Don't Blink (2014) User Reviews

Just needed an explanation

[jtindahouse · 6/10 · 1 December 2015]

When a filmmaker makes a film, he should know more about the movie than the audience ever will. He should have back stories on all his characters and know the meaning of every event that takes place. The problem with 'Don't Blink' is that this is clearly not the case. Debut writer/director Travis Oates has come up with an interesting little premise for a film here, but sadly was unable to come up with an explanation of any real sort for his story. I'm not saying he needed to spell it out in clear letters to the audience, but there needed to be hints and clues that lead in some way to a plausible explanation for the viewers to at least speculate over. It's sad because this was only a good ending away from being a very fine horror/mystery film.

Mena Suvari's extremely brief screen time was a real surprise to me. I kept expecting her to come back into the story and that that would in some way hold the twist. Nope nothing. There one minute, gone the next. Her character was even revealed to be pregnant minutes before she was gone. For what reason? No idea. Oates might need to spend a bit more time polishing the script on whatever his next project is. Luckily though the rest of the cast was surprisingly good and watchable. A rarity in the horror genre. A particular stand-out for me was Zack Ward. His final scene had me captivated and was actually a very well written and performed piece of cinema.

I went into this film knowing it had a low rating here on IMDb and i Kept wondering to myself why. Then the ending occurred and I clicked. Oates tries to cover up his complete lack of an explanation with a clever ending but it simply isn't clever enough and thus never actually covers anything up at all. The dialogue he wrote throughout was very good. A little more intensity in some scenes would go a long way, but I think there is some real potential there. If he has another crack at the genre I look forward to seeing how it turns out.

It's about death

[Wuchakk · 5/10 · 17 May 2019]

Ten young people converge on a mountain lodge in the Rockies in the off season, but find it mysteriously abandoned. None of them can figure out what happened to the people and they don't have enough gas to leave, so they're stuck. The cast is headed by Brian Austin Green (Jack), Zack Ward (Alex), Mena Suvari (Tracy) and Joanne Kelly (Claire).

Parts of "Don't Blink" (2014) bring to mind movies like "Night of the Living Dead" (1968), "The Mist" (2007), "Phantoms" (1998) and "Donner Pass" (2011) with an ending that recalls "Wind Chill" (2007). But it's by far the least of these because, while the mysterious set-up is good for about the first 35-40 minutes, it becomes one-dimensional and predictable, e.g. when the young guy kneels down behind the bar.

Another flaw is that some of the dramatics feel forced and awkward, like the girl unconvincingly morphing into a preacher. Those other movies didn't have this problem because they had superior writers/filmmakers.

There are 3-4 worthy women in the cast, including Suvari, Fiona Gubelmann (Ella) and Samantha Jacober (Charlotte), but the director/writer never really takes advantage of their presence, but he did good enough, I guess.

The film runs 1 hour, 32 minutes and was shot in Ruidoso, New Mexico, USA.

GRADE: C

***SPOILER ALERT*** (Don't read unless you've seen the movie):

It might help to see the movie as a microcosm of death in our lives: Everyone and everything around us will eventually die one-by-one, so quick & unexpected it's like the blink of an eye. The catatonic girl (Charlotte) willfully calling her own disappearance symbolizes people who commit suicide. For everyone else, death comes in various unforeseen ways, often suddenly.

An Amateurish B-Movie Lacking Focus & Closure

[ArdentViewer · 4/10 · 22 December 2014]

In writing some recent reviews of horror/suspense films, I feel like it's deja vu all over again. As I've said before, I can deal with clichéd beginnings and loose connections, as long as the film goes somewhere interesting and leaves me either satisfied or intrigued at the finish. "Don't Blink" failed even my lenient criteria. I am going to preemptively try to counter some of the usual arguments – I like movies that are more psychological in nature, I don't expect/desire a lot of gore. This was simply a bad film.

I expected the film to be at least somewhat predictable, given the hackneyed premise of "friends going to a remote location where bad things happen." Following the tired opening act, I was interested when people began to disappear. However, my interest was contingent upon there (eventually) being some kind of resolution or understanding, with escalating elements along the way. None of this occurred. People kept disappearing, and the only thing the characters were able to glean was that it was perhaps attributable to them "blinking" or somehow taking their eyes off each other. Nothing else happened. The plot was linear at best, and it could even be argued that it consisted of a point rather than a line. Even the "blinking" concept was inconsistently applied - some of the characters disappeared as soon as no one was looking, but some did not. It was unclear as to whether two people had to be looking at each other at once, or if one would suffice. Charlotte (the head case) should have disappeared ten times over given her catatonic state and the fact that the other characters were preoccupied, but she lasted almost until the end.

The character development was nonexistent and relied upon stereotypes - crass guy, tough guy, slutty girl, brainy girl, hot girl, etc. I didn't get a good sense of the relationships between the characters (how did they all know each other?), and I didn't accept that they were a preexisting group. The characters were so shallow and the back-story so inadequate that I wouldn't have been able to keep track of their names without the close-captioning! I think the film could have worked much better had it been a group of strangers, or at least several independent groups within the larger group (it wouldn't have been any worse). Unlike some other raters, I thought the acting and dialogue were terrible. No one (with the possible exception of brainy girl) was believable.

The lame attempts to keep the viewers interested (read: violence, sex) were contrived and ridiculous. I accepted the redheaded guy as a loose cannon, but the blonde guy suddenly going crazy and shooting at his friends was a huge leap. I guess the writers ran out of ideas of how people might disappear and had to get somebody to leave the lodge. If, as we later discover, that Brian Austin Green's character was going to propose to his pregnant girlfriend, would he really have taken the first opportunity to get laid with his ex? They didn't waste any time there, considering each of their significant others had only been missing for a matter of hours. The sex scene was superfluous/meaningless. The return of Noah was also far-fetched. His excuse of having fallen into a ditch and blacked out was uninspired and implausible. What ditch? If an injury was so severe that he was unconscious for 6+ hours, he wouldn't have been able to find his way back to the lodge (in the dark) unscathed. And the notion that he had come back from wherever the disappeared went was quickly squashed. This incident was therefore pointless.

Had it been fully developed, the temperature subplot could have been intriguing. It played out like the writers had no idea where they wanted to go - first, we are told it's the end of the season, which is why the weather isn't as cold as it might be. Then, we discover that the lake is frozen, as if it's the middle of winter. Back at the lodge, we learn that the temperature is dropping severely, and that it had been unseasonably warm earlier (way to insert a contradictory fact). None of these instances tied together, and the weather concept never went anywhere.

In addition, the clues to the missing people didn't coalesce. On the one hand, the remains of breakfast and the unused bath water lead us to believe that whatever happened had transpired very abruptly. On the other hand, the noose in one of the cabins and the messages left inside the lodge kitchen cabinet and on a cabin mirror suggest that the unknown events occurred over time. None of the characters even saw the messages - so what was the point of them?

The biggest problem I had with the film was the lack of resolution. I generally like films that inspire viewers to think and encourage them to make their own interpretations. An ambiguous ending can be pleasing. However, in order for this tactic to be successful, sufficient elements must be provided throughout the journey. I've read a few of the other reviews where users praise the film for its purported "existential elements and philosophical undertones." I think they are giving the filmmakers far too much credit! I like intelligent, multi-layered films requiring independent thought, but I can also recognize the opposite - when viewers are left abandoned because the filmmakers were lazy or ran out of ideas. I refuse to rationalize this film's lack of an ending into something positive. If the film really was intended to be "meta," the approach was all wrong. Not all viewers are sheep. You can't expect us to overlook/excuse a badly-made film due to some possible deeper meaning.

I think if executed differently (better direction, writing, acting), this idea really could have worked. Oh, well.

Decent Film With One Huge Flaw

[HorrorOverEverything · 5/10 · 26 September 2014]

I watched the trailer for "Don't Blink" and was instantly intrigued. I really enjoy suspenseful mystery movies and this looked like it would be a lot of fun, however I came out being pretty disappointed.

So the film starts out looking like your average run of the mill slasher movie. Happy song plays as we are introduced to a group of friends on a trip together. However once things get going it is clear that this is not a slasher movie, since there is no killer and people aren't being killed, they are just disappearing. The group freaks out as they are picked off one by one by nothing. I remained interested in the film mainly because I figured eventually we would find out where everyone was going and why they were disappearing in the first place, but we don't.

That's my main beef with this movie, it leads up to absolutely nothing. The whole thing is literally nothing but people disappearing. Imagine a slasher movie with all the good parts taken out. I really wanted to like this movie, but the ending made that really hard.

But with all the negative aside, I have to admit I was entertained throughout. The ending left me upset but the rest did manage to hold my attention.

5/10

A decent premise, with average execution

[Leofwine_draca · 5/10 · 18 December 2017]

DON'T BLINK is a semi-decent cabin-in-the-woods horror flick about a group of buddies who go for a weekend break only to find the log cabin hotel they're staying in mysteriously deserted. The film plays out very much as a feature-length version of a TWILIGHT ZONE or OUTER LIMITS story, as the characters react in different ways to their predicament and some of them go predictably over the edge. It's generally watchable enough, evoking a good sense of mystery, even if the characters remain unlikeable and the script descends into sweary repetitiveness towards the climax. The non-ending is a bit of a cheat, too (don't go looking for answers as you won't find any).

This one is better than most.

[Patient444 · 5/10 · 26 September 2014]

But do bare in mind the fact that it is more scifi than horror, so don't start playing it expecting a roller coaster of spooks, not even your typical jumps, it does provide some nice tension, raises a few questions, but leaves with no real explanation and does kinda make you feel empty.

Why would I recommend it to anyone? Well, it's a nice change of pace, you get to put an eye on something a tad bit different, and exploit new or let's just call them, rarely used subjects. The approach is boldly, the actors are not your typical never seen on screen before faces, the acting tho could have been better, either the budget was not big enough to assure a proper execution, or at one point, sadly the writers felt tired and decided to stop. The potential in this one is better than I have seen in a lot of productions, but like so many before it, it drowns right at shore.

So it is up to you in the end, you can take a chance and see what the little fuss is all about, or decide to pass it, but you might find out someday, maybe not even that far in the future, that others are talking about it and you missed your chance to participate in their discussion. Have it your way!

Cheers!

Definitely Different, Frustrating but Enjoyable

[okiecrabjp · 7/10 · 8 November 2015]

I enjoy "different" horror movies. I'm not interested in torture porn and gore and people getting chopped up. I want something INTERESTING, whether it's Lovecraft or weird time travel or alternate dimension or thought-created nightmare stalkers - there has got to be a "WHOAH!" for me to enjoy horror movies.

This movie was one of those, with the caveat that, though I won't spoil the ending, if you loathe movies that leave some lingering but relevant questions, you may not cotton to this film.

But like me, if you can separate this "style" of movie-making, which I've seen some just call "lazy", the actual progress of the people and actions in the film were compelling and it is definitely a mystery type horror movie, though not a room-to-room-magnifying-glass type.

If you saw and liked Coherence and I see people are comparing this to Phantoms (I haven't seen that yet, somehow), or if you like the "unknown/invisible", creeping ominous threat movies like Mr. Jones or Resolution, I think you may enjoy this film.

I'm not saying it's perfect - there's a good amount of irritation at a few of the way things go down or people behave, that I felt kept it from being more fluid, and while the acting is by and large at least decent and believable, there are some boneheaded decisions - but not like most horror movies, at least not as frequent - it really doesn't get a chance to build to that level before the horror is in play.

I did like the dialogue for one of the characters, who was a modern sci-fi and horror movie type that was constantly referring to what was going on as something from Stephen King or aliens or zombies or "the spirit of an ancient Indian burial ground", which made me laugh - he seemed the most "real", well, until later, but that's not germane to the point.

Anyway, a lot of people on forums and other sites are giving this a really low rating, and while, for the overall and idea of a complete story, I can kinda see why... I still think what there IS there is good and different and not anything close to "usual horror movie stuff".

I would have given it an 8/10, but I had to stop at 7 because of the unsatisfying or at least not well-enough intimated ending, because I agree with some people that say the "figure out what YOU think it means" is one thing, an artist can't show you a pristine, untouched canvas and say "just IMAGINE the awesome picture YOU want there!".

Don't blink! And above all, NEVER watch this movie!

[henferdeline · 1/10 · 15 October 2014]

It reads "contains spoiler" above. You know the drill...

Well, there's not much of a story. Group goes to a faraway lodge in the mountains. Beautiful scenery. They are old enough to be very civilised, but reckless enough to get into a road trip in the winter, in the mountains, to a remote location without taking enough gas to come back.

Not that they would have had a chance to use it, of course.

They get there. No mobile service, of course.

They can't find anyone at the lodge, but they do find many belongings and still warm food. Then they start to disappear. Just like that, one a pop, starting with the guy from the couple that arrived "a bit earlier" to the lodge. Then they notice there are no insects, no birds, crazy temperature fluctuations over a huge open area.

They gather in the lodge after a brief altercation outside. Pop.

They start looking at each other to keep in the movie (perhaps there was a bonus...). But, as one dives behind a bar to remove his pants....Pop.

Then a guy has the brilliant idea to bring a gun from the car. To shoot the stars, perhaps. People get anxious. Disappearing might be bad, but being shot is deemed to be worse. Another guy gets his hand cut by a glass shard. How? Does it really matter at this point?

And so it comes to pass that, as a fridge door is swung open and closed twice...Pop. There goes another girl. The guy with the cut hand loses it, grabs the gun from its owner and, just for good measure, shoots him in the shoulder. Because, you know, he had it coming. Then he grabs his girl and goes to the only car with gas, to run away and leave his friends behind. As the car recedes into the darkness, Pop. There goes the weasel.

Supposedly, his girl was keeping her eyes on him but, sadly, she is left speechless from his disappearance....

Back to the lodge, gun back to its already deranged owner, we are surprised by a knock on the locked door! It is none other than the first guy to disappear! Perhaps he can tell us what the heck is going on!

But he is not talking. He doesn't know. That doesn't keep the gunner from shooting both his legs and dragging him outside where, shortly after the door is slammed, he disappears all over again....Pop.

By now we know this torture must be at an end, because we are running out of people....

Well, the gunner offs himself. Good riddance.

The thing is, when the others stop looking at his head-blown corpse, it disappears along with all the blood and gore. Pop. Oh, the bloody tracks on the floor (from the shortly returned guy) also disappears...Pop. And the lights go out, so they have to use candles...

Now we are down to 3 people. 2 girls and a guy. Instead of holding hands until help arrives (they finally found the phone - how stupid can you get? - and called the police), they try not to blink. For 3 hours straight. Brilliant.

In the meantime, the 2 talking character get to reminisce together. The guy even takes an engagement ring (BOX included) from his pocket...."Hey, Jack, what's that bulging from your pants? Are you happy to see me, have you got leg cancer or is it an engagement ring box?"

Then one of the girls has to go to the bathroom. They ALL go. As they are preparing to leave, the catatonic girl (she supposedly saw something in the car and she keeps showing in her face that she sees more each time someone pops...) says she's leaving. Pop.

The other two remain locked in the bathroom, standing up and staring at the mirror. The guy falls asleep standing up, falls into darkness and disappears. Pop.

Just then, at the nick of time, the cavalry arrives! Lots of policemen, firemen and a couple of guys looking very MIB-like.

The remaining girl is put at the back of one of the cruisers to wait until they are ready to leave (????????). Yes. Instead of sending her off to a hospital, they intend to make her wait until they "sweep the area", so they can all go away together. Yes. They are not leaving anyone behind to keep trying to find the ones that disappeared.

And so, as she rests her head on her hands for a second, all sound goes off. After all, when ALL THOSE GUYS disappeared, whoever took them was kind enough to turn off all sirens. Mindful beings, they don't want to disturb the trees.

She then stares at the cruiser's rear-view mirror until she naturally blinks and.....Pop.

Game over.

No explanation. No bogeyman. No aliens. No ghosts. NOTHING.

Go read a book. Anything is better than this. Even "After Earth". ARGH.

Interesting Buuuuut...

[gab-67599 · 7/10 · 17 February 2022]

I was invested until they took away all of the interesting characters and left me with the boring ones! I was more interested in Jack and Tracy's drama through out the movie then I was the fact that everyone around them was disappearing. So Jack loses pregnant Tracy and decides to sleep with someone else and it is just ok? Then Jack picks up the phone and instead of immediately asking for help he says they are not taking reservations. They leave their shot friend on the porch and don't even check on them. Just little dumb things made this movie roll your eyes. It was interesting but frustrating. Good for a one time watch but do not expect anything amazing.

Blink... a lot

[tellstar · 2/10 · 28 September 2014]

After a mildly intriguing start, this clunker pops and fizzles through every cliché imaginable. Nobody on screen learns a blessed thing about the mysterious goings on at an abandoned lodge and neither do you, dear viewer. While a few intriguing clues are sprinkled through the film, they lead nowhere. It's a good thing somebody produces a gun halfway through this disappointment, because it gives the sad sacks stuck at the lodge a chance to fire bullets into each other, instead of merely swearing and beating each other up. If your idea of fun is watching a succession of unlikable people go off-screen and disappear like Barbara Eden in I Dream of Jeannie, then this one's for you.

I will watch it again

[billinwest · 8/10 · 16 May 2016]

*** Spoiler Alert ***

I'm a huge Twilight Zone fan, so the bizarre and off-key are appealing.

I've read a few theories here (I appreciate how passionate people are about movies, and the thoughts presented in this forum)...

The 666 PPP license plate (which I did catch). PPP being 6 upside down potentially representing Good. Noah, drinking water out of the trunk of his car. Didn't it seem like there was something in Noah's trunk based on his long gaze--or was it just a bad film edit? There is one theory about Noah, and all the animals are gone with the "ark", though I'm not behind that story because Noah ends up disappearing. I do wonder why they didn't search Noah's pockets for any clues--seems like a reasonable thing to do before you start shooting someone.

The alien child, who is having fun with the humans, playing with them (there is actually an old Star Trek episode that has this plot as well). I find this theory entertaining -- though, the writers left no hint whatsoever of any alien presence. The "Help Me", "Dont Blink" messages and the noose tend to slant away from an alien influence, IMHO.

I really like the theory about they all died in a car accident and one by one had to prepare to move on to the whatever was next. It ties in nicely with the fire engine because if you think about it, the authorities probably would have sent several fast police cruisers to respond to that 911 call. Not a lumbering fire engine that would have to navigate back roads. The fire engine would have showed up later. But - if it were a massive crash, a fire engine would most likely be among the first respondents.

So here is a summary of our clues:

666 PPP The frozen lake with a boat, fishing rod at the ready, no fisherman "Help Me" "Dont Blink" "Noose" It snows though nobody remembers snow (this was probably due to filming over multiple days) Disappearing blood trails "I don't blink" from the MIB (nice touch BTW).

I'm going with they died in a crash, and had to work their way to the next step in the process. The cabin was a "holding ground" for them to work their way out. The weird "clues" were just strange reflections from the group as they worked there way through the "on- boarding" process to wherever they were each going next. Remember Tracy was apparently a really good person, and some of the other characters not so much -- so there is a strong feeling of "Good" and "Evil". I think the MIB were brought in to clean up whatever was left of the ordeal. Who remembers: "Going my way?" from Twilight Zone?

Anyway - I would be pleasantly surprised if they released a sequel and proved me completely wrong!

Perfect and flawed all at once

[areadingwoman · 7/10 · 22 December 2014]

I profess myself a horror movie junkie. Especially for atmospheric, stereotyped, low budget movies. This meets all requirements. Rather than relying on blood and gore to frighten, this is all about atmosphere and watching closely (in fact, I had to rewind and watch one scene all over to see what I missed the first time). Typically, I don't balk at horror movie stereotypes (after all, the simplicity of the genre is part of its charm), but here they were...off. The director gave characters who were clearly mid to late 30s the typical stereotypes of young twenty-somethings. That took a bit of getting used to, but if you can ignore it, then the atmosphere and mystery and tension are all well done. The main reason for the 7 is the huge omission of why we watch movies. There is a reason there's a nice plot triangle (introduction, rising action, climax, falling action, conclusion). I was thoroughly involved throughout the falling action...and then credits. What? It seems laziness and, in a way, a waste of my 90 minutes when a full part of the plot structure is omitted.

It's Safe to Blink.

[Krackoon · 2/10 · 27 September 2014]

'Ten people arrive at a secluded mountain resort to find it completely deserted.'

Ten really stupid people who don't use cellphones, and never thought about filling their tanks before making such a long road trip to the middle of nowhere. 'Don't Blink' isn't a horror film. It's more like a 90 minute episode of 'Twilight Zone,' if 'Twilight Zone' episodes were written by half wits. The acting is below average, starring Mena Suvari, whose best days are behind her - and the ''great'' Brian Austin Green, who never really had any best days... at least not recorded on film.

Random Ramblings of a Madman: The director eventually got bored during shooting, and just ended the film without an actual conclusion - he probably just figured no one would notice anyway, since half the people who watch this junk will be as ignorant as he is, and just consider it as a type of thought provoking mystery. Keep guessing, guys.

Just Terrible

[deadmanspoint · 1/10 · 28 September 2014]

This movie is not good in any term of the scope of the qualities that make a film a film. It is so bad I even made an account on IMDb because it made me so angry and sad. Is this the standard of intelligence now? Is this what will passed on as something to watch? I consider all the folk busy with this film and am mildly horrified that not one of them could simply just go hysterical at the dialogue and story telling of the film. I am in awe and depressed by this film - has common language and the act of a written scene become so trivial, so base common denominator of the average soul, the normal film watcher, as to consider something worthy that is equal to a book report by a ten year old? - & not a smart one at that. Avoid this film it is very, very frustrating and brings dishonour to cinema.

Who gives this enough positive reviews to get its ratings so high?

[david-jp-wallace · 1/10 · 1 October 2014]

I watched this movie based on the IMDb rating and was shocked at how poor it was. I saw the cast and thought that given there were some established actors there, it probably merited the 4.9 or 5.1 stars. As it turns out, it must be people who wanted to share their misery of watching this that lied and gave decent reviews. It seemed that there was a ridiculous effort to try to shock people without anything shocking happening. Stupid stuff like someone turns around and another character is directly behind them. The dialogue was atrocious also, and seemed to have no sense of continuity. There was an initial discussion in the car between the sister and brother and it was stilted and downright stupid. There was a completely random declaration of one of the girls being pregnant, but there was absolutely no story behind it, and it added nothing to this steaming pile of manure. The obligatory sex scene in a "horror" of this type was also extraordinarily lame, especially as one of the protagonists was about to propose to his said pregnant girlfriend and hooked up with this other girl directly after his almost-fiancée disappearance. Then one guy who disappeared suddenly returned, after supposedly randomly falling into a ditch and knocking himself out for about 8 hours, but other than a little dirt on his face, was completely fine. And there were random notes from possibly previous victims, like "Help Me", even though they are supposed to have disappeared leaving no trace of their existence. I have never bothered to review anything on IMDb, but felt so screwed out of a couple of hours of my life that I had to write this. Awful is too mild a word for this crap.

Very entertaining and effective

[Red_Identity · 26 September 2014]

Seems like 2014's been a great year for horror, at least, between this, Honeymoon, and Coherence. Much like Coherence, the premise of this is absolutely terrifying in a way not many horror films tend to be. The premise for this is simpler, and much more straight-forward, but it's quite effective. Some of the dialogue is a bit cringe-worthy, but right from the start the characters don't act like they've never seen a horror film, a lot more aware than you're used to in this type of film. The performances are also aces. What you don't know is way more frightening than what you do. I strongly recommend this, extremely entertaining and intriguing.

Good production values, not so good movie.

[bsw03 · 4/10 · 2 March 2021]

I left believing all it was an allegory for death and what happens when you die, realize you are going to die, suddenly die. I was excited that 10 people were going to be involved but was disappointed in the story. It was most pleasing seeing Robert Picardo at the end.

What was it happening to them? I'm not interested nor do I care.

Not the worst thing I've watched of Late.

[anissa-taylor · 6/10 · 26 December 2014]

All things considered this isn't a bad film, the acting is good, sets and locations are stunning, cinematography is brilliant and the script has some legitimately hilarious lines in it that will have you (if you're like me) barking out a laugh. The pace is steady, and it's not too complicated or cluttered with superfluous bits and pieces thrown in to bulk it up. I also like the way (however predictable some may be) that they had people disappearing. It was clever, good camera and effects work, subtle and understated but still impressive.

Now to the negative... Despite the build of tension and the myriad of questions the films raises, don't hold out much hope for any answers. You won't get any. Maybe this was a deliberate effort because they're intending a sequel (I would be more than happy to watch that, and I don't often vote for sequels) or maybe this is a Nolan-esque leaving it to your imagination ending. Whatever the answer, it's a rather frustrating to come away empty handed. If this is left open ended in this way for a sequel don't fret, it's not one of those obvious "And we are clearly setting this up for the sequel TAKE THAT SUCKERS!" type deals. Much more subtle than that.

All in all I have to say it was a pretty good film that held my attention in a way a lot of films of late fail to do, and I'd recommend watching it if you're bored or the idea the films posits interests you. But don't get as mad as some reviewers on here if it's not a 10/10 masterpiece of cinema gold. It is what it is, don't expect the most breathtaking piece of cinema known to man that answers all of the questions you have about life, death and why we're here.

Why did I bother

[pokoyo69 · 3/10 · 27 March 2023]

I dont understand what happened in this movie. Theres absolutely no explanation as to why the events in the movie were even happening. Premise is good, has solid ground for a good movie but sadly between the terrible acting, clunky story telling and poor directing it just doesnt work. Not to mention the terrible ending that doesnt really explain anything at all... I wouldnt waste my time watching and if I could go back in time and stop myself from watching I would. This movie is like the director is fresh out of film school, taken a text book check list of whats needed in a movie and mashed it all together in no particular order.

Better than you may expect

[H4RSHM4LLOW · 6/10 · 5 April 2017]

After looking at the review overall score I was somewhat doubting whether to watch this film but I decided to give it a shot and make my own mind up..... not disappointed.

It's not a film that will give you all the answers you want but it's certainly a film that will make you guess what's coming next. It's not a gore fest or typical horror, more like a twilight-zone-esque type film....

I'm not going to say much as the beauty in the film is not knowing..... just give it a try and maybe, like me, you won't be disappointed... whatever you do though, don't blink.

Average

[maryfeather80 · 5/10 · 26 September 2014]

So I've decided to watch this movie because it seemed quite interesting with a bit of a mystery and a slight of horror!!It starts off as the usual group of people going to stay at a motel in the middle of nowhere!Really weird things are starting to happen, as one by one are starting to disappear.The whole idea of the movie is really interesting but it doesn't wrap very well during the end unfortunately.Brian Austin was good, so is the other cast,Mena Suvari has a brief role and that's about it! This could easily be one good episode of the Twilight Zone because it has many elements that makes u think that!Nevertheless i do recommend it because it's different, not predictable but the cons is that it has a weak end and doesn't really explain the situation.Cheers!

Seriously, this is a good movie and here's why...

[mikael-linner · 8/10 · 30 March 2015]

So lets say you wan't to watch a horror/thriller/mystery movie... When the synopsis goes something like "10 friends go away for the weekend." There are a number of things you expect from the movie and somethings that you just hate they always do wrong with these kind of movies. Guess what... This movie has no faults, at least not in this genre imo.

The acting is surprisingly good, I like being surprised and these actors not only act well, but most importantly they don't overact. And the script is to thank for this, as Brian Austins Greens character is the sensible one and always steers the cast and movie back on track on every occasion it might have gone of track. And Brian is really good, I'm actually impressed.

There are no stupid female characters that take showers all alone in the middle of the night in this one. No bad CGI. No cheesy lines. The characters in this movie act like normal people do when strange things happen, thank god! Sure there are more or less likable one's but they do a really good job all the way.

This movie was a big surprise in that it is a good mystery/drama/thriller and it gets the tempo right. Suspense all the way through and I personally loved the ending. Which I must add I think most reviewers here have a problem with. This movie leaves the viewer with a lot of unanswered questions, hence if you can't handle those kind of movies, this one isn't for you. But this movie fits the genre 'Mystery' perfectly.

If anyone involved in the film reads this. Don't mind the low score. A lot of ppl. rate down horror-flicks because they expect so different things, its like comedies. You can never satisfy everyone, and most of the time just a few. BUT you made a great movie, it's really really good.

This is my first review and I wrote it just to tell people that this is so much better than the low score implies. This movie is more similar to Signs with Mel Gibson and Joaquin Phoenix if you wonder what kind of movie it's similar to, but with even less Sci-Fi. Although not as good.

Amazing. 8 / 10. Only way it could've been a 10 was if they had ten times the budget and some A-listers in the cast. But this cast, director and script writers made an amazing job.

A philosophical horror film

[mokienatrix · 7/10 · 15 December 2014]

A good (and depressing) movie if you want to sit and ponder the futility of everything, but not so great if you're just seeking a Saturday night scare-fest. That's a problem, because it's terribly mis-marketed - the cover and blurb pitch this as a slasher film when it's definitely not.

The film raises a philosophical question for viewers to chew on: does anything we do ever matter if everything we do will be forgotten almost as soon as we're gone? (One character even spells this out as he tries to leave a mark that can't be erased.) The horror here isn't a killer that can be defeated, a monster that can be escaped, or a conspiracy that can be unraveled and explained away, but the inevitable fact of death and our own eventual irrelevance, the fear of being erased by time. Like a post-modern danse macabre, each character acts a symbol (of evil, of family, of education, of religion, etc.), though it's disturbing to wonder if our sympathies would fall differently with a bit less B-movie scripting and a bit more A-list acting.

I didn't particularly mind the open ending or the lack of explanations, because the question the film is poking us to think about has no objective answer. I doubt any concrete explanation the film could have cooked up would have worked without undermining that central question and turning the film into the straightforward slasher the cover advertises.

A dead end street

[xrayzerofive-914-897836 · 1/10 · 3 April 2015]

The story is exceedingly simple. 10 friends go to a remote lodge, find the place deserted but signs that people had been there and simply vanished and one by one they all vanish. It is sort of like Blair Witch in that we never see them killed and never find out what happens to them.

Why don't they leave right away when they find everyone missing? Naturally the trip takes so long that no vehicle is capable of holding enough gas for a return trip. They have pumps at the lodge because of this but the pumps are empty of course. This already is strike 1 because what location is so remote that it is hundreds of miles from civilization? Strike 2 who would go to a resort that gets no cell phone or Internet reception?

They find a car abandoned and all the people missing know something is wrong but instead of pooling their gas resources so someone can leave to go try to get help they stay there. Their interaction and the dialogue is lame. Nothing they do makes any sense at all.

The only thing of any interest is that they vanish one by one. The only reason you keep watching is you want to find out what happened to the people who vanished before they got there and what is happening to them. But after you find out the temperature at the cabin is significantly warmer than the surrounding area and that all the animals and bugs are missing you realize it is supposedly some supernatural thing taking place around the cabin and you already lose interest.

Basically it is the kind of movie where you get bored of how slow and boring it is so you want to just fast forward to the end to find out what happened but if you do so you realize nothing is ever explained. Everyone vanishes without any explanation of how or why.

Good movies can be watched again and again. This movie you regret watching 1 time and certainly never want to watch again.

Very predictable yet disappointing,

[twi1609372 · 1/10 · 10 October 2019]

So in the modern mantra that movie goers today demand and expect, this movie delivers! For the generation who wants suspense for it's own sake, this is a home run. I'm not saying I'm a genius or anything but anyone who understands how modern movies work could see this from 25 miles away: Yes, there is suspense, something unusual is happening. That's it. We will exploit that suspense for about 90 minutes, then just end the movie. I get it, its very easy to just come up with a suspenseful plot, if you don't have to tie anything together or have any of it make sense you can do whatever you want. You can have pink unicorns pop out of the necks of crows, and it doesn't have to be explained or make sense, it just is what it is, suspense for it's own sake. People are just going to disappear at random, for whatever reason and that's just that because the movie said so.