The Oregonian (2011) User Reviews

Painful but not in a good way

[forasale · 3/10 · 29 January 2011]

Just finished seeing the last showing here at Sundance, over a quarter of the audience walked out. Audio blares through the whole film in a way that leaves even the most patient film goer in pain. The film itself lacks much of a story. I have seen some disturbing and painful horror, but this is just plain ridiculous. It tries for the lost in woods feel of Blair Witch, but substitutes screams and flashed images for genuine scares.

Story wise, it seems like they were trying to do an Alice In Wonderland finds herself in hell. The lead role does an admirable job acting, but the juxtaposed story never really takes you anywhere. You will scratch your head after seeing this one, wondering what was the point? If the filmmakers were trying to troll sundance, I would say they succeeded.

Boregonian

[MannyInNewYork · 1/10 · 3 May 2020]

Complete garbage. Zero redeeming value. We following a clueless automobile accident victim through a series odd little events as she makes an effort to understand what has happened to her. The viewer has no interest in anyone or anything that takes place in this story. Is she dead? Is she alive? Is it a dream? We don't care.

How movies like this reach the public is the real mystery here. Terrible writing and storyline. The acting is stiff and forced Looks like it was shot with an iPhone and the soundtrack was recorded on a 1970 Tascam porta studio

I love the "Winner of the .... award" in the description on the Kanopy Site. Maybe winner of the Charmin Award.

I watched it with my wife and she gave me that "you made me sit through another POS movie". On a more positive note, it was a free movie.

Back to the farm

[bkoganbing · 2/10 · 12 September 2016]

Young Lindsay Pulsipher on her farm in rural Oregon is hearing and seeing many strange things so she leaves the place, rifle in hand and face bloodied to see what's going on. On the way she encounters a lot of weird people and the question is whether this is real or hallucination.

I think the person who wrote and created this film must have been on something, possibly coming down from a bad acid trip. I saw, no point, no plot, no reason for this film's existence. I carried on to the end to write this review and hope it got better.

I was disappointed. Pulsipher is a beautiful woman, the next role should accent that beauty.

Just because you show a movie at midnight...

[plushsnail · 2/10 · 25 February 2012]

This film really wants to be a cult-classic midnight movie kind of deal - the sort of idiosyncratic horror film that could be screened alongside D. Lynch, A. Jodorowsky or K. Anger - but it has nowhere near the intelligence, inspiration or panache to pull that sort of thing off. Whereas the best midnight movies seem to spring from uniquely personal visions, this one feels like some people spent a weekend throwing around half-baked ideas, hoping that something would stick. And, while the best cult films feel original and strange, this film feels more-or-less like a generic bit of horror, just without a discernible script. Not worth it.

Only one reason to see this movie

[sean-190-149325 · 1/10 · 19 October 2011]

Imagine a movie-maker who never went to film school and made a movie while high on a combination of acid and psychedelic mushrooms. Imagine further that he was extremely passive-aggressive and secretly wanted his movie to be a big F you! to anybody who unwisely went to see it.

This movie is supposed to be a horror (I think), but none of it was coherent or made sense in any way whatsoever. It was just one disjointed scene after another. The only way I can think to explain it all is to imagine that it was like a series of thoughts/images that might go through a person's mind at the instant of a traumatic death.

At no point can I say with any confidence that what we were seeing was a bit of "reality" (the real world in the film that is) or if it was, beginning to end, in someone's mind, or if it was just all an excuse to try out different camera angles, lighting setups, scene ideas, or makeup techniques on film.

I almost feel bad judging this movie. It is inconceivable that the writer/director intended for anyone to take the movie seriously. There's no plot, no character development, no story! The movie ends, but I couldn't tell you what happened or if any of the characters were real or imagined or what.

So, my advice. See this movie if you want the absolute low mark by which to compare every other movie you ever see. After this one, nothing will seem nearly as bad as it might have otherwise.

Time I will never get back

[sanitariumdemon · 1/10 · 18 October 2011]

If you like story, logic, and acting in your films this is not for you. Containing a slew of undeveloped, characters who add nothing to the film who drink gas, and yell not at anything just yell Cinematography that causes motion sickness. and that's it no plot. This has a feel of a film done by a 19 year old film student who wants to share his vision with the world who finds out once his acid trip ends that vision doesn't make much sense

WARNING if you get stuck watching this you may feel the need to finish it, thinking it has to come together at some point DON'T it never does and the attempt to make it do so only makes annoyance at an otherwise horrible film transcend into a feeling of rage at the time lost

The last spoken line is "you shouldn't have come here" I agree

painfully bad. tries too hard to be lynch. an embarrassment.

[cintact · 19 June 2012]

reeder's film is dreadful. it tries too hard to be creepy and what's funny about comes off as camp. the lynchian humour comes off as obvious. what i may have liked about it seemed to be reeder's attempt to depart from lynch and leave his own mark, to be imaginative and elliptical, departing f which is sadly only ten percent of the film. the film is so hollow it feels silly. it just goes to show you that no one can do what David lynch does, lacking emotional intensity, the fails to be subversive. what is supposed to be disturbing comes off as contrived. you think you're getting something different when he's playing a hipster making fun of hipsters, but reveals himself as a wannabe director making a b-movie that somehow got way too much attention because everyone leaves it to lynch. what tries to be funny feels more like a gimmick. "oh we're all so much smarter-isn't this cool?" no, it's not. it's annoying. it's not an art film. it's too graphic and dull to be lynch. it's too stupid to be a psychological suspense.

WAY out there and insane!!!

[adjuster26 · 7/10 · 1 December 2017]

I don't know what is like to go insane but I think this movie gives you about a close a look at it as you can get. I honestly don't know how I feel about this film. At times it was SO out there I almost shut it off and yet I couldn't. It was so insane I just had to see what happened next. I applaud a film maker to take a dare and do something this different and crazy. I mean nothing made sense in this movie and it was creepy as hell. Overall I am glad that I watched it. I like movies that are out there and this has to be the most out there movie I have ever seen. It kind of messes with you mind a bit and puts you in a "strange" mood. Overall, I liked it and am glad I saw it.

so bad, it's....just bad.

[submarine-2 · 2/10 · 21 May 2012]

I like lots of bad movies, and I can appreciate the ones that are so bad they're good. This just isn't one of them.

Plot? Non-existent. Just ugly people doing weird things. Lots of smoking & drinking gasoline but not one explosion. That's sort of how the whole movie went: you see things that should payoff but fail: Lindsay gets a shotgun but doesn't blast anybody, weird situations don't pan out.

Cheesy effects, really bad continuity errors, way too much screaming. The best thing I can say about this movie is it's the first one I've actually had to turn the sound down to hear it instead of way past 11.

It takes a lot to get removed from my Netflix queue, but the Oregonian made the cut.

To add insult to injury, it's not even filmed in Oregon.

Get in the woods sucker!

[carloslopezzz · 10/10 · 7 July 2012]

Great, intricate soundtrack, that is on equal footing with the hallucinatory imagery packed into this 80 minute little gem. Has an enigmatic quality that is missing from so many movies that come out now. Also has some great one-liners ("too much breakfast maybe") and imagery that will stick with you. So many reviews on here get hung up on the plot. Going into this movie looking for a plot is like waking up in the morning and looking for the plot to your life. There just isn't one. All you have is how you experience your world and interpret it subjectively. Why do people demand so much more from film than they do from real life? Do people wake up angry that their dreams don't make any sense, and if so what's that point in that? Glean what you can and go forth.

Where is this 10 Commandments of what film should be that people seem to be referring to when they say what should or shouldn't go into a movie? There isn't one. There are only parameters by which most movies adhere to, so as to please the burping, farting masses in society. Then there films like the Oregonian that shun the template and carve their own footing in cinema. And cinema is all the richer for it.

Cinema is an art form, if you can't appreciate certain forms of it that's on you as an individual. There are no right or wrong ways in film, only ways. Those telling people not to watch this, or any film, is a disservice to all art forms. It's also a very arrogant and selfish perspective on life: "Don't do/see this thing because I didn't like it". Well who the hell are you? And for those who say "there's 2 hours of my life I'll never have back", unless you were going to be finding the cure for cancer in that time, I'm sure everyone's okay with that. People complain about movies all being the same, but once one comes along that's different, it's pounced on by the same people for being too weird. If you want films to break free from the shackles of convention, you need to be okay with them playing out in unconventional ways.

See this movie for yourself. Love it for yourself. Hate it for yourself. No need to appease the brats who can't stand the idea of someone enjoying something they can't get their brains around.

WTF!

[mfkeenan50 · 2/10 · 5 May 2020]

I cannot believe I watched till the end. But, I thought it might come through with some sliver of a story. Nope. This has a lot of blood and bone and some unnecessary scenes at least to my taste. Don't torture yourself.

The Film That OutNadjas Nadja

[ericarcher75 · 11 November 2011]

You really have to wonder about the type of sadist that rushes to IMDb to write a bad review for a film like Oregonian. Eh, some peoples kids.

If your film get's compared to another film that some say was ghost directed by David Lynch ( 1994's Nadja), then you've probably done your job as a filmmaker and storyteller. I like it when films have an element that is left open to audiences interpretation. Some fun concepts are used in the direction, lighting and editing, and I have no complaints about the acting.

This is a midnight movie if ever there was one. You'll laugh, you'll cringe, you'll laugh watching others in the theater cringe. The Oregonian would like to do things to you and with you. I say you let it.

There is no refund on time

[myshkinmm · 1/10 · 6 March 2012]

And you'll want that 80 minutes back, if you waste them on this movie. You're better off making out with a cheese grater if you want cheap, bloody thrills. Which this film has none....give the audience some credit. Yes, we've seen Eraserhead, and this is no Erasehead. Absolutely no pay off, just shaky camera work, no dialogue, not nearly enough gore for horror fans, just lots of close ups of very ugly faces. I get it, you like David Lynch. But not that much because this was a terrible effort. Ed Wood looks like Eastwood compared to this tripe. But there are people out there that will argue the merits of tripe, saying that it is good, the way my grandmother prepares it. But it's not, it's the lining of a cows stomach.........

ten lines, huh?

[jinx_malone · 1/10 · 8 July 2012]

1. This is not a movie, it is art school 101 junk. 2. Please don't disrespect David Lynch by comparing this waste of time to anything he's done. 3. The 'actors' in this are very bad and should be ashamed of their performances. 4. Why do these awful directors even make movies? Where do they get their funding? Are they just maxing out their credit cards or asking mommy and daddy to refinance the mortgage? 5. The lighting is quite scheisse. The DP did a bad job. 6. The 'scary' old lady is not scary, even when she tries to be. 7. Ditto for the guy in the frog outfit or whatever the hell it is. 8. Flash frames are not visually interesting. 9. Neither are people on their hands and knees spitting up black goo. 10. Not even many cases of beer or other illicit substances will make this utter pretension worth your time. Avoid it like the plague.

Physically and Mentally Painful

[presneston · 1/10 · 15 April 2021]

The Oregonian is an 81 minute long exercise in trying to find meaning in genuine nothingness. You could compare this film to watching paint dry, but at least watching paint dry has a conclusion, it dries.

Pockte money....

[jonasatmosfera · 1/10 · 10 July 2022]

A bunch of friends get drunk in the weekend and then decide to make a full length movie. They collect tkeir pocket money, look for lost coins in their couches, cars, and amass a grand total of US$ 35.12.

Someone has a camera, another a green monster costume and then they make "The Oregonian".

Out of the US$ 35.12, US$ 20 are used to buy a couple of beers, the rest is used in the production (US$ 15.12 is spent on the blood/ketchup special effetcs) of yet another artsy-farsty, useless, pointless, dumb movie. The script, of course, was written by the drunkest dude of the troupe.

There.... this is the story of "The Oregonian"

Watch at your own risk.

Well Calculated Experimental Terror

[mike_goyert604 · 9/10 · 20 February 2012]

You need to know what you're walking into see when you buy your ticket for The Oregonian: a tactful, minimal, indulgent terror experimental film. Warning given, I have to hand it the director, because he had an incredibly firm grasp on what he was trying to do. A young woman leaves her farm in the serene Pacific Northwest and enters into solitary landscape of terror, devoid of almost any human contact. I could sit here and try to interpret the film but ultimately you will have to make your own conclusions.

The film is saturated with harsh, glaring and alarming flash cuts and bizarre scenes which offer it a streak of unpredictability, keeping the viewer constantly alarmed and constantly plagued with a very unpleasant vibe. These cuts and 'montages' which pretty much assault your senses are carefully placed and timed, heightening the disconcerting tone which the movie rides on.

The sound design and score compliment the visual style very well. The second time I watched the movie, I muted it to see how a lack of noise would affect the viewing, and I was impressed to see how much the score lent itself to the construction of the scenes. Turn up your volume and turn down your lights.

There seems to be quite a bit of symbolism in the imagery which can be debriefed in any number of ways. Part of the beauty of this film, more so than other, more mainstream films, is you really really get the sense that the director had his own meanings in mind but the vagueness he implements in the dark symbolism allows you to draw your own conclusions. Not a movie easily pushed out of sight and mind.

Overall, I was pleased with The Oregonian so much so (as an experimental film) that I've watched it numerous times with numerous people and had a different experience each time. If you like dark, terrifying experimental work which relies heavily on imagery and sound, you will love The Oregonian.

Independent awesomeness. Morbid Acid trip

[Indifferent_Observer · 9/10 · 20 January 2012]

People are either going to love or hate this one for a few reasons. It definitely left an impression on me, but a good one. It tells most of the story through imagery and the occasional assault of the viewers hearing and sensory perceptions. The scenes in the movie seem to carry you along and its strangeness fits with the experience the director is trying to take you on. Its all in the feeling with this movie. You are definitely going to have to be in the mood for this or it will probably rub you the wrong way(Or you will just turn it off after 10 minutes).

My advice to potential viewers is to skim through it before watching it if you can. You will get an idea of what your in for. Then you can either watch it or save it for a time you think you can get into it. I would encourage to watch this when your in the mood to see something weird and out of the ordinary and have the attention span to keep up with it. There's definitely a good story there and an interesting interpretation of the subject its ..interpreting?(Cant spoil it, sorry:P) 8 stars, Good stuff here. There's a time and a place for it, find it and check it out.

Abstract cinema at its best.

[loogenhausen · 9/10 · 26 October 2011]

I knew exactly what I was going to see beforehand, which is why I loved this film so much. To the people who hated this movie, what were you expecting? Another tired and clichéd thriller about a woman in peril? Really? Is that what you wanted to see? Get a new shtick.

The Oregonian is one of the funniest, creepiest and most bizarre films ever made. Rarely can a film make you laugh out loud while your skin is crawling at the same time.

Not everything in the film works, but what does is beyond effective and if you appreciate Jodorowsky, Bunuel, Lynch or Kiyoshi Kurosawa you'll dig the hell out of The Oregonian.

Then again, you might be looking for something a little more worn out and painfully predictable. If that's what you want, have fun with some other piece of crap.

Don't miss The Oregonian if you enjoy just getting lost in someone else's twisted dream realm. You'll be glad you stayed for a while.

A Terrifying Oddysey

[ourmanintokyo · 8/10 · 25 January 2012]

The Oregonian is a vastly under-appreciated bit of Indie mastery. This terrifying, relentless Lynchian journey into Hell never lets up.

The imagery is stark, shocking, strange and compelling, and the acting is spot on.

Reeder is obviously creating something of an homage to David Lynch, using some of his scariest techniques in a frantic death-ride to oblivion.

It's bleak, horrific and brilliant.

Lindsay Pulsipher in particular is spot-on, and completely believable, as are the cast of mad characters capering in and out of her reality.

Destined to be a cult classic, and deservedly so.

This is a great movie

[ngudas · 8/10 · 20 October 2023]

10 years ago I looked for a movie with the worst rating to watch and ended up watching this one.

It is a great movie which I still come back to, in my thoughts. It is disturbing enough that I don´t want to rewatch it, but it was impactful enough over the only 2 times i watched it through, that I remember the plot and what it was about.

It can seem like a random collection of clips morphed together into a movie. It is a movie though, there is a script and there is a story. There definitely is a story, but you will need some time to figure it out. Took me a year to see it.

This movie includes a lot of atmospheric themes, which make you feel uncomfortable. It can look like it is the sole purpose of the whole movie and maybe it is. It does it pretty well - create the specific uncomfortable emotions that people feel in very weird unwelcoming situations. I think it´s quite an art and requires a lot of skill. I would recommend this movie to anyone who has the stamina and vitality to watch through an emotional ride of sounds and visuals that in the end can feel very unsatisfying. Took me at least, a bit of thinking about what it all means. I am glad I watched it though and 10 years later I am still considering if I feel strong enough to watch it again. It´s a lot!

The Oregonian

[mckenziebeech · 17 October 2013]

In the film The Oregonian, the woman (Lindsay Pulsipher) is on a direction-less journey that seems as if the Oregonian is just wondering in some sort of abyss or in the unknown of a purgatory sort of world. Unlike other films, the plot of this one cannot be deciphered quite as easily. After the Oregonians's car wreck, she encounters different people and each has an uneasy sense in their character. The Oregonian is killed then the act of necrophilia is performed on her. The omelet man comes in and inserts a delicious looking omelet into the gash in the Oregonian's back. He then proceeds to pour gas on it, all happening while the necrophilia man is having the time of his life. This shows that after death, in others' minds the deceased is not always thought of and respected anymore, kind of like inserting something that was once good, the omelet, into your deathly wound. At the end of this scene the Oregonian's spirit is in the doorways at different moments and she laughs along with other women who randomly enter the scene. This provides a point of view that shows the spirit of the deceased are watching what others are doing, even as they are not physically living anymore. When she comes back to life she brutally clubs the necrophilia man to death in the bed of a truck while he is wearing a frog mascot costume. More events unveil in what seems to be an unorganized and random way to unravel, however this plot summary can be seen as the final destination of the Oregonian's journey in life, and the events that happen in her last moments of travel to said destination.

Hell of a ride!

[tj0331 · 9/10 · 13 June 2012]

This film was a treat for me. Previous to watching I read all the interviews I could find with the director and from those I had built a sense of what to expect in terms of how he cared about this film. It is hard to classify it as a genre. I can give two comparisons to other film makers that really made me recall their taste constantly in this film. That would be early Lynch and early Cronenberg. I think that other creative people should adore this movie. The beauty is more in the feel and craftsmanship than the story. The story itself is more of a surreal journey. I look forward to seeing what Calvin Reeder creates for us in the future.

Dope Movie

[schyler-galaviz · 10/10 · 17 October 2013]

The independent film, The Oregonian, is one which is highly underrated and teaches the audience a valuable lesson in addiction. As we see in the opening scene, the presence of alcohol in the protagonist's life is prevalent and has caused her boyfriend to lie unconscious on the floor. The woman, however, is unmoved and in response begins to finish the rest of the bottle before she gets behind the wheel of the car. In her inebriation, she happens to run down a boy and his father. While she seems distraught at first, she begins to flee the scene like the crack head she is.

Soon after her hit and run she is met by a woman in the middle of the road, obviously strung out on some sort of drug. No words are exchanged, only looks of… w.t.f. Perhaps this is the director foreshadowing what would eventually become of the woman should abuse continue. Later on, our main character is met by a man in a truck who eventually stops to take a pee. Granted this man has not spoken any words prior to his stop and we see that his urine goes from a clear color, to yellow, to red, to black before he passes out on the ground. Of course we can take this change in urine color to be a side effect of constant drug abuse and perhaps Stds attained through acquiring said drugs. Nevertheless, the man returns to his truck and takes our main character to his house. We can only assume that our main character performed sexual acts in order to obtain more drugs from this man.

At this point in the film, we can see that the director is attempting to communicate to us that this woman is clearly tripping balls. While we may not see her take any drugs, the hallucinations she incurs is a sign that she has a drug abuse problem and is probably high as a kite throughout the entire film. This is illustrated clearly when we see the fictional character of Gumby make an appearance in the film; obviously a representation of her childhood innocence which she ultimately destroys.

In the end, we see that she has found refuge with a group of people who enjoy drinking a mixture of gasoline and milk. Referring back to her dependence of alcohol, this concoction is most likely actually a mixture of alcohol and codeine as she attempts to break the bonds of her reality even further. As the movie ends, we see our main character drive away with her future, cracked-out self as her face slowly distorts, reflecting upon the inevitable years of future drug abuse.

Why is this only rated 4 out of 10?

[colehassole · 10/10 · 7 November 2016]

This movie is actually pure genius. After looking past gasoline smoothies, throwing up blood, and the yelling of grandmother is a beautiful story. When I hit they hay late that night I thought of what was going on during that movie. After a day of thinking and research, I came to the conclusion that the woman in the movie is going through the levels of purgatory.

The movie is the woman leading down levels of purgatory towards hell. As she committed more sins during the movie the closer she came towards hell. The ultimate thing sending her to hell was the killing of the two people she ran over and a man she had an affair with.

With all this said the movie was amazing and did not get the recognization it deserved. With the acid tripping worthy story and teaching of levels of purgatory, it easily should have won multiple awards.