Spectrauma (2011) User Reviews

fascinating

[marksbani · 8/10 · 5 December 2011]

I was impressed with this intense, thought-provoking indie film. Spectrauma took me down the rabbit hole, where I got lost in its dark warrens. I didn't always understand where this was going, but that was half the fun. The ending was a surprise and tidy. Highly recommended! Fans of sci-fi thrillers will be pleased. Solid acting. Very crisp direction. Supremely entertaining! A popcorn flick, yes. But one that stayed with me. There's a speech in there about suicidals who waste their life for nothing that I found haunting. The main character, Brett, says why not take absurd risks if you're just gonna die anyway. I can't put it as eloquently as Brett, but it was beautifully written. Many moments like these that add up to a very fine movie. Watch it - you won't be disappointed .

Talky indie thriller full of ideas and no story

[Leofwine_draca · 2/10 · 16 February 2018]

SPECTRAUMA is an indie thriller set in and around a university campus. A group of PhD students make a breakthrough in computer technology, but their breaking of boundaries soon causes them to fall out and begin to lose their minds. Attempting to build the same head of steam as a film like PI, this is a talky, slow-moving little drama which never convinced me for a moment. The concepts are discussed abstractly but never shown and the whole thing feels like it would work better as either a short story or a magazine article; a proper film it really isn't.

Fans of Cronenberg and Kubrick take note.

[imdb-19687 · 9/10 · 15 August 2019]

A chilling experiment in quantum physics goes horribly wrong, introducing a band of too-curious college students to another reality that preys on their nightmares and questions their sanity...is it all in their heads? Phantom lighting and crisp, uncomfortable silences (ala Kubrick) lend tension and edge to the storyline, while protagonist Brett struggles to balance his time between an engrossing potential scientific breakthrough and a dehumanizing fling with a high society femme fatale. Ghosts of past experiments, mothballed for their blasphemous audacity, strong-arm his scientific reasoning and any tenets of self-preservation, ultimately threatening not only Brett's life, but that of his friends and lab partners. A solid performance by the actors in this ultra-low budget indie film makes it that much more impressive. Recommended.