members was a bit stilted and there was no sense of history between them. We never got to know the backstory so I didn't really care for them. The reactions looked as if they were at times waiting for an offset director to give them the 'GO!' so the action can be added in later through CGI. The story line was a little too simple and the ending was a bit of a let down.

The good - loved that it was raw. Not overblown. I liked the slow build and that it felt subtle during the build-up. I liked it wasn't American, so no over the top teenagers screaming, no excessive CGI or ridiculous music. It was simple, so no 100 takes and angles, just straight shooting. As much as I complain about the actors in 'the bad' I enjoyed their presence (odd, I know).

It wasn't terrible, it wasn't great but I did think about it afterwards which is a bonus point. And, I'd watch it again.

So 5 for making me think.

I don't quite understand some of the low reviews for this film, except perhaps that some people only appreciate fast paced, gore infused, CGI blockbusters. I thoroughly enjoyed this film. While the premise is not unique, the acting was very good, the dialogue well scripted, and the setting was excellent. Shooting a movie with only three primary actors is difficult, this movie pulled it off. While suspense builds slowly, it works well. With the onset of supernatural occurrences, the characters, for the most part, react like real people.

The ending was unexpected, and from my perspective, added an interesting twist I did not see coming.

All in all, I was not disappointed by this New Zealand addition to the horror genre. I rarely am when it comes to international horror. If you like a simple 'haunted house visited by paranormal investigators' film, I recommend this one.