No One Lives

Pretty decent flick. Although I wish this movie would have reached into the background of the sociopath. Still worth the watch. Even with a few unanswered questions.

When I am in the mood for a horror movie I usually want something with a non confusing plot, decent acting , and good pacing. Thankfully this had all 3. Yes there are some little small nit picks here and there but as a whole this is a good end of the working week Friday night movie. The story is pretty good but cannot be fully explained without spoiling it which I do not want to do. I will start with the gore level, this movie has gore but it is never over used to the point it is laughable unlike so many recent horror movies. The performances are pretty good I was only disappointed with a few line deliveries but I let them blow over my head. The pace was perfect in my opinion it sets up a good steady start, gets you asking questions and then the middle flows perfectly into the end you are never left sitting tempted to forward it onto the next death scene. All in all I would recommend this movie to anyone who wants to be entertained for an hour an a half it is a movie you can switch your brain off and relax, If anyone has any trouble following the basic story then perhaps there at the age they shouldn't be watching it. Give it a try put your feet up and prepare to be entertained and satisfied as No One Lives does not disappoint!!

"This little piggy went to market,This little piggy stayed home"....just Another hack 'n' slash Movie? No, not quite.

Plot: man and woman are relocating to a knew home in a car and a trailer. Not so law abiding Citizens see an opportunity for fast cash. But neither man nor woman are what they seem...

Slashers are often quite boring, especially the old school style like Halloween and Friday the 13th which in my view have ruined the genre by too many sequels, unimaginative scripting, lack of good acting and directing. A Nightmare on Elmstreet is forgiven due to Robert Englund's priceless comments. Lately though, we have seen a couple of pretty good ones, well, relatively speaking anyway. Belonging to them are Midnight Movie, The Collector, the Collection and Laid to Rest 1 & 2 which all have high production values which make you not just waiting for the victims to get picked off. No One Lives belongs to the latter category.

Another "problem" with slashers is that you almost Always root for the killer. Not because he holds great moral values or is good looking etc etc, but because the victims are impossible to like and because of silly looks and daft acting. Due to that fact most slasher Movies serve only as pre-bedtime Entertainment. No One Lives is different. It has a nice package of a suspenseful first act, perfect pacing and good acting from both star (Evans) and the unknowns.

Though a simple story it is well executed (no pun intended) and Luke Evans has grown on me to become one of my new favorites. I undoubtedly see him as the new action/thriller star. He has the charm, the looks and a badass attitude which works both for heroes and villains.

Downsides? well, it is nonetheless a slasher and as such it is difficult praise all the way. Despite of Luke Evans' performance you still, on the basis of the Movie being a slasher, wait for the killings. Negative is also the obvious plot holes. No One Lives screams for sequel and prequel which is not entirely a good thing I Think.

I give it 6 out of 10 which is quite high for a slasher, but, as mentioned above, it's got relatively high production values and nicely executed.

I've had my eye on No One Lives for a while and in that time I had forged good expectations for the film. What more could an avid horror fan want when such a solid cast gets paired up with one of the most interesting horror directors in the biz in Ryûhei Kitamura, known widely for his direction of the 2000 film "Versus" & more recently for his 2008 "The Midnight Meat Train". So it seemed the film's success would likely all come down to the quality of the script put forth by first time writer David Cohen.

This is definitely one of those films that is extremely hard to review without spoiling things, so I will stick to relaying the most basic plot line as possible. After botching their last job, a crew of merciless, degenerate criminals encounter a man(Luke Evans) & his girlfriend while eating at a restaurant. This spirals into a further violent meeting between the two which get's more interesting as we come to learn just where the real danger lies. The clash turns bloody as the balance of power shifts & the gore begins to rain down.

Of course it helps to keep in mind that this is in fact a horror film and that you're not going to witness any award winning performances, but there are some really solid efforts given by Evans as the "Driver" & Adelaide Clemens who plays Emma, a kidnap victim who has been hardened by long lengths of mental & physical torture. There are a couple of scenes that are sure to please the sickest of fans while at the same time may seem a bit on the gory side to the average viewer, but overall I felt this was a very enjoyable, entertaining vision delivered by Kitamura. He lays down a few subtle nuances early in the film that become clear to the audience later if you pay close attention, the best being revealed near the end of the film.

As for the downside of the film, there were some real snags in the script that I felt could have been changed and yes there are a few holes in the plot, most of which were used primarily as a vehicle to exploit certain plot developments. Or in one case to present one heck of a bloody surprise, you'll know what I mean after you see it;] Despite those problems, the film still managed to rise above the average effort, but I believe that it was those weak script points that hurt the film in theaters & the reason it may draw further criticism in the future.

So in the end,if you're trying to decide if this will be a good pick for your horror/gore itch then I can definitely recommend this as a top choice, but if you're looking for a smart thriller with a well developed story then this may not be your best choice, but I wouldn't let it stop you from grabbing it from your local DVD kiosk.

I wasn't expecting much based on all the recent horror movies I have seen that are lacking that special something, but I was pleasantly surprised at how much I enjoyed this movie. Some of the acting could have been better, but overall I thought this was a fun, gory thriller. Definitely worth a watch.