Downhill (I) (2016) User Reviews

Bad trip

[kosmasp · 2/10 · 16 April 2017]

Yes pun intended. Although if you're looking for humor, you shouldn't stop and watch this. Unless you like laughing at how bad some things are. Like the dialog, or the "acting". The story in general and some of the special effects too. Is there any saving grace? One of the accidental fun of course - and I guess if you like watching beautiful people, than there is something here for the eye too.

But as far as horror movies are concerned, this is very weak. I reckon if you haven't seen many, you might be mildly entertained. But mostly for the wrong reasons as mentioned above. I did watch it at a festival and it's always hard facing those who made this and put a lot of effort into this. Learning by doing though and maybe someday the result will be better

Downhill: Why does Natalie Burn always pick the worst roles?

[Platypuschow · 2/10 · 24 July 2017]

Let me start by saying this was filmed in 13 days, and it shows. Oh boy, does it show. Starring the underrated and potentially great action heroine Natalie Burn this Cabin Fever (2002) inspired mess truly has no idea what it wants to be.

It's one of those horrors which makes its rules up as it goes along, gets more than a little weird then forgets to bother explaining itself.

I walked away from the film scratching my head about what I'd just watched and more importantly why I had watched it in the first place.

If horror has taught me anything its that woods are bad places, simply don't go there or you'll meet monsters, rednecks or lots of screaming folk and shaky camera work.

The stories about the teddy bears picnic were lies, lies I tell you! Downhill does exactly that, downhill from the start and before the credits roll succeeds in mowing face first into a tree, backflipping three times and landing in that pile of dung from Jurassic Park (1993)

Watch out for fake reviews

[kjjames81 · 3/10 · 30 June 2021]

Having just finished watching this movie I thought now would be a good time to review this film.

I so wanted to like this movie but alas it was so bad that I wanted to fast forward the movie but I always like to give films a try and see how they pan out.

The film was so bad that it is in a c category not a b.

I also read another review who said they gave it a 3 for the ending, be warned if your a fan of 80's horror films then the ending will not be surprise for you.

Give this a miss if you don't want to be disappointed by a movie.

oh dear

[montezumagold · 1/10 · 13 June 2017]

A poor story that puts self-survival over helping a mortally wounded, infected stranger being chased by a random collection of goat worshippers or aliens or whoever - we never get to find out. In fact there are so many unanswered questions throughout the movie.

Still the makeup/prosthetics are really good.

Apt title

[Saiph90 · 1/10 · 2 July 2017]

I have just typed up a review of this trash and my internet connection crashed and in all honesty can not be bothered typing another. I would be surprised to ever watch a worse film ever again. Acting awful, story a mishmash of other films ideas, no horror, no suspense no plot, awful dialogue. The last half hour of this film you sense the makers knew they had a massive turkey and simply throw the kitchen sink at it hoping something works, sadly for us nothing works.

Near the end when all the other characters are dead they through another couple in with maybe, maybe we can get Downhill 2, avoid this film or go and buy some paint slosh it on your wall and spend an hour and a half watching it dry.

Trip to lack of sense

[TheLittleSongbird · 2/10 · 13 December 2018]

Just for the record, it was very clear from the outset that 'Downhill' was in no way intended to be high art or a film one does try to judge it overly seriously. Actually did watch it accordingly and really tried to take it for what it was aiming to be, which is always the case with everything watched and reviewed. Have never watched a film with stereotypical views of what a film should do and with the mindset that there should be rules in what a film should be (i.e. not expecting every film to be "entertaining", because quite a number of films are not that type of film).

Despite judging it fairly and with the aim of being encouraging rather than giving off the sense of being difficult to please (mostly am pretty generous), 'Downhill' didn't work for me sad and sorry to say. The idea was not a bad one and it was for that reason as to why the film was seen in the first place, as well as it randomly appearing in my recommended for you section. It was the execution of it that was badly off.

The best thing about 'Downhill' was the make-up which did have an eeriness and professionalism, never being goofy.

Actually, the production values in general were the film's least bad asset. While not incredible-looking, for the budget and concept it really did not look bad, there are far cheaper looking films around.

Unfortunately, that is where the praise ends. The acting is poor all round, with a mix of not being comfortable and being robotic instead and also a jarring over-the-top-ness. They do have to work with characters that are neither interesting, with very sketchy development, or with anything worth investing in, every one of them are either bland, annoying or both with vague motivations and frustrating decision making. The dialogue always sounds improvisatory-sounding that it affects the flow and the cheesiness makes one cringe.

It's the story that's the biggest problem with it being bad enough to pretty much single-handedly bringing down the film. 'Downhill' is not even a film that starts off well, even at the beginning it felt very confused. Things get even more downhill from there, with sluggish pacing, no tension, suspense or creepiness at all, too many far-fetched moments and with so many unanswered questions and implausibilites the whole thing fails to make sense. Especially in the last half hour, which is an overcooked, incoherent jumble of areas that don't gel.

Summarising, very bad film. 2/10 Bethany Cox

You should be honored to be blessed

[nogodnomasters · 5/10 · 16 December 2017]

Joe Lamb (Bryce Draper ) is a mountain bicycle racer as is his girlfriend Stephanie (Natalie Burn) who oozes with sexuality. They go to Chile to race and end up getting hunted with an odd twist.

The film opens with a teaser plot spoiler with Stephanie being tired down to a table and not in a fun way. Some scenes worked better than others. I liked the "please pull my hair" line, but our bikers did a whole lot of annoying whining and sniveling. I am not sure how many mountain bicyclists who wear a helmet, actually die in a small crash., but I didn't buy the scene.

Guide: F-word, sex, nudity

Second half goes rapidly Downhill, what a mess!

[Stevieboy666 · 2/10 · 1 September 2022]

I bought "Downhill" cheap on DVD from a local supermarket, then it sat amongst many other DVDs for 4 or 5 years before finally getting around to watching it. Was it worth the wait? Hell no!! Joe (Bruce Draper) and his girlfriend Stephanie (Natalie Burn) head down to Chile for some high level downhill racing. On their first ride they come across a badly injured man sat in a car, next thing a group of armed thugs turn up (rather bizarrely led by a big Cockney geezer!) Then to cap it off the injured man goes all body horror, sprouting tentacles etc , something to do with a local coven of naked witches. Confusing? Oh yes! The first half was pretty straight forward but the last part of the story is just an incoherent mess. Most of the film takes place in the Great Outdoors, I always like that, the effects are passable but the acting, especially the two leads, is poor. Natalie Burns is great to look at but her acting is as wooden as the trees. Near the end one character says "Such a waste", well I agree, a waste of a few quid and 79 minutes of my life.

GOOD WAY WITHOUT HAVING TO SPEND OR DEPEND ON A BIG BUDGET TO MAKE A MOVIE.

[SHADOWINCREASE · 5/10 · 29 December 2021]

ENTERTAINING MOVIE, I DON'T THINK THAT VALLADARES PRETENDS TO MAKE OF THIS SCRIPT A BLOCKBUSTER, SO I THINK IT'S AN INTERESTING WORK, HE USES THE ELEMENTS HE HAS IN A GOOD WAY, FULFILLING WHAT HE PROPOSES, IT'S NOT HIS MASTERPIECE BUT I THINK HE'S A DIRECTOR WHO USES THE ELEMENTS AT HIS DISPOSAL IN A GOOD WAY WITHOUT HAVING TO SPEND OR DEPEND ON A BIG BUDGET TO MAKE A MOVIE.

Actores

[cristmetalps-64282 · 2/10 · 23 June 2020]

Pésimos actores, hay actores Chilenos mucho mejores...

Bizarre and unpredictable horror.

[parry_na · 8/10 · 4 April 2019]

I quite like people. They are prone to do silly things. Some of them wear tiny protective helmets, hop onto bicycles and drive really quickly over rough terrain - often, like the young people in this film, risking accidents that can cause huge discomfort, possibly death. It amuses me that people put themselves through this for the name of 'sport' or even 'for a laugh', but then I speak as someone with no athletic prowess whatsoever.

The production of a horror film with this premise promises something different at the very least, which is refreshing. Joe (Bryce Draper) and Stephanie (Natalie Burn) are fairly likeable leads (although the acting from some supporting cast members is questionable), and when they take part in a Chilean biking exhibition and discover a man dying of a strange virus, we know things aren't going to be easy for them. And you wouldn't expect their cell phones to work as they get further out into the wilderness, would you? However, that is about the only predictable development on offer here.

"Why do you have that thing on me? You've been shoving it in my face all day." Stephanie points out early on. Luckily, she's talking about Joe's webcam, and so it seems that this will be, in part at least, 'found footage' in style. A well-used subgenre for sure, but one that is still effective if utilized well. Again, that is only a fraction of what 'Downhill' offers us.

Things become surprisingly nasty surprisingly quickly. They drift into Lovecraft territory a little too, which gives you some idea how darkly bizarre 'Downhill' is. I should stress that this project doesn't ever try and rewrite the horror film (why should it?), rather it re-writes *itself* every so often. It is really a 'hunted/slasher' film in style for the most part. But within that category, it provides a deliberately jarring series of events that wrong-foots the viewer in such a way that it never slides into dullness. It is also worth saying that, during the last twenty minutes or so, things become utterly demented.

Director/co-writer Patricio Valladares and Luigi Seviroli, who provided the unnerving soundtrack, should be very proud of this gem.

weird horror

[trashgang · 7/10 · 16 November 2016]

Ha, let me say this is a nasty one to review. It isn't going to be your downhill ride into a normal horror. The opening scene was already confusing by seeing something in the style of a witch and some creature being put in a girl's throat.

Then you are off for indeed a BMX ride down a hill filmed in GoPro style. All nice but not exactly what I thought would become a weird horror. It takes a while before this flick turns instantly into a strange story. Once the party is over and the BMX ride starts again suddenly a crash is noticed by the bikers and off they go to help the one person sitting wounded in the car.

From then on this flick turns in some kind of science - fiction horror which reminded me of The Thing (1982) in some ways. But it goes one step further which makes this little stinker a love or hate flick. For me what started as a simple flick just on the edge of boredom becomes a flick that keep you watch it until the end. In fact, it's got it all, witchcraft, satanism, creatures, and a bit of found footage. I liked it.

Gore 1/5 Nudity 1/5 Effects 2,5/5 Story 3/5 Comedy 0/5

Incredible!

[Cinematic1965 · 9/10 · 26 October 2018]

Downhill has a heartbeat that a lot of smaller productions can't relate to. It feels like a spectacle with a mind of its own, and that adds a strange charm, but it also amplifies the loose design of the screenplay itself. This is a flick that will be remembered long and it will frighten many , and it will do some very positive things for a large portion of the crew involved.

A fun movie with an amazing ending. Some people are being overly critical.

[manuelasaez · 7/10 · 13 August 2018]

The movie is a typical popcorn horror flick that isn't really doing anything new. Everything about it is average, from the acting to the special effects, but it all culminates into a highly entertaining film that shouldn't be dissected or over analyzed like some people reviewing it have been doing. It's a simple premise with a simple script, a b & C grade cast, and some competent special effects. But to act like this is such a horrible film is hyperbole at best and an indication that not everyone should be reviewing movies. Stop treating these movies as if they are supposed to be life altering experiences, and enjoy them for what they are; teh equivalent of reality TV, just condensed to an hour and a half.

With all that being said, the ending was SPECTACULAR. It's endings like that that make me glad to be a fan of the horror genre. To me, it more than made up for anything I found average in the film as a whole.

Go in expecting Shakespeare and you will be disappointed. Set your expectations accordingly, for the genre, and just have a good time. It's really that simple.

Lovecraft on a Bad Day

[whittakerben · 6/10 · 3 March 2017]

I went into this film with very high expectations, especially as it seems influenced by H.P. Lovecraft of which I am a huge fan. The BMX concept feels original and for the first 20 minutes I was very engaged in what was going on. When the leads find a guy infected with a mysterious virus I thought it was going to go into Zombie territory but I was pleasantly surprised to find a twisted Lovecraftian tale of tentacles and worms along with a mix of the occult. Ultimately the film seems to fit into the folk horror category and with the BMX and lovecraft themes in there it makes for quite a unique film. The cast do a commendable job with what is a bonkers script and there are some great horror moments in there but it kind of falls short of greatness just when you think it's getting really good. If there were more body horror in there it would have gone far to help improve things. Unfortunately the last 15 minutes didn't live up to the rest of the film but I would still say it's worth a watch for horror fans.