Captive (2023) Poster

(II) (2023)

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3/10
Unintentional Cheese?..or was it?
influxtwo23 July 2023
I didn't hate this but didn't love it either. If you want a truly scary Vampire flick, this one ain't it. This one is pure non-serious camp and cheese. I wouldn't say for that reason that it's bad, because it still entertains. It's just lackluster.

It's not self-aware enough to be a horror-comedy, and not amusing enough to be an intentional one. It's billed on Tubi as a Horror Thriller. But it's not dark nor thrilling enough to ever be scary, or frightful, it doesn't even try.

And though there is a twist at the end that I won't reveal (i liked the twist), the acting is never convincing enough to consider this a true Thriller. But, - it does have a little bit of cheap fun while it tries.

This is mostly a film to showcase Scout Taylor Compton in a new role and she actually does quite well with the material despite it being a thinly written character along with the rest of the bag.

Everything about this movie is sub-par cheese. From the chunky metal-chords of the opening theme song, to the low budget CGI of the title card and unconvincing acting.

The film didn't begin to pick up my attention much until half way through the runtime. After the 30 something year old Scooby Doo gang is established It becomes rather tongue in cheek while remaining corny through out, but ultimately things do develop towards a twist.

Scout did well as the 'girl who wants more' who transforms along in-to more. But the film's limitations head to an interesting plot twist that deserved a better movie.

Overall this held my attention but the development was obviously low budget. The "action" scenes were shot and edited kind of poor. Certainly not the worst I've seen, but the music through out most of the film is beyond corn, and does indeed ruin all seriousness, and it really deflates an otherwise decent atmosphere. The music and editing deflates the efforts of the actors in some scenes. They missed the mark in many ways to truly deepen this as a genre film.

Had this been sharply edited, more artisticly shot, with better music, and the acting just a pinch more convincing, it could have been a modern masterpiece.

I would have to say Scout is the best part because she plays a dual role well here, and has fine-tuned her nuance. It's too bad they couldn't spend more money on production and gore because the aesthetic of their shooting location could have called for more.

This is a Charles Manson-y, Hollywood Hills-y, Cult-y Vamp flick that could have used a boost. But for Tubi's Cheesy portal of free specials.. it's okay. Check it out at your own risk. It does have Scout in a bathing suit and mini skirt playing one of her best kinds of roles. She was the stand out.
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5/10
Surprisingly good
voliveri9 August 2023
I assumed that this would suck because it's a Tubi Original, but I was pleasantly surprised. If you've watched enough horror movies, especially slasher movies, you already know all of the story beats--though I appreciated the way that the script makes some creative detours that defy expectations. The cast is uniformly strong, even if the set up beggars belief. You could do a LOT worse than CAPTIVE.

I gave this movie a 5. It's not something you're going to remember years from now, but it's good enough to hook you in and keep you watching. And kudos to Tubi for bringing this worthwhile original to their platform.

1-3 Don't waste your time 4-6 Good 7-9 Excellent 10 Outstanding.
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1/10
This is one of those horror movies that feels like they couldn't get anything right
kevin_robbins30 June 2023
Captivity (2023) was recently added to Tubi and tells the tale of a group of friends who decide to break into an empty house for a weekend of fun. Unfortunately, they find a man chained in the basement and decide to set him free. They won't let this discovery ruin their weekend, but their discovery may decide to ruin theirs...

This movie is directed by Gregg Simon (The Cook) and stars Scout Taylor-Compton (Halloween), Brendan Fehr (Final Destination), Tasie Lawrence (Good Kids), Christina Robinson (Dexter) and Katalina Parrish (The Ridiculous 6).

This is one of those horror movies that feels like they couldn't get anything right. Every decision made in the film is classic horror movie bad. The dialogue and acting are also below par and the soundtrack doesn't always match what's happening in the film, and why did we need a sex with sun glasses on scene? The horror elements are lacking with mediocre vampire transformation scenes and bad CGI attacks and blood splatter. The eyes in this were supposed to be creepy but felt like bad social media filters. The one part of the movie I enjoyed was the attack of the mother.

Overall, this is a disappointing addition to the horror genre that's not worth your time. I would score this a 1/10 and recommend skipping it.
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2/10
Don't waste your time.
spitfirereviews17 June 2023
Warning: Spoilers
Don't waste your time. I love Scout Taylor-Compton and I loved her in Rob Zombie's Halloween 1 and 2 but I'm still waiting for get a decent role in a fantastic movie. This is not it.

A group of young adults break into a rich couple's house to party. But that scenario works if they're teens and live with their parents; these characters are all in their twenties and have their own places, why would they risk arrest to break into someone's house? Lots of plot holes.

Scout Taylor-Compton's character complains about her boyfriend (like she did in the beginning of "The Long Night"), and the group finds a man chained in the basement. They release him and find out he's a vampire, whom Scout Taylor-Compton falls in love with. Not a bad premise, but then it's just routine vampire carnage.

A very mediocre story. If they're going to put Scout Taylor-Compton in a vampire movie, they need an original story and plot like Lost Boys or Fright Night or 30 Days of Night. Captive feels routine and mediocre in EVERY way.

Don't waste your time. It's not fun. It's not titillating. It's not funny. It's not intriguing. Great effects and music but it's boring and routine.
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1/10
Bad to Worse
eightbitgraveyard14 September 2023
From beginning to, well, I didn't make it to the end, this film is horrible. Throwaway writing poorly executed by lazy directing and stale acting. I feel like this movie was written AND filmed in a weekend. Nothing in this film provokes any sort of interest. It felt like a chore to even make it as far as I did. I found myself more interested in my neighbors moving out and found myself watching them from my window more than I watched this movie. I can't, for the life of me, understand how movies like this get made. Also, it seems as if the actors in this movie are pushing forty but have nothing better to do than break into a house for the weekend? A movie with no redeeming qualities and a complete waste of everyone's time. Including the viewer.
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2/10
They'll release anything.
BA_Harrison16 October 2023
I've never really rated Scout Taylor-Compton as a scream queen and figured it wouldn't be too long before she started to appear in low budget garbage like this (as opposed to the higher budget garbage she is best known for: Halloween and April Fool's Day).

In Captive, Taylor-Compton plays Ashley, one of a group of stoner friends who break into a house while the owners are away; while exploring the property, they discover a man chained up in the basement and release him, ignoring the crucifixes on the wall and the line of salt that encircles him. Whaddya know? He's a strigoi (that's a vampire in layman's terms) and he wants Ashley for his mate.

Predictably plotted, badly directed, poorly acted tosh, Captive is bottom tier vampire nonsense that I imagine will only appeal to Scout Taylor-Compton fans desperate to see the actress in a swimsuit. There's little in the way of special effects or gore, with blood sprays being of the badly composited digital variety, and the film's twist at the end is easy to guess.

2/10.
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2/10
Satanism
kotomo-0089511 September 2023
Warning: Spoilers
An interesting but morally dubious film.

The atmosphere remains mysterious and the acting is of TV-series quality. The cinematography is rather interesting, and the images are well crafted.

The script fits in a handkerchief.

The less demanding can only be delighted.

But given the subject matter and possible parallels with current events, ending the film on the victory of evil, or rather of those who possess blood, is immoral and gives credence to those who kill for blood (cf. Adenochrome).

All this under the guise of a beautiful wrapping (love) to pass the pill.

Satanism has a bright future ahead of it.
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6/10
Generic, but fun
bowmanblue14 October 2023
There are some film that I just can't work out. Sometimes they included all the elements of a genre that I should like - and yet I end up hating the finished product. Other times (like now) this one has a lot of negatives, yet I came away feeling like I hadn't wasted an hour and a half of my life.

I'm not sure whether it's a 'spoiler' to talk about the promotional front cover/poster, as it's kind of in your face already whenever you see the cover art of image on a streaming service. It does kind of give the game away as to what the film's about. The blurb reads something like 'a group of stoners break into a house to get high, but get more than they bargained for.' That could leave you wondering what they come up against and what the threat is they face. But if you've seen the poster then you'll have immediately seen the fangs, indicating that this is a vampire movie.

It's sort of like an extended episode of 'Buffy' but aimed more at adults. The teenagers get stalked in one large house while the plot if peppered with some vague 'love story' elements that any good (or terrible!) teen drama is littered with.

The dialogue is average at best. The acting is passable, but, to be fair, the actors aren't given a lot to work with! The plot is kind of predictable and you'll know who's going to get their pretty little teenage throat chomped on and any bloodsplatter is blatantly computer-generated.

In other words... this film has more than its fair share of faults. And I actually quite enjoyed it. Yes, it's no masterpiece and I may not remember it this time next year, but it was serviceable enough for what it was. I was clearly in the mood for something that wasn't particularly taxing and possibly in a very forgiving mood. There's certainly a hundred better vampire movies and TV shows out there, but there are certainly some worse ones, too - at least the vamps didn't even come close to 'sparkling' in sunlight here.
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8/10
I loved this
tjstins16 July 2023
This was a great film. It has the feel of a late 90s stoner film. For example idle hands (but not as funny, more serious). Mixed with a similar feel that you get with your slasher movies. I think it's good that they left alot of the politics plaquing movies recently and just made a fun, not to long, bloody, funny, unique And sometimes scary horror movie. And some people have said the acting was bad, well I 100% disagree. I think they did a great job. And I enjoyed how they changed up the vampire stuff a bit. I really hope tubi keeps doing horror movies and also I love Scout so yay! So please please please keep up the good work with the horror genre tubi.
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6/10
Not bad not good so so
ylopez-2379428 June 2023
Ehhhhh I love the main actress same from "Bury the bride" her role on this one is more kick Butt! Was interesting all and all was a bit better I think than bury the bride. I do love the cameo of Brendan Fehr At the end it was left open of course you would have to see it.... I did enjoy it though would I rate it 10 nope a good 6 would I see it again no! Lol but I still highly recommend if you are bored or have nothing better to do with your time...most of the actors are unknown. The only one I recognized was the lead Scout Taylor Compton. I thought she was a bad ass on her role the part was good.
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6/10
Enjoyable and Camp Vampire Film
icocleric4 October 2023
I thought it was enjoyable and camp. It's quite not horror comedy, so it's not tense or scary. I expected a more traditional slasher film, but I enjoyed what they did with it instead. It felt a bit refreshing, and had fun with it.

I thought it had some nice touches, like the ouija board turning out to be them messing around, but it alerts them to the captive banging the pipes. The twist at the end was also fun.

The acting is very reasonable, the overall quality is decent, no issues with the sound quality or anything like that. It's not the most amazing film, and if you want something scary it's not going to scratch that itch. But it's fun.
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8/10
A highly enjoyable vampire effort with a few drawbacks
kannibalcorpsegrinder4 January 2024
Looking for some adventure in her life, a woman joins her friends in a special visit to a supposedly-abandoned house for a weekend party, but the longer they stay there come to believe something inhuman has joined them in the house that was held inside and must find a way to escape alive.

Overall, this was a lot more fun than expected. One of the better features with this one is the main setup at play which not only brings the group into contact with the house but also the release of the vampire. The friend group who decide on breaking into the house for the weekend and the exploits of their trip through the house while they stay there is fun enough for what it is, getting them out to the house and the series of interactions featured here bring about a fun sense of camaraderie that show off who they are and their relationships together in fine form. This goes along with the discovery of the stranger in the basement and what they plan to do with him which could potentially damage their weekend plans but fail to realize that he was a vampire until he's targeted and turned one of them to then start working through the rest of the group. This part here is where the film picks up pretty well with the turn and eventual series of encounters that take place. After the first night that provides the indoctrination ritual that officially completes the turn and signals the change against their knowledge, the resulting attitude focuses heavily on the idea of the vampire in their midst unknowingly splitting them up with snarky comments and pettiness while trying not to let them know what's really going on. This gets blown out by the massively entertaining and over-the-top finale where it really lets loose with the vampires setting the party into a slaughter with their reveal and massacre at the party where they set about attacking the guests to a huge orgy of swarming action and bloodshed. With the main group left, it turns into more fun battles where the actions to stop the vampires revolve around the brutal brawling that goes nowhere due to their advanced strength and ill-fated confrontations that end up showcasing a special tactic of the vampires that gets revealed with the big twist here that's handled quite well. On the whole, these all make the film quite enjoyable although there are some factors here that bring this down. Among the main drawbacks present is the seemingly bizarre means that the party gets introduced late in the film which makes no sense. A perfectly acceptable body count was present with the original group who came to the house and encountered the vampire so they didn't even need to turn the one member, especially if some of the group splits off before the end of the film. As a result, it makes the party come off as needless bodies but to then waste it all on petty arguing so the rampage has to happen in slow motion without taking advantage of the situation causes this all to be clumsily added together to try to add some horror to the situation. This all brings about the somewhat lackluster pace during the lead-up as it's not about the vampire killing them but more about the duplicitous games she plays instead so it doesn't have much action until that big finale which are the few issues to be had with this one.

Rated Unrated/R: Graphic Violence and Graphic Language.
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