evilfiendfromplanet9 This movie is over 100 minutes of boring. Almost nothing happens for the first hour and the viewer is basically treated to "hey, here's life in a small town where people don't do cell phones, internet, or cable TV, isn't that neat?"The actors aren't bad, but they can't overcome a serious lack of script or story telling. It's literally like a camera rolling through a small scenic town for an hour. Oh yeah, there's a slightly spooky van driving through town that nobody seems to notice or care about except for a couple of people. But honestly, nothing really happens and after an hour and ten minutes of this you'll start to realize that no matter how cool the ending could possibly be, it can't justify the slow, agonizing pace of the film. The basic story could be told, even with all the slow building tension you'd ever want, inside of 35 to 40 minutes. There's just not enough meat to the script as it was put onto film to justify an hour and forty minute long movie. It fell apart. I don't bore easily, but I almost couldn't get through this plodding piece of ca-ca. And now, I'm going back to the video store and demanding my money back. And I will make sure to remember never to watch another Tyler Tharpe film ever again, if I can. Unless someone can promise me he's improved his editing skills immensely.

crowntown-1 Nobody screams. Nobody calls the police. A 10-year-old boy stares agape on one side of a door while his mother repeatedly smashes her head into the other side, and does nothing. It takes the decimation of an entire factory staff to make the heavy chick get up off her duff to find out what's going on. Then she moves at a glacial pace through the human wreckage looking for the perp, rather than trying to get the hell outta there.To its credit, the film manages to capture the repetitive, dull routine of a one-horse town in winter quite effectively. Some of the (amateur) acting is actually quite good at certain points, while being just awful in others.The biggest problem with the film is that the plot is void of motivation. WHY was the entity that was doing what it was doing, doing it? What did it achieve? Or did it fail? All these questions are left unanswered, and the voice-over news commentary at the end, tacked on as a kind of explanatory coda, just doesn't work as a denouement.Could have been much better. But it is what it is, esoteric title and all.

guitarcarl A cast of very real ordinary people do much to overcome an underdeveloped and poorly written script. Even though the cast tries hard to make lemonade out of lemons the story ultimately sours. Several of the characters show tremendous potential and there were relationships that could have been developed to success, why the writer and director went the way they did is hard to understand. A few better plot choices possibly could have allowed us to see into a realistic view of rural America. A really interesting scene between a boy and his mother had me on the edge of my seat, but it was never really resolved. The scene built powerfully and then ended with a startling grab in a dark field. The story did that several times, start moving with some intensity and then crash into a cheap thrill. The climax wonders aimlessly through poorly arranged gore vignettes. By showing to much to fast and the lack of budget for decent visual effects what little credibility the cast had built up was wasted. I was reminded of "The Blair Witch Project" in which the director relied on talented actors to build suspense and mystery. It remains one of the scarcest and successful independent horror films ever made and not a dime was spent on fake blood and rubber masks. I still wonder if the actors could have done much better if the director and writer had gotten out of the way here. In the end the movie make no effort to resolve at all. The plot resolves no more in the end than it is explained by a corny narration in the first moments of the movie. If you are really looking for a good independent horror film let me suggest "Salvage" instead. Performances by Chris Ferry and Lauren Currie Lewis will knock your socks off.

ehabich I had to watch this movie in two sittings after falling asleep after the first 45 minutes.What kept me going were some positive user comments in the IMDb, however, after watching further minutes of this film being wasted on endless shots of walls and doorknobs I was galvanized to write this comment.What did come across quite well in this picture was the portrayal of dull working class life in America and the depiction of deadbeat contemporary steel manufacturing, which may not be what the film maker intended primarily.The filmmaker needs to work more on the element of surprise for startling horror, like in "The Descent" for instance.