venusboys3
This is a fairly ordinary slasher movie that has an extra bit of oomph in the way events are depicted. Right off I'll say that despite the first opening narration and the first few minutes this is NOT a found footage movie. Parts of it are shot first person but the bulk of it is not. The 'twist' to this story is that the main protagonists are two young people who have been set up with each other by their friends. It's something of a blind date from hell as they suddenly find themselves fighting for their lives against a menacing predator. Do they get along and cooperate... finding true love amidst the terror? Or do they fight with each other at every and make it an 'every man for himself' situation?There are things about this movie I liked, the general sequence of events was a bit different, kept me guessing. It has a touch of humor throughout. I liked the ending.That's about it. Honestly, the movie looked like a student film. By the lack of reviews/discussion here I suspect it is. It looks cheap but not in that interesting B movie/Grindhouse way. Everything just looks so damn clean and new and attractive... the actors are blandly attractive young people, their vehicles look clean and new, the cabin is nice and clean and brightly/evenly lit. Everything about the visuals is incredibly bland. Even the killer seems mild mannered and boring.I think the real problem is the direction. I mean, it's competent in the basic storytelling... but completely lacking in the creation of atmosphere. Most of that is surely due to the lack of budget... but a good portion remains with how the actors moved and the bland way many of the scenes were composed. Everything is too evenly and brightly lit, too straight on in it's visual language. The actor playing the killer was in particular need of a strong hand to guide him.. "Hey, serial killer... could you make yourself look a bit more menacing... less like you're shopping at Target". If this is someone's first movie I'd say it's not awful, congrats on getting it done. There are some interesting choices being made. Keep going. But please consider using some interesting looking actors, and bone up on the subtleties of lighting, atmosphere and creating believable/engaging characters.
