Lost Things (2003) User Reviews

Very interesting, though there's just something.....

[siit · 5/10 · 22 May 2006]

Don't expect a clichéd stereotypical slasher-fest with Lost Things(LT). It is thought provoking and makes you think and ask questions long after the credits finish.

LT seems straight forward, the tale of 4 teenagers sneaking away for a weekend of supposed debauchery and unwholesome fun... well that's where the similarities end in comparison to the afore mentioned stereotypical slashers. LT makes you think. It is a cognitive tale that doesn't treat the audience as if they are all pubescent fools.

However there are some glaring anomalies that seriously detract the viewer. Firstly the two lead teenage male actors are too similar in appearance and mannerisms; it was difficult to distinguish them at times. The screenplay seemed to lose its way with continuity and dialogue in places that was actually frustrating. And the editing and cinematography seemed to be jumbled and 'roughly cut' with shots and scenes thrown together haphazardly even when the viewer has the benefit of hindsight at the end of the film.

Overall though LT is a clever little outing. It would score higher but for the technical downfalls. I for one though do appreciate a good cognitive thriller ... and Lost Things tried.

Surprisingly overrated.

[HumanoidOfFlesh · 6/10 · 1 March 2007]

Four teenagers with the end of school on the horizon head up the New South Wales coast for a weekend of surfing,drinking and sex.The boys have told their parents they are going alone.It's only when the stranger appears and weird time anomalies occur on the beach and in the camp that they start thinking.Admittedly the premise of "Lost Things" is quite interesting,but hardly original.The film actually in many ways reminded me "Dead End".The acting is sub-par,but I must applaud the excellent work of cinematographer.The lonely beach indeed looks creepy and atmospheric and such details like the mannequin buried in the sand put the smile on my face.The climax is satisfying of itself,but is undermined by too many unanswered questions.Give it a look,however if you want to see seriously eerie horror flick that will make you think afterwards rent or buy "Session 9".6 out of 10.

Zippo-Dee-Doo-Dah Zippoty Dye

[kapelusznik18 · 4/10 · 15 June 2015]

***SPOILERS*** Strange little horror/supernatural flick from down under-Australia-about this pair of teens Gary Tracy Brad & Emily,Leon Ford Alex Vaughn Charlie Graber & Lenka Kripac, who go on a weekend trip to a deserted Australian beach to get acquainted in the joys of well you know what I mean only to end up being stalked by this lunatic beachcomber Zippo, not one of the legendary Marks Brothers, played by Steve Le Marquand. It's the pretty and spaced out Emily who insisted on her fellow teens to go on trip without really knowing why. As it soon turned out this was a trip into hell for Emily & Co. who's only way to escape it was in turning back the clock or rewinding the video tape or DVD to the start of the movie.

Things never pan out for the teens the way they expected them to with the once hot to trot girls who at first who were so eager for some Hanky Panky, in taking off their bikini tops, start cooling off to the two horny as rabbits in heat boys who expected to have a real grand time with them. Then there was the appearance from out of nowhere Zippo who after rescuing Tracy from being bitten on the beach by a poisonous snake soon starts making eyes on the girls who didn't want anything to do with him. It's later discovered that Zippo is more then just a harmless nut case but a serial murderer as well: Which is by far the worst of the two description about him!

****SPOILERS****It takes a while for the teens to realize what exactly they got themselves into with the crazed and deranged, as well as demonic, Zippo driving them both insane and possibly into an early grave with poor Emily at the end of the movie going on this guilt trip for leading them there. Even at the time when she was unconsciously being mind controlled by Zippo Emily still had no idea of what she was doing! There seems to be a surprise ending to all this madness that I suspect those making the movie put in, it really made no sense at all, just to finally put an ending to the movie and put it in the can due to be released in a future date. P.S "Lost Things" took in a measly $20,000.00 in box office receipts but it watching it that may well have been ten time the money it cost to produce!!

Lost weekend

[Cujo108 · 14 September 2011]

Four teens head to a secluded beach for a fun weekend. Before long, the fun dissipates as their trip turns into a nightmare from which they can't seem to escape.

This unknown Australian gem is seriously eerie throughout. Like the masterful 'Long Weekend' before it, this film milks it's lonely beach setting to create a genuinely unsettling atmosphere. The storyline isn't exactly original, nor is the ending hard to pick up on, but the film goes about things in it's own unique way and winds up being an oppressive, enigmatic experience despite mining familiar territory. Most intriguing were the bizarre time anomalies and the question of what the beach, complete with rods sticking up out of the sand, truly is.

Adding to the mood is an otherworldly score that again reminded me of 'Long Weekend'. More specifically, it made me think back to the eerie cries of the sea cow from that film. The score here sounds strikingly similar. The journey to the film's conclusion, where the double entendre of the title becomes apparent, is a compelling one too. Some may be let down in the end, but there's enough going on even after the revelation for me to feel otherwise.

Director Martin Murphy clearly shares my affinity for 'Long Weekend', and it's easy to see this film as a loving homage to Australia's best contribution to the horror genre. It's certainly better than flat-out remaking it. Yeah, I'm thinking of you, Jamie Blanks. All of that aside, 'Lost Things' stands on it's own as a quality film in it's own right.

standing on a beach...

[XJanX · 2/10 · 8 September 2003]

Four youths decide to spend some time "surfing" (i.e. making out), when weird things start to happen.

This one grabs you by the throat and doesn't let up. You'll be amazed by the intricate plot and the new (to me) but talented actors. The story is fresh and filled with enough surprises and scares to keep you on the edge of your seat. Darkly beautiful, the photography alone is downright mesmerizing. Several images will stay in your head long after the closing credits. "Lost Things" cleverly avoids the usual Horror pitfalls for a dark and disturbing, not to mention unique vision.

So much for that, I can't continue with a straight face. "Lost Things" is nothing of the above, just boring and confused. Two stars out of ten.

Wonderful?? You must be kidding!

[cabartha · 1/10 · 7 April 2007]

This was the most disappointing films I have ever seen recently. And I really hardly believe that people say goods things about this very bottom film! No reason to watch, even wonder. Be away from this one and don't waste your time with bad acting and nonsense dialogue. I don't know if you have seen Bodysnatchers -another Australian film- but this one's first 20 minutes will make you forget about this country's good examples. Awful and unnecessary. What made the people who rated with high points but they must have never seen a good movie. Two guys and two girls, a beach, a nomad guy and the rest is a question mark which makes you regret to spend the time you have. Sorry to use all these words but the only good thing about the film is ocean's great color and sounds of waves. Do yourself a favor and DO NOT rent this film.

Lost Garbage!

[voguecollections · 1/10 · 28 October 2005]

This movie was filmed local to me on the beautiful Magenta Beach just north of The Entrance. The surroundings and the teaser poster were the highlight of the feature. After receiving a special invite to its opening the movie played host to something disastrous. The premise is good. A group of friends going away for the weekend at a remote beach only to be confronted by a menace camping nearby. The acting and scripting were disgraceful and as a huge Indy and Horror fan what little hope I had left of this movie quickly diminished. For one, the writers/directors/production people seemed to of not really known how they were going to play out the guts of the movie as it chopped and changed and jumped around into an obligatory mess. This movie even made the tragic Aussie horror Blood Moon look like Oscar material. If you want a good classic horror/thriller stick to The Boys or Long Weekend.

Surprisingly clever - and confusing - enigma

[gridoon · 7/10 · 8 January 2006]

At first sight, "Lost Things" appears to be just another Hollywood-wannabe horror film with Australian accents, but there is more here than first meets the eye. This film is more "supernatural horror" than "teenage slasher". Although I pretty much guessed the general direction the plot was going halfway through, the ride to get there was still edge-of-your-seat stuff. Out of the four central characters, the two girls are unconventionally pretty and wonderfully full-figured, and the two boys are fairly likable (although, as someone else already mentioned, casting two young blond actors who look so much alike was perhaps a mistake). The guy who plays Zippo (no, not Zeppo Marx) is well-cast. On the whole, "Lost Things" is a film that makes you interested in seeing more work in this genre by the same people. (***)

Oh dear. This is not good

[daggersineyes · 3/10 · 6 October 2013]

It tries really hard and seems to have a lot of heart but it's basically one big confusing mess that looks like it was released in it's draft phase. The acting is dreadful in parts and average in others, but I suspect that's largely due to the terrible script these young actors are wrestling with and some truly ham-fisted directing. This story had great potential but the execution of it falls flat on it's face. I skipped bits of it because it was getting repetitive & boring and clearly didn't miss anything important.

The ending was far too predictable because the set up was done so very badly. You could see it coming from very early in the movie so that ruined what little suspense there might have been in this messy movie. It was also at least half an hour too long. It would have been better as a short.

If you want to see Aussie horror done properly there are plenty of better options. The Loved Ones and Triangle are two that spring to mind immediately. Both of them are excellent and easily out-do many of the better American horror movies around. (BTW I noticed someone recommending Dead End as a similar but better movie - ummmm.... no! Please don't bother with that one either. In fact, if I had to choose between this movie and Dead End I would definitely choose this one.)

I give this one 3 because it had some interesting aspects, nice atmospherics, decent cinematography and serious actors who gave it a damn good shot, but the whole thing was let down by an awful screenplay, bizarre unfinished editing and terrible directing.

Fairly creepy psych-horror.

[ThrownMuse · 7/10 · 11 March 2007]

A bunch of teens go out to an isolated beach for the weekend and find a bit more than the "good times!" they had planned. I was expecting this film, which was marketed as an Aussie teen slasher, to be bottom-of-the-barrel junk. Well, it wasn't a slasher and it was one of the better creepy films of the past few years. Taking its cue from 70s Aussie gems "Long Weekend" and "Picnic at Hanging Rock," (as well as several other low-budget American hits that will go unnamed here), this is a fresh and frightening little movie. It is well-acted (better than US teen horrors, anyway) and the middle half-hour of the film is actually quite frightening and doesn't skimp on the scares and eerie imagery. Unfortunately, the movie is a bit too ambitious for it's own good and leaves you thinking "huh?" in certain parts, but overall, I'd recommend this to anyone who likes psychological horror.

Great Aussie Horror

[ladymidath · 10/10 · 4 March 2011]

I found out about Lost Things from a friend of mine who works in a comic bookshop. From what I can understand, it only had a limited release. I managed to track down the DVD however. Four teens decide to go away for a weekend and they go to a secluded beach. Once there, strange things start to happen. Lost Things is a very low key, atmospheric and beautifully filmed movie. The setting is both lovely and frightening and a sense of eerie foreboding settles over the four teenagers. With the appearance of Zippo, it gets even creepier. Steve Le Marquand is excellent as Zippo and gives off a real air of menace. The four teenager are very good in their performance as well especially Lenka Kripac as Emily. This is Australian horror at it's best. Low key, believable acting, a strong storyline that grips you right from the start. This is a film that relies on good solid acting and writing rather than blood and violence. If you can find a copy, watch it. You won't be disappointed.

Let me help you remember.

[lost-in-limbo · 7/10 · 31 August 2006]

Two guys and their girls head out for a surfing trip for the weekend along a lonely beach line. Things start getting very weird and nightmarish when they encounter a strange scruffy man living nearby and certain actions and surroundings seem quite familiar. It's like they have been through it all before.

Every once in awhile you come across a film that's quite unique in its own way, compared to the norm. That's how I feel about "Lost Things", although it's not a film everyone would get into. Giving too much away in the plot outline can definitely spoil this flick, but certain people will know where this film is heading and pick up on the plentiful cryptic messages, the loop and major twist. But if that is the case for you, it's still able to keep it really intense and quite compelling. It does leave you hanging there. The first time I watched this haunting Australian Indie flick it just happened to be an accident. I didn't know what to make off it back then, but with my recent viewing it has kinda hit the mark. Still it had me thinking, "Well that was just bizarre!" This is one strangely fascinating, psychological journey of one coming to terms with extreme fear and death. What makes it quite mind-boggling is that it takes on an enigmatic, supernatural spin to its cerebral material. It's about who's watching whom within a certain space and time. Things seem to fall into place quite naturally, despite some irritate factors involving ragged editing, which gave the film a convoluted feel at times and confusing spots in the script. The largely spaced out and closed up feel that surrounds the film emerges from the beautiful, but extremely eerie backdrop and the otherworldly music score that's strongly effective in that unsettling and alienating manner. Trumping in were some jolting images, illusions and sounds effects that hit you from all sides. All of this action mostly occurs during daylight, but still manages to touch a nerve by trapping you in. During these weird going ons, there's the usual teen antics one would associate. None of it distracts, but gives it a sense of realism and a more then believable rapport between the characters. The young cast involving Leon Ford, Charlie Garber, Lenka Kripac and Alex Vaughan gave fair, but likable performances, though it was the punctuating performance of Steve Le Marquand as the very freaky Zippo that made real headway.

Interesting, ambitious and spiralling film-making comes together in this little complex and uncanny fare. So do you know, who you are?

Quiet a good film

[future_sooooo · 7/10 · 27 October 2005]

I just caught Lost Things on Showtime a couple of days ago. Its bad when an Australian film comes out and people haven't even heard of it. Not sure about many of you but I had no idea about Lost Things at all. It all starts with four teens on a surfing holiday. Two men and two woman. Everything thing seems to be going fine till they meet a man called Zippo.

This film had me in all the way I was confused and scared at the same time. It takes you a while work out what is going on. Then at the end I think It's up to you yourself to decide what really happened. Which I found to be quiet a good thing.

The only few things I didn't like about this film was. I think just a few to many flashbacks of people just staring out to sea. The other was to cast two leading men that look nearly the same.

I think this film was shot a very low budget so my hat goes off to the filmmakers. If you haven't got foxtel check it out on DVD a good little Aussie film.

Very Refreshing, Intriguing and Original

[claudio_carvalho · 7/10 · 26 October 2006]

The teenagers Gary (Leon Ford), Brad (Charlie Garber), Emily (Lenka Kripac) and Tracey (Alex Vaughan) travel in a Kombi to a desert paradisiacal beach and spend the weekend together, the boys expecting to surf and have sex with the girls. When they arrive, they meet the older Zippo (Steve Le Marquand), and they have the sensation of Déjà vu with weird events, feeling that they had previously been in that place. Along the Saturday, they see that they are actually trapped in a nightmare.

"Lost Things" is one of the best surprises I have recently seen on DVD. The refreshing and original story has a great screenplay, direction and performances, basically in one location, three actors and two actresses. I started seeing this low-budget movie not paying much attention and I really expected a stupid teenager slash-movie, with lots of gore and naked women. I was completely wrong, and I found an intriguing story, following the pattern of a David Lynch film, and showing an absolutely different view of the Limbo. I saw in IMDb that this is the first feature of the unknown director Martin Murphy, and I really expect to see his next works. Last but not the least, I would like to congratulate this director, the writer Stephen Sewell, the actors and actress for their excellent performances and the crew that made possible this engaging little gem. My vote is seven.

Title (Brazil): "Férias Selvagens" ("Wild Vacations")

outdoor chills

[ptb-8 · 8/10 · 16 November 2004]

Other comments here allude to fake reviews by marketing or crew persons hyping the film out of proportion. This sometimes is used to attract international sales. My review is not one of those. If you want to amuse yourself by reading deliberately hoaxed reviews have a look at LIQUID BRIDGE, THE PACT, SUMMER CITY and all the films produced or directed by Phil Avalon. You will find they are all rave reviews for hilariously awful amateurish failures. Just cross connect any film with his name on them and get set for a night of uproarious laughter. Also, the new release WOLF CREEK will be the next title to get cast and crew rave reviews all out of proportion to its lame sad reality. Anyway.......LOST THINGS seems like a first feature by a new Australian film maker who just might go on to better things. And I do not mean SWIMFAN 2. One SWIMFAN was bad enough. LOST THINGS however, is a daylight horror film - a very difficult genre of film to get right. This one does, first go. Viewers might be readily assisted by first seeing classics like THE INNOCENTS and DEAD OF NIGHT to get a sense of the eerie outdoor chills this neat low budget thriller has to offer. In the 70s there was a horror cycle of pix in Australia and two well made examples LOST THINGS subconsciously owes a lot of imagery and style to are THE LONG WEEKEND with John Hargreaves, also set on a scary beach, and SUMMERFIELD which was a sunny setting for deadly menace. I would also pointer the truly chilling British film THE WICKER MAN to add a clear sense of what LOST THINGS has to offer. This new Australian pic seems made for almost nothing and looks to be shot on bleached 16mm, enlarged for a welcome cinema release. There are some mistakes in the production, some clunky editing, some wobbly acting moments, and it overcomes all of them. Older teens would love this film and it offers some real scares and major mind games. Well done! Whoever you are. An un necessary gruesome remake almost seems inevitable once Hollywood sees this and decides to make it more explicit and simple.

Captivating and unique

[witty_pseudonym · 7/10 · 13 November 2005]

How marvelous to see an entertaining and thoughtful horror film come from Australia! As a regular moviegoer, and an Australian, I love watching all sorts of Australian films. I was lucky enough to see a special screening of lost things last year, which included a discussion with the director and various crew members. I must admit that, at first, I found lost things to be quite ridiculous. Some dialog seemed strange and there were some wobbly acting moments. But quite soon after-wards, I was really drawn in by the stunning landscape, and as the plot began to thicken, I was truly captivated. "Lost Things" was an enchanting experience, and most importantly, it was a horror film which managed to, in some respect, defy the genre, by placing itself in the beautiful Australian beach landscape by day. Also amazing was the twist. A horror film that made me think! Definitely not your usual "slasher flick," Lost things wasn't a "Look Both Ways" or "Little Fish," but was most definitely a considerable achievement.

The (real) reviewer always posts (at least) twice.

[xanyk · 8 December 2004]

This film is a totally unremarkable no budget feature, where a competent technical crew try in vain to wring some suspense out of a one-note script and limp actors. Somehow they manage to drag it all out for 83 minutes, which is somehow supposed to create suspense despite the fact that the "twist" is blatantly telegraphed in the first 5.

Don't you love the IMDb marketing strategy? If you don't know what I'm talking about, try reading the earlier "comments" for this film.

If you're going to write a fake reviews, you could at least try to make it convincing by having SOME criticism in there. Encouraging mediocrity doesn't help the industry, it just means we keep making crap films.

Oh, and "agendian" - Agenda Films... bit of a dead giveaway, huh?

Surprisingly effective chiller

[Groverdox · 7/10 · 11 November 2019]

"Lost Things" uses some underwhelming and low-budget production means to create a surprisingly effective chiller. At first I thought it owed a clear debt to the Australian '70s horror classic "Long Weekend", but it turns into more of a psychological thriller, where you start wondering if the characters have lost their minds, or if they're living in a dream, or a nightmare.

Four teenagers - two boys, two girls - go away for a surfing trip in a combi van. One of the boys is in love with one of the girls, but she is apparently uninterested in him. They are approached by a raggedy man who warns them to leave. Three people have died on this beach. They don't know what to think. Neither do we.

One of the movie's failings is in the casting of the actors, who are mostly pretty boring and uncharismatic, with the exception of Lenka Kripac. The direction also doesn't bring out the characters well enough due to uncreative shots, and often the soundtrack is overwhelming.

I still say check it out, though. It worked a bit of its magic on me.

Christians' Limbo is a beach!

[mario_c · 8/10 · 6 October 2006]

Lost Things is an interesting movie! It's quite disturbing because it has a strong psychological basis. There are no gore scenes, there's almost no blood, but there's a tense atmosphere since the beginning (and the soundtrack helps it a lot, with some classical and disturbing string sounds!).

When the first clues were given I thought: "well, I've seen this before… it's another "scary movie" with a predictable end…" And in a certain way it is, because the main topic of the plot it's very predictable and the viewer who pays a little attention to some details soon will understand that something strange happened in the past with these guys… But when the plot is being reveled, it doesn't give you all the complete answers… There are some little details that remain unclear even after the movie ends, and I appreciate this I must say! I like movies which have a complex plot and make me think, and this one did!

There are some scenes really amazing because you have a parallel viewing over the story. It's like your screen were divided into two parts and you can see what's happening now and what happened before…

The scenario of the film is pretty nice too. The beach is beautiful and I think it was a very nice idea (and quite original too!) to transform such amazing beach into a Limbo!

Quite good... Since most of the reviews here are very positive, I'm rather surprised at the 5.3 rating...

[lathe-of-heaven · 8/10 · 19 August 2012]

I agree with most of the things the other positive reviews say here, so I won't repeat them all. Primarily I thought the film had a good, strong mood and a VERY pensive atmosphere created quite effectively by good cinematography and excellent sound design. I mean, when a director can cause suspense and tension just by showing the tide swirling back over someone's feet, that IS indeed quite a feat! (yeah, yeah, I know... : )

Seriously though, this is a PRIME example of how to make a very effective Horror film with clearly VERY little money and simply using technique and composition in putting the film together. The overall concept is actually quite simple and has indeed been done many, MANY times before. BUT... it is quite difficult to pull off a film like this (unless you happen to be David Lynch) To me personally, mood is all important and this one creates a powerful and mysterious one. I'm tempted to mention similar films like this one that were also made well, but I hesitate because I do not wish to spoil the story...

Watching this, I really enjoyed the director's simple but effective style. It reminded me very much of Ti West's films. It takes real skill to build such a story with this kind of mood and tension with so little, which Ti West is quite rightly famous for doing. Sure, it could have been a bit more polished, but I'll trade a little roughness for the tangible, raw mood created here.

Now, very importantly... And you can clearly tell this by the very polarized reviews here. This film will appeal primarily to ones who like vague and mysterious films. People who don't easily get caught up in nebulous mysteries and who may want things explained more clearly, will probably not care for this movie. So if you like vague, moody films that have a David Lynch type Surrealistic vibe to them, then you should really like this one.

An enjoyable and creepy foreign movie

[reeves2002 · 8/10 · 10 December 2006]

I saw Martin Murphy's film "lost thing's" last night because I love thriller's and horror and have been wanting to see some from other countries.I was impressed and watched it twice to understand it better.The beach was beautiful and the soundtrack eerie with the background sounds.The fact that the beach was empty with no other people except an older guy who was preaching doom, and only had snakes and sinister looking birds on it was unsettling. Some people wrote that the 2 leading young men looked too much alike,well I disagree! They played cousins who were like brothers so I liked it that they resembled each other.Brad's mom near the beginning of the movie made a reference to this and I thought it was a nice change having 2 of them being related other then having your typical 4 friends. I thought all the actors were believable and the movie was very well acted.It was such a nice change to see an Australian film.It was a disturbing film but in a different way then wolf creek was.It really got me thinking a lot.It makes you wonder if this scenario does or could happen if you are in limbo.Their souls all ended up back at the creepy beach and only Emily seemed to have figured out what had happened.It was tense watching her convince the other's what had happened to them. I am not fully clear about what the scenes of each of them standing on the beach alone was all about.The beginning was a bit rushed and the scenes with Emily and Zippo were not very clear.Otherwise I loved it and give this movie an 8 out of 10.

Keeps you thinking once the movie is over

[shellee-387-398640 · 8/10 · 8 August 2012]

Plot - The plot was better than average and keeps you watching. As an advocate of the found footage genre I enjoyed watching a movie that would usually be filmed in that style but in this case was done normally. The movie also keeps you thinking about it once it is over (and in my case the next day). The end of the movie looked like it suffered slightly in the editing department which I thought added to the mystery. If you like movies with an interesting and slightly different plot, that leaves you thinking about it after wards then this one is worth watching.

Summary - Keeps you interested, good plot and leaves just enough to the imagination which makes you keep thinking but allows you to ultimately work it all out in the end.

Acting - Fairly solid with the exception of one of the male leads who is a bit wooden but it does not affect the watch-ability of the movie.

Location/Cinematography - Loved it. They used the location to their benefit. Camera angles were used along with the sparse location to highlight the mysterious nature of the plot.

Music/Soundtrack - Different and spooky. They did not use sounds to produce scares which was refreshing.

Sex/Violence/Swearing - F word is dropped by characters in times of stress. One small sex scene. Very little violence if any.

A wonderfully unsettling and unique psycho-horror yarn

[myron_simons · 10/10 · 22 September 2003]

"I know what you did last Blair Matrix!" I love horror films and this is one of the most refreshing I've ever seen. "Lost Things" has that unsettling, true-to-life feel of "Blair Witch". It takes the archetypal "teens in trouble" formula but then twists the familiar plot into a powerful and unsettling existential psycho-horror story. My "Matrix" reference is nothing to do with bullet time photography or Kung Fu but more about the way "Lost Things" bends perception of time and throws into question the nature of reality.

"Lost Things" not only celebrates and exploits familiar cinematic-horror elements, it blends them into something bigger than the sum of its parts and ends up being a wholly original and wonderfully disturbing entity. It's a slow pace to start with, which I appreciate in these days of high-octane, smart-alec, body-count horror flicks. Whilst being boldly 21st century, "Lost Things" shares the virtues of classics like "burnt offerings" and the "Changeling" - films that take the time to have you care for the characters and build a 'platform of reality' that makes the horror all the more effective once that platform begins to tilt. And once the momentum kicks in there is plenty of suspense.

Director Martin Murphy is a craftsman and he's got together a great team. The sound track and design is harrowingly beautiful. The cinematography, editing, design and direction are congruent, all working together to deliver the story with clarity and atmosphere. Murphy has drawn intense and honest performances from his actors. The Actors well serve Stephen Sewell's terrific script, capturing the darkness, humour and vulnerability of adolescent social/sexual politics. Murphy is obviously working with a tiny budget but he knows what he's doing so we don't miss the crane and tracking shots at all. Far from it - this is one of those great indie films that exploits and transcends the low budget restrictions.

"Lost things" is a highly enjoyable and unique yarn of a horror film. Complex yet accessible, it creeps in under the skin and continues to seep deeper into the bones. Well worth checking out.

This is an excellent and unsettling existential psycho thriller.

[agendian · 10/10 · 16 September 2004]

Just when you think you are in a for a predictable story with predictable characters, the film makers start to turn the world and the characters upside down and inside out. With blind alleys full of red herrings, what seemed so simple becomes a tense, scary and genuinely unsettling film. I sort of, but didn't quite, guess what might be happening but the journey felt as real as it could be. I think it's a first film and if so, it's pretty impressive. If you just want straight horror with blood, bodies and cardboard characters go and see a Hollywood horror film. This is different. The location slowly turns from a beautiful faraway beach into a place that feels as spooky in the bright sun as an old churchyard at night.

About Life & Death

[SergiPavl · 10/10 · 14 May 2007]

It's a widely exploited\explored idea to try and find answers to what happens to a soul once it's out of the physical body, the stress is on the soul being in this state of "out of", the state of undecidedness, unclarity, ambiguity, obscurity, blindness & uncertainty.

2 things came to my mind after watching the film: 1.the saying that one is destined\doomed to repeat his\her history if it's not properly remembered 2."The Others" starring Nicole Kidman. I suggest u compare the two films.

A careful & attentive viewer could accept the film as being about(or mostly about or,at least, preferentially about) Life & Death(capitals), like The Others for instance, & not about life & death. The latter is the case with virtually every movie nowadays; and that's OK; because it's natural(or "nature"); but it's not that important(in my view) because the latter(l&d) is a local perception while the former(L&D)- is a global one.