TokyoGyaru
Joined Jan 2011
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TokyoGyaru's rating
I'm annoyed that I have to try to write this review again because I accidently closed the tab.
So, again, this film is bad. I can understand why it was considered good at the time. By that point, there had been a long period of bad horror films to where this seemed like a thunderbolt (along with films like The Conjuring). However, the acting (pedestrian), the dialogue (atrocious), the direction (flashy in a bad way), and the music (loud and lacking tension) are all bad. The only thing that works for me are the effects (I don't mind gore).
After seeing Alien: Romulus, I can tell that lessons were not learned by Fede Álvarez. Also, it explains that weird arcing camera shot that came outta nowhere when they discovered the cocoon in that film. That style is all over this film. Despite that, this film doesn't have the almost cartoonish charm of the original because the film takes itself so seriously. Also, the style of pausing and then blasting music while showing a "scary" thing hasn't aged well. It's like the SAW quick-cuts of this time period.
Anyway, horror is my favorite genre; so, I can easily play along with a lot of films. But after making it less than 50 minutes the second time around, I realize that I never rewatched this until 2025 because it didn't move me at the time.
I can guarantee the high-praise reviews are praising the main actress in particular, but she is bad in this, campy in a bad way because of the tone. Even her moments where she's supposed to be being tender with her brother in the beginning seemed like a screen test with a beginner actress. No one is likable in this film. The characters remain woefully underdeveloped. The friends' resentment towards the brother was almost laughable because it wasn't well established. And this film does what another film I just watched did (the Hellraiser remake/reboot/whatever) in trying to make a movie about substance abuse but failing because the scriptwriters weren't intelligent enough to do it effectively.
If you want to see a horror (and/or thriller) film that emphasizes family bonds or whatever this was going for, watch Oddity, Hereditary, The Black Phone, or something like that.
So, again, this film is bad. I can understand why it was considered good at the time. By that point, there had been a long period of bad horror films to where this seemed like a thunderbolt (along with films like The Conjuring). However, the acting (pedestrian), the dialogue (atrocious), the direction (flashy in a bad way), and the music (loud and lacking tension) are all bad. The only thing that works for me are the effects (I don't mind gore).
After seeing Alien: Romulus, I can tell that lessons were not learned by Fede Álvarez. Also, it explains that weird arcing camera shot that came outta nowhere when they discovered the cocoon in that film. That style is all over this film. Despite that, this film doesn't have the almost cartoonish charm of the original because the film takes itself so seriously. Also, the style of pausing and then blasting music while showing a "scary" thing hasn't aged well. It's like the SAW quick-cuts of this time period.
Anyway, horror is my favorite genre; so, I can easily play along with a lot of films. But after making it less than 50 minutes the second time around, I realize that I never rewatched this until 2025 because it didn't move me at the time.
I can guarantee the high-praise reviews are praising the main actress in particular, but she is bad in this, campy in a bad way because of the tone. Even her moments where she's supposed to be being tender with her brother in the beginning seemed like a screen test with a beginner actress. No one is likable in this film. The characters remain woefully underdeveloped. The friends' resentment towards the brother was almost laughable because it wasn't well established. And this film does what another film I just watched did (the Hellraiser remake/reboot/whatever) in trying to make a movie about substance abuse but failing because the scriptwriters weren't intelligent enough to do it effectively.
If you want to see a horror (and/or thriller) film that emphasizes family bonds or whatever this was going for, watch Oddity, Hereditary, The Black Phone, or something like that.
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