I actually thought this movie was a pretty good one. I know the ultimate dumb move of following a stranger to an abandoned ruin not on the map was crappy but sometimes you need this boneheadedeness to make a horror movie. This movie felt like a 70's exploitation flick too. I was nostalgic all over with it. Cannibal Ferox comes to mind. Among other grindhouse style movies. The over the top gore was mostly not inflicted by the plants. It was the people trying to save themselves from the plants through surgery and such. Boy was it nasty. I winced a few times. I haven't winced in a long time but the effects were pretty well done. That scene when the girl is cutting herself to get the vines out, damn. Its that sort of dysfunction in a horror scenario that I love.
All the leads were pretty good in their respective roles. The only one I really recognized was Jenna Malone. She wasn't bad but wasn't great either. They all did a good job of conveying the dread and terror present in this movie.
Dread and terror, this movie had it in spades. When the plants start to mimic the behavior of the human cast things got interesting. I love how it messed with their minds. Made it very eerie at points. I kind of wished there had been a little bit more back story to the plants. Even a little. I was kind of wondering whether this was a large mass of different vines that all work together or whether it was a single living entity that had several parts attached to a main.
At points I also was thinking of John Carpenter's remake of The Thing. The villagers and everyone involved treated this plant as if it were a disease. It was neat how it started growing inside of the two female leads. It inspired a bit of paranoia in the cast like in "The Thing." I was digging that.
On the downside I thought killing of one of the children was a bit excessive and unneeded. Once again I really would have loved a little more story on this ruin. I could have used more usage of practical effects as opposed to cgi. Some of it was kind of obvious. Cgi should only be used to slightly enhance when it comes to certain things.
All in all I think this was better than what most horror coming out these days is like. It has a neat idea and manages to take its subject matter with seriousness. Also take place in broad daylight most of the time too. It kicked in with a serious bout of meanness and dread in the atmosphere that it had.
yes i love how the vines can mimick.
ReplyDeleteI also was thinking of The Thing in parts.
The part where they are in the cave and the Vines attack them was a little to CG apparent for my taste.
strangely, the scene with the boy was a film adaptation original
Oh, I was with you on the wincing. When the girl woke up and the vines were all in her leg, and they had to pull them out? I probably could've been sick to my stomach, if I'd kept looking :)
ReplyDeleteYeah its been a long time since something has made me wince a little. Definitely good effects. The creeping death feature on the disc I got showed how the practical effects work was done. They put a lot of work into just making the vines themselves. Let alone the gore. The legs that were constructed for Mathias were ridiculously realistic. ;
ReplyDeleteI liked the killing of the kid (I can't believe I just sad that) it really upped the ante that those villagers were not letting them off the ruins. Of course, when crazed locals shoot one of my friends, my first reaction probably wouldn't have been to run to the one place I know I can't get out of.
ReplyDeleteThe psychological aspects, general lack of random horror boob, and gore really only when necessary definitely pushed this past your typical dumb horror flick, despite a pretty cliched set up.