Let me start off by pointing out the good in this movie. The five main leads are the best point in the film. They work well off of each other and they do throw their all into their acting, even with the movie's cliched premise. Even the guy at the end (won't spoil who) threw his all into his performance. I genuinely became attached to these characters and was upset when things happened to them. Which is WAY more than most standard horror flicks.
The production value is also really nice, even though some of the effects can be lackluster (at one point, a guy's head is bashed in, but you can clearly tell it's just a mannequin).
Now for the bad, and there's quite a bit. Any actors that aren't our leads. The guy who plays Dr. Pender is horrible. He's supposed to play this scary psychotic, but it comes off so phoned in anytime he's on screen. Whenever there was a flashback scene, it just sucked me out of the film entirely, and I wanted to return to the present with the investigation. The deaths scenes during the flashbacks were hilarious. One person gets stabbed in the stomach with a scalpel and immediately dies. So many of the deaths were caused by injuries that wouldn't kill someone - literally flesh wounds. It's cheesy, it's great.
Also, the kid actors. I hate knocking child actors because they are children, but any time they have a speaking role, you'll find yourself asking if they ever bothered with a second take.
Again, the premise is cliched, but what do you expect for an asylum haunting flick?
Overall, I did enjoy this film for what it was. It wasn't that good, but it wasn't that bad. Half of it truly had my interest, while the other half kept losing it. If you're looking for something mindless, yet entertaining, I recommend it.
The production value is also really nice, even though some of the effects can be lackluster (at one point, a guy's head is bashed in, but you can clearly tell it's just a mannequin).
Now for the bad, and there's quite a bit. Any actors that aren't our leads. The guy who plays Dr. Pender is horrible. He's supposed to play this scary psychotic, but it comes off so phoned in anytime he's on screen. Whenever there was a flashback scene, it just sucked me out of the film entirely, and I wanted to return to the present with the investigation. The deaths scenes during the flashbacks were hilarious. One person gets stabbed in the stomach with a scalpel and immediately dies. So many of the deaths were caused by injuries that wouldn't kill someone - literally flesh wounds. It's cheesy, it's great.
Also, the kid actors. I hate knocking child actors because they are children, but any time they have a speaking role, you'll find yourself asking if they ever bothered with a second take.
Again, the premise is cliched, but what do you expect for an asylum haunting flick?
Overall, I did enjoy this film for what it was. It wasn't that good, but it wasn't that bad. Half of it truly had my interest, while the other half kept losing it. If you're looking for something mindless, yet entertaining, I recommend it.