Let me say first, I rarely have had the overwhelming desire to shut off a movie without first 1) giving it the benefit of the doubt 2) watching it long enough to make an informed opinion on the work. With regard to this film; Within 25 minutes, I was completely disinterested in continuing.
I kept looking for any glimmer of hope; some redeeming quality about it, that would bring it to at least the level of "watchable".
Firstly, the special effects & cinematography: Although I did enjoy the simple, creepy, properly-stylized, well-scored opening credits, the rest was very disappointing. I understand it was to be an "80's feel" - but I feel like they literally used 80's technology, 80's specials effects, 80's everything; and for that reason and others, it failed miserably. I am a "child of the 80's" and this movie most certainly did NOT make me feel all "warm and nostalgic".
The bigger problem came when the actors & actresses opened their mouths. At that point, the two biggest (most fatal) flaws of the film were exposed; the bad acting, and the bad script. Tim Curry, you are better than this man! I don't even know why he joined this project (slim pickings elsewhere?) I don't like calling people out by name, but Erin Hayes..She was just terrible in this film. I won't ramble on with flowery adjectives, but we all know poor acting when we see it; it's just awkward and uncomfortable. Yes, it's a given that the script was as, if not more terrible than the acting. And yes, I think most would agree that GOOD actors/actresses with a BAD script, can still pull off a GOOD movie despite bad writing. This is not the case. Although Mr. Ashley Lloyd's performance is better (and easily eclipses) than Ms. Hayes' performance, the fact remains the same; the acting stinks.
The script! AUGH! Someone once told me; people swear out of ignorance, because they have nothing better or more intelligent to say. This seems to be a perfect fit for this film. It would seem that the writers ran out of ideas and substituted those ideas with copious, pointless, annoying, and ultimately distracting amounts of profanity. The rest of the script is like a rapid-fire succession of bad one-liner dialog (ie: "through here!" and "What was that?" and "I'm scared!"). This was so unpleasant to watch.
One can only hope that it was all a matter of budgeting problems or some similar issue. I did not see a stated budget, or a ticket office gross, so one can only guess.
As I myself never rely solely on other people's opinions and prefer to form my own - take it with a grain of salt. But then, if every reviewer says essentially the same thing - you have to wonder.
I kept looking for any glimmer of hope; some redeeming quality about it, that would bring it to at least the level of "watchable".
Firstly, the special effects & cinematography: Although I did enjoy the simple, creepy, properly-stylized, well-scored opening credits, the rest was very disappointing. I understand it was to be an "80's feel" - but I feel like they literally used 80's technology, 80's specials effects, 80's everything; and for that reason and others, it failed miserably. I am a "child of the 80's" and this movie most certainly did NOT make me feel all "warm and nostalgic".
The bigger problem came when the actors & actresses opened their mouths. At that point, the two biggest (most fatal) flaws of the film were exposed; the bad acting, and the bad script. Tim Curry, you are better than this man! I don't even know why he joined this project (slim pickings elsewhere?) I don't like calling people out by name, but Erin Hayes..She was just terrible in this film. I won't ramble on with flowery adjectives, but we all know poor acting when we see it; it's just awkward and uncomfortable. Yes, it's a given that the script was as, if not more terrible than the acting. And yes, I think most would agree that GOOD actors/actresses with a BAD script, can still pull off a GOOD movie despite bad writing. This is not the case. Although Mr. Ashley Lloyd's performance is better (and easily eclipses) than Ms. Hayes' performance, the fact remains the same; the acting stinks.
The script! AUGH! Someone once told me; people swear out of ignorance, because they have nothing better or more intelligent to say. This seems to be a perfect fit for this film. It would seem that the writers ran out of ideas and substituted those ideas with copious, pointless, annoying, and ultimately distracting amounts of profanity. The rest of the script is like a rapid-fire succession of bad one-liner dialog (ie: "through here!" and "What was that?" and "I'm scared!"). This was so unpleasant to watch.
One can only hope that it was all a matter of budgeting problems or some similar issue. I did not see a stated budget, or a ticket office gross, so one can only guess.
As I myself never rely solely on other people's opinions and prefer to form my own - take it with a grain of salt. But then, if every reviewer says essentially the same thing - you have to wonder.