Don't Look Up (2009)

Evil spirits released from old celluloid cause a film crew to slowly go insane while in production on a new project.

Director:

Fruit Chan

Writers:

Brian Cox (screenplay), Hiroshi Takahashi (screenplay "Joyû-rei")

Stars:

Rachael Murphy, Eli Roth, Ben DiGregorio

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Rachael Murphy	...	Lila Kis
Eli Roth	...	Béla Olt
Ben DiGregorio	...	Olt's Cameraman
Reshad Strik	...	Marcus Reed
Alyssa Sutherland	...	Claire
Shiloh Fernandez	...	Garret
Henry Thomas	...	Josh Petri
Lothaire Bluteau	...	Grigore
Robert Towers	...	Beng
Carmen Chaplin	...	Romy Bardóc
Daniela Sea	...	Tami
Jack Dimich	...	Romanian Grip
Elena Satine	...	Anca
Zelda Williams	...	Matya
Brian Henderson	...	Peter

Storyline

In the Dark Ages, a gypsy woman made a pact with Beng, the gypsy devil, to marry a powerful man. In return, Beng asked for her first born child. Her daughter Matya had the mark of the devil and was killed by the villagers. In 1928, the Hungarian director Bela Olt decides to shoot Matya's story with the lead gypsy actress Lila Kis. However, the director, the cast and the crew vanished with the film that had never been seen. Back to the present and the discredited medium director Marcus Reed and his producer Josh Petri head to Romania to make a film about Matya's story...

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Plot Keywords:

filmed on location | gypsy | romania | actress | extrasensory perception | 

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Taglines:

Lights... Camera... Evil...

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Genres:

Horror

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for horror violence and gore

Did You Know?

Trivia

The name of the director of the original film is Bela Olt. One of Bela Lugosi's early stage names was Arisztid Olt.

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Connections

References Frankenstein (1931)

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Soundtracks

Gaze At Me
Performed by Doping Panda
Composed by Yutaka Furukawa
Published by Sony Music Artists, Inc. (JASRAC)
(p)2009 Sony Music Records, Inc.

User Reviews

This is something different. . .if weird

A lot of the other reviews are kinda harsh and seem to come from the Uber-Film High-Brow Horror Critic's row of the theatre. Whereas I just wanted to see something. . .different.

What grabbed me was the notion of a ghost story set current day, in Transylvania, that didn't involve Vampires. Period.

I'm sick of Vampires: Old, Young, Teenagers, the black leather thing, suburban dark sex. . .whatever. Just sick of it all. And here was a story about a modern day haunting in Transylvania on a movie set.

Now I'll be honest, the plot is confusing. I'm not quite sure on exactly WHAT was haunted: The Movie Set, the Film, or the 'Set Specialist' himself, But I like the fact that you're not quite sure whether the 'Set Specialist' Marcus is hallucinating or really seeing things. The build-up of havoc on the filming set and the deaths here and there followed by the final send-up of the ghost/apparition at least did not follow the usual formula, so I was entertained. And to the Nay-Saying Aficionados who were expecting more linear, explainable plot, I say that the lack of an explainable plot was excusable because the action still drove towards a weird conclusion. And what held me was the fact that it wasn't a PREDICTABLE Plot. I STILL wanted to see what the End would be. And on that score, I say the movie scored a point.

The FX were nicely done and the flies were a nice touch. There's gore, but it's more Ick than Splatter. Warning: Girlfriends with weak stomachs or sensibilities may need you to cover their eyes a bit. Oh, and refrain from a genuine male desire to get some pizza out of the Microwave. . .the GF will NOT understand and will give you troublesome disgusted looks.

Nah, it's not Horror Movie Gold-- but it has it's own Honorable Mention Category and definitely a good passable Saturday Nite Horror Flick.

And when you watch, don't Siskel & Ebert it. This is Elvira material! Enjoy!

Details

Country:

USA Japan South Africa

Language:

English Romanian

Release Date:

8 January 2011 (Japan)

Also Known As:

Don't Look Up

Filming Locations:

Lacy Street Production Center - 2630 Lacy Street, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Distant Horizon, Action 5, Reel Deal Entertainment

Technical Specs

Runtime:

85 min

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1