wingedheartart I am HUGE fan of movies. All kinds...blockbusters, indie, horror, romantic comedies and the odd, rare, low budget sleeper. I have friends in the industry, working for large companies and small, as well as friends/family in the music industry. I love film...period. Always have, so writing a review that is so negative is rare. I can usually find SOMETHING good in a movie. Something. This didn't fall into any of the above "good" categories. I recorded it, liking the description. I knew nothing about it ahead of time, never heard of it, so went in with no set opinions or expectations. I understand with low budget, you sometimes don't get to pick and choose actors. Maybe you use some actors that are more like family than true actors...whatever, I don't care as long as they seem to fit the role. The lead/actor playing the father, was terrible. He was loud, hard to understand and at one point he is telling his son how he "knew" about hunting/living in the woods etc, was from a "family tradition." Seriously? This guy was NOT comfortable carrying a rifle, was so loud, the deer in the next state could have heard him and he gave off no confidence in what he was saying. I laughed at those lines. His son, who was in "awe" of his dad for knowing things, obviously had not watched any type of hunting/survival movie...ever, to realize his dad didn't know anything, much less staying quiet when supposed predators were after you. I didn't care about the characters...they weren't likable. Not even the mom and daughter/sister. The son was SUPER loud...which would have attracted any wacko human or predator out there!! What was with the yelling? Geez!! I won't spoil the "surprise" ending, but if you really want to watch this....or attempt to, record it and zoom through it to see the end. Again, I LOVE movies...all kinds, but this one...geez. Oh, and the music? The music was terrible. I kept it muted for the most part, also to keep from listening to the dad and son yelling at each other while attempting to stay hidden in the woods. Maybe the writer/director would have had a better chance at a decent film had he hired or found other actors. I know in Texas, you can find folks that work day jobs, but know how to hunt all over the place, that would have been way more convincing than the guy playing the dad in this. Not to mention...the women going to the bathroom and checking themselves out in the mirrors? How ridiculous is that? I don't know one woman who would vainly look in the mirror if the world is falling apart. I could understand looking in the mirror to get blood off their faces, or if something was in their eyes, or staring blankly in dismay etc., but to primp? Nope. Gonna go re-watch Alien to get this film out of my head.

mecheart 'The Collapsed' is movie where nothing of very interesting substance occurs for the first seventy or so minutes out of an eighty-two minute run time. That is truly a shame because I enjoyed John Fantasia's performance as a father and husband who seemed to be more than he appeared. I also (mistakenly) thought that the slow burn - indeed never ending burn - was some kind of intelligent setup design for a powerful payoff at the end. Essentially, a family of four must survive the collapse of society - that is the gist of the plot. In order to do that, Fantasia's character leads his wife, daughter and son out of their native city on a journey to reach his second son's home in a place the movie makes you suspect is a remote rural location. The four main actors get somewhere, experience hardships, there are deaths and tragedies, but the plot/director treats each loss or speed bump as such a minor affair that the viewer can only nod at a character's demise and assume something more interesting is waiting to be seen in a later act. For a relatively short film, 'The Collapsed' is very slow paced making it seem like a two hour time investment. Again, very little happens and as a consequence, very little tension is built and what suspense does arise is quickly expended by highly annoying music and scenes that end in nonsensical dead ends. The viewer of this film must be patient - willing to watch an actor run around with a bolt action rifle, pointing it at nothing, cleaning it and charging it again and again - for over an hour. Simply nothing happens that hints or eludes to what the film is really about until the last few minutes. By that point I was both bored, mentally numb, and my leg had fallen asleep. Truly I did want to positively review this one, I was rooting for it to become something interesting throughout my viewing of the film. If nothing else, perhaps John Fantasia's performance will catch the eye of someone at a large studio and he'll get a shot in front of a wider audience. I cannot recommend 'The Collapsed' to anyone really - unless you're a fan of Mr. Fantasia - and even then it'd be a hard sell. The plot ends up being a common enough one and in an attempt to make it work, the film lies to you with scenes that did not really happen. I've never liked nor approved of such devices in books and movies, they feel too much like a sucker punch in the reader or viewer's gut. Steer clear of this one, unless you're incredibly bored or patient or you're scouting for undiscovered talent.

alex (doorsscorpywag) It had a few decent ideas and might have been better with a budget. The acting was pretty ordinary and considering that the two guys had just come across the rest of their family wiped out they did not seem THAT upset. They must have missed the emotion class. Basically something happens and a family are trying to escape the city before it collapses into chaos. They find a car and set off for the country. They make a big mistake and stop at a petrol station for fuel and supplies. Some scary dudes pull up armed to the teeth and they head for the woods to escape.Then things get a bit weird as we move into The Happening territory. We finally discover what is going on from some other characters who have fortified some farm buildings and the revelation that all is not as it seems.Not a bad ending really and some smart ideas it has to be said. But the direction is lacklustre and the script a bit plodding as we have endless shots of trees and our heroes walking. The usual fake reviews bull it up into something it isn't and overall it is poor but has it's moments and thankfully it contains no zombies which is a nice change. It probably could be made into something interesting with a bit of money behind it. Certainly not good but then not the usual rubbish either

rogue807 No it's not a Hollywood budget apocalypse film... but I started watching expecting to scan through and turn it off and return to my work in my home office and ended up leaning back and taking it all in. I thought it was great. There was the odd awkward line or scene that i think could have benefited from some visual fx, but with the tiny budget this film had I think they did phenomenal! I think the film was well written and didn't have an overload of dialogue that I have seen in many independent films. Visually the film looks great... shots are nice, I see too many that are way too wide or too tight when they should be wide. The shots captured the emotion and feeling of the scenes effectively. The cast did a great job and Peter was straight Gangster! Lastly I want to see what Justin could do with a multi-million dollar budget... somebody in Tinseltown get on the phone with him!