Preservation (2014)

An anesthesiologist must awaken her animal instincts when she, her husband and her brother-in-law become the quarry of unseen hunters who want to turn them all into trophies.

Director:

Christopher Denham

Writer:

Christopher Denham

Stars:

Wrenn Schmidt, Pablo Schreiber, Aaron Staton

Cast

Cast overview:
Wrenn Schmidt	...	Wit Neary
Pablo Schreiber	...	Sean Neary
Aaron Staton	...	Mike Neary
Cody Saintgnue	...	Jack
Michael Chacon	...	Will
Nick Saso	...	Ben
Nik	...	Buck

Storyline

Three family members head deep into the woods for a hunting trip that doubles as a distraction from their troubles at home. When all of their gear is stolen, they turn on each other, but soon realize there are much more treacherous forces at work.

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Plot Keywords:

most dangerous game | human prey | rock climbing | climbing a rock wall | view through rifle scope | 

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Taglines:

Man is the only animal that kills for fun ...

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Genres:

Horror | Thriller

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Did You Know?

Trivia

The game that one of the characters plays on a cell phone is called "Dead Trigger", a popular first person shooter that features zombies as enemies.

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Goofs

Not true. She put a pair of trousers on when she was in the rangers station. Presumably this is where she got the boots too, although we don't see her put these on like we do the trousers.

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Quotes

Wit Neary: Man's the only animal that kills for fun.

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Connections

References Bambi (1942)

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Soundtracks

Pray To Me
Written by Alexis Marsh (SOCAN)
Published by Marsh Jones Music (BMI)
Performed by Alexis Marsh
Copyright 2014

User Reviews

Riddled with plot holes, implausibility and bad life decisions in general

Preservation is meant to deliver a strong message for a thriller movie, it could have done so if only the narrative made a lick of sense. There is a good set-up for horror as the direction is bizarre yet it's occasionally eerie. The worst obstacle for this film is logic, characters would to the stupidest things only to be granted plot armor at later scenes. It has little to no consistency on how the sequences actually play out as though the movie presents obscurity for the sake of being edgy or meaningful and ends up accomplishing none of them.

Three people go into the woods for a weekend of hunting spree. Sean (Pablo Schreiber) is a war veteran with dark past, he goes to the hunting trip with his brother Mike (Aaron Staton) who brings his wife Wit (Wrenn Schmidt). After a night, it has become clear that they are being hunted by unknown individual or individuals. The first half is about life philosophy lecture of hunting or being hunted. It's presented with cliché remarks and not quite appealing.

The three main actors are mainstay for TV series and supporting roles, they are pretty good for setting up the tone. The movie picks up pace very quickly as the trip turns grisly. Sadly, the scenes don't have much clarity. At some points the protagonist would do highly questionable acts, ones with little chance of surviving, then it's the protagonist's turn to be dumb. They would have a hard time engaging the prey even though they are portrayed near unworldly just five minutes earlier, Jason Vorhees level of unworldly.

There are so many strange occurrences, such as its convenient traps, sudden manifestation of characters from thin air and steroid induced change for the protagonist. I understand it wants to display the incomprehensible nature of human and how a devastating event could change people, but the execution is all over the place. Whatever message it wants to convey would get lost if audiences struggle to digest the absurd plot devices.

It has a good concept to begin, but ultimately the poor execution baffles audience in the wrong way.

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

9 January 2015 (USA)

Also Known As:

Preservation

Filming Locations:

Los Angeles, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Present Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

90 min

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1