The School (2018) User Reviews

The School: Should have been a lot better

[Platypuschow · 4/10 · 18 November 2018]

I went into The School knowing absolutely nothing (The way I like it) but within moments had my concerns that this was not going to be something I'd enjoy.

The reason being is that the movie plays out both in the horror scenario and flashbacks and I immediatly sensed that I knew what was going on, what the twist was and basically had the entire movie mapped out in my head based on similiar titles.

Was I right? Pretty much yeah.

It tells the story of a doctor who wakes up in a bathtub in a mysterious rundown school. She's surrounded by kids led by a lunatic that has them living in fear of him with a host of ludricrous rules. The school and it's perimter is also populated by the undead!

In the real world flashbacks her young son is in a coma and she's doing everything in her power to prevent the powers that be from turning the machine off as it's rapidly approaching two years.

Have you got an idea of what the twist is and where she is in your head? If not I'd be surprised. I've seen several films with essentially an identical plot before but generally they didn't have the kind of budget they did. So could that salvage anything?

Well The School does make best use of this recycled plot to its credit, a couple of the cast were capable and it looks great. Sadly when the finale kicks in and the whole thing is really quite expected it didn't have quite the impact it needed to elevate it beyond mediocrity.

Some nice ideas, but too many unanswered questions and I simply don't like movies of this general premise.

The Good:

Some decent ideas

A couple of standout performances

The Bad:

Been done before

Doesn't meet its potential

Things I Learnt From This Movie:

The Littlest Vampire seems to be lost

They whitewashed Katana!

Confusing at the begining, interesting dark fantasy touches.

[gimailito · 5/10 · 28 September 2018]

The thing is that until the plot is fully revealed is kind of confusing. Nevertheless, I have to say that I could see the whole thing thanks to those dark fantasy touches.

I saw a mix of like a lot of film. And as I said at the beginning is confusing because you do not know if you are seeing some kind of post-apocalyptic movie or what.

It is not outstanding but I think it will please more to feminine sensitivities-not only women ones.

Has its Moments

[fatfil-414-451797 · 5/10 · 26 October 2018]

I did start writing a very positive review for this, about half way through watching the movie. But as I was writing, and started commenting on the positives, I also started looking at the negatives. And as the movie went on, the negatives started mounting up. But I found, on balance, despite its many faults, it had...something. There are some excellent set pieces, and genuinely creepy scenes, and I loved a lot of the sets. Some of the story telling is quite clumsy , and obvious, and loses its way in places. It does drag a little in the middle. Most of the child actors are fairly poor, and make you feel like your watching a high school play at times, either with their stilted delivery, or over emphasis. The main character Zac, has been watching Heath Ledger's Joker rendition waaay too much and overacts to the max. So you're probably wondering why I awarded this 6 stars? It just had that certain quirkiness and enough good scenes to make it worth while watching. Don't expect a masterpiece, but give it a go

Don't expect a horror film out of it

[mrplaythemall · 5/10 · 25 October 2018]

It's very Peter Pan-esque mixed with a darker, mature tone. It's not the typical jump-scare type of horror film but instead tries to make you feel uncomfortable and tense, which I like. Can it get a bit boring at times? Yes. You're gonna have to buckle down with the story and enjoy the decent acting, especially by Will McDonald's character, Zac. Mesmerizing from the start, he completely sells you on the idea of how psychotic and deranged his character is. And when his acting does fall flat it's because of the sub-par script. The editing could've been better, too. Having seen a set photo of Zac's make up I at no point saw that in the movie because of how terribly lit the film was (a cheap tool to get out of extensive post-editing). Overall, it's a standard thriller film that tries to disgust and creep you out, but doesn't quite hit it's marks. Will's performance and some parts of the film are the only reason I could think of to convince anyone to watch it.

Entering a mother's nightmare

[TheLittleSongbird · 4/10 · 25 November 2018]

The concept was a good one, and it sounded like one that would be relatable to the viewer. One that sounded like it would be a creepy film with some emotional impact. 'The School' may not have the most exciting of titles, but it did have its premise going for it and was more than willing to look past the poor rating and reviews.

Good news is that 'The School' does have its moments and redeeming merits and it is not a waste of time, didn't find myself severely regretting watching it at least like has been the case with some films recently. While there was a lot wrong with it, 'The School' is a little better than has been indicated (personal opinion of course). The bad news is that 'The School' is not really a good film still and should have done much more with its concept. This is coming from someone who was really intrigued and thought it could be decent if executed well instead of the semi-watchable to lacklustre film it turned out to be.

It does have its slick and atmospheric moments visually, there are far cheaper films out there. The audio is not too obvious and it didn't intrude too much.

Found the acting better than average with a empathetic female lead, apart from moments of over-acting from the younger cast, and the characters at least had some rootable traits and didn't bore or annoy me. There is some unsettling creepiness in the early stages, as well as some emotional impact.

On the other hand, the storytelling does get muddled and confused in the final third especially (although most of the film is vague) and ends feeling incomplete with too much left hanging in the air. The middle also drags quite a lot. The creepiness should have been much more consistent, things do get predictable and the tension and suspense dissipates the duller and more confused the film gets later on.

Will McDonald's performance is uneven, sometimes good but at other points he overdoes it. Similarly the direction has assured moments but also too many pedestrian ones too. The dialogue is a mix of contrived and limp and the editing is too often rather choppy.

Summarising, semi-watchable but didn't quite do it for me. You can do with far worse though. 4/10 Bethany Cox

Boring

[ejatariel · 1/10 · 12 October 2018]

Not horror...slow progress..if your looking for horror movie, this is not for you..kinda boring

Worth sleeping

[arabiyan_mojtaba · 1/10 · 12 October 2018]

Awful movie. Boring as hell.

Horrible editing. Horrible plot. Very reductive

Please don't watch it at all. The writer was out of his mind and so was the director

robert hall

[willforsyth · 1/10 · 21 August 2018]

My local garbage man is better in all aspects than this film

Great set, good child actors, worth a look

[melissahmcgrath · 7/10 · 3 June 2019]

This was correctly promoted as a fantasy / horror. It isn't a horror so for those after that they would have been short changed. It had some genuine scary moments and the main character did a great job. Set design, make up and costumes great. Worth a watch

Not a horror movie

[michael_uglymen · 3/10 · 15 October 2018]

The plot was confusing and the story line failed to explain many scenes until you already started falling asleep. Only towards the end i know that it's about the affection and grief of a mother. It's more like a teen-age dark fantasy movie. The only consolation was cinematography, the lighting, editing were not too bad. Watch it with your mom, might help you love your mum more.

A lesson in atmospherics

[Phil_M_A_Kerr · 10/10 · 19 December 2018]

The School is in a class of its own. There must be some freedom with low(er) budget films. Horror movies often rely on tropes. Several appear initially as tropes in The School but the film confidently sends them askew. The writer/director is confident in the story and performers, providing the freedom to let them feed off of each other. The set design, make-up, SFX, and costumes each build different worlds where required. All captured with gun cinematography, the film takes us off the page, or screen as it were. The key performances were beyond reproach, particularly the 'mummy' and the young performers who follow her throughout the narrative. In order to not be too vague in my descriptions, some films briefly came to mind as I was watching; Lord of the Flies, Ju-On, Shutter Island, Patrick, and, yes, Bad Boy Bubby. The last was largely due to the presence of Nicholas Hope but also the claustrophobia of the film's atmospherics. You were always looking for some relief, a quick breath of fresh air before descending into the darkness and shadows again and again. Not so much a shock, nor schlock horror but a psychological, slowly-tightening-the-ratchet horror/drama/thriller. You can mix those genres when giant film production studios aren't watching your every breath - something else that crossed my mind during the screening. Pay attention and you'll leave The School with plenty memorable moments from the creative minds behind this production.

Not horror, but a pretty solid fantasy movie

[longview-77631 · 7/10 · 7 January 2019]

This one follows Amy, a young doctor, as she struggles with having a comatose son. She finds herself in a strange, dark, fantasy world where it falls to her to discover the source of the darkness and save everyone. It wasn't the most consistent in tone or genre- parts reminded me of Labyrinth, others of Lord of the Flies, still others of Gotham, and I spent the first half mostly wondering where it was going. But it was cohesive on its own terms and managed to be visually and emotionally compelling without overuse of the obvious triggers involved. It wasn't at all what I expected, but I was pleasantly surprised.

Children of the Corn in RoadWarrior Costumes get trapped in Silent Hill

[chaosbaron · 5/10 · 19 April 2020]

This dark fantasy follows a doctor as she travels a graffiti ridden school and encounters strange tribal tattooed children, ghosts, and zombies. The character designs come off as a big gaudy.. but decent. In fact, I feel the same can be said for a number of the films elements such as the acting, the set designs, the characters lines, the story etc. Over the top villains can be very hit or miss... and I feel as Zac's character was a miss. He was very close to something I liked.. maybe he was lacking some more backstory, which could have been subtly sprinkled in. The hospital scenes (in the real world) can be almost completely removed, especially the scene that is a strait rip from the Silent Hill film which had me and my friends sigh at each other. The scenes are not properly utilized to develop any characters or plot devices and only break up the story.. maybe if you shifted all of those to the beginning of the film, used them for character development and a connection to the mothers plight, and had our heroines entrance into the fantasy underworld be a little more unique. Having something like the scene with the mother reading bedtime stories take place at the beginning of the film, only to have Zac repeating those lines to her later might have been more effective than showing the scenes back to back. I am not movie writer though, just a casual viewer so from one viewer to another I say this movie was "almost good".

Actually liked it!

[kfravert-69251 · 3/10 · 1 March 2019]

Not your typical, scare your pants off. But I thought the acting was really well done! Maybe some major changes in ghostly makeup and better quality camera, it could've been as good as The Ring.. Very much grown Wendy meets satonistic Peter Pan.

Peter Pan meets the Babadook

[fmalanis · 5/10 · 9 September 2020]

It's cheesy and they leave out who or what certain characters are. If you're into metaphors and have an hour and a half to kill you might like it

Boring

[k_rining · 1/10 · 21 October 2018]

I've never walk out of a cinema before, but this is the first movie I ever walk out of. Camera was shaky, acting was rough round the edge, storyline was bit too stall. Not worth the money spent.

To many questions unanswered

[angeliakearney · 2/10 · 25 June 2020]

This movies concept is great but there are way to many unanswered questions throught the movie. The ending was very anti-climactic to me because none of them were answered and it just left me with more.

Some questions: what are the "Weepers"? Are they mindless creatures or not because in the end scene you're able to see one weeper being able to communicate the normal beings, even being able to recite one of the "rules"

Why are they trapped inside of a school? The explanation for this is very half assed. They just randomly said, "crazy that a school used to be here." Seriously though what us the reason why they are trapped inside of a school for all eternity??

Why do they all forget their mothers? Along with being trapped inside a school, why do they forget their mothers? Is it to bring more misery to them or something?

What is the significance of the school burning down? Throught the whole movie, you constantly see/hear about the school burning down, but what does that have to do with anything? What is the significance of it burning down. You might think that the kids were burned down in the school, so that's why it's important, but you explicitly see one girl die of a heart attack.

If dying in the hospital is the only criteria of being trapped there, why isnt there more kids? You'd think a hospital for presumable kids would have more deaths, so why si there only, like, 20 kids there?

What Is Sarah? What the heck is sarah? That is never explained and is left undone. Was she a past spirit that lived there before, but if that's the case how did she get there inside the doll in the first place? You dont see many toys there so..... Also, she is able to predict the future and is, " Always right", so what is she?

What's up with the main character having "powers"? Once again another thing briefly mentioned and then never brought up again. You see in one scene where she thinks she sees her son in the wall, so she tries to dismantle it. All the kids are then like, "Oh my gosh! She is the only one who can break the walls! She has powers too!" Yet when the time to us them to escape comes up, all of a sudden she doesnt have powere.

And these are just to name a few. Trust me there is WAYYY more where that came from. This movie could have really turned out great, but the lack of effort, I feel, just made is seem half baked and lazy.

I don't see myself entering the halls of this school again

[Aaron1375 · 3/10 · 27 October 2019]

This is a film where a good deal of what is going on is not revealed to you and I, the viewers. We are plunged head first into the school of the title as a woman emerges from a bathtub in the middle of a room where she is immediately confronted by a creepy, albeit, helpful kid. Soon she must evade some strange kid and then she is hit in the head and captured and then imprisoned. All this happens within the first ten or so minutes. Too bad, it then goes the predictable route of flashing back and getting explained what is sort of going on, but never in a satisfying manner. The movie ends up being more warped Peter Pan than strange evil school.

The story, as I said previously, a woman emerges from a tub. As she wanders this world and is trapped within the school she remembers that her son is in a coma, that she is a doctor and that she feels that her son is within this school which is run by some sort of evil Peter Pan type dude, who keeps the children within in line with a strict set of rules. The woman escapes and proceeds to run around with no real goal in mind in the hopes she finds her son confronting pretty much the same stuff again and again.

The acting is not bad, the effects and setting are nice; however, the story needs work as I would have rather done with something a bit darker. The whole evil person in charge was a bit underwhelming and they just needed more creepy creatures loose within the school. I was not expecting a combination of Peter Pan and Lord of the Flies with a touch of the Japanese film Recycle, but that is exactly what we get here and it underwhelms immensely.

Silent hill knock off

[desiraefisher · 6/10 · 16 January 2020]

Kinda makes me think of the movie silent hill even tho that movie was better but it makes me think of the knock off of it.

Peter Pan esq

[armadilla17 · 2/10 · 29 November 2018]

This in no way, shape, or form shaould be called a a horror maybe fantasy, adventure, or just incoherent crap, I should have could have but unfortunately didn't listen to the other reviews.one saving grace for me anyway was, being From Canada, the Aussie accents masked how bad the acting was.

Great movie

[samuel-58780 · 10/10 · 2 December 2018]

Super interesting, great acting and well worth the watch. Not sure why people are disappointed it's not a full horror, it was advertised as a supernatural thriller/horror and that's what it was. Well done to everyone involved. Hard to do a good movie on a low budget and they did great

Wasnt the greatest, but I cant hate it cause the kids did their best.

[ScottDWhalen · 6/10 · 2 November 2018]

Got a bit confusing, but its one of them type of movies that u have to let it unfold & pay attention to if u really care to figure it out. The kids tried their best, but kinda ruined the movie & had a "lost boys" kind of feel to it. I wouldnt really call this a horror movie nor scary, but it had its interesting moments & well set up scenes for seeming so cheap. I can't really hate on the movie cause it was a good concept, but I feel if it had more money it may have went a bit better on the horror side. This seemed like a scary movie for kids "with their parents".. Is it worth it to watch I can't say no, but I really wouldnt recommend it to everyone.

Awful Movie

[kacileeannoglesby · 1/10 · 12 August 2019]

Impossible to follow. I actually had to look up others interpretations of this movie to even PARTIALLY understand what was happening. Acting was terrible. Lots of repeated sentences in the script. Nothing is explained. Not even scary. Just... ridiculous and confusing. A giant mystery that remains unsolved. It doesn't explain who the Weepers are or why they really want the kids, it doesnt explain who the Wallwalker is, why the "forbidden zone" is so forbidden, or how David even ended up in The School, why they took him. It doesnt explain how she even wound up in The School. Did all the kids die when the school burnt down or are they kids who died in the hospital and went down to The School? Who are the Hungries and how did they end up that way? I know Hungries come from the basement, but how do they turn into that? So many unanswered questions.

Not a typical horror

[fadeeeali · 3/10 · 12 October 2020]

Movie would be great if they just kept the demons and doctor in the story the lunatic gang doesn't fit anywhere in the story

Didn't live up to its potential

[scheherezhad · 3/10 · 18 March 2019]

The aesthetic was pretty good, though it suffered from poor lighting like so many films these days. I'm tired of so much darkness and desaturation in horror and thriller movies, as it often feels like it's hiding weaknesses in character or set design.

The plot was messy and vague, and too slow paced for something so predictable. Too many potentially interesting elements led nowhere or had only the shallowest of development, and the villain's motivation was so generic and lackluster that he was rather pointless in the grand scheme of things. The other antagonists could have filled that need.

Overall, could've been good but really missed the mark on its execution.