Before getting into this review, I want to point out that I am a HUGE horror fan, but that I like horror that is different from what most horror fans are into. So when I see bad reviews I don't think much of it-some of my favorites have had some pretty crappy reviews on IMDb.
Also, I did check the little box that says my review contains spoilers, but let me say it again, I am definitely including spoilers in this review. If you can call them that. Personally I wouldn't call them spoilers, because I would have rather read someone's summary of the movie than have wasted an hour of my life on it. So there are spoilers ahead, but really, nothing in this movie could possibly be spoiled any more than what the filmmaker has already done.
It was the name of the movie that got me really interested in watching. It started out decent, not great but I thought maybe it would go somewhere. The creepy van kept me on edge before they get to their destination, I was actually pretty freaked out for a little while. When they finally got to the "cabin" (I've never seen a cabin that big in my life) and the b-day girl's aunt showed up, I was actually relieved. I thought, okay awesome they can tell her about the creepy van that seems to have been following them for HOURS, just in case, that way maybe the aunt can call every once in a while and if there's no answer she'll know something is wrong and call the police. But no, birthday girl says "please don't mention the van to my aunt, she's way overprotective." So everyone agrees, because apparently they've never seen a scary movie before. (These kids are supposed to be from NYC, you'd think they'd be a little more street smart.) Everything seems OK now, we see the kids hanging out and filming each other being silly/annoying for a half hour. The next morning they go into the woods, for some reason (to see a cave I believe?), and somehow get lost. I thought this was going somewhere..but it doesn't, it's just a bunch of whining and fighting and Tanya being annoying. They are actually lost in the woods for the entire day, then when it gets dark they start freaking out about a noise, run, and magically find their way back to the mansion cabin which has been lit up like a Christmas tree the whole time (either these kids know nothing about not wasting electricity since they left in the morning and when they get back every light in and on the house is lit up, or they don't realize "hey who turned all the lights on") and apparently has been less that 500 feet away. They get home, and by this point, I'm actually hoping something will happen to Tanya because I can't understand how ANYONE would be friends w the girl, let alone bring her on a weekend getaway.
So now they're back, there's a knock on the door but no one is there except a videotape (no footprints or anything even though there's snow on the ground), the kids realize the van guy has been filming them since leaving the city, and the van comes creeping up the driveway. I don't want to give the rest of the plot away (not that there is much, by this point the movie is more than 2/3s over) but I will say conveniently the phone lines get cut, their cells have no service, and apparently the birthday girl's aunt doesn't have any internet service (I realize the phone lines are cut but this woman has top of the line everything, I'd think she'd have some kind of back up something in case of an emergency) we see nothing happen but people keep disappearing (at one point the kid with the camera has a three minute argument w Tanya telling her to hold his camera so he can go look around, she argues that she CAN'T, she's too scared, then finally she takes it and she decides to FOLLOW him around to find the guy/guys/entities that are messing with them. This girl who has been whining the ENTIRE MOVIE that just refused to even move or hold the camera in her hand somehow got the nerve to go looking for the bad guys.) Then we hear a bang and some screaming, and the camera goes out, and it switched to the stalker's camera. Last thing we see if the stalker's camera in night vision following a girl as she's feeling her way along the wall, she makes it to the door, opens it, screams, looks behind her, we hear some weird popping noises and then we get a freeze frame of the girl screaming. I don't know if the stalker was supposed to be supernatural, it kind of sounded like the noise from the grudge but not as creepy...I have no idea what was supposed to have happened in this movie.
If I'd known how bad this was going to be I absolutely would not have watched it, and I wouldn't recommend it to anyone, ever. Save the hour of your life, and read a book, or watch TV, or fold laundry for an hour, anything would be better than this movie. I like some creeze movies that not many other people would want to watch, but even I thoughgt this was crap, and I'm actually really annoyed because the title had me thinking it was actually going to be scary. Don't waste your time.
Also, I did check the little box that says my review contains spoilers, but let me say it again, I am definitely including spoilers in this review. If you can call them that. Personally I wouldn't call them spoilers, because I would have rather read someone's summary of the movie than have wasted an hour of my life on it. So there are spoilers ahead, but really, nothing in this movie could possibly be spoiled any more than what the filmmaker has already done.
It was the name of the movie that got me really interested in watching. It started out decent, not great but I thought maybe it would go somewhere. The creepy van kept me on edge before they get to their destination, I was actually pretty freaked out for a little while. When they finally got to the "cabin" (I've never seen a cabin that big in my life) and the b-day girl's aunt showed up, I was actually relieved. I thought, okay awesome they can tell her about the creepy van that seems to have been following them for HOURS, just in case, that way maybe the aunt can call every once in a while and if there's no answer she'll know something is wrong and call the police. But no, birthday girl says "please don't mention the van to my aunt, she's way overprotective." So everyone agrees, because apparently they've never seen a scary movie before. (These kids are supposed to be from NYC, you'd think they'd be a little more street smart.) Everything seems OK now, we see the kids hanging out and filming each other being silly/annoying for a half hour. The next morning they go into the woods, for some reason (to see a cave I believe?), and somehow get lost. I thought this was going somewhere..but it doesn't, it's just a bunch of whining and fighting and Tanya being annoying. They are actually lost in the woods for the entire day, then when it gets dark they start freaking out about a noise, run, and magically find their way back to the mansion cabin which has been lit up like a Christmas tree the whole time (either these kids know nothing about not wasting electricity since they left in the morning and when they get back every light in and on the house is lit up, or they don't realize "hey who turned all the lights on") and apparently has been less that 500 feet away. They get home, and by this point, I'm actually hoping something will happen to Tanya because I can't understand how ANYONE would be friends w the girl, let alone bring her on a weekend getaway.
So now they're back, there's a knock on the door but no one is there except a videotape (no footprints or anything even though there's snow on the ground), the kids realize the van guy has been filming them since leaving the city, and the van comes creeping up the driveway. I don't want to give the rest of the plot away (not that there is much, by this point the movie is more than 2/3s over) but I will say conveniently the phone lines get cut, their cells have no service, and apparently the birthday girl's aunt doesn't have any internet service (I realize the phone lines are cut but this woman has top of the line everything, I'd think she'd have some kind of back up something in case of an emergency) we see nothing happen but people keep disappearing (at one point the kid with the camera has a three minute argument w Tanya telling her to hold his camera so he can go look around, she argues that she CAN'T, she's too scared, then finally she takes it and she decides to FOLLOW him around to find the guy/guys/entities that are messing with them. This girl who has been whining the ENTIRE MOVIE that just refused to even move or hold the camera in her hand somehow got the nerve to go looking for the bad guys.) Then we hear a bang and some screaming, and the camera goes out, and it switched to the stalker's camera. Last thing we see if the stalker's camera in night vision following a girl as she's feeling her way along the wall, she makes it to the door, opens it, screams, looks behind her, we hear some weird popping noises and then we get a freeze frame of the girl screaming. I don't know if the stalker was supposed to be supernatural, it kind of sounded like the noise from the grudge but not as creepy...I have no idea what was supposed to have happened in this movie.
If I'd known how bad this was going to be I absolutely would not have watched it, and I wouldn't recommend it to anyone, ever. Save the hour of your life, and read a book, or watch TV, or fold laundry for an hour, anything would be better than this movie. I like some creeze movies that not many other people would want to watch, but even I thoughgt this was crap, and I'm actually really annoyed because the title had me thinking it was actually going to be scary. Don't waste your time.