I had high hopes for this film, honestly. I went in after hearing a recommendation from a friend whose opinion I usually trust. I don't know if he was playing a joke on me or what because this film was so bad I found it hard to watch. The storyline is a lazy blend of "When A Stranger Calls" and "You're Next", and it never once brings anything new to the genre. It's about as cookie-cutter and predictable as it gets. Confusing plot twists and irrational decisions made by the female lead whom, in my opinion, wasn't strong enough to carry the entire film on her own. She reminded me of Ali Larter only even more boring on camera. That and she was blatantly too old to be playing a 17 year old. I mean, Jesus guys... You really expect us to buy that? You've got to be kidding me!
On the technical side of things, the audio through-out the entire film seemed very flat and awkward as though it was never leveled properly. Almost all of the dialogue sounds hollow which leads me to believe the entire film was dubbed over. I suppose that can give some sort of explanation for the lack-luster performances? The location was pretty cool, but the footage looked a bit flat and blah and at times looked over-exposed. I feel like that may have been an artistic choice for certain shots but it looked cheap to me.
I would say the worst part of the whole thing to me is that there really seems to be no explanation for the events of the film. None at all! I'm sick of this whole "killing to kill" trend in horror cinema. At first it seemed creative but now it's just over-done and to be honest it just comes off as lazy! I'm not going to give away what happens at the end, who the killer is, or who survives but honestly... this ending had to be one of the absolute LEAST satisfying finales I've seen in the last ten years. I mean, come on guys! Do you really think the viewers are that stupid? Give us something that makes us think. Surprise us for once! Personally, I'm getting sick and tired of the same old story with the same old plot twists and the same old shots of a masked killer stalking through a house while a hot young female hides out of sight with her hand over her mouth. We've seen it all before. Give us something new, dammit!
On the technical side of things, the audio through-out the entire film seemed very flat and awkward as though it was never leveled properly. Almost all of the dialogue sounds hollow which leads me to believe the entire film was dubbed over. I suppose that can give some sort of explanation for the lack-luster performances? The location was pretty cool, but the footage looked a bit flat and blah and at times looked over-exposed. I feel like that may have been an artistic choice for certain shots but it looked cheap to me.
I would say the worst part of the whole thing to me is that there really seems to be no explanation for the events of the film. None at all! I'm sick of this whole "killing to kill" trend in horror cinema. At first it seemed creative but now it's just over-done and to be honest it just comes off as lazy! I'm not going to give away what happens at the end, who the killer is, or who survives but honestly... this ending had to be one of the absolute LEAST satisfying finales I've seen in the last ten years. I mean, come on guys! Do you really think the viewers are that stupid? Give us something that makes us think. Surprise us for once! Personally, I'm getting sick and tired of the same old story with the same old plot twists and the same old shots of a masked killer stalking through a house while a hot young female hides out of sight with her hand over her mouth. We've seen it all before. Give us something new, dammit!