Chemical Peel (2014) User Reviews

Not bad

[chrismackey1972 · 5/10 · 17 October 2014]

Six friends - all girls - and an infant baby are at an out-of-the-way cabin that is owned by the grandfather of one of the girls. That night, while having a party, they hear noises from outside, and two guys - friends of the girls - come into the cabin for a brief visit.

The next morning, two girls go outside and find that it's foggy, and it stinks of bleach. There are also dead birds on the ground. A moment later, a scream is heard. The girl with the baby is yelling that her child can't breath, so she runs out with the kid, gets in the car and drives away, leaving the girls totally stranded. They turn on the news and hear that there was a train accident that spilled a lot of toxins into the air, and then as is typical, the TV goes out. Also, they cannot get cell phone reception, and there is a busy signal when they called 9-1-1. One of the guys from the other night bangs on the door, but the girls refuse to let him in because if he's sick, he might contaminate everyone.

While the girls are sealing up the windows with duct tape, they start wondering if ebola is outside. As well, they think terrorists might be responsible for the train accident. As the movie progresses, some of the girls show they are as big a threat as the danger outside.

Let me say that I thought this would really, really suck. When I saw the cinematography, which reeked of very low-budget, I almost turned it off. At the beginning, the girls were kind of obnoxious. However, I like the atmosphere of places miles from anywhere, so I stuck with it. There was a lot of blood and gore, but no nudity. There was a part when a girl strips down to take a shower, but I think they even blurred her butt crack, which kinda cracked me up - no pun intended. lol. The acting got better as the movie went on. You could tell it was pretty low budget, but they did a good job, and state-of-the-art special effects were not needed. This was not a found-footage film, thankfully. I think anyone can appreciate the movie for what it is; a movie about a group of people trapped in a tragic circumstance.

The bloody CPR was the grossest part of the movie. The dumbest part of the movie was what happened in the hospital room between Rae and the company representative. I don't know what it is with movies like this and Extraterrestrial that feel they need some sort of an explosive ending. It wasn't necessary at all.

Anyway, I gave this a 5-star rating.

Somewhat flawed but still slightly enjoyable at times.

[kannibalcorpsegrinder · 5/10 · 22 February 2016]

Gathering together for a bachelorette party, a group of women awake to find that a chemical spill has been accidentally unleashed nearby and is slowly affecting the group forcing them to try to fight off the deadly virus before they kill each other.

For the most part this here wasn't all that great of an effort.What really ends up hurting this one immensely is the fact that so much of the film's running time is simply spent on the girls turning on each other and offering little in the way of making them appealing which is crucial and important in such a situation. Considering the initial reason why they're getting together in the first place and what's the entire purpose of their meeting, it tends to just waste so much time here going for the type of useless subplots that do anything but make us believe that they're friends. While the snapping at each other in the beginning when they're still unsure about the entire situation does make some sense as the slowly- dawning threat is gradually unveiled which affects the group differently is certainly understandable, there's little need to carry this out as much as it does into the later half by showing them continually snipping at each other for completely unneeded and useless natures, from their backstory about the dead friend, the meeting with the friends and all the other rather unneeded parts here that makes the group quite unlikely to be enjoyable to be around. Even more puzzling here is the fact of what the purpose of bringing the local hunter into the group was supposed to serve as there's little point in him being there. He's so late into the film that regardless of how much he got exposed to he should still be far more infected than he really is, the addition to the body count isn't all that needed and in reality shows off another in a long line of continuous bad decision-making by the group which is the last big flaw here. Avoiding common sense by ignoring the strange toxic gas-cloud surrounding them and going outside, failing to even seal up the house until just about the hour mark and finally tuning out the emergency broadcasts by staying around each other when they have the infection instead of staying in isolation is a major series of missteps that furthers the situation more than normal and really holds this one back all-together. About all this one has going for it is the fact that the graphic representations of the infection against them are quite fun, from the various bloody sores to the opening blood-vomiting and finally the graphic meltdown that still comes hidden away so as not to get the full-effect of the situation but gets just enough to matter. As well, it does score well in their panic and confusion when the entire reveal is found out and it remains watchable enough throughout, but on the whole the flaws more than outweigh the positives here.

Rated R: Graphic Violence and Extreme Graphic Language.

This and that

[begob · 4/10 · 14 January 2015]

Well ...

Mostly female cast (all young), so the early dialogue is full of life.

Opening scene is a blind VO during the credits - very effective. Followed by a full car interior with a cast of good actors in giddy form.

Problem is the cast ends up trapped in a house with a thin plot. While the mutual bitchiness does okay for a while, their helplessness gets very trying. Feels like exhausted improv, and the story doesn't know what to do with so many characters.

At about 60 mins a man enters the room and the action gets going. Can't understand why they didn't use the chick with glasses to supply this role all along. I'm mostly down-voting because of that big gap in pace.

The flashbacks are sentimental. And the ending is childish - unless the dude with the pen is a personification of American capital, but this film doesn't do metaphor.

And it doesn't do reality. Otherwise it would show this is the disaster visited by American capital on people in Bhopal, but this time exported back to America and it's lovely teens.

There's always next Halloween.

How old was these women supposed to be?

[draftdubya · 1/10 · 12 March 2021]

Oh God they are morons beyond belief. The writers should never work again. They wouldn't let one of their male friends in because of it might be a virus, but 5 minutes before two of them were outside breathing the air in. A viral outbreak won't smell like bleach. The redhead is so insufferable that it takes away from the entire movie. You have to be a strong person to make it 30 minutes in.

Did I watch the same movie??

[orionhi · 1/10 · 14 December 2021]

How in the world does this absolutely boring, slow, uneventful movie get 5 stars? Nothing has happened. There's some smoke outside and these women are yelling at each other but they been yelling since it started. What is the point of having a rating system if the ratings are fake.

Had Potential, But Turned Out Mediocre At Best!

[PhillZilly · 5/10 · 15 November 2014]

Went in to this film not expecting much as I checked out some positive reviews and decided to give it a watch. For the most part I enjoyed the plot it was simple yet almost Cabin Feverish.

The things that went downhill for this film were two main things for me and those are... #1 the acting from Arielle Brachfeld (Angela) was pretty cringe worthy itself. The scenes with her and Rae are almost impossible to watch without turning your head in disbelief. Her alone made me nearly turn off the film but I kept watching hoping for a gruesome death.

#2 was how ridiculously long of a build up this film had... I literally sat through 45-50 minutes of nothing but story telling of Rae & Angela's characters pretty much. IMO when you have a 90 minute or less window for the film do not spend 50 minutes messing around and if you do you better have good reason for it.

However, with those two negatives out of the way the film was pretty decent in the rest of the departments. Effects were good for the low budget. The acting from the rest of the crew wasn't bad either... It's good for low budget horror film goers.

Kinda horrible...in a good way

[monicakmosley · 7/10 · 28 October 2014]

I'll be honest, I thought it started a bit slow, but once the chemicals hit the fan, it gets sorta...hypnotic. The setup puts these girls in an isolated spot (no cell phone service, so you know it's trouble), and then traps them there with a deadly poison outside the ranch. Things slowly start to fall apart (literally and figuratively), but enough happened that it remained interesting.

I thought it was a pretty effective thriller, and when I say horrible in a good way, I mean precisely that. What transpires in this film is quite horrible, though I can promise there's at least one character who kind of deserves it.

Millennial college girls in a survival situation.

[frankblack-79961 · 3/10 · 21 October 2019]

This could have been good if they put intelligent characters in the movie. Had my doubts when I saw the main cast was millennial coeds, but the reviews made me curious. Nope. Its exactly what I figured it would be. Bunch of half wits and a super mean and evil girl that makes you want to put her head through the cabin window and watch her skin boil. Give it a shot if you want, but you were warned.

Why did I torture myself? This movie really scared me!

[alshwenbear1 · 7/10 · 24 October 2014]

No there's no ghosts, zombies, or insane serial killers, but something worse than all of that combined; a chemical spill going airborne! Burning your skin, making you gasp for air, driving you mad and insane with panic, fear, terror.

Through the whole movie I wondered: why I am torturing myself, but I couldn't walk away, now I am seriously considering a gas mask and protective gear! The acting is not the best, but who cares, the story and unfolding drama is so compelling, that it makes this movie more than a horror film, a fair warning for all.

As a young man, not far from where I used to live, a terrible explosion burned people, houses, cars,and no movie before made me feel back to that horrible event. and I shiver thinking what if instead of gas, it had been a mix of lethal chemicals traveling fast for miles and miles?

And that is the reason "Chemical Peel" is a movie to watch if you want to scare yourself, this upcoming Halloween,after that you won't need a ghost story!

Seriously??

[Crys2797 · 2/10 · 13 October 2019]

I had moderate hopes up when I watched this due to the fact that so many said it was a decent movie (not great but not crap). So I kept watching and it honestly just got worse and worse as it went on.

Acting was decent. Thats where my 2 stars come in. But aside from that, I want the time I wasted back.

If you want to watch a handful of chicks constantly scream at each other and make bad decisions that get them killed - this is perfect for you! Otherwise, run away. Fast.

So a few females (and one pointless baby - why??) trek out to the middle of BFE for a bachelorette party. They soon find out that a train wreck has caused a ton of acid-like gas to be released into the air so theyre now shut up in the house until they're rescued. They constantly scream at each other asking why they haven't been rescued yet because its been 24 hours - without it dawning on them that its CALIFORNIA and theres millions of people to be helped, but GOD KNOWS WHY they havent had anyone help them in the middle of the woods?! One chick goes a bit insane and her only lines are "We're going to die". One flips out because her cell phone isn't working. Another - who knows the water is pure acid - decides its time for a shower.

Its just one bad decision after another and it makes you glad they all die off one after another.

... it also makes me hope like hell that if that ever happens to me, I won't be in a cabin with a bunch of females.

Clever Little Genre-Mixing Psychological Thriller/Horror Indie Flick

[horrorcode · 8/10 · 29 October 2014]

Chemical Peel is a hell of a clever little genre-bending psychological thriller/horror from some indie filmmakers who kind of know what they're doing. At first glance, it may just look like another low-budget horror thing thrown together, but once the sh** gets going, you realize it's anything but. It's no masterpiece by any measures, but a valiant effort from some first-time filmmakers.

Watched this on Amazon and it actually intrigued me so much, I had to buy the DVD, too. I've actually watched it several times over the last week and every time I do, I notice something different. Specifically, with the characters. It's the little nuances -- an empty seat in a car, a Jesus-Christ pose in the shower, the Freudian slips in dialog, etc.-- that really stand out from others in the low-budget horror realm. I don't want to give too much away, of course, so I'll keep it brief.

But I will say that it's really interesting how the filmmakers gave each character (at least the five main ones anyway) a very specific psychological arc and how each one really responds to the terrors that happen differently. Too often in films nowadays, when disaster strikes everyone becomes the same boring character and that doesn't happen here. In Chemical Peel, each character is her own person. And that's another thing, bravo to these filmmakers for the all- woman cast and not being afraid to actually make them feel real.

Oh, and also thank you, Chemical Peel, for Angela. I love Jordan, Elise and Ray too but Angela is one of the more fascinating complex, darkly funny characters I've seen in a horror flick in long time. It seems like the more negative reviews about this film focus on hate for her, even ones that go as far as to express how much the reviewers would love to physically assault her. I personally think those kinds of statements say more about the reviewer than they do about the character, but hey what do I know?

Anyway, I can honestly recommend this film to anyone who likes character-driven horror stories. Though it's clear the perfect ratings are most likely friends/family of the filmmakers and the 1 star ratings are just trolls, Chemical Peel is better than the 5- star rating average it currently holds as this is far from your average movie.

Not bad...not good...worth a watch...

[AndyVanScoyoc · 7/10 · 18 September 2019]

Some high points, some low points.

High points...something different, not your run of the mill schlock.

Also, the character, Angela, was outstandingly played. Snarky, pretentious, hateful, slap worthy and vapid, thinking only of herself and totally disconnected from any feeling but what will benefit her.

I'd have beaten her head in...a good indication of a well-played part and a good actress.

When a character can get to you like that... someone's done a good job.

Low points...not all women are so vacuous...some are, but the falling apart, positivity and damsel in distress and needing rescue, act (I'd hope)...wouldn't figure into a real situation, should such an awful thing occur.

Worth a watch...and we'd all better hope something like this never happens for real...

How Are These Girls Friends?!?

[talentest · 3/10 · 8 April 2024]

This movie is a chore to get through so I'm just going to list my gripes play-by-play as it goes on...

My GRIPES:

Firstly, they picked a girl with the most overt crazy-eyed resting bwitch face ever to be the "happy" bride centerpiece of this friend group. How or why they are friends with this chic, much less going out of their way to throw her a party, is confounding. At least Regina George in MEAN GIRLS knew how to smile, laugh, and feign interest in her girl friends. Practically every word out of her mouth is either abrasive, offensive, obsessive, or insulting.

A turned-over train accident/gas explosion is the cause for everything that's happening, localized to only the surrounding Valley... so why is the TV suddenly malfunctioning like it's Max Headroom doing the news? Why do the satellites suddenly lose connection? How does that make all communication with cell towers and the internet go down? Aren't internet cables buried underground?

Wait, the landline does work? But because the line to emergency services is overloaded they don't bother to try calling ANYONE else? Anybody living or even existing outside of the small area of town being affected by the fog? It's 2014 when this came out, the majority of people I communicate with don't live within 10 miles of me.

A girl slow walks outside (fully aware of the toxic fog) without any effort to wear protection, a mask, a scarf, goggles, gloves, or even real shoes - only her rubber ducky PJs and foofie animal slippers.

Another girl stupidly tries to perform mouth-to-mouth CPR on a clearly dead infected girl just moments after she vomited out half the blood in her body, getting the infected muck all over her lips.

Yet another girl is being chemical burned alive from the running shower she chose to take and (not only is her response time slow to recognizing the pain) she makes ZERO attempt to step out of the bathtub she is entirely not trapped in to get away from the water.

OK, dumb girl just reached in with her bare hands to turn off the shower they see had just dissolved their friend to death.

Sigh.

Yeah I'm only an hour in and still have another half an hour to go so I'm gonna quit jotting down every gripe I have and just finish the movie and be done with it...

...30 minutes later...

And the literal last 90 seconds are just a needless and stupid way to end this movie.

Might be the worst movie I've ever seen

[jonny-tspa · 2/10 · 28 January 2020]

Usually even bad movies have some redeeming parts, this unfortunately does not. If you're thinking about watching it, you'll be better off doing literally anything for 90 mins

Adequately entertaining, but actually too predictable...

[paul_haakonsen · 5/10 · 14 September 2019]

I stumbled upon the 2014 movie "Chemical Peel" in 2019 and I hadn't even heard about it. But I read the synopsis and it sounded like this might actually be an interesting movie, so of course I sat down to watch it.

I will say that the concept idea behind Hank Braxtan's movie was interesting, and the movie definitely had lots of potential, but something was just lost along the way, because the movie never really got out of the mediocre muck that it settled into. It was a shame, because "Chemical Peel" could have been so much more, but it ended up being a mediocre horror movie that came and went without leaving much of a print. Perhaps it was all the things that were never brought to fruition or the seeds that were planted but never given a chance to be used in the movie, or perhaps the fact that the movie was overly predictable.

"Chemical Peel" has some interesting special effects, which unfortunately had a tendency of falling over into the cheap production value side of the box. That was a shame, because with a bit more effort on the special effects and make-up side, then "Chemical Peel" would have been more visually pleasing.

As for the acting, well it was mostly adequate. There weren't really any outstanding performances in the midst here, as the ladies seemed to be about the same level of skills, for better or worse.

The ending of the movie was definitely not satisfying and it most surely helped to drag the movie down with its stupidity. That ending was seriously a slap in the face with a cold, dead fish for us in the audience that had been sitting through the entire movie.

"Chemical Peel" didn't leave any lasting impressions with me, and it is sadly a movie that will fade into the fogs of oblivion and never come out to be watched a second time.

A good attempt, for fans of the genre

[HorrorFilmHellion · 5/10 · 9 November 2021]

I found this tiring to watch, but worth seeing through. In short, this compares to Cabin Fever, and similar films like it. It does not have the sharper script, supporting ecosystem, and acting skill like others in its genre, but still worth a view if you like watching those that are down with the sickness. In fact, the general sickness ambient makeup looks pretty convincing, and the actresses play the dread look well. However, the panicky bickering and yelling at each other more often than not seemed a bit extra. Not bad though, for genre fans..

Glorious Gore!

[kaykest · 7/10 · 15 October 2014]

So many "OOOOOOHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!! That was so gross!!!!" moments! I really loved how this horror film attempts to explain the 'monster' instead of leaving you asking so many questions.The character development is not lacking as we quickly love our leading lady and loathe the agitator. Lots of solid revenge moments and one epic shower scene (don't worry, its all bloody gore)! I hate when horror films have blood that is fake but it LOOKS FAKE! This looks like the real deal, especially when its all over the floors and our heroes. After seeing this film at the premier, I can't wait to get my copy and watch it this season. I am pretty sure my face will peel off with all the extras on the DVD and I can have a digital copy to take with me where ever. Yay!

Chemical Peel is a tantamount gripping thriller

[sheilabrachfeld · 10/10 · 16 October 2014]

Chemical Peel is a tantamount gripping thriller. This is a movie that immediately engages as a bona fide news story. I was not the only viewer believing "Yes, this is possible." Throughout the movie there is irony and creepiness. The title implies this is a movie concerned with science and possibly fruit. But, the tension is riveted and built one piece at a time. Holding on to Chemical Peel is challenging. The music is somber and piqued allowing plausibility carrying my desire to see it until.... Then the light constricts as though concentrated. And the pacing speeds up. Chemical Peel catches you broadside. Bravo for the writers and actors in Chemical Peel. I highly recommend this experience.

Sticky, sick, and absolutely riveting

[jhausler3 · 8/10 · 22 April 2022]

You know you have a good horror movie on your hands when you find yourself talking to the television: "No, no, don't go in there!" "Don't do that, short-hair girl! You'll die!" Haha... Well, that was me at about 1 AM yesterday with the movie "Chemical Peel" (2014). This film gave this horror movie veteran serious heebie-jeebies, which is not an easy feat.

It starts with a group of 20-something women getting together at a cabin-like house out in the woods for a bachelorette party. They're all friends, but there's some friction due to a tragic accident a few years prior where the younger sister of two of the girls got killed. That particular bit of drama fades into the background when the following morning, they find their cabin surrounded by a bad-smelling mist and a lot of dead birds. They soon discover that a deadly chemical spill happened in the area, and the fumes have settled in the valley. The girls are trapped together in a house that is *not* meant to shield them from a disaster of this sort, and a combination of bad luck and tragic character flaws soon make the situation go from bad to cataclysmic.

"Chemical Peel" borrows a LOT from "Cabin Fever" (2002) in terms of both its setting and the source of its horror: being trapped alone with friends who start to turn on you when a contagion or chemical starts to make your very body peel and rot away. It's an incredibly effective and gut-churning brand of body horror, and this movie has plenty of moments to make you wince or squirm. "Peel" has a leg-up as a horror experience on "Fever" in one respect, which is that it avoids the trips into almost comedic bizarro-land that "Fever" explored in its finale. The tension is palpable, the cast is great, and you just feel *bad* for these girls. The film is honestly also a tragedy in the classic sense, in that certain character flaws are crucial to causing the chain of events that unfolds.

There were really only two nitpicks I had about the film. One was that there's a certain character who is a stereotypical "mean girl" to an almost caricatured degree. Anything bad she does, you're honestly expecting after a point. Having her be a bit more nuanced would have made any of her betrayals feel a bit more shocking. I also thought the last 30 seconds of the movie, pre-credits, were a major misstep. Without spoiling anything, the film accomplishes something akin to a jump-scare, but it does so at the cost of likely severely undermining the satisfying personal growth of one of the characters we watched during the movie. You'll get what I mean if you watch it.

Anyway, if you're looking to be genuinely scared or grossed-out, this one gets my seal of approval. "Chemical Peel" is a claustrophobic nightmare that works in large part because it presents a horrific event that *could* actually happen, given the right set of Murphy's Law developments. Not for the squeamish, though.