(written October 2006)
The first five minutes of this film had horrible acting and annoying, shallow characters, and I was afraid the entire movie would be like this. Luckily all of them die a few minutes later and we are introduced to the main cast, a year after that event. This movie is about a group of friends on Halloween night, calling into the spooky radio show 'American Nightmare' with it's enigmatic, raunchy host 'Caligari.' They begin to confess their fears, and then as the night goes on, they are all killed off one by one by a psychopathic, demented killer who knows their worst fears...
This movie has a bunch of flaws and by critical standards, it sucks. It's got a bunch of plot holes, the acting is rather sub par, and there are some pretty stupid lines in here, too. But this movie also packs an amazing amount of real horror atmosphere, real HORROR. It gave me the feeling that it really was Halloween, like in the movie. This is how you do a horror film. Sure, you can do it better with well trained actors and professional studio effects, but this film does a fine job on it's own of creating some very creepy moments. When the little girl jumps out from nowhere, that made me actually jump back in surprise. The scene at the party when the man had been drugged, that was excellent. And the final scene in the old hospital was extremely well done.
This movie has too many loose ends and plot holes. Who the hell is Caligari? What was the real motive of the killer? What happened to the woman's sister? These things bring the movie down a lot. It makes the movie less of a classic then it could be, but this is the HORROR genre, we're not supposed to go all pretentious and start caring about plot holes. If it scares us, then it's a fine movie. I'm a horror critic, but I was a fan long before that, and I know what I like. This movie is what I like.
As I mentioned before, the whole 'Halloween' feel is very present here. Watch it alone at night and be transported to October 31st, with trick or treaters, horror movies on TV, and Halloween parties late at night. This movie is very brutal and relentless, despite the fact that there is no blood. The killer is truly insane and does an adequate job on her performance. Despite all of it's flaws, this movie is a winner as a horror film. Am I overrating this film? Perhaps. But this is highly recommended to all fans of true horror, and there are not many other films out there that are like this one. It reminds me of Halloween crossed with more modern slashers like The Pool and Cherry Falls, with a bit of that Se7en/SAW touch blended in. Go rent it.
The first five minutes of this film had horrible acting and annoying, shallow characters, and I was afraid the entire movie would be like this. Luckily all of them die a few minutes later and we are introduced to the main cast, a year after that event. This movie is about a group of friends on Halloween night, calling into the spooky radio show 'American Nightmare' with it's enigmatic, raunchy host 'Caligari.' They begin to confess their fears, and then as the night goes on, they are all killed off one by one by a psychopathic, demented killer who knows their worst fears...
This movie has a bunch of flaws and by critical standards, it sucks. It's got a bunch of plot holes, the acting is rather sub par, and there are some pretty stupid lines in here, too. But this movie also packs an amazing amount of real horror atmosphere, real HORROR. It gave me the feeling that it really was Halloween, like in the movie. This is how you do a horror film. Sure, you can do it better with well trained actors and professional studio effects, but this film does a fine job on it's own of creating some very creepy moments. When the little girl jumps out from nowhere, that made me actually jump back in surprise. The scene at the party when the man had been drugged, that was excellent. And the final scene in the old hospital was extremely well done.
This movie has too many loose ends and plot holes. Who the hell is Caligari? What was the real motive of the killer? What happened to the woman's sister? These things bring the movie down a lot. It makes the movie less of a classic then it could be, but this is the HORROR genre, we're not supposed to go all pretentious and start caring about plot holes. If it scares us, then it's a fine movie. I'm a horror critic, but I was a fan long before that, and I know what I like. This movie is what I like.
As I mentioned before, the whole 'Halloween' feel is very present here. Watch it alone at night and be transported to October 31st, with trick or treaters, horror movies on TV, and Halloween parties late at night. This movie is very brutal and relentless, despite the fact that there is no blood. The killer is truly insane and does an adequate job on her performance. Despite all of it's flaws, this movie is a winner as a horror film. Am I overrating this film? Perhaps. But this is highly recommended to all fans of true horror, and there are not many other films out there that are like this one. It reminds me of Halloween crossed with more modern slashers like The Pool and Cherry Falls, with a bit of that Se7en/SAW touch blended in. Go rent it.