Stay Alive (2006) User Reviews

Good Concept, Lazy Execution

[mjw2305 · 5/10 · 7 January 2007]

Stay Alive is a new game in which you have to stay alive or suffer the consequences in real life, it's a pretty cool concept and one that could have been executed way better than it actually was.

Surprisingly the film is far less cheesy than i figured it would be, the cast are quite convincing, albeit as pretty shallow characters and the direction, editing and general production are adequate enough. What let it down was the way it sets out the rules and then picks which ones it will follow depending on what stage the story was at, contriving every step of the way to make it fit.

It was mildly entertaining to watch and there is a decent sense of tension throughout, although the scares were all a bit cheap and clichéd, and it definitely didn't need the twist at the end, i hope it's not a setup for a sequel.

5/10

like the idea but not executed well

[SnoopyStyle · 5/10 · 6 April 2015]

Loomis Crowley beta-test video game Stay Alive with his friends Sarah and Rex. All three are killed with Loomis dying exactly the way he died in the game. Loomis' sister gives the game to his friend Hutch (Jon Foster). Hutch, his work friend Miller Banks (Adam Goldberg), brother and sister friends Phineus (Jimmi Simpson) and October (Sophia Bush), geeky Swink (Frankie Muniz) and Sarah's friend Abigail (Samaire Armstrong) play the game together. Miller is killed by the Countess Elizabeth Bathory in the game and she comes to kill him in real life. Police detectives Thibodeaux (Wendell Pierce) and King investigate. Phineus continues to play the game but leaves before getting killed. However the game plays by itself. He is killed in a freak accident like in the game. The remaining group tracks down the origins of the video game. Bathory had drained the blood of young women to bath in to maintain her youth. She was walled up alive in a tower on her plantation. Detective King plays the game and is killed. The cops are after the group and they all go on the run to battle Bathory.

This reminds me of 'The Ring' plus the orderly killing sequence of 'Final Destination'. I like the idea of a real haunted horror video game. I like most of the actors in this movie. I want to like this movie more and I wish it was executed better. First of all, the kills are not bloody enough. The violence should be more gory and bloodier. Too much of it occurs off screen. The backstory is way too complicated. The movie tries to explain too much. It's better to leave it as something creepy killing them. I had a similar problem with 'The Ring' but this movie is much more severe. This movie starts with an interesting idea but the poor execution leaves a lot to be desired.

Incredibly tame.

[OMGlolROTFL · 4/10 · 26 March 2006]

OK, so you know this movie is going to be cheesy before you even go see it. It's about a game that kills you if you die in it. I already knew that, but I was hoping to be at least entertained. First off, most of the acting was actually pretty good. Some of it was terrible, but I blame the script more than the actors, some of those lines were impossible to deliver realistically. The plot was ehh, well you already know the plot. It was not the strong point of the movie, to say the least. The thing that really bothered me was the fact that the movie cut away right before everyone got killed. I guess that's what happens when you make a PG-13 horror movie. I get the feeling this movie would have been a LOT better if they had just let it get an R rating, and include all of the violence. Violence doesn't necessarily make a good movie, but in this case, what else would you watch this movie for? It doesn't build tension very well, and is generally not very scary. The makeup for the countess looks pretty good, she is a creepy looking woman.

All together the movie wasn't terrible. It was at least entertaining to some extent. Don't expect to be scared unless you are a 14 year old girl. 4/10 stars.

Not the best I've ever seen... but decent.

[imoen4ever · 7/10 · 24 March 2006]

I saw "Stay Alive" tonight, and I was surprised to come home and read reviews discounting it as stupid or pointless.

Actually, I think that the plot was fairly substantial and well thought out for a horror movie--especially a PG-13 one. Granted, it probably would have been better as an R version, but there's always a chance for an unrated DVD. This movie made me think AND scared me, which is a combination hard to find. The time line is fairly stable and simple to follow--except parts of the end--which makes for an enjoyable experience. Without worrying about when things are happening, you are free to instead concentrate on WHY they are happening.

I really liked the video game plot--it was entertaining enough just to watch the gamers get so into it! Everything is interconnected, so it kept me interested enough to look past the "jumpy" parts to the underlying meanings and symbolism.

The characters were fairly dynamic and complex, and the acting was much better than I expected. I actually FELT for them, an element often missing from horror films. The procession of events may have been slightly predictable at times, but the characters remained real and believable throughout. I was happy to see that everything wasn't discarded simply in the name of gore.

The lighting was surprisingly good for this genre--every scene was well-lit and easy to make out what was happening. The colors were perfect to set the mood, and the cinematography was on the better side of average: no complaints here.

Overall, although the ending was a bit of a let-down, I believe this is worth seeing if you like horror movies that also make you THINK--it's not all about scares. I'm also a novice gamer, so I might have appreciated it more than a non-gamer--I don't know.

In conclusion--it's worth a shot.

Atrocious slasher flick.

[HumanoidOfFlesh · 3/10 · 30 August 2006]

After the mysterious death of an old friend,a group of teenagers find themselves in the possession of Stay Alive,a horror survival video game based on the gruesome story of Erzebet Bathory known as The Blood Countess.The group begins to play the grisly game and soon they are murdered one by one in the same method as the character they played in the game.As the line between the game world and the reality disappears,our heroes must find a way to defeat vicious Blood Countess. "Stay Alive" is an incredibly poor teen slasher flick without any iota of suspense.Writer-director William Brent Bell doesn't have the damn clue how to make a watchable horror movie.The jump scares are irritating,the blood/gore level is almost non-existent and the story doesn't make sense.The dialogue is utterly bad and the acting of all involved is embarrassing."Stay Alive" is easily one of the worst mainstream horror flicks of 2006.Stay away from this stinking turd.

A Decent Movie -- But wait for the DVD

[RobZombie01930 · 7/10 · 27 March 2006]

STAY ALIVE Rated PG-13 for horror violence, disturbing images, language, brief sexual and drug content. Directed By: William Brent Bell Starring: Jon Foster, Frankie Muniz, Samaire Armstrong, and Sophia Bush Runtime: 85 minutes

TO MAKE A LONG STORY SHORT

7 out of 10. Not very scary, but it is enjoyable.

THE LONG VERSION

OK. I was not expecting much from this flik from the get-go. Script although more original than most of the crap movies to come out lately, was still nothing ground breaking. And, having a relatively unknown director on the project wasn't giving this film any better buzz. Then the trailer was released, which made this movie look even worse. So today I see a matinée for this film with a friend of mine, and I'm surprised to find myself watching a genuinely interesting film.

Is it scary? Not really. There's a few boo scares thrown around, but none of them really work. I like during some of the creepy scenes how silent it was, but it never really paid off properly.

Is it at least suspenseful? Yes. It is, in fact, very suspenseful. There are some really cool chase scenes, and some pretty decent "what was that!?" moments.

Is it gory? No. The pictures were, as most suspected, quick shots in the film, and you barely saw any of it. This was, of course, to keep this flik pg13. That's annoying, but whatever, I could get over it rather quickly.

Editing, Directing, etc. was all pretty solid, nothing shocking, but nothing horrible either.

And now, to the part most people are probably interested in: How was the video game sequences? Awesome. This is by far the best part of the movie. When it goes into the video game, it gets really cool. The beginning shines best in this particular style the movie goes for. With some creepy "Samara" like ghosts crawling around, and plenty of stabbing, the video game sequences are the scariest and goriest parts of the flik. These are the scenes that truly shine.

So what else can I say? It's an enjoyable flik that floats in mediocrity until the video game sequences. Thats when it shines. Which makes this a 7 rather than a 6 out of 10.

All in all: Not very scary, but suspenseful. A pretty solid film that can entertain you, but there will definitely be haters. I say lean back and enjoy a decent rental (when it's released on DVD that is) It will be worth the 6-8 bucks you pay for it.

Stay Alive? Stay Away!

[Tootsie_Fruitsie · 1/10 · 25 March 2006]

Yeah, so I just watched this tonight. (I just got back actually). And I have to tell you, I have never laughed so hard in the movie theater before. My friends and I almost got kicked out because we couldn't stop laughing at how ridiculous this movie was. Do people really think this is scary? Sure, I liked the Silent Hill and other 1st person survival/horror references, but c'mon. The acting was so horrible it sounded like they were TRYING to sound like the voice acting from the first Resident Evil game. I was waiting for a "master of lock-picking" quote to be said. Not only was the acting bad, the special effects were horrible and lame as well. The way Countess Bathory looks in the "game/movie", I would be surprised if she frightened the toddler we had behind us with his family. In fact, I recall the kid giggling during one scene. And correct me if I'm wrong, but wasn't Countess Bathory in Europe? (In fact, I believe she was in Transylvania). How is it possible for them to get to her "plantation" when they are in New Orleans? Or did I just miss something there? Luckily, I know a guy who works there and he got us all in for free because I would have kicked myself for paying to see this movie. This made the remake of Texas Chainsaw Massacre look like a masterpiece.

it's entertaining!

[seraphim-jane · 8/10 · 27 March 2006]

For what it is, this movie rocks! I know it's silly and predictable and even just plain-out awful, but it is ENTERTAINING, and yeah, I had fun laughing at it. Also, Some of it was creepy, but in a very formulaic way. Very fun. You should see it if you want a silly horror movie that doesn't completely suck. The countess was weird-looking, and that was somewhat purposeful because she's a VIDEO-GAME CHARACTER. Malcolm in the Middle was in it -- too bad, I thought that kid was actually good. The house itself is pretty creepy, and the game, if it does or will exist, would be very fun to play. C'Mon! You can't hate it for being bad, it even makes fun of itself! It is really a good hour and a half of...something. Something okay in my book.

fun movie with great graphics and scary scenes

[bigtron · 5/10 · 16 April 2006]

Overall the movie is well done, the ghost are scary without having to show a lot and the acting are generally OK. What really gets me is the script. How they always manage to make the characters so stupid is beyond me. It one thing watching a char die because of the circumstance but watching a char die because of his/her own stupidity is another. It just makes the audience feel cheated and resentful to the characters. Its a shame that horror flick cannot be more intelligent. 'The Ring' was great and it looks like a great beginning for the new age of scary, intelligent movies but this movie push the genre back a few notches.

Basically there should be 2 types of scary movie, 1) intelligent ones and 2) stupid but with lot of T&A. This movie is stupid without the T&A (replaced by really nicely rendered video game scenes). guess that is not enough to please the audience.

Bad execution of Good Premise

[pete-563 · 3/10 · 7 August 2006]

Regrettably, the premise outweighs the execution! Not even approaching a bad John Carpenter movie. A lot of inaccuracies regarding Elizabeth Bathory (If "Countess Dracula" is anything to go by). How did they find the Château/Tower? What would have been a nice touch is the blonde girl who joined the group of friends was a descendant or part of the game! I was really proud about guessing that (even though I began to think it was obvious, and anyone with average intelligence would figure that out; Hardly figuring out "Sixth Sense" or "The Others") But No....she was a victim too! I think the Writer/Director probably realised during the project, that it wasn't as he envisaged. In the hands of Cronenbourg ("Existenz"), he would have given it a warped edge which it really required.

Stay awake

[asda-man · 2/10 · 2 October 2012]

Stay Alive is yet another contrived slasher that offers nothing new but the same formulaic pattern with a bunch of clichéd losers ho we don't care about at all. Just like "The Cabin in the Woods" set out we've got the virgin/s, the scholar, the whore, the jock and the fool/s. The only thing original about them is their names. One girl's called October and one boy is even called Twink!

Now hats off to the writers, they've actually tried to do something new in the form of playing a game that is cursed. It's an interesting concept and sort of a disc version of "The Ring" but they get it completely wrong from the off. What made "The Ring" successful was the simplicity of the tape. It had mystery surrounded by it that wasn't obvious by first glance. It was creepy and absolutely right. Imagine if that video was a DVD that showed an all-action blockbuster. It wouldn't be the same would it? Instead of creating a simple creepy game that didn't give anything away, they've created a full-on game with high graphics that couldn't be found creepy at all and sometimes even completely takes you out of the film. It's like watching someone playing a PS3. It's just wrong! They also map everything out about the mystery by creating the clichéd haunted mansion, exactly like the real one, so it's obvious what the finale's going to be.

In fact the entire film is predictable. You can predict who is going to die first and which couple end up at the end. No prizes for guessing that it's the wholesome virgins who make it! It's not even an entertaining ride getting there like "The Breed" was. It's just dull and uninvolving and offers little thrills due to the poor editing and directing during the 'suspenseful' parts. All of the suspense is sucked out because of the awful character development and flashy editing. It's also very unfocused up until the final 10 minutes or so, but by then you don't even care what happens to them.

Stay Alive is an attempt at trying something different but it was gone about in the completely wrong way. Even the death scenes weren't fun as most of them were off-screen and weren't creative in the slightest. There's nothing we haven't seen here before. It's a clichéd ghost story put in a stereotypical slasher and it's not as much fun as it sounds. A dull, pointless and silly horror film that will only have the under thirteens jumping for joy.

Pleasantly Surprised

[lorilou14 · 7/10 · 25 March 2006]

I really enjoyed the film. First off, whenever I go to see a horror film, I never set the expectations high because no horror film is usually up for an Oscar right? But this one really surprised me. Taking the film for what it's worth (a horror film) I think it's really good. The biggest perk for me was the fact that it kept me interested. There is one major setback, the plot is laced with holes. You will leave wondering how a lot of stuff in the movie happened & have many unanswered questions but if you just want to enjoy a scary film, then this is the one for you.

Also, I think you'll enjoy it if you're a gamer, as I am.

Stay away!

[BA_Harrison · 2/10 · 12 September 2008]

In The Ring, it was a videotape; a website was the problem in Feardotcom; the danger in Pulse came from computers; and Phone and One Missed Call featured—you guessed it—deadly phones. In Stay Alive, the piece of technology that causes all manner of problems is an online game: those who play it wind up dead soon afterwards. How clever!

Directed by William Brent Bell (who?), and featuring an unimpressive cast of twenty-somethings that you might have seen before, but probably can't remember where or what the hell their names are, this is an extremely derivative piece of film-making aimed squarely at the PG-13 horror set; seasoned scary film watchers will no doubt find Stay Alive extremely tedious, highly predictable and not in the least bit frightening.

The poorly developed plot follows a group of gamers with extremely daft names (October, Loomis, Phineus, Hutch, and Swink!?!) who attempt to unravel the mystery behind the deadly game before they too become victims. Eventually, they discover that it is the evil spirit of the legendary Countess Elizabeth Bathory who is killing anyone who dares to play, and that their only hope of survival is to continue with the game to the end.

With a story as dumb as this, viewers should expect a film with loose ends aplenty, not one iota of logic (who made the game, how, and why is never explained), very little in the way of scares or gore, and a dumb closing scene to leave the door open for—God forbid—a sequel.

Flawed But Very Entertaining

[claudio_carvalho · 6/10 · 15 July 2007]

The teenager Loomis Crowley (Milo Ventimiglia) is testing the underground game Stay Alive with his friends Sarah (Nicole Oppermann) and Rex (Billy Slaughter). When the game is over, the impressed Loomis finds in the middle of the night Rex and Sarah dead in their room, and his is pushed by a shadow from the staircase, breaking the banister and hanging the same way he died in the game. Loomis's sister Emma gives his games to his best friend, Hutch (Jon Foster), and he joins his friends Miller (Adam Goldberg), Phineus (Jimmi Simpson) and his sister October (Sophia Bush), Swink (Frankie Muniz) and Abigail (Samaire Armstrong) to play the unknown game together. When Miller and Phineus die the same way they died in the game, the survivors disclose that the game is based on the life of the evil Countess Elizabeth Bathory, who was buried alive in the tower of her real state in the Geronge Plantation. With the police chasing them, and after the death of October, the survivors reach the house and try to find the corpse of the Countess to destroy her fiend.

"Stay Alive" is flawed, but it is very entertaining and underrated in IMDb. The story is not scary, but a pleasant adventure with good special effects, the actors and actresses have good performances and show good chemistry. The attitude of the police chasing the teenagers is the flawed and silliest part of the plot, and is simply forgotten in the rest of the story. My vote is six.

Title (Brazil): "Stay Alive - Jogo Mortal" ("Stay Alive - Mortal Game")

Really cool

[coconn4 · 8/10 · 27 October 2006]

After seeing the movie, I was freaked out to even go down to my basement in fear that I may see "The Bloody Countess". I was truly freaked out by this movie. The whole storyline of the video game tied in very well. Made it almost believable. The next day I checked the movie out online to find that this was based on the REAL bloody countess, Elizabeth Bathory. I found it quite interesting the life this woman led. That people (NOBLE PEOPLE) can get away with things like this. The depths she would go to, to stay youthful and the harm she put on to so many girls. I would recommend this to anyone to enjoys a heart stopper and to encourage them to check out the real story behind this woman. Quite graphic and gross to be truthful but interesting at the same time.

Early Review

[FFPwriter · 7/10 · 23 March 2006]

This movie was obviously cut down from R to PG-13. It was nevertheless enjoyable, a few creepy scenes. Blood and guts do not make a horror film, lets remember that. Because this movie was cut down, a few scenes don't make sense. But after seeing the previews we all know this isn't going to be the next cult classic, it was fun. Just enjoy for what it is.

This movie was basically The Ring meets Brainscan (A Edward furlong film from the 90s) It follows a group of kids who find a horror game. They play the game and start realizing when you die in the game, you die in real life. It has a ridiculous amount of pop culture references. But the creepier scenes in the movie really worked well.

Not worth renting

[forgotten707-1 · 1/10 · 15 April 2006]

Aside from Frankie Muniz chattering too fast to understand (Malcolm in the Middle flashbacks?) this film still cannot conjure up a scare. The idea with the "Countess" and the history surrounding her placed into the story was fun but the plot, and many side plots, just don't tie together. Plot synopsis: murdering ghost lures victims through video game. Toss in some blood spatters and a special effects and you've got yourself another bombed out would be horror flick. The ghost cronies resemble the ghost in "The Ring Two" far too much. The acting and constant and dramatic change in everyone's emotions is unbelievable. Save your money.

Did You Really Expect This To Be Good?

[gavin6942 · 5/10 · 14 December 2006]

A group of geeky kids, surprisingly not all living in their parents' basements, stumble across an underground game - "Stay Alive". But they're in for a treat: when you die in this game, you're going to die in real life, too! This is an amateur effort from both the writer and the director, whose names I don't recall. In all fairness, for a first time effort, this film was watchable and in some ways quite entertaining. It wasn't wonderful, or scary or much of anything else... but good enough that it seems to help people pass the time. Which, in the end, maybe is all we can hope for from movies.

I liked the video game theme. Unlike the Internet theme of "Fear Dot Com", this was more realistic and the game featured in the movie was the sort of game I could actually see people playing. It reminded me of "House of the Dead", which is too bad now that Uwe Boll ruined that arcade classic. The video game references to Fatal Frame ,the Konami code, and the word "w00t!" were nice touches, and I got the sense that the writer actually knew something about video games. Which is a huge plus. The Mario Brothers "1up" sweatshirt was also a nice touch.

Now, the film has a vampire element because the villain is Elizabeth Bathory, who has somehow been risen from the dead and haunts a video game. Bathory makes a great monster, though maybe not in this movie. A lot of questions remain unanswered about this... because, seriously, if I'm a vampiress from the Middle Ages, I'm not coming back in a video game.

The cast was strong as far as the teen slasher genre goes. Jon Foster played Hutch O'Neill, the fire-fearing leader of this Scooby gang. My only complaint is that he looked like a dead ringer for Jamie Kennedy, which will ultimately boost or kill his career, I think.

Samaire Armstrong was the bleach-haired Abigail, who has a very strong role and exudes some kind of sensuality I can't explain. In one scene she's almost nude, but either her, the writer or the director ruined this... and made it really cheesy. How many girls who unexpectedly get hung upside down have their shirt tucked into their bra?

Frankie Muniz is in this movie, and not nearly as annoying as you probably think. For a 50-year old man trapped in a kid's body (like Haley Joel Osment and Gary Coleman), he's decent.

Sophia Bush was October Bantum, the rebel goth girl... as far as rebel goth girls go, she's alright. You'll find yourself (if you're a young man) getting torn between her and Abigail as your favorite female lead.

Last, I want to point out the great character name of "Loomis Crowley", which I can only assume is an homage to both Aleister Crowley and Dr. Loomis from "Halloween". If not, well, you still get the point for it.

Some of the game elements are a bit cheesy (especially when the game is outside the computer) and the overall story makes little sense and is very teen-oriented. (In other words, it has no depth whatsoever.) But it wasn't bad. You might want to save this for a night when you're drunk and just want something to be amused by without actually wanting to appreciate the film itself.

Watchable but Weak

[lilac_point_burmese · 4/10 · 14 August 2006]

I think the main problem is there are just too many of these movies lingering about. They are all the same, group of teenagers, gruesome deaths etc etc. The premise is pretty ridiculous, a haunted video game, having said that the plots of all these films usually have some ludicrous element, my main problem with this one is that they don't even bother trying to explain it! At least in The Ring they suggest that Samara projected her evil thoughts onto the videotope using her psychic powers, they don't even bother with that here! That Blood Countess must have some fantastic programming skills and a decent distributor as well because that is the only explanation the film seems to offer! But I digress - it is watchable, but it gets very boring towards the end and the Blood Countess looks like a graphic out of Kings Quest 1! I think it also takes itself seriously which is a bad move, these films are supposed to be hammy and cheesy, but this one actually seems to think it is a seriously scary film which it is not.

If you want a stupid horror movie about teenagers getting sliced up stick with Urban Legend, Friday the 13th and the like, they are all terrible but at least they have a bit of fun.

Dear God, what a crappy movie

[Luxxi · 1/10 · 1 October 2008]

Bad, bad movie. When I saw the synopsis I was expecting something like Ring only with video game instead of tape. Nothing of the sorts happened. I'll admit idea is interesting and could be turned into a good movie but this is not it.

First of all choosing real life person, countess Bathory, is stupid move that adds absolutely nothing to the story. Anybody even vaguely familiar with her story would begin to wonder why and how did this Hungarian noblewoman end up in this movie. Choosing a generic vengeful spirit would be much, much better.

Then there is whole you-die-in-real-life-as-you-die-in-the-game concept. As I said before interesting, Ring-like story. But instead of developing it into good story line it sort of just flows along with no explanation given why did this game became such as it is, why it was created and so on. Waste of good idea.

And finally this movie doesn't even have gory of funny parts that can if not save at least make crappy horror movies watchable. Death scenes are too quick and acting is too wooden to be funny.

Avoid if possible.

Samaire Armstrong

[pamelasullivan-28556 · 6/10 · 1 December 2020]

I am a big Samaire Armstrong fan. This movie is watchable.

Fun N Games N Horror

[cdelacroix1 · 7/10 · 25 March 2006]

I saw this flick this afternoon, after it opened here yesterday. And I really liked it.

I saw another review that compared this to The Ring. I see what they mean ... and to me this sort of suggests the two things about this flick that I really liked the most.

One is it's a good solid horror flick, built on a good solid horror story. Nothing super-original or exceptional ... just good, sound, basic scary movie type features from one end to the other. Works for me!

The other thing I really liked is that it's steeped in what I take to be contemporary electronic game culture. This is a culture I really just plain don't know at all except for snippets I get here and there. I'm 52 years old and a step son introduced me years ago to a then current version of the game Doom. I sort of went nuts about it for several weeks then deleted it off my computer so I couldn't get addicted to it again. And that's my sum total personal experience with electronic gaming. But enough that watching this brought back some of the old sensations ... not in a bad way, either. And the general young adult culture of the Game that this movie depicts sure looks authentic, tho others will have to comment more reliably on that. But it's a walk through a culture that I really enjoyed.

That combo ... Ring-like video Story on one hand, Here-and-Now Reality on the other ... and the way the two intersect ... horribly, this being a horror movie ... that's a sort of interlayering that I just really, really enjoy.

The acting and characterizations were all solid, Munoz deserving special mention in his especially convincing geeky characterization. Cinematography was good, scripting very solid, plot very fine, all the elements worked together to make a really cool, fun horror flick set in the young folks' gaming subculture. Check it out, good movie!

Coming Out

[tedg · 7 April 2006]

The kiddie horror market continues to baffle me.

Films like this get pounded by the critics as unimaginative, but them often achieve high viewer ratings on IMDb. This movie suffers low ratings in both spheres but is making money. Lots of it.

The genre demands predictability: some kids die, some survive (always including and often just a boy-girl pair), and at the end, the very end we see how the evil has survived to threaten the exiting audience.

I'll tell you why I went to see it, because I like movies where the "movie within" overlaps in some way with the containing movie. In this case, its a video game; same same. Some viewers compare this to "Jumanji," but in that case, the players enter the game, a fantasy world. In this case, the game enters the real world, more in the "Ringu" fashion.

Is it scary? Are any of these? Who cares? What I care about is whether the folding is done coolly, like in "eXistenZ." And whether the characters are as clever as the fold. A couple of these guys were fun, but typically the girls were clones.

I saw this with "I, Madman." Similar values: clever fold, boring presentation.

Ted's Evaluation -- 2 of 3: Has some interesting elements.

One of the best horror films since THE RING

[horRorFreak889 · 1/10 · 25 March 2006]

When I first heard of Stay Alive, I was thinking "Oh great, another ring rip-off" But after seeing a trailer and reading more about it, Stay Alive seem like a great concept.

After a mysterious death, a group of intense gamers stumble upon an underground game called Stay Alive. The friends start to notice that the game has a creepy past and hidden secrets.

I was really surprised by Stay Alive. Most of the horror movies today, have the scares, but lack the story. What I loved about Stay Alive was that it actually had mystery and story.

Sure somethings are left unexplained, but thats so the audience can do a little thinking.

See Stay Alive if your a fan of good horror films with good stories. 10/10

Unique storyline

[charlene_boyle · 7/10 · 19 June 2006]

I seem to have a greater opinion of this movie then most people, since I really enjoyed this film. One of the main reasons I enjoyed this is because of the unique storyline. Some people have referred to "The Ring" to compare it to however, I don't see much of a comparison in the two. The only similarity is that the "demon/ghost" is activated by an electronic device. The special effects are quite good, and the acting though could be better was convincing enough to make this an enjoyable movie. I'm a horror buff so I've seen almost every horror movie out there and this would be one of the better horror movies I've seen in a while. Perhaps why I particularly enjoyed this movie is because I knew nothing of it so expected nothing special, just an average movie. I was pleasantly surprised it turned out to be good.