Michael Ledo
Lucy (Troian Bellisario) claims she was tortured as a child (how she escaped is still a mystery) and sees monsters that haunt her. She becomes BFF with Anna (Bailey Noble) who, like the audience, doesn't know what to believe.PLOT SPOILERS AHEAD. Ten years later Lucy, somehow out of the blue, finds the couple that tortured her and blows the entire family away with a shotgun...pretty cool stuff. Then the story turns weird as Anna reluctantly goes and helps Lucy clean-up. The weird was pretty good and then we find out what it was all about: People who die with their eyes open (see cover). I prayed..."Please God, don't have the film be this stupid." Nope. It was. People who died with their freaking eyes open. I believe I would have loved the story more had it been for some DNA mutant experiment instead. Nope. Talkative people who die with their eyes open.Guide: No sex or nudity. 1 F-word as I recall. Blood, torture, graphic skin removal scene that made me cringe.
T0DZ1LL4
I am literally watching this as I write this review. I started writing about ten minutes in, and finished rolling the credits, because I kept getting gripped to the screen. Never written a review before, but as this is a remake of one of my faves, I felt I should cast an opinion. I always want to encourage the appreciation of art, so I'm not going to Crap on the remake just because the original is so good.Firstly, as I said, I love the original, in my top 5 and one of the films I drop when people fancy themselves as a movie buff, or a horror enthusiast. To which I usually get a blank response. The original is so well shot. To me its like the director is flaunting his competence of all styles of horror. Not to fulfill an ego, but to purposely mislead the watcher into thinking they are in a 'style' of horror they know, creating a sense of security, only to be pulled out of it into another style over and over. Creating constant disorientation and confusion. A perfect state to have your audience as a horror director. It starts with themes of confinement, containment and abuse only to fast forward a month to crap you up with a weird creature tormenting the previously abused. Is it real? Is it in her head? Confusion. Then, fast forward again, ten years, and a seemingly nice suburban family get absolutely point blank shotgun massacred. Revenge style. Then this sense of 'what have I done' fear is construed, Yet again a different type of horror\fear is achieved. Next is the fear Lucy's going to kill Anna because she doesn't believe her actions were just. But yet again a switch in styles as the girls find out Lucy was right and the family ARE sadistic torturers. Now the fear of escape grips you as the torturers appear and chase them down. Alas, they get caught and locked up and tortured, the fear of confinement, containment and abuse come full circle. Very clever. She's tortured to the brink of death to satisfy the torturous cults obsession with finding a glimpse of what the afterlife holds. Then at that brink of death, she whispers into the cult leaders ear, unheard by the audience, to which the leader responds by committing suicide. Leaving you lost, confused, appalled and bewildered. The ending is what you make of it, the smartest way to end a horror, because the meaning is left for the fear they have filled you with to answer! Personally I like to think that she told the cult leader that death is bliss for all, which is why she instantly kills herself, when really hell exists for the wicked! Her only way to win in a horrific circumstance. Now the remake doesn't seem effortlessly skip between styles like the original, to create the same affect. But the overall mood of the film is well emulated. Its shot in that indie arty American style that i do enjoy. Which reminds you that not American film is super polished and idiot proof. But then again, it does answer questions that are far more satisfying when left to be figured out by the viewer. Some really nice shots and pacing to start with. The tension is dragged very skillfully throughout. The ending was changed, but I think it had to be believable in an American setting. Maybe the point of the originals ending was lost a little, but as I said, the meaning of the originals ending is left to the individual viewers thought path. Obviously the remakes director was left with the notion portrayed in his remake. Overall, definitely watch this, if you haven't seen the original, this will make you want to. If you have seen the original, then maybe this will entice new audiences to watch it too. Then at least you have someone to talk about how sick it is with! Not a bad remake. Let the right one instead remake is better. Point break's is so much worse!
xyle666
i don't get all the whining about this movie, its a good horror flick. i know its not cool to say a movie is good nowadays, but this one isn't bad. its not some masterpiece, but it isn't a B horror flick either. if you want to sit down and see a decent scary movie and your not some overly critical basement dweller asking your mom to bring you more hot-pockets while you post your hundredth review about how you hate every movie in existence, you'll probably like it. i would like to say that if it wasn't so popular to hate every film released, we would probably get quite a bit more originality in movies. if you release 10 movies and every one of them gets nothing but unjustified hating and complaints, what motivation is there to try harder next time?
