The only real positive thing I can point out about this film is that at least it's over before you hit the 90-minute mark.
The boilerplate stuff for this genre (character intro, trip to the location, irrelevant grab-assing) that other films move on from at about the 20- to 25-minute mark extend through about 45-50 minutes. Seriously, you really don't have anything that resembles a functioning story up to and including that point..
By the time the story actually seems to be advancing a little at about the 60- to 65-minute mark, through the ridiculous ending, you just really don't care anymore. You're certainly not invested in any of the characters so you're not concerned with what becomes of them, which pretty much eliminates any suspense.
I end up watching a lot of bad horror because I'm looking for a few gems. I don't expect them to be masterpieces. Just give me a decent twist or competent performances. Maybe a fresh take on an old story.
I can honestly say that I can't remember a worse horror film that didn't include heavy doses of shooting day for night.
4 Reviews
Dismal, Pointless, Shameful
silvio-mitsubishi4 July 2020
I don't know why this film was made or who was responsible for developing the plot, but it is a travesty. Riddled with inane and unconvincing dialogue and characters, it is difficult to work out what it hoped to achieve unless it was to take the thing least likely to be haunted and prove why it achieved that status.
I spent half the film thinking the American / Icelandic Guy was the French Guy, and vice versa, but concluded that the nationalities were ascribed as a tribute to Reservoir Dogs. There was no suggestion that the characters' behaviour was due to nationality; rather, it was to save giving them names.
As far as temporary suspension of disbelief goes, the characters did better than I did. A group of six students go to squat in a French country house for a week, but apparently took no food or water. One character tried to stay in contact with his parents for no obvious reason, then later it is implied that is was not his parents at all but .I had given up trying by then.
To say they were not close friends would be an understatement. I am not sure how many had actually met before, but nobody knew what nationality the Belgian was except the Belgian, while the American was revealed early on (too early for this to be a spoiler) to be Icelandic but it did not affect the plot in any way and he is still listed in the credits as American.
Abysmal use of light and dark, some scenes almost unwatchable due to colour saturation. The plot is thin and extraordinarily contrived. One character leaves and returns at random, as if to prove the house is nowhere near as isolated as the plot suggests. Huge continuity failures - everybody is enthralled bybthe story if VHS and the discovery that the player and TV work, yet it is several hours before they watch anything; the Australian Guy seems intellectually challenged, judging by the time he spends picking up tapes, glancing st titles and putting them down again.
The clues were there. One actor had, as at July 2020, made three films under three different names. The surname Cazenave appears with three different first names, suggesting a family project rather than a professional production.
The old clips are the most interesting part of the film. If genuine, someone has put in the research well. My reservation is that one credit is given for the designer of a costume in one clip, but one with a cast member in, so clearly made for this film. Kudos to that film buff if they have searched for, and found, all those rarities.
I spent half the film thinking the American / Icelandic Guy was the French Guy, and vice versa, but concluded that the nationalities were ascribed as a tribute to Reservoir Dogs. There was no suggestion that the characters' behaviour was due to nationality; rather, it was to save giving them names.
As far as temporary suspension of disbelief goes, the characters did better than I did. A group of six students go to squat in a French country house for a week, but apparently took no food or water. One character tried to stay in contact with his parents for no obvious reason, then later it is implied that is was not his parents at all but .I had given up trying by then.
To say they were not close friends would be an understatement. I am not sure how many had actually met before, but nobody knew what nationality the Belgian was except the Belgian, while the American was revealed early on (too early for this to be a spoiler) to be Icelandic but it did not affect the plot in any way and he is still listed in the credits as American.
Abysmal use of light and dark, some scenes almost unwatchable due to colour saturation. The plot is thin and extraordinarily contrived. One character leaves and returns at random, as if to prove the house is nowhere near as isolated as the plot suggests. Huge continuity failures - everybody is enthralled bybthe story if VHS and the discovery that the player and TV work, yet it is several hours before they watch anything; the Australian Guy seems intellectually challenged, judging by the time he spends picking up tapes, glancing st titles and putting them down again.
The clues were there. One actor had, as at July 2020, made three films under three different names. The surname Cazenave appears with three different first names, suggesting a family project rather than a professional production.
The old clips are the most interesting part of the film. If genuine, someone has put in the research well. My reservation is that one credit is given for the designer of a costume in one clip, but one with a cast member in, so clearly made for this film. Kudos to that film buff if they have searched for, and found, all those rarities.
Do not touch the tape inside
nogodnomasters24 July 2017
Warning: Spoilers
Six young adults from different nations vacation in a home in France with some crude humor and semi-funny dialogue. After a poor introduction they find a VCR and tapes and play the tapes of old cult films. In the morning they discovered a tape in the machine based on a genre mixing of the previous two tapes ("Cowboys vs. Zombies.") Then for a lengthy bit of time we get to watch actual old cult films that were genre mixing. When they discover a VHS camera and they can make a tape of themselves and play in said merger VHS machine, that's when things become an issue and not as fun as it should have been.
The film was uneven. It had some good scenes and a lot of scenes in the "need improvement" category. Girls were cute.
Guide: F-word. Nudity on old films..."Invasion of Bee Girls" etc.
The film was uneven. It had some good scenes and a lot of scenes in the "need improvement" category. Girls were cute.
Guide: F-word. Nudity on old films..."Invasion of Bee Girls" etc.
It is watchable.
recluse230 April 2023
Warning: Spoilers
The best asset this movie has is its hot-looking early-twenties women. It's filmed pretty good and the acting didn't seem so bad to me. The plot didn't make much sense and there were no actual scares. The "horror-est" parts were some of the brief clips of movie scenes that the characters are watching on the old VHS tapes they have found in an old house they are squatting in for a fun holiday. Everything revolves around the videotapes and the VCR that somehow sucks them into an alternate reality. Still, I thought it was OK for a low budget movie; it mostly kept my attention. (I am told now as I submitted the review that it needs to have at least 600 characters.) So is this enough words now, IMDB?
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