The cover and the idea of the story for 'Uncaged' were not bad, the cover looked pretty creepy actually and while unoriginal the story's idea intrigued. Having seen my fair share recently of bad low-budget films and decent ideas executed badly in film, part of me was also nervous.
Nervousness that sadly was proven to be justified. There may be worse films out there than 'Uncaged', but it is definitely among the worst recent viewings for me and a very good example of how not to do a low-budget/B film. This is not coming from someone narrow-minded or wanting to hate everything, actually aim to be a fair reviewer and it actually takes a lot for me to give a low rating to a film and be negative. Giving something the lowest possible rating is not a regularly used one these days, but 'Uncaged' is for me one of the deserved recent recipients.
'Uncaged's' good potential ends with the story concept. It is an example of a film that starts poorly, with the "trying to be clever but in reality looks cheap and a visual eyesore" photography and editing rendering the opening not just confusing but incomprehensible. Unfortunately, this confusion doesn't go away and even increases with the jumpy structure and so many things left incomplete and vague.
On top of being confused, the story is also very erratic in pace. At some points it feels rushed. At other points it's tedious, that would have been improved if some of the content that was unnecessary and there for padding purposes was trimmed or cut. Nothing's fun or interesting and tension and suspense are nowhere in sight, instead it's all those things and a lot of parts, especially the character behaviours, are far-fetched, stupid and illogical. The script is awkward and never rings true, with a lot of ridiculousness and unintentional humour.
Couldn't get invested with any of the characters, because of the lack of development or drama and because they are just so annoying and incapable of rational or intelligent thought, and the direction is barely existent. The acting is really bad at best, the main protagonist tries but the antagonist is too over-the-top and the female lead is cringe-worthy.
It's not just the photography and editing in the opening that looks poor visually. Those elements are not much better throughout, and there is a drab, over-dark look. Standing out too in a not-good way is one of the worst-looking werewolves ever, even for low-budget there is no excuse for anything to look like something that would have looked awful 50 years ago. Audio is over-bearing and ruins any atmosphere by telegraphing it in advance.
To conclude, even for someone judging it for what it is 'Uncaged' was just a complete waste of time. 1/10 Bethany Cox
