As a whole, this is a good movie, and pretty creepy. The acting is, for the most part, solid. However, there are some REALLY BIG flaws that just spoil the movie. For one, the only survivor of the town is an illegal alien whose first language happens to be English (his Spanish accent is horrible). The next thing is that they drag politics into the mix, adding an Alex Jones local clone in there for spice. The problem is that someone like Alex Jones would be more apt to delve into the photos and conspiracy than what the script presents. The portrayal of the sheriff is good at times, and at others pretty obvious. The guys in the bar? A prime representation of what an LA screenwriter's concept of town locals would be, in that it is stereotypical, one-dimensional, and about 160 degrees out of phase with reality. The phone call of the pastor as part of the "evidence" is completely ridiculous, and - again - sounds like some LA screenwriter's concept of local pastor gone mad, but missing the mark by a wide margin. The movie went into a lot of miscellaneous detail about the families of the victims and the background of the sheriff that could have been completely lopped off and no one would have noticed. Lastly, there is all of this evidence laid out, and all of this material gone over, and yet absolutely no conclusions about what it was that killed the residents of the town. And that's pretty much what made me kind of mad that I spent all of this time wading through the film, only to end up with basically nothing.
That being said, much of the rest was done pretty well. The narration of events, coupled with the pictures keep you engaged through the film. And while they were a distraction in the narrative, the interviews with the family members were actually very well done. How they lay down each event as described by the pictures is very good. The most notable part of the film is the interviews with the "professional photographer" that I found bolstered the whole tone and direction of the film.
So, a bit of a mixed bag. I would have REALLY liked this thing if they had just tightened things up a bit. Maybe they'll do that in a sequel. Who knows...?
That being said, much of the rest was done pretty well. The narration of events, coupled with the pictures keep you engaged through the film. And while they were a distraction in the narrative, the interviews with the family members were actually very well done. How they lay down each event as described by the pictures is very good. The most notable part of the film is the interviews with the "professional photographer" that I found bolstered the whole tone and direction of the film.
So, a bit of a mixed bag. I would have REALLY liked this thing if they had just tightened things up a bit. Maybe they'll do that in a sequel. Who knows...?