Totem (1999) (V)

User Rating:

3.8/10   

Director:

David DeCoteau

Writers:

Charles Band (story)
Benjamin Carr (writer)

Release Date:

28 September 1999 (USA)

Genre:

Horror

Tagline:

The Shape of Nightmares to Come...

Plot:

Six people find themselves inexplicably transported to a remote cabin that is surrounded by an invisible barrier...

Cast

Jason Faunt	...	Paul Maglia
Marissa Tait	...	Alma Groves
Eric W. Edwards	...	Leonard McKinney
Sacha Spencer	...	Roz
Tyler Anderson	...	Robert Cole
Alicia Lagano	...	Tina Gray

MPAA:

Rated R for horror violence and gore, and for pervasive language.

Runtime:

80 min | 68 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Certification:

USA:R

Filming Locations:

California, USA

Company:

Full Moon Pictures

I've seen worse, but not much

Why would I even watch this? It was a double feature on my Jigsaw DVD, which is quite possible the worst movie ever made. However I was bored and wanted to watch something new, so I grabbed this off the shelf. I've got to admit that it was better than Jigsaw, but that isn't saying much. The basic concept was the only thing the movie had going for it, but they ran it into the ground. 6 people find themselves part of an ancient ritual in which 3 of them must kill and 3 of them must die. If handled well, it could have been a decent plot. Of course being a Full Moon picture, it was not handled well by any stretch of the imagination. When a movie has to have a psychic, it bothers me. It's rarely more than a cheap way to get out of explaining parts of the plot. What does this movie do? The whole friggin' cast is psychic! No point explaining how or why they're at the cabin, they're just psychic and got called by some kind of force. The actors, like in any Full Moon flick, give some of the worst performances ever seen in front of a camera. Their characters are so poorly written they cant even decide on what they think is going on from one minute to the next. The random dream sequence made no sense, and if I'm not mistake it stole footage from various other films. The "mosters" looked like they were rejected from the latest Puppet Master sequel, and if you happen to be epileptic you might just get a seizure from the terrible editing and strobe lights.

Overall, this is pure garbage. Not as bad as Jigsaw, but horrible none-the-less. Avoid if you value your time.

2/10