Crimson Winter (2013) User Reviews

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[kosmasp · 2/10 · 22 May 2014]

There is an affection, that you may or may not have towards Low Budget movies. You might relish in the way they are done, how much effort the filmmakers have put into them and give them bonus points for trying and going for their dreams. This movie could be one of those cases you'd need those bonus points to give this movie a boost.

The effects are not as bad (considering this is really low budget of course), the tangling story lines and time jumping might cause a few headaches though. There is also the language issue, which is a nice touch, but might not win too many people over. There is a decent amount of blood and action, but overall there is nothing that can really redeem this. Not worth your time

Good for the treatment of insomnia...

[monk-81907 · 2/10 · 19 January 2019]

I'm sorty, but I stumbled across this by accident and - knowing nothing sbout it at all - thought I'd give it a shot. About 15 minutes in I must have nodded off out of boredom during a droning monologue, then woke up to more droning monologue (or perhaps the same one, it was hard to know) at the 36 minute mark. So maybe I missed the best bits, but judging from the rest of this movie... I seriously doubt it.

It wasn't until I checked here on imdb that I realised what the actual story was supposed to be and that it involved vampires. Oookaaay. Then I checked the run time and thought "1 hr 46 mins? If I'm this bored now, how much worse will it be by then?"

Honestly, it's meant to be a movie not an audio book so there should be more show than tell. Well placed dialogue does serve to advance the story (and even the occasional monologue has it's place) but this was just drowning in depressingly toned droning. Think Louis' monologues from Interview with the Vampire, but less interesting and much much longer.

God, even the accompanying musical score is depressing!

Ultimately it's a very slow-paced, down-beat audio book on screen with some probably reasonable actors (hard to know with this material); so if this is your cup of tea, enjoy. If you want something more than nearly two hours of what sounds like depressingly bad news because of the voice tones and music, maybe move on to something else.

Such a lousy crap

[siberdrache · 1/10 · 9 February 2014]

What a terribly lousy waste of time. The story is terrible. The actors are real bad, the German Syncro even worse. Yawning boredom, from the first Moment, mainly due to the depressed half-baked Dialogues (which, incidentally, in the film far outweigh.) "action scenes" if you ever may call them, are terribly bad, battles that are always shown only in one vs.one, also if it is to represent mass slaughter. I seriously wonder whether in the credits as something like "Special Effects" is, if so, it should be prohibited, that such a film use such words at all in the end credits. The music is incredibly inappropriate, but bears wonderful to generally prevailing mood of depression and Boredom. All in all, I would think a completely successful Film, made by elementary school students (but only a maximum of 8 Actor and 10 extras)

Painfully dull,

[lshegenbarth · 1/10 · 28 November 2020]

This movie is the epitome of telling rather than showing. Nearly every scene is a practice in exposition while remarkably telling us nothing about the characters.

Speaking of the characters there is no personality with any characters beyond brooding (lookin' at you Gerard Way lookin' lead).

The story (if there even is one beneath veritable tsunami of word vomit that is the exposition) is at best lackluster and at worst contrived and nonsensical.

The score is distracting and often mismatched to what's happening on screen. I hope you're fond of a single slow pace string music song because you're in for almost two hours of it.

I'd comment on the actors performances but hardly anyone had a line to deliver that wasn't a monologue of exposition (can you sense my salt with this films exposition delivery yet?)

The camera work was constantly tight on the characters faces and somehow managed to look tight even with (what was supposed to be) wide shots.

It's obvious that this film was stretched too far for the means of production, the technical aspect where moderately respectable but it's overshadowed by the horrific amount of cheesy exposition.

In conclusion this was a dull movie with human shaped scripts telling you the story rather than showing anything, that takes itself far to seriously and confused brooding looks for personality.

In a world... saturated by vampire movies... this one is a cut above.

[900Yards · 9/10 · 25 February 2014]

The last vampire film I actually enjoyed was Interview with the Vampire (1994). The locations, story, and sheer scope of the film was impressive. Since then, I have seen a lot of bloated, high budget, and disappointing attempts at a vampire story.

Enter Interwoven Film's "Crimson Winter", an impressive effort that brings back the days when story was king. Truth be told, the only reason I decided to watch this film is because it was shot in my home state of Montana. But once I heard the brooding narration of the main character lamenting his many experiences over the course of many lifetimes contrasted by beautiful shots of the mountains of Montana, I was hooked.

"Crimson" tells a familiar story in an unfamiliar way. This is a story that requires your attention and rewards it. The story weaves in tales of family betrayal, forbidden love, revenge, survival, compromise, and ideals.

This is a gritty, well shot, well acted, independent film that challenges audiences to think about choices, and in this case, what they may mean for centuries to come. It is about belief, and holding on to that belief for so long it could be forgotten. At the end of the day, it is about that wretched, rewarding, painful, and amazing thing called love.

Bryan Ferriter Ladies and Gentlemen. Don't be fooled. He does NOT disappoint.

[angiris · 6/10 · 7 December 2014]

Let me be absolutely clear. This film is NOT a 2.9 and anyone who rates it lower than 4 is blatantly unworthy is being able to vote on IMDb or anywhere else. This is a low budget independent film. For some this can be a tough film to watch due to this and if you my reader are one of those people just stop reading now...

Now... as for the rest of us. Ladies and gents' this is actually quite a good vampire film in low budget terms. based on it being independent that is how I, unlike the most others are gonna rate this.

Its a vampire drama. A bit of action but primarily drama. Frankly I think the little action it has should be cut out because the very core of the film, the good stuff, lies in the dark and ominous story. The drama itself.

If you don't like slow building vampire films you want to skip this film. if thats not the case... I recommend this if you are open to good independent films.

The Good:

The film does not look all that cheap. Most of the actors are doing a good job and Ferriter in the lead, which could have gone bad, is actually not too shabby either. The combo of a writer, actor and director tends to go wrong but I for one doesn't not believe that happens here. I find the film very much likable because I enjoy films like Vampire Journal, which also benefits greatly from a very dark yet beautiful atmosphere. Vampire Journals is better though in my own opinion but anyway. The story is quite good as well. Quite simple... but the content in the middle makes the film shine from time to time. The film is very dark. This I LOVE in a vampire film. If you liked Vampire Journals I recommend you consider giving this film a shot too if you can handle a few rough edges of an independent.

The Bad:

Some of the casting could have been a lot better. Some scenes could be been cut from the film too in order to keep the focus on the beauty of the story rather than rushing on to action. Because that is sadly where the film falls from its grace. Just the same... I've seen worse. A LOT WORSE! I know what a 1-2-and 3 looks like and THIS FILM IS NOT IT.

The ending is a matter of taste really. The film itself is dark as mentioned earlier and I LOVE that so the fact that the ending remains dark too is not that big an issue. However... again some would have enjoyed something more positive. Again, its a matter of taste really.

The film feels short too when you start to enjoy it. I wanted more of the vampire Gothic beauty and charisma. And less story about these youngsters who will run into the vamps later. More vampire stuff Ferriter! Please! you can do it! Give us a sequel!

Conclusion:

The film is damn good in terms of low budget independents. However, there is another thing you must take into account while watching this is patience and understanding that this film has a few rough edges and that is is low budget. You MUST I repeat MUST keep that in mind or you will start to hate and that isn't fair because below the relatively rough surface is quite a good film. Give it a chance. you wont be disappointed.

All in all this is a film that is definitely worth a look IF you can handle low budget films though this film doesn't look that much like one, and of course if you love vampires. If you can look aside from a few rough edges you got a good independent film right here.

6 out of 10 guys. A good film. Not a great one due to it falling short on length and some more intriguing content. Like if we had more scenes with Ferriter and Paulie Redding. More dark, vampire atmosphere and who knows... a castle with lots of colors. Elric was a prince after all. Throw in a castle next time Bryan. Could be damn good!

Well worth a watch guys. And finally a message to all you guys rating this 1 or 2 or 3. Do me and everybody else who enjoy reading a review to avoid a bad film AND STOP RATING OR REVIEWING FILMS YOU HAVE SEE FOR 5 seconds and hate on due to it being low budget or you not understanding it. If its garbage... go ahead but this is NOT garbage. Effort went into this film. And unlike a lot of other first timer directors and writers Ferriter actually did quite a good job on this. I've seen MUCH worse. Wanna see a 1 or a 2 or a 3? Watch Titanic 2 or utter GARBAGE like The Bunker from 2014 or Tusk. C R A P films with no point or purpose. THat FALLS UNDER 1s 2s and 3s. See them and compare them to this film. then you'll see.

Shame on you guys. Good job Bryan Ferriter. Good Job Paulie Redding. Consider making a sequel. This has potential you guys.

Ohh and finally! NOX ARCANA!! YOU DID SO WELL ON THE SOUNDTRACK! YOU GUYS ARE AWESOME! It really sets the atmosphere throughout the entire film. Guys... even if you don't enjoy the film, consider the soundtrack. Its fantastic.

A Beautiful Vampire Film without all the "High Dollar Special Effects"

[Rainey-Dawn · 10/10 · 7 June 2014]

For me: This movie was a beautiful Vampire film. I never expected it to be this good. It is real Gothic. If you want a film full of CGI effects then this movie is not for you - this movie has more realism than most high dollar Hollywood films because it is not filled out with CGI effects. This movie did not need a bunch of fight scenes with effects to make it good - because the story was good.

Also, the scenery and costuming is to die for as well as nice casting/acting and a good story. I loved the ending - the falcon (that is all I will say with out giving the story away).

On the subject of language: Yes the movie is in English. Very very little of the movie is in French and Latin. A copy I watched of this film online had no subtitles for the foreign languages BUT I now own a copy of the film and the DVD does in-fact have the subtitles.

And would LOVE to see a sequel! (They could leave what happens next to our imagination or create a part two.) I give this one a 10/10. Truly Gothic (realism) without Hollywood glitz and glamour.

Worth watching

[windycitybluez · 7/10 · 11 February 2014]

I love these low budget movies. they prove that talent goes a long way you don't need million dollar budgets, or over rated, over paid actors. When you have a good story and a good story teller the rest falls into place, If you don't give these movies a chance you will miss out on so much just like I use to miss out. I'm so happy i began watching these movies. I have seen some great acting, great producing, great directing, brilliant story telling, all done with peanut shells when compared to the bloated Hollywood remakes, I'm so tiered of watching remakes it makes no sense just think of how great these films would be if they had half the money the big blockbuster films get. That's why KICK-STARTER is such a valuable site now we get to back movies we want made by watching clips on kick-starter and donating for the movie to be made please visit and support the little guys spread the word.

yes! you'll love it!

[bschwartz-37-504712 · 10/10 · 25 June 2014]

thank you crimson winter for bringing art back into myth of vampires. there have been so many cheesy and horrible vampire films and TV series lately that i gave up on watching vampire films, until now. the folktales of vampires have been around for almost 300 years or more and crimson winter returns an aesthetic honor back to this historic tale. if you have a love for vampires (one of my favorite horror "monsters"), then you will really appreciate the character development, acting, script, plot, and direction. i really can't say enough about how well crimson winter was developed; it makes you realize the vast difference between a Hollywood-thoughtless-horror-flick and true art. i'm not going to ruin the movie for you with details, just watch it.

DO NOT WATCH IF YOU ARE LOOKING FOR HORROR OR ACTION!!!...

[Wikkid_Gamez · 8/10 · 20 December 2019]

"God............We are God's forgotten children little man, why should he care how we live or how we die?"



... This should be classed as just Drama straight up... With a slight supernatural aspect. I personally found this movie enjoyable enough to watch once. Honestly, I would probably not watch it again as it is definitely a drama, which I am not that partial to most of the time. However, it's a well made movie with good acting contrary to what others have claimed here. I have a feeling that they say that because they did not care for the movie so they tore it apart review wise no matter whether they were being fully truthful or not. I personally would not seek to watch it again on my own (most movies I do not watch more than once, the same with reading books as once its in my head it never leaves) but I would watch it again if I was with someone else that wanted to see it. However, I will give it what is due as far as credit and quality... For a low budget, independent film it holds it down as far as quality. The acting is good and I think the music suits the story. The location in Montana and the scenery is amazing. The film production is well done and they handle the different languages smoothly. I was not familiar with the main actor/writer/producer/director beforehand but I would definitely be open to seeing more of his work as he pushes forward. I would be interested in seeing the next movie or two that follow in this trilogy once apiece. As far as this movie is concerned, if you can appreciate heavy drama, artistic expression and heavy dialogue with the absence of fast paced action sequence's consistent throughout or minimal horror and gore/blood then give it a chance.