First of all, it wasn't meant to be a traditional horror film
maybe that was my first mistake. The film itself pays homage to the horrific journey undertaken by those with a terminal illness (ie. cancer). The entire film is a metaphor; what seems like immoral and torturous experiments are simply medical necessities to ensure survival. The message behind this film is a message of hope. No matter how bad things get, keep going, even if death is knocking at your door, because you never know when it will end. I thought it would be interesting and meaningful to incorporate this kind of message within the confines of a horror film (second mistake?).
You can bring as much negativity to the table as you want, and it's not going to hurt our feelings. If you like to be overcritical about movies, feel free to watch this and be overcritical about it. It's real simple a terminally ill patient is captured and tortured by a masked man who believes that he is healing him: that's the whole story, no more is needed, and to expect the film to deliver anything but is pretentious. Taking it personal because the film doesn't speak emotion or meaning to you, meet your own personal film standards, had technical issues, acting flaws, or was filmed on a budget so low that you could find more money under a vending machine, really doesn't help us out any and is somewhat comical at best.
What we like to hear from the critics is what you personally would've done different
within the confines of the film (meaning how to make the same film on the same budget, but better). Hell, we'd love to know, because our goal is to make great films on low budgets. You are 100% correct
low budget doesn't have to mean awful crap. A film is either a hit or miss; perhaps we just missed the mark here. So how do you make it better? I like to produce films that make you read between the lines (third mistake?). You have to dive into the film to pull out meaning and sense. You can't just turn your brain off and watch a visual masterpiece while the camera and actors hold your hand and walk you through it (i know that's what we're all used to now). This may not be everyone's cup of tea, especially when the mass audience will miss the point. In either case, we all had a genuinely good time making it, and hope that it does send a message to someone out there if they can manage to sit through this awful crap;).