Essential The Official Coli Horror Film Thread: Discussion, Recommendations And Murder.
- Thread starter Dominic Brehetto
- Start date
storyteller
Veteran
Really good mockumentary style joint. I watched it recently, and I feel like it's even more poignant today than it was back then.
storyteller
Veteran
My "you almost had it" award for the month goes to this genuinely well shot budget horror from 2018, that has a really clever premise, but doesn't live up to its potential...still worth watching in my book, it's just too bad I can't give this an enthusiastic thumbs up.
I really want to stress what this joint gets right, though it requires pretty minor spoilers. A group of 20-somethings are partying out in the desert, when they unknowingly attract the attention of what's essentially a creepy-pasta creature. The entity starts messing with them, and how it toys with them really makes the first half fun, because a lot of it is subtle.
Basically, you might see a character in one room and a tracking shot will follow someone else to the next room, and you see the character again. Which shouldn't make sense, they'd have to warp from one place to another. But it keeps happening and the characters increasingly notice it. It's simple things like that and the number five repeatedly appearing, that create this really intriguing build-up.
There's also this really great shot where two characters are looking into the distance because they think they see something. It switches to a POV shot and it's unclear, but you maybe do see it and maybe don't. I love that sorta thing.
Anyway, the problem is when we get off the subtle scares and go into the really threatening stuff. The first true shock moment is really well done, but everything after that is screaming "we couldn't afford an effects team." So the creature looks wonky, kills are mostly implied, and the budget actors have a hard time catching up to the intensity of the situation. Stuff happens...but it happens off screen.
That sucks, because a lot of this works. The subtle bits are good, characters are tropey but you get to know them all, and there's a really great set design in the final act that's genuinely creepy to walk into. But there's no real action, unless you count some drinking games. Even the ending is a jump cut, I assume because they didn't have the budget to show us a real payoff.
I want this remade tbh. It's got a ton of potential, and is better than it has any right to be given the constraints. I think it's worth a watch just for the clever parts of the story, but it's very mid in the end.
I really want to stress what this joint gets right, though it requires pretty minor spoilers. A group of 20-somethings are partying out in the desert, when they unknowingly attract the attention of what's essentially a creepy-pasta creature. The entity starts messing with them, and how it toys with them really makes the first half fun, because a lot of it is subtle.
Basically, you might see a character in one room and a tracking shot will follow someone else to the next room, and you see the character again. Which shouldn't make sense, they'd have to warp from one place to another. But it keeps happening and the characters increasingly notice it. It's simple things like that and the number five repeatedly appearing, that create this really intriguing build-up.
There's also this really great shot where two characters are looking into the distance because they think they see something. It switches to a POV shot and it's unclear, but you maybe do see it and maybe don't. I love that sorta thing.
Anyway, the problem is when we get off the subtle scares and go into the really threatening stuff. The first true shock moment is really well done, but everything after that is screaming "we couldn't afford an effects team." So the creature looks wonky, kills are mostly implied, and the budget actors have a hard time catching up to the intensity of the situation. Stuff happens...but it happens off screen.
That sucks, because a lot of this works. The subtle bits are good, characters are tropey but you get to know them all, and there's a really great set design in the final act that's genuinely creepy to walk into. But there's no real action, unless you count some drinking games. Even the ending is a jump cut, I assume because they didn't have the budget to show us a real payoff.
I want this remade tbh. It's got a ton of potential, and is better than it has any right to be given the constraints. I think it's worth a watch just for the clever parts of the story, but it's very mid in the end.