Reviews

I wasn't against the idea of a non-found footage REC movie, so I didn't come into this film without much in the way of preconceptions or prejudice. The movie is well-shot, the FX are great, the acting is also pretty good. And that's where the good ends.

The idea was there, but it wasn't at all developed. The screenplay is stale, the dialog is boring, even when good actors are saying it. There is a plot, but there's no attempt at investing the viewers into it. The characters are also boring, have no arcs, and you can't even call them cliché'd or stereotyped, as there practically isn't any characterization behind them. They make weird choices without any semblance of motivation, and end up being just cannon fodder to the zombies. Speaking of which..

The zombies aren't scary. They aren't creepy, they aren't menacing, they're just.. There. This is basically what all the points in the previous paragraph culminate into - if you're not invested in the characters/plot, you won't be invested in the threat, no matter how well done the latter is. What made REC and REC 2 zombies scary is nowhere to be found in this movie. Just skip it.

It's unbelievable how much flaws this movie has, from acting to script to editing, but how amazingly it all works together to create such an enjoyable experience. It's not unintentionally bad-turned-amazing. This was an intentionally crafted weird, disjointed, bizzare film, which could please both "The Room" fans and "uninitiated" viewers if they can suspend all their expectations as to what a movie is and delve into the characters, surprisingly complicated plot and overall psychidelic tone and atmosphere of this movie.

P.S. If you're gonna shoot - shoot, don't talk.

I surely was caught off-guard by this feature. It was a very very enjoyable watch for me. Let's get the technical standpoint out of the way: The cinematography was quite stunning, the film is beautifully shot, both with gorgeous wide shots and intimate close-ups. The editing was shoty at times, but overall good. Even the shoty parts one could argue add to the bizzare atmosphere. Acting was.. Well, more hit-or-miss than the editing. The actors give passable-to-good performances.

Except for Tommy. Tommy is the most amazing of them all (no joke, no irony, pure honesty), and exactly because he plays himself - a very bizarre, weird, almost alien person, who can be gullible and intelligent at the same time, and still feel relatable and believable. This is not Johnny from The Room, where the actor is trying to be serious and fails miserably. This is the same actor playing pretty much the same role, but owning the role, owning himself and being overall amazingly fun and investing to watch. The story is surprisingly engaging. If this was any movie I'd say the script needs work, as there are a few "eh" moments, a few out of place lines, etc., but in this one all these quirks contribute to the style, which, even if unintentional, exists and I adored it.

Overall, expect a reimagining of the bizarre style of The Room, but this time done (I think) intentionally, and done right. It probably won't become such a cult phenomenon as The Room, but it gets damn near close to its potential.

The movie is well made, well shot, the acting is good, and for me that's all this movie has going for it. It toyed with some interesting ideas, which ended up nowhere. I understand there are times which you shouldn't reveal a lot as a storyteller and should leave things for the viewer to figure out and interprey, but when you leave too much out it doesn't amount to much of anything. In my opinion this movie could have been loads better in the atmosphere, plot, reveal and overall mythos departments. As is, it was mostly a boring and unsatisfying experience.

I'm not usually afraid of horror movies. Startled - maybe, distirbed - by some, but never actually afraid. This film utterly terrified me. Without any use of cheap scares, overly produced effects, clichés and so on. It builds a thick atmosphere of dread, of looming demise, which never dilutes until the end credits, just by character building, amazing sound design and soundtrack. It made me unbelievably tense, not because I was waiting for a jump scare (there aren't almost any, and none felt cheap, unearned or meaningless), but because of that overwhelming sense of pure terror and imminent tragedy, that culminates in an amazing ending. I was very close to tears during most of the runtime because of that atmosphere. I might be exaggerating, and you might not react to this movie the same way I did, I am just sharing my experience. I'll leave you with this - the event in the ending actually happened.

TL;DR Very stylised to the point where some people might not enjoy it at all, but to me it was a very entertaining at first, and profoundly disturbing in the last minutes.

Let me start off by saying that many people won't be able to stomach this movie. Not because of the gore (which isn't very explicit) or even for the shock factor, but for the style - it's a highly stylised movie, in tone, in presentation, characters, acting, etc. I personally loved the style, you may hate it.

I am a somewhat cynical and desensitized person when it comes to disturbing films. I'm squeamish about very graphic gore and that's about it. For example - I thoroughly enjoyed and laughed at "The House that Jack Built", which, albeit somewhat of a dark comedy, is a pretty sick movie. This movie disturbed me on a deep emotional level.

The first third to half or so of the movie is sort of mindless fun - character setup with random "*SHOCKING*" events occurring, some gore for the sake of gore, standart artsy B-movie stuff. I didn't have high hopes for anything "deep" or "controversial" to happen, I was just enjoying it as mindless fun (which is what I was looking for, really). The ending is sort of obvious, as other reviewers have pointed out, but I was surely caught off guard by the reaction I had to it.

The surrealism of the characters and cinematography, great acting and character setup, combined with the somewhat subtle build-up (yeah, this movie is quite far from subtle per sè, but the build-up of the main character's catharsis can be, in my opinion, considered subtle) led to a, for me, gut-wrenching last minites, which, at first, weren't really anything that special (hell, it's obvious what is going to happen by the 50 min mark or earlier) , but after some time when it had set in it really messed with me.

In summary, if you can stomach the surrealism of the style and characters, it could be a great watch for you, thought it could bore or repulse you too. It's not a movie made for a wide audience. To me, nevertheless, it was amazing.

Still, there is admittedly the possibility that both the movie and I are full of it. I'd recommend you give it a watch, sit through the end and judge for yourself.

You know, I just watched The Disaster Artist and I honestly very seldom laughed. Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed the movie a ton, but I didn't view it as a comedy. I am concidered an eccentric person myself, not anyway near the eccentricity of Tommy, but in a similar manner, and I saw myself exagerated in the character (and, subsequently, in the real person) that is Tommy Wiseau and I fully related to him. I know how he feels, I know what it is to be passionate to the point of disregading other people around you, I know what it is to be misunderstood on such a deep level, and how degrading it can feel inside. This isn't good or bad it's just, as Tommy himself said, human nature. We all have a bit of Tommy inside ourselves and I think we all should embrace. If it's not hurting us or the people around us.. why shouldn't we all be a bit Tommy sometimes.

P.S.I think it's interesting how The Room was concieved as a serious drama, but it is recieved as a comedy, and The Disaster Artist is a comedy, but I personally viewed it as an introspective drama. Ironic, isn't it?