Jonesgrl5
One uneventful Saturday night, I settle down on the couch with a good snack and some pop before grabbing my remote to find a free movie on Comcast's OnDemand section. I scroll down alphabetically and soon see the title, "Are You Scared." I read the synopsis and the sound of teenagers trapped in an abandoned warehouse by some psycho was quite familiar, but I decided to give it a shot.The movie starts off with a a teenage girl (probably 17 or so), barefoot, hands tied behind her back and wearing some sort of torture device on her neck. A tape comes on saying that she press the red and green buttons in the correct order (in under a minute) to live. First she walks across a room with broken glass scattered everywhere and pushes the first button. She makes it back across to the other button which is located at the bottom of a fish tank. Time running out, she cries out in desperation and lunges her head into the fish tank, only to quickly pull out in pain as what she thought was water was actually acid.It was the next scene when the detectives were investigating the girl's body and crime scene that I had to turn it off. The acting was mediocre and the chemistry between the characters was a textbook case of there being 'history' between the male and female detective.This is such a blatant knock-off of SAW that I am utterly surprised that there is no lawsuit in the works. Take my advice, don't waste your time.
DrWillHatch
I caught this last night on television, and the premise sounded interesting enough, a play on peoples fear of reality TV shows. While I am a fan of some reality TV shows, I certainly recognize the inherent wrongness in some of the shows. Aside from the obvious privacy issues, where are the ethics in whats OK and what crosses the line in exploitation? Usually I would say "consent", but sometimes I wonder. In this film, the unlucky participants applied to a show titled "Are You Scared?", which to them probably meant something along the lines of the relatively harmless "Fear Factor". Alas,they are chosen when they least expected it. They were kidnapped and awoke it a run down building, trapped there by the insane host.This is a rip off of the "Saw" movies, which I found to be very unsettling because of the mean spiritedness of the Jigsaw Killer, but I was utterly bored by the dialog and acting in them. Here, the same is true for the most part, one scene with a male and female detective was enough for me to know that all subsequent scenes would be equally trite and boring, so I skipped all of the scenes containing them. I also skipped some useless scenes from the helpless victims inside the abandoned building. The actors portray stupid thoughts and actions, in particular the first person to be offed, who does not realize that his life is in grave danger, despite having a surgical scar on his body that wasn't there before, and no one considers that they were kidnapped and drugged, brought here against their will. Not even the biggest "fame whore" would approve of that I don't think. However, during some scenes, these people are likable enough, they aren't scumbags who are being taught a lesson by an insane toymaker, like in the Saw movies. They are normal, everyday folk who are being put in a situation beyond their control, and what could be scarier then that? The death scenes are suitably gruesome and ironic, according to the fear of that person. The story itself and twist ending is mediocre, and while the victims are likable, no one in the movie leaves much of an impression, well, except for one scene. There is one scene in here that terrified me beyond belief. If you don't want to be spoiled, don't read the next paragraph.When it's the twin brother and sisters turn to die, the host plays a clip of their audition video. The brother says that he is not afraid of anything, and the sisters only fear is losing her brother. The game that the psychopathic host has set up for them is of course going to play on this in a cruel way. Both are hooked up to chairs, facing each other, and the host tells the brother(forgive me for not remembering their names, though it doesn't really matter in a film like this, does it?) to press a button or they'll be disqualified. This sets off a drill saw that will bore a hole into his brain unless the sister presses a button next to her, which then sets the drill in her direction. While there are countless scenes of terrible deaths in film and especially this kind of film, this partiular scene is utterly terrifying. In this moment, and this moment only, the emotional pull you have towards the characters is very strong, and thus, the quality of the acting is very good. You an see the love that these siblings have for each other, and you can see on their faces that they realize one of them is going to suffer a horrible death. Eventually, the brother sacrifices himself so the sister can live, and the totally understandable breakdown that follows is heartbreaking. It is meant to be a standard gory death typical of this horror sub genre("Torture Porn" is an apt descriptor for most of the trash that comes from this genre), but it is set up with such surprising emotional honesty and suspense(notice the music that is played in the intermediate stage before the twin brother gets killed) that it becomes a very memorable scene in an otherwise forgettable movie.Besides that one scene, the film has not much more to offer except for a likable cast, moody atmosphere and a few interesting exploitation deaths.
Jaromir Adamek
Don't waste your time! Go and see the Saw series, which is the excellent piece of movie.This "Are You Scared" film Is absolutely awful :( ! Look as filmed in the garage :( with ton of stroboscopes and, what is the worst, completely without any idea, only "copy & paste" from the Saw films.Music is funny :(, it's joke...Actors shaking as chicks and not play (i don't trust him single one move).Go away, go away fast :)!This Is real garbage, made without any idea.It's waste of film materials and my time.
