User Reviews

With advancements in technology, it has become easier for the "every man" to make movies. In some ways, it has become like one of those talent reality shows with the audience as the judges: everyone thinks they have talent, not everyone does, but some have potential and once in a while you find a real star.

Mr. Pullen shows some real potential here. This isn't the best of it's type I've seen, but it is FAR from the worst. And it is worth a watch, particularly if you are interested in filmmaking. It was as fun seeing what he got wrong as it was seeing what he got right. It would make a great film for a film class to study.

And visually, it was a great. Heck, James Cameron has made a fortune making really stupid yet gorgeous movies. Beautiful is worth a lot.

This film has its plusses and its minuses.

ACTING: Like most indie films it is a grab-bag. Steve Pullen himself is probably better off staying behind the camera, but he doesn't make you wince (although he does chew the scenery a bit). Little Isabella as Sophia is a stand-out, though. She has a future in acting.

CINEMATOGRAPHY: Actually pretty good. Whomever was handling the camera is decent. Some of the scenery is gorgeous and shots were well-framed.

WRITING: Mixed bag. The dialogue isn't terrible (not great either) and the story concept is interesting, but the story itself was a little too complicated and a little too contrived. For a long time it appeared there were two disparate stories happening here, and while I see what he was going for as far as the parallels and inferences, it really got muddled up. The opening made certain promises to the viewer, and I found a lot of that middle ground to be frustrating as I was waiting for it to play out the way I suspected it might (it didn't, by the way). It was like being taken out of the story and put into another one. I found myself not caring about any of the tension in "that" part of the story because it felt like an interruption to the original narrative. iI also think a few too many liberties were taken with the story (as we saw it) to justify that ending, but it was an admirable attempt. However, if you're going to go in that direction you need a little more foreshadowing. Nobody should be left at the big reveal saying "huh... wha?" And the denouement was just a bit too much. I want to avoid making this a spoiler review so I'll skip making the obvious comment about that. When you see the film, though, you'll see what I mean. It was a twist too far. And it stretched on WAAAY too long, explaining and explaining and explaining until we realize the filmmaker was not confident in how he had presented his story. If you feel the need to spell out everything you just showed your audience, you already know you didn't get it right.

EDITING: Well done. Good editing is invisible; bad editing will destroy a movie.

MAKEUP: Normally I wouldn't even talk about make-up in a review, but this was so horrific it had to be mentioned. It was like make-up in a children's theatrical production : it looked like it was slopped onto faces by a stage-mom volunteer who had a few too many chardonnays before showing up at the theater. Just really, really bad, to the point of distraction.

Another rare mention is the TITLE SEQUENCE: Whoever did this has some artistic vision and talent with a computer. It looked very professionally done and fit the tone of the film.

Despite my criticisms, I think Mr. Pullen should continue to make films. I can see some really good movies in his future as he hones is craft. He is one of the reasons that I am loving the rise in indie filmmaking as the means to make movies becomes more accessible. This may not be a total winner, but the raw material is there, and some of it was really, really good (and talent is rare).

PS: If you're going to have family members make fake reviews, tell them to avoid superlatives and hyperbole. The stink of fake was all over some of these reviews and it was an embarrassment to the film. Reviews aren't just something to make people want to watch your film, they are your honest feedback. Requesting fake reviews is narcissistic and not helpful. I almost skipped this film because those reviews were so ridiculous. I'm glad I didn't.

Not horror nor creepy but a good movie. Drama at best. when the ending came, it was kind of sad tobe honest at least for me....my father suffered the same fate as the little girl's father . low budget, yes.....but still good. give it a try.

But I did, and I might even change it to a 9, but probably only because I am so tired of big budget movies that try to be horrific or funny or thrilling and fail to deliver, and I am really tired of indie films that have more to do with disposable income than independent vision.

The story blends several tropes into something fresher, and becomes a haunting dystopia that lingers long after the movie is over, due to the engaging characters played by engaging unknowns, a central mystery that moves along quickly and never cheats or manipulates, and direction, photography and editing found in more expensive productions while still managing to feel intimate and atmospheric.

If you can find this film, give it a look, as it deserves attention.

'The Ballerina' drew me into seeing it, with a cool poster/cover, an slightly intriguing but very derivative premise and as someone with a general appreciation for horror. That it was low-budget, which from frequent personal experience is rarely a good sign due to that there are so many poor ones out there, made me though apprehensive.

It is sadly however yet another film seen recently, hence some reiteration because the exact same strengths and flaws those films are present here, that to me was incredibly disappointing considering its potential which it doesn't do anywhere near enough with. 'The Ballerina' is terrible, with a plethora of problems (huge ones too) and doesn't do enough with its potential, which was hardly small. There is next to nothing to recommend and it is a sleeper.

Lets start with the sole positive. The scenery is atmospheric and spooky.

Unfortunately, it is not done justice by the rather direct to video schlocky way it's shot and edited, it was very clear that the film was made in a rush with no care or enthusiasm.

Going on further to the negatives, the story does feel paper thin, disjointed and over-stretched and some of it feels vague, under-explained in the last third where the film especially became duller, more predictable, more senseless and less scary. Too many characters are too sketchy and with nowhere near enough to make one want to endear to them. Their annoying and illogical decision making and behaviours frustrates.

Making the film feel bland and forgettable with not enough heart put into it. The effects are ropy at best, the sound quality is obvious and utilised cheaply (being too loud in the build ups and people's reactions) and it's best not mentioning the uniformly lumbering and histrionic acting in what was largely a family project it seems.

Dialogue can be stilted and rambling, with lots of clichés and no depth whatsoever, while the pace goes to a standstill very quickly and drags on forever with very little going on worth caring about, never recovering. Found too many the supposedly shocking moments not surprising or scary and the supposedly creepy atmosphere dreary, due to the excessive obviousness, a lot of dumb and vague moments and explanations and the lack of tension and suspense. Would not have minded the lack of originality (the film is extremely derivative and in a dumbed and watered down way) if the story and atmosphere were at least alright in execution, in reality they were both dreadfully done. Not to mention a whole novel's worth of inconsistencies and continuity errors.

A lot of 'The Ballerina' has underdeveloped plot elements and often nonsensical and confusing character motivations, while too many of the things to make you jump or shocked are far from creative or scary and are pretty tame. The ending makes the film finish on an incomplete and confused whimper.

There is not enough threat here and what there is of it tends to be used poorly, it is completely unimaginative and more odd than creepy, completely failing to show any sense of horror. Some badly sagging momentum too. The direction is leaden, inexperience is all over the film, and the music doesn't really fit.

Concluding, near-irredeemably awful. 1/10 Bethany Cox

I love slow, building, atmospheric ghost stories. This attempted. This utterly failed. Writer took the easy way out instead of staying consistent...WiFi laptop in a swamp camp where children wake up freezing in worn tents? The main character needed to know something. BOOM handy laptop.

It was boring, uninspired, depressing as hell, and when everything was finally coming together it fell completely flat.

The plot is very disorientating. The acting is so terrible with predictable story and outcome.

Yes this is a lower budget movie and yes the repeated chords of music to add emotion to a scene are a bit overdone. Yes there are some plot holes about internet in a forest. However the plot holes are technically explained.

As titled I didn't know where this was going. It appears to be an odd haunting but turns into much more. I feel it was very well done and a new look into possibly done tropes but so much of it was just done so well. The acting was enjoyable and the revelations in the story are great. I feel the last 10 minutes could have been condensed to about 2 and I would have loved this movie much more.

Don't give into wanting the jump scares of horror, watch this and get taken through an emotional story.

... i feel so bad for those hard working people that spent their hard earned cash on this pile of garbage ... i was lucky i spent less than a dollar in the clear out basket ... great box, great headlines 'Scary as Hell' ... but what a load of absolute rubbish ... the good reviews are probably the family that made the film, the whole cast are related ... they should be sued for bad everything!!!!!!!

The Ballerina is a directorial debut from newcomer Steve Pullen. Pullen also stars in, co-produced and wrote the screenplay to this film. For a debut done on a low budget, The Ballerina blew me away! I can't wait to see more from Pullen and see how he progresses in the future.

With the horror genre being oversaturated with gore for the sake of gore, lackluster to no plots, and little suspense, The Ballerina breathed new life with its revival of southern gothic horror. It's atmospheric, it's moody, it's melancholy. The tensions between reality and the supernatural are palpable and eventually blend into a delusional realism. But beyond that, is tragedy brought to life. The last 30 minutes is an emotional experience for the viewer. As the story progresses, the viewer begins to realize the actuality of the situation as the layers are exposed piece by piece. It's tragic. It's heartbreaking. But there, there's relief at the end.

This is ultimately a story of regret, forgiveness and redemption. And one done so in an artful and meaningful way.

For a low budget movie this one definitely was put together well. It kept my attention throughout the movie and the acting was very well done. Definitely worth watching.

It's low-budget, it's not gonna scare you; the first 30 minutes are slow and sad, but then it turns into a good little ghost story; it got surprisingly suspenseful too. Don't watch with high expectations, it's decent at best. but if you love creepy little ghost stories like I do, then give it try.

... since the IMDB rating kinda showed otherwise. I was gambling by watching this, and I was honestly surprised because it paid off. I was already aware that this is a low-budget movie so I did not expect much. But the story is honestly appealing - this reminds me of the horror concepts when they would mix emotions and feelings instead of giving one jumpscare and gory makeup after another. I give this a seven because after all, the director could improve some of the aspects. Such as ... they already implied that it was a desolated camping site, why would anyone be able to pull out a laptop WITH AN INTERNET CONNECTION, since the place is already described as desolated?? The script still needs workarounds on those. I am always a fan of horror movies with background stories and somehow this satisfies me enough and jumpscares already bored me to death. This is the kind of horror where the revelation of the "truth" gives you the kind of emotional scare and "ouch ... now it makes sense!" feelings.

Disclaimer: this is my first review after stalking IMDB for years - no, I am not getting paid for this, I just want to give the reader a fair considerations since I know that there are so many trashy movies out there these days. Those who fell asleep watching this may be into a more action-packed horror (and I don't blame them because horrors are after all meant to scare the crap outta you), but for those who can concentrate on dramas and conflict, I'd say this movie is worth considering.

Not the best movie, but is not too bad.I like movies that makes me think.

We all react differently to plots and pace. I for one have issues keeping my attention fixed if I find a movie is not engaging me. I'm an avid horror/thriller movie fan and this I liked most out of others that I saw recently. It's a ghost story and the plot is nothing new. But, it's gripping. And, while there may be some inconsistencies if you wanted to be picky, it has suspense, keeps you guessing and it's not relying on special effects to be so. This is not for those that like fast action, gore or slasher movies. It's slower and built more on the storyline than special effects. Think of "A ghost story" type of movie. I really enjoyed it.

Great storyline really enjoyed it not the best actors and not big a baget but its still interesting. Lets just say watch it give it a chance if you watching not just to be scared but also enjoy some Drama - the end is shoking

This movie is great, I was into it from the start even though it had a slow built up. Things eventually got interesting and the story was thrilling the rest of the way. I would highly recommend this movie to anyone, thanks and you are welcome.

I was long overdue for a sad, but sweet (sometimes creepy) ghost story, and The Ballerina gave me exactly what I craved. This show isn't very scary, but it's got a lot of heart in the story it tells. Well worth the view.

I haven't seen movies like this in a long time, thank you it was beautiful!

The ballerina is one of the best movies me and my family has ever seen it is excellent the cast is incredible the little girl is adorable her fathers handsome as hell and it was just a great movie

Actors played out the roles rather convincing ... story line interesting .. kept me interested from start to finish.. I recommend watching this one :)