In Memorium (2005) User Reviews

Boring...but worth a watch...

[AndyVanScoyoc · 5/10 · 1 June 2017]

I'll start off by saying that I can't stand found footage films.

In my opinion, they're stupid beyond compare.

With that said, I'm not making a connection on how this is a "found film."

More like a documentary, the film is understandably boring.

It chronicles the daily life of a dying man and his girlfriend.

Not a lot of excitement there...and there's a reason TV reality shows are anything, but.

Reality is boring. This movie is boring and the ending is beyond anti climactic and lame...but, good story and worth a watch and soooo much better than most movies like this.

Mildly boring throughout, with most ridiculous ending. Worst haunting idea ever.

[DireWolfCurse · 4/10 · 25 October 2016]

In Memorium is a found footage film just like most of the others. Dennis is a newly-diagnosed cancer patient who moves in with his girlfriend Lily to a creepy house so that he may document the remainder of his days. He gives a guided tour of the house on camera, going through every room one-by-one. The only notable items are run-down swimming pool in the back and a creepy hallway with a "sitting room" at the end, which he does not enter. The rest of the movie is very predictable.

Throughout the film, Dennis begins to blood profusely out his mouth and ends up with some pretty nasty sores on his back and around his mouth. In fact, there is so much blood in the bathroom at one point, it could be confused with A Nightmare on Elm Street.

The actors playing Dennis and Lily weren't terrible. The dialogue wasn't even that bad. Dennis's brother Frank, however, was annoying (he was supposed to be). The scares weren't that scary. It was really the sounds that made the movie in this case. There was a sound near the swimming pool that made me wonder if I had actually even heard a sound. It was well done.

The story went from mildly boring to ridiculous toward the end when we figure out who is haunting the couple. The ending made me wonder why I wasted my time with the film to begin with. After the last 15 minutes of the movie, I don't think I would recommend this one to anyone unless they absolutely love the found-footage genre and refuse to take no for an answer and must watch every single one ever made.

Small budget can mean large quality

[killercharm · 6/10 · 3 February 2020]

Man with Warren Beatty hair catches bone cancer. He and his lovely woman move to a rental house to document his death. Why? Can't say. But good thing they did, this is a great ghost story. They encounter a ghost there in the rental. I liked how good'n'scared I got with almost nil special effects. I especially like that money seemed to be spent in the right places.

In MeBOREium

[victoryismineblast · 3/10 · 28 January 2014]

I have to start off by saying that I am a big fan of found footage, especially horror, but this one fell short of the mark.

A man who is dying of terminal cancer and his girlfriend rent a house to live out his last few days. He rigs the house with what seems like 68 or so cameras to capture his demise.

This being a found footage horror movie, there is a ghost, and strange sounds, and a bunch of other stuff that is not worth mentioning because it is all very boring, and not at all interesting. There are no real scares to speak of, one particular caricature of an annoying character, and the ending is of course abrupt without any real payoff.

All in all an interesting premise with a substandard delivery.

Interesting concept but

[bkmetsfan · 3/10 · 24 August 2016]

Its an interesting concept, the idea they did with this film was good enough to get me to watch the whole thing, still left feeling disappointed. I was not a fan of the work of Eric Mcdowell (Dennis) and Levi Powell (Frank). The ending deserved something better. Movie left me asking questions that should have been answered. Johanna Watts did a great job portraying Lily. In the end, she was the only character i sort of cared about. A for originality of story, D for casting and F for the script. Camera work was actually pretty decent. 3 stars out of 10 is me being nice. A better script and acting could have made this movie special. Instead it is just another low budget horror movie that is not scary.

Spell check is your friend.

[shoesncandles · 3 November 2011]

It's In MemoriAM. With an "A." Seriously, somebody should have caught this. An actor, a tech, an editor, a producer... SOMEBODY. If you can't spell a word, it probably isn't a good idea to use it in the title of your movie.

The movie gets points for containing some truly creepy moments, but the premise is weak--is there something unique about this sort of cancer, that documentation would be of use to posterity? is it a life insurance thing, proof of illness, SOMETHING? anything? any reason at all the cameras are on except to make the movie?--and the last ten minutes undo just about everything. I won't say WHICH iconic horror film this particular movie takes its ending from, but it's pretty much a direct rip. If you're unfortunate enough to go ahead and watch this thing, you'll see what I mean when you get there.

Again, some half-decent weirdness here and there... but overall it's pointless, unbelievable, and generally not worth your time.

Misspelling of "In Memoriam"

[Flooopdoodle · 2/10 · 9 April 2018]

I get what they were going for here, I think, but the reviews claiming this is wildly frightening or ingenious are nuts; this is an interesting premise executed by mediocre actors without having thought through the premise to anything intense or exciting. I watched it because I watch everything horror, but I wouldn't try to sell anyone who wasn't a hardcore genre fan. The main characters aren't particularly likeable, and the scares are fairly pedestrian without establishing either something viscerally or existentially disturbing. The only other point I'd make is that the "found footage" thing is a little goofy because SO MANY CAMERAS that it comes together as an edited film.

Pretty good horror film that doesn't rely on gore to be scary

[se7en187 · 7/10 · 12 June 2006]

Good horror film about Dennis Wade who is diagnosed with terminal cancer and wants to document the rest of his life. He and his girlfriend sublet a house and install motion triggered video cameras throughout. When he moved into the house, Dennis wasn't showing any of the symptoms, but two days in, he starts to show bruises and nose bleeds. And the camera starts capturing creepy things at night in the empty room down the hall.

The result is an entertaining, but pretty clichéd horror film. The set up is pretty original though, but it's got the usual jumps and creepy noises. But at least it decided not to go the route of blood and gore.

One of the cheapest found footage movies you'll watch

[Leofwine_draca · 1/10 · 28 July 2017]

IN MEMORIUM is one of the found footage horror flicks that came out in the wake of THE BLAIR WITCH PROJECT. This one predates PARANORMAL ACTIVITY but is made on a very, very low budget with barely anything happening throughout, which means that it's a gruelling experience in terms of boring. A guy is diagnosed with a terminal disease, sets up loads of cameras around his house, and spots a ghost on one of them. That's all there is to it.

Not scary but I enjoyed it

[SpringheeledKat · 6/10 · 15 October 2016]

There is an abundance of found footage films as we all know of late. Personally I would like to see an original film that has the potential to give me goosebumps and question whether I want to go downstairs and let the dog out at 1am. However, I did find myself intrigued by this film (despite the acting from the younger brother), what started off as a typical haunted house mystery becomes more of a supernatural revenge story. The chemistry between the couple seemed to work well and the director did a good job in making the story believable enough to lose yourself in and actually care about what the outcome would be for the main protagonists. Plus I don't think I've ever been as attracted to a guy who is vomiting blood before - think he brings a vulnerability I wasn't expecting. Generally not a bad film, I found myself wanting to see where it was going to take me and although not very scary I still enjoyed it.

My science teacher is based on the killer.

[payrose-76624 · 1/10 · 16 January 2018]

I am so sorry if you watch this movie. RIP. RIP.RIP.RIP.RIP.RIP.RIP.RIP.RIP.RIP.RIP.RIP.RIP.RIP.RIP.RIP.RIP.RIP.RIP.RIP.RIP.RIP.RIP.RIP.RIP.RIP.RIP.RIP.RIP.RIP.RIP.RIP.RIP.RIP.RIP.RIP.RIP.RIP.RIP.RIP.RIP.RIP.RIP.RIP.RIP.RIP.RIP.RIP.RIP.RIP.RIP.RIP.RIP.RIP.RIP.RIP.RIP.RIP.RIP.RIP.RIP.RIP.RIP.RIP.RIP.RIP.RIP.RIP.RIP.RIP.RIP.RIP.RIP.RIP.RIP.RIP.RIP.RIP.RIP.RIP.RIP.

The creepy little film is the best horror I've seen in years...

[garythellama · 10/10 · 29 October 2006]

I consider myself a huge horror fan - I like everything from slashers to psychological thrillers. But I'm incredibly picky about what films I consider to be classics: The Exorcist, Rungu, The Mothman Prophecies, Session 9.

So when I was looking over the schedule for the International Horror & Sci-Fi film festival and saw this film's premise, it filled me with hope. I saw the screening, hoping the film wouldn't suck, and within the first 15 minutes all of my fears went away and I was left with an amazing experience.

I won't spoil anything but I'll leave you with this: This was one of the few films I've ever seen that made me grab my wife's arm in fear and - at one point - almost turn away from the screen. (Audition is the only other film to hold that honor.) The atmosphere and tension that the director creates is incredible.

If this film is playing at a festival near you, don't hesitate to see it. They haven't announced a DVD release yet but I'll be adding it to my collection as soon as they do.

okay

[rocioisnotonfire · 5/10 · 1 April 2020]

I want to start by saying it took me forever to find this movie. Thankfully, I got to join a great torrent tracker that casually had In Memorium in their catalogue. I was very excited and watched it right away. Now, don't get me wrong. I'm a huge found footage fan. I know they can be a little slow or have a long build up. But in In Memorium, the tension it gets to create in many scenes, fells kind of short. Sort of messy ending, too. Things to watch about this movie are the acting, which is pretty great considering the genre, and the ending scene, although messy, it's more than I can say about other movies around the same tune as In Memorium. I liked the way Dennis' character was built, too.

How the hell do you watch any Damm movie on here???

[artdottie · 1/10 · 9 May 2020]

How can I review if I can't even watch the flipping movie????!!!!

Insomnium

[tmccull52 · 2/10 · 15 November 2020]

This film isn't one-tenth the movie that "Paranormal Activity" was. I fell asleep twice waiting for something to happen, and when it finally did, I was less than enthused.

Do yourself a favor and pass on this flop.

Incredibly Original and Terrifying

[jcorty28 · 10/10 · 29 September 2010]

Off the bat, comparisons to Blair Witch and Paranormal Activity will be made. And they are wholly unfair. Whereas the aforementioned films rely solely on the found footage schtick, In Memorium is a character driven film. You genuinely like all involved and empathize with their current situation. This makes things that much more gut punching and terrifying as you watch the horrific events unfold on screen.

Dennis has been diagnosed with a life ending terminal disease. Along with his girlfriend, they decide to rent out a house and record everything as it happens: his deteriorating condition and how he comes to terms with it. He plans to use the video captured as a living document of one man's coming to terms with his own mortality while also displaying the love that was shared with his girlfriend.

But as the days go by, bumps and thumps in the night are heard. And upon closer inspection to the footage that was caught on tape. Dennis realizes that they are not alone in the house.

And that's about all I'll say at this point. For to reveal anything else will really take about from the shocking and riveting nature of the film.

In Memorium is one of the most original and thought provoking horror films I've ever seen. It challenges conventions and its by far, better than any mainstream horror film I've seen this year.

You have got to see this

[ninjaactiongrip · 10/10 · 26 September 2006]

I'm usually not one for a film I would call formulaic, crap like the J-horror rip offs or stupid gore fest revival makes me gag. But this movie, well, I have never seen an audience jump and grab onto each other like they did in this one. For an indie movie made in the director's own house (yes, her own house), the acting is pretty good, the camera work is impressive and the pacing is excellent. The complete absence of a score makes this even more all to real. Had the chance to talk to Amanda and she is not 100% on this film getting picked up and released, but I hope for the sake of all of you out there it does, you will love it and it will haunt your dreams for days.

Wonderful

[TerminalMadness · 9/10 · 18 August 2006]

I'm not one to usually give cheesy analogous one-liners, but "In Memorium" is a surefire mixture of "The Shining" and "Blair Witch Project".

Director Gusack creates a film very much in the vein of "Blair Witch Project", and from the get go there's this sense of pure dread and impending doom that's presented with a stark gray ambiance.

Director Gusack has a handle on characterization, pacing, and story and takes a tired concept adding a wonderful air of originality, unease, and suspense. "In Memorium" is an intense simplistic piece of the horror genre.

creative and creepy

[vpant · 8/10 · 29 October 2006]

i really enjoyed this film; saw it at the int'l horror & sci-fi film fest in tempe, AZ on a Sunday morning. i'm so glad i saw it during the day--wouldn't want this lingering in my brain so close to bed time!!! i found the film realistic (yes, even though the premise is supernatural), and it presents a great twist on guilt and regret. some may feel that the "evil" should be shown more in horror films, but i thought that this film showed just enough; it depends a lot on the psychological aspect of fear. great acting from the two main characters too--i felt their fear and desperation. hope this gets picked up for wider distribution. check it out if you can.

Interesting variation on THE BLAIR WITCH PROJECT

[jakewashere · 9/10 · 29 October 2006]

This is not the first horror film to rely on the claim of documenting real events, but it works as well as, or better than, other movies of its kind (such as BLAIR WITCH). If anything, it's more claustrophobic; all the events take place in the same location, and usually indoors. The actors don't ham it up, either; it would have been fatal to a movie like this. The realism of their performances combines with their mundane surroundings to create a very convincing and unsettling experience; it's not fast-paced, but a film like this doesn't need to be fast to hold you in suspense or creep you out. And it is VERY creepy. Pray for this one to get picked up so you can see it for yourself.