User Reviews

When I watched "Recreator" it was without having heard anything about it prior to watching it. No impressions, no taints, no spoilers. The cover to the movie looked interesting, so it caught my attention.

The story is about three friends, Tracy (played by Stella Maeve), Craig (played by Alexander Nifong) and Derek (played by J. Mallory-McCree), who goes camping on an island, when they run into a very mysterious couple that owns a cabin on the island. The island once was the home to a scientist who dabbled in cloning, and things on the island take a turn for the worse.

I will say that the story in itself was interesting, although there were some major plot holes here and there. For example, how did the three friends get cloned? And how come the cloning process is that fast?

As for the acting, well I think they had some good enough names to the cast list, and the three leading actors were actually doing alright jobs. Most memorable in the movie was Alexander Nifong, in my opinion.

The movie was nicely shot though, lots of good camera work. And the dialogue was fair. The movie moved ahead at a good, steady pace, and there weren't really any overly dull moments. However, for a thriller, the movie was sort of anti-climatic, as it didn't really build up much suspense, much less peak in thrilling manners.

"Recreator" is good entertainment, although the ending was quite predictable once you are let in on what is really going on. "Recreator" is well worth a watch if you like movies that aren't overly realistic.

Recreator is set on Brewster Island in New York State & starts as three teenage friends arrive by canoe, boyfriend & girlfriend Craig Carlson (Alexander Nifong) & Tracy Bernstein (Stella Maeve) along with Derek Johnson (J. Mallory-McCree) intend to spend the weekend camping on the island away from the stresses of the big city. Once they reach Brewster Island they see a huge house in the distance & decide to check it out, Tracy manages to find the key to the front door & lets herself in, the house seems deserted & the three take the opportunity to use the facilities. However they soon see the owners of the house returning, they try to hide in the basement but find two dead bodies down there when they do, they are then caught & made to dig holes on the beach to bury the bodies. Suddenly out of nowhere three naked people who look exactly like them save the trio, things turn weird when the Tracy, Craig & Derek come face to face with exact clones of themselves who have a sinister plan to leave the Island & take over their originals life...

Written, co-produced & directed by Gregory Orr this low budget film seems to have some sort of identity crisis, to my mind I just can't see what it's trying to be or trying to do. The script has aspects from various genres such as sci-fi with the cloning angle, there's some horror with the teen slasher feel that it descends into along with a thriller feel as the clones play their originals off each other & try to manipulate the situation & there's even some mystery here as the script tries to keep you guessing about everyone's motives & who is who. Unfortunately none of it works or gels together, the script is pretty slow & there's little in the way of explanation but what I could gather from it is that these kids were cloned from their bodily wastes after going to the toilet, that a lightening storm activated the cloning & that these clones are largely quite polite until they try to kill you. People being cloned from their poop does seem like it's come from a comedy but Recreator takes itself deadly seriously but it's rather pedestrian & I was never drawn into the story. Ideas & themes are introduced, like the original experiments from the late 50's to a soldiers possible homosexual tendencies (he actually kisses his own reflection in a mirror) but are quickly forgotten & never lead anywhere interesting. At 90 minutes long Recreator tries to be different but it's dull, silly & makes no great sense, why did the clones wait to kill their originals? Why did the original teens react so well to be confronted with exact clones of themselves? Most of us might have been totally freaked out but not these three, they invite them in & dress them!

Another aspect of Recreator I didn't like was just how uneventful it was, hardly anything of any note happens. All the cloning is off screen, there's no blood or gore apart from one brief shot of a guy with shovel stuck in his head & there's no action to speak of either. It's set entirely inside or around one house which helps keep the budget down but becomes repetitive for the audience. There's probably more CGI then you think, all the actor's play both themselves & their clones so whenever they are seen in the same scene it's CGI & the effects to that end are good. The character's look identical so it's often hard to tell which is the original & which is the clone which I assume was intentional but it's not used to any great effect, there's no real suspense or tension & the sci-fi aspects are never given more than the occasional few lines of dialogue.

Probably shot on a low budget Recreator looks alright for what it is & is well made but hardly anything happens. The acting is decent enough from a small cast.

Recreator is a sci-fi horror thriller than disappoints in all areas, it just can't make it's mind up what it wants to be & ends up being an uneven mess. I saw this on telly over here in the UK so I didn't spend money seeing it but I know I would have been even more annoyed if I had. There are much better films out there.

The plot of this film is standard 'teenagers meet something nasty in the woods' but the ideas behind it are heavily influenced by right wing Christianity.

The scientist behind the horror is not just an evil geneticist he also worked on the atom bomb; fully grown clones develop overnight but because they are not born as God intended they are automatically evil. One evil clone attempts to raise the consciousness of his black doppelgänger; the most violent death scene comes when a characters refuses to face up to his own homosexuality and the independent self-directed girlfriend is rejected in favour of the one who surrenders herself to the male lead. At one point a character actually says that 'the meek shall inherit the Earth' but conformity rather than positive goodness triumphs. The meek and mild male lead has a haircut like Jesus too.

I'm not giving away the complete ending, but Derek clearing wasn't the clone at the end. That was totally made clear in the house and woods after. So then why did he have the bandages on his arm? Obviously, either a case of bad editing or they changed the ending and missed that. If he was really supposed to be the clone, then they screwed up even more because it's anything but obvious, especially at the end at the hardware store. Totally not the clone character, therefore the clone is dead and the bandages are a bad mistake.

And what the hell was up with the stuffed beaver with glasses? How many of those things are these on and near Baxter Island? There's a shot of one in the house along with deer. And then there's one in the hardware store by the door. Why? Is that some inside joke that we aren't supposed to pay attention to?

The movie wasn't very good. It wasn't scary or even creepy really. It was actually kind of boring and the issue with the bandages just made things worse for me at the end.

Kean Riley & Kasey Riley are from the region in which this thriller was shot -- and are iconic in local lore - word is that one has a birth certificate filed in Franklin County - Malone NY - dated Feb 28th,1962, and his "twin" has a certificate dated Feb 29th,1962 (There was no 29th in 1962.) They did an awesome job in this flick, and obvious is the influence of Stella Adler, Stanislavsky, and Howard Riley (always available as an "Acting (blank)" when some local politico or other messes up, quits, or is sent "Down the River.") They should be available to accept a single statuette next year for "Best Supporting Actor" - but only if that gig doesn't coincide with the 2012 Winter Carnival in Saranac Lake, NY.

I stumbled across this movie on Prime a few months ago and decided to give it a go. Last night I decided to watch it again because I was distracted the first rime and felt it needed to be re-watched. There were so many little details I missed the first time! The best part is the the twist at the end. Haha. Dang! This movie is definitely a gem! I loved all of the acting and their portrayal of each of the characters! Throughout the movie, there are moments when each of the characters have a moment with their clones.. It's in that moment and the looks on their faces that made me go WHOA. Yes! 🙌 Overall? I would watch it again, and I absolutely recommend it. It's not overtly scary, but it's one of those movies that makes you go... Well dang y'all! That happened! 😁

*regarding clones*

Cloned Craig: You're here, we're here. I have to rely on faith there's a reason.

Original Tracy: But aren't you even curious? I mean, it's not like this happens every day.

Cloned Craig: I should hope not. Otherwise, things would get pretty dicey down at the DMV.

Cloned: The Recreator Chronicles begins on an island with Frank Miller (John de Lancie, Star Trek: The Next Generation) and his wife Elizabeth (Laura Moss) fixing to call it a night in their beautiful woodland cabin. The raging, midnight thunderstorm in the Adirondack Mountains produces a lightning bolt which strikes the home's septic tank outside. This reignites an old experiment by a scientist who used to live there. We reach the opening titles and are introduced to Tracy (Stella Maeve, The Runaways, Accused at 17), Craig (Alexander Nifong, Pretty Little Liars, Glee), and Derek (J. Mallory McCree, We Need to Talk about Kevin) on their way to the island for a hiking and camping trip the next day. Tracy has to use the bathroom after the long canoe ride to the island and has issues with letting loose outside. Naturally, she finds Mr. and Mrs. Miller's house. What happened the previous night (clones of Mr. and Mrs. Miller killing their originals) is intercut with Tracy making her way inside the empty house.

Eventually, Tracy, Craig, and Derek all go to the house to use the bathroom, shower, and hang out, since the Millers seem to be gone. The Millers' clones return, the three teenagers flee, and a chase ensues in the woods. It's there where we learn of the teenagers' clones, which save them during all the madness.

Shot in the beautiful Adirondack Mountains, Cloned: The Recreator Chronicles is an independent film with spectacular production quality (you'd think they had Hollywood's vast resources). According to director Gregory Orr, the idea began with the concept of three kids going into the woods and six of them coming out. Where does one take it from there? Any number of directions; and a director of less experience and talent may have failed where Orr succeeded.

Where do Orr and his cast and crew succeed? In taking a well-written script and translating it to an interesting movie. It's as simple as that. Yes, the concept of cloning isn't exactly an original one, but it's used effectively here to drive home the movie's underlying theme of "replacement." Like most good sci-fi, it uses a scientific concept (one of which may be completely viable in the future) to assist in telling a story relevant to today's society. While we're not yet being replaced by clones of ourselves (or genetically altered, superior humans in general), you don't have to look far and wide to see people losing their jobs because of faster computers and automated systems. Cloned looks at this from more of a bio-tech perspective than a completely technological one, but its message isn't lost.

Stella Maeve, Alexander Nifong, and J. Mallory McCree make for a great ensemble. They also demonstrate good range. It is a pleasure to see John de Lancie again, as well, since I imagine a portion of this movie's fan base will remember him from his iconic role on the various incarnations of Star Trek.

Overall, I'd highly recommend the movie, not just for its concept and message, but more importantly because of its entertainment value.

Pros:

• Not boring -- holds your attention throughout - good acting - interesting plot, some insightful questions - great ending which leaves the possibility for more in the future - john de lancie - beautiful location (although at least one shot was green screened i noticed, a shot on the lake that was very obvious, but thats the only one that comes to mind) - septic tanks - overall pretty well written

Cons:

• wish it was a little bit longer - killed off john de lancie too quick (never a good thing; were used to him being immortal) - a few bad jokes or lines or dialogue that made me cringe

Overall:

• If you're a fan of the genre, add it to your collection or rent it.

Out of the movies I have rented recently this was one I didn't have high hopes for. The kids wanted it, I got it, we watched it, and I was really surprised at how entertaining it was. Its more of a scifi thriller than horror, I think, but it had little horror elements in there too. It definitely wasn't a boring movie and when anyone died, it was at least for a reason rather than the typical knock-one-off-at-a-time for no reason approach.

the movie actually brings up some interesting issues with cloning and science and brings the matter to the audience in a fun way.

The young actors in the movie did a fantastic job especially considering their roles as themselves and their counter parts. the raange is there and was a pleasure to see.

They top it off with a great little twist at the end, one some MIGHT have seen coming but was absolutely appreciated and leaves the door open for more (though the movie stands good on its own too). 8/10