The excellent Glenn Morshower was my main reason for watching this film. Over the past few years he's cornered he market on stoic, dependable, "down-home," authority/military types, with his performance as Secret Service Agent Aaron Pierce on, "24," being the pinnacle of that particular type and a true highlight of that series. Therefore I was naturally excited to see that he had finally been given the lead role in a movie (as opposed to standing behind the lead, usually in a military uniform).
It would seem at first glance those doing the casting had a keen sense of humour, having Glenn doing his, "stoic," bit as a park ranger to a bunch of Community Service teens being stalked by a grizzly in the wilds providing a funny dynamic in a well worn horror staple. How wrong I was.
The film itself suffers from a terminal case of slowness, with scenes that should move along with pace (as should the whole film) being bogged down with performances where everyone....pauses...before....saying....their...lines in response to another characters remarks, almost like the editor just couldn't quite bear to part with those few seconds between the director calling, "Action," and the actor remembering their lines. As a result already stilted performances are made even worse by long bouts of silence. Endless scenes of walking through the woods before we actually get to any action doesn't help either.
The cast of young actors are also undermined by the list of stereotypical characters they are given. Granted, this is a horror movie, they deal in stereotypes, but in this case it just comes across as incredibly lazy and tired. Making them, "Young Offenders," in an effort to add depth to the proceedings is a total waste of time as nothing is made of it. It literally doesn't matter. As does the subplot of the, "Escaped Maniac." Quite why he's in there I have no idea. Reading the synopsis, it would seem to be to add another element of danger to the story (If the bear doesn't get them, the killer will!) but the fact that he is eaten pretty much straight away kind of undermines that attempt at, "tension." He could quite easily have been the Corrections Officer whose identity he steals in the first place (and, in a totally logic defying decision, whose job collecting a bunch of kids from the local cops, who one would presume are all looking for him, he decides to carry on with) and it would make no difference to the story.
When the bear finally does arrive the level of the effects just makes the whole thing even more laughable, with paws that don't look all that more convincing than those on, "Trickster's," bear costume (which must have had some kind of inflatable head given the size of it in comparison to the backpack he's carried for the rest of the film) dragging poor teens through cabin windows.
In the end it's only Glenn who comes out of this whole thing with any kind of dignity intact, putting in a performance worthy of a far better film. Reading the trivia section for this film on IMDb, I see that the director got his break by thrusting his home made movie into the arms of the producer and it endeared it to them so much they gave him his shot. Perhaps next time the producer could just smack him over the head with it and tell him to go practise some more before letting him loose on another movie.
It would seem at first glance those doing the casting had a keen sense of humour, having Glenn doing his, "stoic," bit as a park ranger to a bunch of Community Service teens being stalked by a grizzly in the wilds providing a funny dynamic in a well worn horror staple. How wrong I was.
The film itself suffers from a terminal case of slowness, with scenes that should move along with pace (as should the whole film) being bogged down with performances where everyone....pauses...before....saying....their...lines in response to another characters remarks, almost like the editor just couldn't quite bear to part with those few seconds between the director calling, "Action," and the actor remembering their lines. As a result already stilted performances are made even worse by long bouts of silence. Endless scenes of walking through the woods before we actually get to any action doesn't help either.
The cast of young actors are also undermined by the list of stereotypical characters they are given. Granted, this is a horror movie, they deal in stereotypes, but in this case it just comes across as incredibly lazy and tired. Making them, "Young Offenders," in an effort to add depth to the proceedings is a total waste of time as nothing is made of it. It literally doesn't matter. As does the subplot of the, "Escaped Maniac." Quite why he's in there I have no idea. Reading the synopsis, it would seem to be to add another element of danger to the story (If the bear doesn't get them, the killer will!) but the fact that he is eaten pretty much straight away kind of undermines that attempt at, "tension." He could quite easily have been the Corrections Officer whose identity he steals in the first place (and, in a totally logic defying decision, whose job collecting a bunch of kids from the local cops, who one would presume are all looking for him, he decides to carry on with) and it would make no difference to the story.
When the bear finally does arrive the level of the effects just makes the whole thing even more laughable, with paws that don't look all that more convincing than those on, "Trickster's," bear costume (which must have had some kind of inflatable head given the size of it in comparison to the backpack he's carried for the rest of the film) dragging poor teens through cabin windows.
In the end it's only Glenn who comes out of this whole thing with any kind of dignity intact, putting in a performance worthy of a far better film. Reading the trivia section for this film on IMDb, I see that the director got his break by thrusting his home made movie into the arms of the producer and it endeared it to them so much they gave him his shot. Perhaps next time the producer could just smack him over the head with it and tell him to go practise some more before letting him loose on another movie.