I was in the mood for a scary movie, and didn't see anything at most of the theaters at this time of year (December). But a local theater listed this movie, and after reading the description, I thought I'd give it a shot. It's a found-footage style film, which is getting to be a little overdone as a style, but can be very effective if handled well (which is what drew me). This film was not handled well.
SCRIPT
The story. Well, this isn't setup very well, and its narrated so carelessly, that I am not sure what the story really was. Overall, there are only 5 main characters, 3 of whom we spend most of the movie with. Two guys and one girl. They are apparently filming a reality show (for TV, web, who knows) about ghosts, the paranormal, or urban legends, or something (not clear from the movie). They are called to a house to investigate what happened to a girl who disappeared years before (NOT a spoiler: the opening scene shows this "disappearance"). The first scene of the movie shows this disappearance, and in that scene the girl doesn't know who's house it is, which is odd, because one of the main characters says the dad of the girl called him to come to his house to investigate her disappearance. How did she not know the house of her own dad?
The "story" takes place almost entirely at the house at which this girl disappeared. So what happens while they are there? Well, lots of walking from the living room, to the front door, to the bedroom, and back. Over and over again. All while saying things that make no sense. Characters say and do things in exceedingly unrealistic ways, poor motivations, unrealistic reactions, no meaningful backstory, characters seem to have no memory of the last 10 minutes, relations between characters are unclear, the backstory of the house is unexplained and on an on.
So, not much of a story. No character development, no real plot, nothing much to it. What little is there, seems to be poorly put together. You might be wondering how the title relates to the story. I've seen the movie, and I wonder the very same thing.
ACTING
The dialogue was so poorly written, it's hard to tell if the acting was that bad or the dialogue was bad, or if they were trying to improvise and not doing a good job. Even still, only the main girl seemed to remotely approach acting. Everyone else was wooden and unnatural. In once scene, one of the main guys is literally reading his lines from a notepad in front of him. Seriously.
I don't fault the acting too much, because the actors seemed not have been given enough to work with.
DIRECTING
I blame most of the poor quality of this film on the director. The actors were clearly not given very good directions, the location was poorly chosen, there is absolutely no tension in any scene (people see a ghostly apparition, but then moments later are chatting rather boringly with no sense of what just happened, etc). The main character leaves at one point to "make some calls" and then comes back with new clothes and a hair cut. You get no sense that the characters have EVER filmed a show of any sort before, even though that's what they are there for. The house isn't remotely creepy or foreboding, it looks like the director's aunt's house that had a few pieces of furniture covered with sheets. Seriously. They walk in a supposedly haunted house, and the door alarm chimes as they open and close the door. The house is clearly taken care of and lived in, but no reason is given for the absence of the owners.
And on and on. Scenes blend from one to the other as the characters go back and forth to the door, then to the bedroom then to the living room. All within about a 20 foot distance of each other. They talk of their "show", but seemed never to have filmed one before. They are at someone else's house, but we never meet them. There is supposedly a missing / ghostly girl, that no one seems afraid of when they see her. The main girl gets possessed briefly and no one cares. And, spoiler alert, one character kills another at the end, because, well, uh, you know, for a twist? Who knows.
Overall, I've never seen such a low quality movie in a theater. I thought the bar had to be a little higher than the stuff I shot when I was in high school.
SCRIPT
The story. Well, this isn't setup very well, and its narrated so carelessly, that I am not sure what the story really was. Overall, there are only 5 main characters, 3 of whom we spend most of the movie with. Two guys and one girl. They are apparently filming a reality show (for TV, web, who knows) about ghosts, the paranormal, or urban legends, or something (not clear from the movie). They are called to a house to investigate what happened to a girl who disappeared years before (NOT a spoiler: the opening scene shows this "disappearance"). The first scene of the movie shows this disappearance, and in that scene the girl doesn't know who's house it is, which is odd, because one of the main characters says the dad of the girl called him to come to his house to investigate her disappearance. How did she not know the house of her own dad?
The "story" takes place almost entirely at the house at which this girl disappeared. So what happens while they are there? Well, lots of walking from the living room, to the front door, to the bedroom, and back. Over and over again. All while saying things that make no sense. Characters say and do things in exceedingly unrealistic ways, poor motivations, unrealistic reactions, no meaningful backstory, characters seem to have no memory of the last 10 minutes, relations between characters are unclear, the backstory of the house is unexplained and on an on.
So, not much of a story. No character development, no real plot, nothing much to it. What little is there, seems to be poorly put together. You might be wondering how the title relates to the story. I've seen the movie, and I wonder the very same thing.
ACTING
The dialogue was so poorly written, it's hard to tell if the acting was that bad or the dialogue was bad, or if they were trying to improvise and not doing a good job. Even still, only the main girl seemed to remotely approach acting. Everyone else was wooden and unnatural. In once scene, one of the main guys is literally reading his lines from a notepad in front of him. Seriously.
I don't fault the acting too much, because the actors seemed not have been given enough to work with.
DIRECTING
I blame most of the poor quality of this film on the director. The actors were clearly not given very good directions, the location was poorly chosen, there is absolutely no tension in any scene (people see a ghostly apparition, but then moments later are chatting rather boringly with no sense of what just happened, etc). The main character leaves at one point to "make some calls" and then comes back with new clothes and a hair cut. You get no sense that the characters have EVER filmed a show of any sort before, even though that's what they are there for. The house isn't remotely creepy or foreboding, it looks like the director's aunt's house that had a few pieces of furniture covered with sheets. Seriously. They walk in a supposedly haunted house, and the door alarm chimes as they open and close the door. The house is clearly taken care of and lived in, but no reason is given for the absence of the owners.
And on and on. Scenes blend from one to the other as the characters go back and forth to the door, then to the bedroom then to the living room. All within about a 20 foot distance of each other. They talk of their "show", but seemed never to have filmed one before. They are at someone else's house, but we never meet them. There is supposedly a missing / ghostly girl, that no one seems afraid of when they see her. The main girl gets possessed briefly and no one cares. And, spoiler alert, one character kills another at the end, because, well, uh, you know, for a twist? Who knows.
Overall, I've never seen such a low quality movie in a theater. I thought the bar had to be a little higher than the stuff I shot when I was in high school.