The Roost

Today, we get a lot of movies that are supposed to be throwbacks to the 70's and 80's era of horror and exploitation. Usually, they get this wrong ("Malevolence", "Satan's Playground", "The Hazing", etc.), but sometimes, a movie gets it right. Fortunately, "The Roost" gets it right.

Opening with the type of horror movie host that you saw in the old days, "Roost" is actually a movie-within-a movie. The actually movie is nothing original: A group of friends car breaks down, they get stranded, and run into a deadly force (here it's bats that turn victims into zombie-like killers) While the premise and movie in a way is nothing that original, it works because of how it is all done. There is gore, but it's not a gore fest, as the movie focuses more on atmosphere and suspense (which fails on a few occasions) than gory slapstick gags and homages that can grow tiresome. Also effective is the way director sets up several scenes, including a sequence where a cop is attacked by bats. Adding to it is a wonderfully creepy screeching violin score, and some effective (but never over used) CGI effects involving the bats.

"The Roost" won't change the face of horror. It's not too original and the acting is mediocre at best. However, it's still a blast, and will be a treat to those who grew up going to see Grindhouse movies or who watched creaky, faded videos of horror movies.

While driving to the wedding of their friend Mike, Trevor (Karl Jacob), Brian (Sean Reid), Allison (Vanessa Horneff) and her brother Elliot (Wil Horneff) leave the main road and have an accident, and their car falls in a ditch in a lonely road. The quartet seeks for help in an empty farm, but Elliot and Trevor decides to walk further, leaving Brian and Allison waiting for them in the farm. They meet the highway patrol Officer Mitchell (John Speredakos) that brings them back to meet Brian and Allison. Meanwhile Brian decides to go to the barn, where he is attacked by vampire bats. When the group seeks for him in the barn, they are trapped inside by the killer bats that turn people into zombies.

"The Roost" is not a totally bad low-budget movie, actually it is tense and has good acting of the unknown cast. However, it is a short story that is extended in low-pace to last 80 minutes running time, and becomes boring in a certain moment. The conclusion and the silly black and white insertions with The Horror Host are awful. I do not know if the intention of the director / writer Ti West was to extend the feature or try to make it cult with the insertions, but the fact is that it does not work. My vote is four.

Title (Brazil): "Ataque dos Morcegos" ("Bats Attack")

THE ROOST is Director Ti West's homage to horror movies of the late 1970's / 80's. It also pays tribute to those TV horror hosts of the same era. Tom Noonan is our guide, leading us into the proceedings. The movie itself is a nice throwback, capturing much of the atmosphere that made such films great.

A group of young people wind up stuck at a farmhouse when their car breaks down. Unsurprisingly, they're in the proverbial "middle of nowhere". Unbeknownst to them, a horde of bats have already been there, wreaking havoc on the homeowners. These are not normal flying mammals, in that their bite causes a very strange reaction in humans. The rest is an evening of terror and gory death.

West makes full use of the minuscule budget, turning a farm / barn into a nightmare fun house!...

I found this pretty banal - I watched in it London's cosy ICA cinema 2 - it's an art cinema, but if you get the right crowd (as they recently did for 'Thundercrack!', the atmosphere in this 45-seater is excellent.

However, I had to step past a guy who'd fallen asleep when the movie ended - the build up was excellent at points, but there was no payoff. It was pretty senseless, and although the grain lent it a spooky low budget ambiance, I'm not certain that was the intention.

Acting was reasonable, but the characters were beyond paper-thin. It was seriously hard to care about them at all, yet at the same time I wished them no particularly ill-will. Neither of these is a good sign.

Not recommended - not appalling, but not great by any means.

I am a sucker for zombies, but this one definitely needed more.

The whole film took place on a deserted road and in a barn. A roost of bats turned people into zombies. That's it. No explanations. Just people getting turned into zombies.

This could have been a 10 minute YouTube video and it might have been interesting, but stretched to 80 minutes, it just didn't have anything to recommend it.

The music was good, and it did have a creepy atmosphere, but like most low budget productions, the lighting was terrible.

Try something else.