On the grand scheme of things, and when looked at on a level par with big budget movies of a similar genre, it fall down with some weak script points, direction and acting (although I personally thought that both Cal & Tre did the best with what they had).
But with a miniscule budget and limited resources in mind, this is actually not a bad effort and perhaps deserves a higher score than I have given it.
That said, there were some flaws. From an audience point of view I was interested in the basic theme and its implementation. But certain scenes and characters added nothing to either plot or story. Poor acting (wide open eyes in every scene no matter what emotion was needed to be conveyed) from Stacey Paige (Julia) and the introduction of the evil version of Sarah, just had me wishing that they had never even been created.
I downloaded this movie from the internet, I had never heard of it, but I like movies, so I figured I would give it a go. But the first scene had me both confused, and in a mood to give it up and switch it off. It left me with the feeling as though I was watching a student movie and the director was trying to show me how different he could be by instantly shoving an odd set piece complete with introduction of the bad guy and the heroin in a desert shoot out. After forcing myself to make it to the end of this scene, Cal enters the story and it settles down to be quite enjoyable from there on in (albeit with more strange flashbacks that lead nowhere and teach us nothing) By bringing Cal and his easy going demeanor to the forefront from then on in, this movie looked on the up. His performance as a kid from the bad side of the tracks who wants to go straight (is there ever another kind?) was both sincere and entertaining. His meeting with Sarah made for a strange partnership but it kind of works. But then, every now and again she would just go off on some random 'ghosts need me' mission... including into a maternity hospital to visit a grieving husband who's wife has just died giving birth.
Where is her room? Just over there, go in... help yourself; she only just died 10 minutes ago.
Hey, I am a total stranger to you, but can I hold your baby (10 minutes old) that is your only connection to your now dead wife? Yes, sure... here you go. Do I know you? I am sorry, but this whole scene stank of needing a re-write. Where at any point would this seem feasible... no matter what connection Sarah has with the dead they were trying to show, no new dad is going to let some random, beaten up crying stranger take his kid from him like that. She came across like someone who was more likely to steal a baby than anything else.
And the finale of Sarah and Tommy's supernatural showdown was such a total anti-climax "he made me do it " and unneeded. His entire presence as someone who just followed Sarah around torturing anyone that she left alive could have been completely cut from the script and nothing would have been lost (except screen time) but much would have been gained (feasible plot and ending).
Where this film should have concentrated on the Cal, Tre, Sarah triangle and the struggles to overcome the wrongful accusations and the revenge that needed to be taken on those setting him up, it was dragged down by Tommy's appearances and obsession with finding out "how does she stop the voices?!" I think that a five is a good score for the film on a whole. But if the likes of the godfather and lord of the rings were to be made on the same budget, I would expect a similar result. So 10/10 for what resulted from such a small budget ($50,000 really????) but more could have been done before shooting began to make it better (i.e. the script). I would still be interested in seeing whatever they produced next though hopefully with a bigger budget so that they can show what they can really do with some backing and with some time
But with a miniscule budget and limited resources in mind, this is actually not a bad effort and perhaps deserves a higher score than I have given it.
That said, there were some flaws. From an audience point of view I was interested in the basic theme and its implementation. But certain scenes and characters added nothing to either plot or story. Poor acting (wide open eyes in every scene no matter what emotion was needed to be conveyed) from Stacey Paige (Julia) and the introduction of the evil version of Sarah, just had me wishing that they had never even been created.
I downloaded this movie from the internet, I had never heard of it, but I like movies, so I figured I would give it a go. But the first scene had me both confused, and in a mood to give it up and switch it off. It left me with the feeling as though I was watching a student movie and the director was trying to show me how different he could be by instantly shoving an odd set piece complete with introduction of the bad guy and the heroin in a desert shoot out. After forcing myself to make it to the end of this scene, Cal enters the story and it settles down to be quite enjoyable from there on in (albeit with more strange flashbacks that lead nowhere and teach us nothing) By bringing Cal and his easy going demeanor to the forefront from then on in, this movie looked on the up. His performance as a kid from the bad side of the tracks who wants to go straight (is there ever another kind?) was both sincere and entertaining. His meeting with Sarah made for a strange partnership but it kind of works. But then, every now and again she would just go off on some random 'ghosts need me' mission... including into a maternity hospital to visit a grieving husband who's wife has just died giving birth.
Where is her room? Just over there, go in... help yourself; she only just died 10 minutes ago.
Hey, I am a total stranger to you, but can I hold your baby (10 minutes old) that is your only connection to your now dead wife? Yes, sure... here you go. Do I know you? I am sorry, but this whole scene stank of needing a re-write. Where at any point would this seem feasible... no matter what connection Sarah has with the dead they were trying to show, no new dad is going to let some random, beaten up crying stranger take his kid from him like that. She came across like someone who was more likely to steal a baby than anything else.
And the finale of Sarah and Tommy's supernatural showdown was such a total anti-climax "he made me do it " and unneeded. His entire presence as someone who just followed Sarah around torturing anyone that she left alive could have been completely cut from the script and nothing would have been lost (except screen time) but much would have been gained (feasible plot and ending).
Where this film should have concentrated on the Cal, Tre, Sarah triangle and the struggles to overcome the wrongful accusations and the revenge that needed to be taken on those setting him up, it was dragged down by Tommy's appearances and obsession with finding out "how does she stop the voices?!" I think that a five is a good score for the film on a whole. But if the likes of the godfather and lord of the rings were to be made on the same budget, I would expect a similar result. So 10/10 for what resulted from such a small budget ($50,000 really????) but more could have been done before shooting began to make it better (i.e. the script). I would still be interested in seeing whatever they produced next though hopefully with a bigger budget so that they can show what they can really do with some backing and with some time