Reviews

At the rate this, and other WD shows are raking in tens-of-millions, you would think SOMEONE would invest maybe a LITTLE bit more in decent writing talent. No, far less! 'The Walking Dead: Dead City' suffered the same fate, but not as badly. It just went nowhere. Not even in a complete circle. But, this last episode here of 'The Ones Who Live' was a doozy of lazy, overly-sentimental, and sappy, crappy garbage writing! Whomever green-lighted this script must have never read a decent thriller in their lives! Even WORSE than formulaic, cliched repetition! Like TOO many great spinoffs, they invest LESS in the writing skills when a lot MORE should be the agenda! This started great the first 3 episodes, and then began to suck worse that a leech farm to the idiot ending. Even La Brea had more suspense and better writing than this, and it stunk to high heaven most of the time. It's a mockery of great acting talent and truly embarrassing to watch for anyone with an IQ above 110.

Writing great horror is hard to do in any genre, but made-for-TV horror absolutely sucks here in the states overall. It seems mostly made BY simpletons, about simpletons, FOR simpletons. The term 'Dumbing-Down' has never been so tragically illustrated as with a least 3 of the WD spinoffs! So, my ONLY question to the sub-par geniuses of this show, and others, is WHY DO YOU HIRE THE WORST WRITERS AND DIRECTORS when, for a few million bucks more, you could actually give us something worthy of an intellect over 12-14 years old?? It's greed, avarice, and MORE greed. Why?? Because you have made your billions, and we don't matter anymore as a viewing public. At least the ones of us with any discerning taste in on-screen dialog that isn't painfully predictable, or doesn't make us CRINGE every 3 minutes! Keep your slow-witted garbage and give us something professional, and worthy of OUR dedication to YOUR craft!

The depth of the screen writing really caught me off-guard here. I had gotten so used to the mundane and repetitive mellow drama of the Walking Dead series and spin-offs that I actually had to watch a few scenes more than once. Some of the dialog almost takes the place of the action at times, as is should in any great action movie. So many great Horror/paranormal TV series suffer from trying to be sensitive and politically correct, while also appealing to as many people as possible. Bad formula! The entire series of 'Le Brea' is the archetypal example of a completely failed script writing that was unworthy of both actors and all behind-the-scenes talent. When I see a series like Reacher, as well as many others, I am reminded that it's all about the money, and the shortsightedness of people with no creative vision whatsoever. If a show is a hit, why try to improve it? Even if it's kinda lame, and cliche and full of people reminiscing about their past traumas through half of an episode. I think those days are OVER now. 'Continuity' has to exist both emotionally, dramatically, and 'actionably'(My word, you can use it). Meaning that ALL forms of filler-drama, retro-memories, crying jags and meaningless babble have to be kept to a meaningful minimum that doesn't slow the entire episode down to a crawl. This show is how it SHOULD be done, and nothing less should be expected.

It really hurts to see such a great premise over-run by pretense and numerous 'what-if' afterthoughts, and then losing a cohesive and consistently driven plot-line down one rabbit-hole after another until it leaves us all hanging like some teasing, TV pilot episode. Not to mention holes galore, and a scene at the beach that was just embarrassingly botched by a lack of continuity and basic common sense. How do you stand on high ground and notice something tiny and shiny, but yet not notice something massive, terrifying and devastating in both directions very near by?? You don't! That was a truly embarrassing scene to watch. No plausibility whatsoever. For a movie that afforded itself 2 hours of runtime, it was an absolute burn to the rest of the viewing audience. The suspense was awesome at the beginning, but kept slowing down every 5 minutes as the characters started acting stupider and stupider. Mixed messages, inconsistent character strengths, stupid children with almost zero personality, something on the verge of being discovered or explained...and the ball gets dropped again, and again...and again. Ending a movie like this did was basically a slap-in-the-face to every "thinking" person watching. Yes, many are going to get it and be fine with it as it stands, but it was like there 4 writers and 4 directors all indulging their own vision at the same time. Pick a direction and go hard, and keep the rest of the idiot cooks OUT of the kitchen!

I have always been a BIG supporter of Steven Greer, but I have recently heard him say things that are patently UNTRUE, and are outright lies. The aliens are NOT your friends! I am also not waiting ANOTHER 22 years for ~NOTHING~ to happen. Only the most naive among us still hold out hope that the next 2 decades are going to be any different in terms of results. Not to mention the vast amounts of disinformation about the aliens themselves Greer is spouting, which is truly astounding! They are NOT your "friends". They are NOT here to help anyone. They don't want to educate you, or heal you OR help you be a better human being! They only protect this planet and it's lifeforms because THEY are the ones who 'seeded' everything on it from weeds to whales. This planet is NOT an "experiment", it is a 'FARM' essentially where anything and anyone can be taken and used whenever and however it, or they are needed, or it suits them. The landlords have changed over the last few billion years, but the purpose is basically the same. The earth 'houses' very diverse and valuable life forms! Mainly because it's a water-planet.

Example: Do you think the dinosaurs just suddenly evolved from a single cell and became vastly numerous and highly evolved reptile species in less than a billion years? That isn't even scientifically OR biologically possible! Were they brought here from perhaps a another world? A dying world? Were they again taken away to somewhere else when it became time to utilize this planet for other, more pragmatic uses such as mining, or rendering the production of other newly found or genetically created species? Think very hard here. This planet IS the property of other, more highly evolved species. And they utilize every living resource on it, and within it. We are all just 'Free Range' humans until they decide they need one of us to fulfill a purpose. Sometimes they bring us back, but more often they don't. Think bigger...

Call it a gut-hunch. But it's also the fact that his story is changing now about how our own government is now responsible for abductions and many of the crafts we see. I know when someone I trusted is now doing the slow con-job on me. It's been a full generation of humanity since he started 'Disclosure' and NOTHING has ever been disclosed except a couple Tic-Tac videos. Seriously? I honestly just get a very dishonest vibe from him now. One that has been growing for a number of years now. I believe full well that many humans are being taken every year and are not being returned, though some are. Alien species are no more kind and benevolent to humans than a farmer is to his livestock. I get my information from a LOT of sources, and the most reliable among them all agree that this planet is a 'Harvest Planet'. That every living thing from weeds to Redwoods, and from mosquitos to whales were 'seeded' here for a purpose. There just has NOT been enough time for so many species to have actually "evolved" in the amount of time given. I should maybe leave it at that. It is SO much bigger than people know. And even if they did, they would seriously wish they didn't. Cheers! (Look up Derrel Sims if you want the REAL truth!) ...STAY CLEAR OF GREER!!

I have always been a BIG supporter of Steven Greer, but I have recently heard him say things that are patently UNTRUE, and are outright lies. The aliens are NOT your friends! I am also not waiting ANOTHER 22 years for ~NOTHING~ to happen. Only the most naive among us still hold out hope that the next 2 decades are going to be any different in terms of results. Not to mention the vast amounts of disinformation about the aliens themselves Greer is spouting, which is truly astounding! They are NOT your "friends". They are NOT here to help anyone. They don't want to educate you, or heal you OR help you be a better human being! They only protect this planet and it's lifeforms because THEY are the ones who 'seeded' everything on it from weeds to whales. This planet is NOT an "experiment", it is a 'FARM' essentially where anything and anyone can be taken and used whenever and however it, or they are needed, or it suits them. The landlords have changed over the last few billion years, but the purpose is basically the same. The earth 'houses' very diverse and valuable life forms! Mainly because it's a water-planet.

Example: Do you think the dinosaurs just suddenly evolved from a single cell and became vastly numerous and highly evolved reptile species in less than a billion years? That isn't even scientifically OR biologically possible! Were they brought here from perhaps a another world? A dying world? Were they again taken away to somewhere else when it became time to utilize this planet for other, more pragmatic uses such as mining, or rendering the production of other newly found or genetically created species? Think very hard here. This planet IS the property of other, more highly evolved species. And they utilize every living resource on it, and within it. We are all just 'Free Range' humans until they decide they need one of us to fulfill a purpose. Sometimes they bring us back, but more often they don't. Think bigger...

Call it a gut-hunch. But it's also the fact that his story is changing now about how our own government is now responsible for abductions and many of the crafts we see. I know when someone I trusted is now doing the slow con-job on me. It's been a full generation of humanity since he started 'Disclosure' and NOTHING has ever been disclosed except a couple Tic-Tac videos. Seriously? I honestly just get a very dishonest vibe from him now. One that has been growing for a number of years now. I believe full well that many humans are being taken every year and are not being returned, though some are. Alien species are no more kind and benevolent to humans than a farmer is to his livestock. I get my information from a LOT of sources, and the most reliable among them all agree that this planet is a 'Harvest Planet'. That every living thing from weeds to Redwoods, and from mosquitos to whales were 'seeded' here for a purpose. There just has NOT been enough time for so many species to have actually "evolve" in the amount of time given. I should maybe leave it at that. It is SO much bigger than people know. And even if they did, they would seriously wish they didn't. Cheers! (Look up Derrel Sims if you want the REAL truth!) ...STAY CLEAR OF GREER!!

The 'Walking Dead' was a true inspiration and pioneering for the TV horror genre despite the fillers and junk dialog often used to extend scenes and dramatic or near-climaxing scenes. It worked. So did 'Fear The Walking Dead' series. There was often a fearless brilliance to how actual horror scenes were presented slowly, suddenly, or were just implied. It all worked for the most part. It was rarely gritty or truly 'RAW', but it had its truly great moments. Sadly, this 'The Walking Dead: Dead City' has become a wordy, wandering mess of pretty much NOTHING besides old wounds, serious emasculation content, and a preachy, moralistic, babble-fest that goes nowhere slower and slower each week. There is basically ZERO actual 'Horror', 'Scares'. 'Suspense', or meaningful 'Drama'. IT takes NO chances, and offers and offers a BIG, FAT ZERO of what even basic "Horror" should be. The useless writers, directors and show runner should may take over Walker: Texas Ranger(with an awkward tick). It's embarrassing and infuriating that a show with such insane potential could become such mediocre chum for the small-brained folk. Scenes of a New York in ruins offer more of an actual "scare" that any of the scenes or dialog.

It's complete garbage, and I doubt anyone will step in and change everything that so desperately needs changing. Like EVERYTHING, and make it great like its predecessors were great. The 'Walking Dead' themselves are just NOT scary anymore. They need to innovate this show with SERIOUS actual horror and fear-arousing, raw, kill-or-be-killed surprises and unexpected characters, or even walking dead zoo animals, and not just people for a change. It's a stuttering, muttering mess that really betrays everything that came before it. (Of course, not including that trash-fest: 'The Walking Dead: World Beyond'.) This show desperately needs NEW blood and new imagination. It feels like the script writing and other immediate, important aspects of the show are just being handed down to friends and local know "talent" instead of the heavy hitters who could make the show truly the epic series it SHOULD be! Everything has been done-to-death here a thousand times over in other shows, except this show doesn't even do that. 'Fear the Walking Dead' was by far the best series to date. It innovated constantly. Yes, it had its talky-preachy babble moments that went on too long, but it never got stagnant and repetitious. It kept you guessing, and genuinely wondering what would come next. It was tight, concise, unpredictable and often quite RAW. Sadly, Dead City has NONE of that.

The shows are barely 42 minutes long. Meaning the show is making many millions of dollars per episode above cost. The Walking Dead spent roughly 3 million dollars per episode but made 8 million dollars profit on each episode. Supposedly, this show is spending 12 million per episode because of past viewer complaints about quality sets and environs, but so far with no word on profit percentage. I'm sure it's huge considering it was the highest rated show in 2023 for viewership when it premiered. Hopefully, it can go from just being a sleep-aid to something truly exciting and fun to watch. Like 'Daryl Dixon'. This show will likely dies after its 3rd season. And a merciful death it will be if things don't start turning around in terms of quantity AND quality!

Everything seems to have been done fairly well, from the acting and cinematography, to the theme music and direction. The problem here is simply the context and timeline of events, as well as who is on what side and what each side represents. No cohesive backstory, as if it's something we are supposed to magically already know, or presume for ourselves as we go along. If this was an attempt to be somewhat Avant-garde or neuvo-chic, it failed miserably. Either that, or it was just plain lazy film making and somewhat dismissive of the audience's intelligence. It's certainly watchable for how well it's filmed and written etc., but it's a bit pretentious and arrogant in how how it presents itself as a visual story. The movie really makes you WANT to care for the characters and their situation, but we are never given even the slightest amount of adequate information as to WHY we should care. Kind of shoddy overall, but a well-done time-waster if you aren't trying to follow it too closely.

Great premise with amazing potential. This was obviously an under-12 kid's movie. More likely, under-8. The problem was that it seemed to constantly and safely pander to the least intelligent among that age group. Like it didn't want to scare them by actually telling a competent story with REAL suspense. It wasted tons of time trying to be clever without ever really delivering a solid 'plot-punch'. One it probably never needed because it was so painfully predictable at every turn. It was very bland and flavorless until it got a bit tense near the end. The acting was solid for the most part. Special green-screen effects were even better than many block-buster films in a few spots. Creature effects were standard fare, but lacked both any real charm or menacing behavior. It was also light-years removed from the many hundreds of eyewitness reports from people in several countries. The 'real' Chupacabra is actually something quite terrifying and gruesome. Not smiley, cutesy, and fuzzy. A little research would have helped, but likely would have been ignored. The few minutes of suspense here was worth the watch, yet it was just a very small island in a roughly 90 minute ocean of meandering fluff. Christian Slater looked great, but sounded like a moronic, simpleton 'Bad-guy' with banefully inept dialog. I can completely understand why no one involved with the core production of this film has ever worked for Disney. Demián Bichir saved this film from being a complete flat-lining flop. He definitely gave it some much needed breadth and depth. He is always an awesome character in most of his films. Sadly, it wasn't enough to actually make the film better. Only slightly more watchable. If I was Netflix, I would have tossed this script in the trash, completely redesigned the creature, added some plot, and sub-plot line more worthy of a 10 year old's imagination.

Yes, the main problem today in western movies is that we treat kid's minds and imaginations as if they are delicate, fragile, and need constant protection from being challenged and confronted by the realities of what bad people are truly capable of. You won't find this an issue in most Asian, or other countries. They let their kids know in detail what is the woods, or in the bad neighborhoods and back streets that could possibly hurt, or even kill them with zero censorship. Coddling most kid's minds and imaginations either makes them angry, bored or just outright makes them go find something else to pay attention to that will challenge that hideously BORING 'safe' place they are constantly subjected to. Not a fan of Disney by ANY means, but at least they know how to scare and terrify a kid in a movie, and THEN deliver a decent, satisfying and (fluffy) ending.

If one of the aims of this film was to make people feel truly claustrophobic in large, empty open spaces that conceal little to nothing and also cause a growing angst with every passing scene, then it was an overwhelming success. It's almost like you want it to hurry at times and get to the next little positive outcome, or triumph, but there is always this slight, growing dread and sense that only failure is inevitable. Unfortunately it never really picks up any momentum even though it certainly seems to want the audience to believe it will. I think the lack of plausibility also takes its toll as well. Dafoe's choices do seem to be rather over-dramatic at times, or almost silly, if not outright disbelievable. Nothing is ever explored or explained, examined or investigated as to the what, the why, the who, etc. Maybe that is for the best overall. Too many choices and possibilities are also a likely detraction from the journey and outcome we are finally led to perceive. Perhaps a certain lack of basic cohesion, or incongruity, for even for a second, can be very distracting as well causing the pace of a movie to shift inconsistently in regard to how each scene unfolds. Inconsistencies like this can be exhausting. Yet, that is still a LOT solo-Dafoe to commit yourself to all in one sitting. The director has openly mentioned on more than one occasion that up to 40% of the movie is Defoe's improvisation based on their mutual agreement to go in a certain direction. Therein lies the rub...

It felt a bit incomplete in parts. As though something was missing from the equation of basic logic when one is faced with a potential life-or-death survival situation. Everyone being different means that most everyone would do something a bit differently and likely, in a different order. Definitely worth a watch if you like Dafoe. Much as I like and admire him, I personally don't think this kind of movie is a good vehicle for his style of acting. Despite the insanity of the situation, it became predictably sedate at certain times by never changing the rhythm of the style of the intent toward the audience. So, after any moments, or minutes of given intensity, you kinda knew it going to back to the established and stable instability it started with. I also wouldn't call this a "psychological" thriller. It's definitely 'tense', but really lacks the solid 'RAW INTENSITY' it deserved, or needed to actually be a "psychological" type thriller.

The Brooke Shields story is a pretty epic one, and definitely worth retelling in its entirety. Problem is, this boring rehash falls flatter than road-kill constantly. It's the same moralistic drivel that tries to entice you with what it says we are all bad people for allowing ourselves to be enticed by: young Brooke. Seriously?? It's all been said and done before a dozen times, but in most cases, far better! It's really NOT a "documentary" at all. It's more like randomized factoids and Cliff-Notes about someone's life. Brooke is SO much more deserving of a better vehicle for her story than this mess. It's all very 'Safe' and under-spoken. There are videos on YouTube about Brooke that are far more interesting, exciting, and informative than this very amateur and exploitive mess. The very few minutes of segment regarding the Blue Lagoon was wonderful, but again, it seriously lacked anything and everything poignant and informative. This Dull-Fest was a true disaster for such a great talent and beautiful soul as Brooke Shields. As soon as it began saying anything about the mom, it never finished the thought. There are SO many missing pieces of information and incomplete thoughts here it's like an ADHD nightmare. You can't "Entice" and "Play-it-Safe" at the same time. This unfortunate project tried to do both, and FAILED epically!

The Gable film being a hoax is a complete lie. The disinformation program that attempted to make it seem false spent a LOT of money and hired a professional actor (Mike Agrusa) to set up the whole event as a hoax. All the way to providing the vintage truck and snowmobiles watch are far different from the ones in the gable film. This was supposedly done in 2007. The gable film is from the early to mid 70's. So, Mike says he thought it would be fun(only inspired by the song)to go out and spend tens-of-thousands of dollars on vintage props just to make a hoax video. Um, yeah...

He also states that he used a ghillie suit for the part of the thing that is running at the man filming. Problem IS, that there are a few frames that show without question that what you are seeing is NOT a ghillie suit. You just have to slow the video down and look at the beast's stomach area. Sorry, no "ghillie suit" there! The OTHER problem is the 2 frames in the video that show the teeth that are very obviously quite large and unquestionably canine. Someone very high up paid a very handsome sum to make the Gable film look like it was hoaxed. Like me, if you actually go out and study every single bit of available evidence about Mike Agrusa and his little charade, as well as the very scripted interview he did, it's going to hit home fairly quickly that SOMEONE did NOT want people believing that the Gable film was real. Research it...

Felt more like a TV pilot than an actual 'Movie'. I know it was based on the TV series, but it really should have been a LOT better than it was by MANY standards. The lost potential for this to have been epic is staggering. Sadly it lacked any true excitement and failed as soon any real suspense was about to take place. Almost like, every possible build-up of something truly exciting just died as it was about to happen. It really falls flat on so many levels time after time, scene after scene. The characters are barely likeable as well. Too many slow moments make the timing for the entire movie almost seem to almost move backwards a bit in spots. It was also painfully predictable from beginning to end. Not sure why Netflix would allow something like this to be produced by whomever was in charge. I mean, the pacing was so bad, you could be 3/4 asleep and still follow what was happening. Very disappointing overall, and I am sorry that Idris Elba didn't have a better vehicle for his immense talent. It was very hard to sympathize with any of the characters as well. The plot-holes alone could swallow most of London.

I don't know where or why this film went to badly wrong, as to make it basically a 2 hour car crash at 3mph in slow motion underwater. It just has no range whatsoever. Not of emotion, nor feeling, or even humor. It flat-lines after the first 10 minutes and becomes a 2-string violin trying to play an entire symphony by itself. If they ever make a sequel to this, I PRAY they give the entire project to people who actually make 'MOVIES', and not TV shows.

I almost have to attribute many low scores on good little movies these days on the fact that the vast majority of people are just not properly educated about what makes a quality production. Before cell phones and internet, people watched a LOT more movies. Thusly, their attention spans were forced to actually stay and think about what they were watching, or had just watched after it was over. Because of the vast amount of constant entertainment choices at everyone's finger tips these days, people are constantly trying to find something better the minute something ends. I believe it's a very solid 6.5 movie. Everyone did an excellent job all-around here. It also has a very intelligently written script. Gutzy, tense, not overly mellow-dramatic, and never gets preachy. It definitely delivers.

The first 4 of this series were overall pretty decent and original. I enjoyed them. But I don't know what happened here. It started out ok, but then it got very confusing. And, then MORE so it progressed. Then it got pretty stupid and inconsistent, and then the writers seemed to have handed over the last half hour of work on the script to some college kids fresh out of some New Age seminar on personal responsibility...and zombies. Anything this confusing is never boring, but it's EXTREMELY irritating when you finally realize it NOT you being slow, but rather the entire episode never stopped making that horrible sucking sound the entire time. It was a serious Fuster-Cluck from start to finish. Those flash-back thingys really have to be done with great care, continuity and intelligent writing. This had NONE of that. Sci-Fi type shows about the paranormal and whatnot often lose their edge and get cancelled BECAUSE they start trying to please TOO many people while losing their 'Edginess'(and originality). It becomes pure fluffy dramatic 'filler' and just more Prozac flavored bubble gum that eventually insults people's intelligence by playing everything TOO safe, while trying to put at least ONE tear in everyone's eye while also leaving them 'Tense' at the conclusion of an episode. It doesn't work that way! I don't want to feel good when I watch a zombie flick. I don't want a 'happy ending', I want a SATISFYING ending. I don't want to hear endless droning on and on and ON about someone's past tragedies and emotional hurt when I'm WAITING TO BE SCARED AND UNNERVED!! All that constant blabbering drama has just sunk so many great shows in the past, and THAT is why this series has SO much potential going for it. Bad writing, over-acting, and crappy directing is certainly more forgivable in this case than the constant blubber-blabber we see in the other Walking(and too much talking)Dead spin-offs. And yes, this was actually bad enough that I feel my cable company should send me a rebate of at least five bucks...Oh, and on another note...

...Could someone please, PLEASE give the very talented actress in this episode, Loan Chabanol, some roles actually worthy of her talents?!? It's truly tragic seeing so much amazing acting skills out there just going to waste in bit parts.

Cheers!~

I don't have even the slightest clue why anyone would cast Jared Padalecki, in particular, in this lead role, despite the fact he kinda looks the part. In a sense anyway. Or, why someone hasn't given him some better acting advice on those constantly spastic, unnecessary facial expressions. So...why all the constant nervous face twitching?? Is he somehow facially disabled? His character reeks of chronic uncertainty and social discomfort on almost every level, and in nearly every scene. It's truly exhausting to watch. Not to mention that there is nearly zero suspense, zero action, very minor intrigue, and absolutely zero suspense. The second season sadly seems to have become a meandering, mellow dramatic babble-fest of generic emotions and half-hearted cliched characters by well-intentioned script writers, or whomever else makes it a parade of dwindling, forgettable mumbles. There's no real substance here. Nothing sincere that actually grabs at the heart and mind and makes you take notice of it being worth watching, let alone being something memorable. I keep feeling that it's like bathing your attention span in Prozac. Eating food with no flavor. But most of all. I really just want to say to Mr. Padalecki...Calm your face muscles, Sir. Stop all that eye and lip twitching like your hooked up to a car battery. And PLEASE put some serious beef into season 3 so we can all hedge our bets that there will hopefully be more seasons to come. Yep, this show has slowly grown on me like a pet mold. Best of luck to all involved...

A once in a lifetime opportunity with the brilliance and daring of such great men at the top of their game can NOT be crammed into 55 minutes. NatGeo has become a corner cutting 'Hack' when it comes to exploring the many visual wonders that are deserving of far more time needed to show them properly, and with the richness they deserve. Instead of really showing us just WHAT was on top of the Tepui, which I am sure is what most people were waiting for, they attempted mainly to involve us in the emotional human drama that concerned mainly the assent, and lament of it being Bruce's last opportunity to do what he was no longer capable of doing. I know that distributors of videos prefer the 90 minute-or-less variety, but NatGeo totally wasted what could have been one of the most epic documentaries ever put on the screen. It was a hack-job of almost useless visual cliff notes put together by talented, but jaded amateurs. Such a criminal waste of so many VAST opportunities is both shameful and contemptible.

NatGeo needs to put together their own distribution standards for their own channel(s) and for export, and stop following the Hollywood's superficial playbook. This should have been at least 2, to 2 and a half hours long, and that still wouldn't have scratched much of the surface, but at least it wouldn't have been an insultingly short, disappointing mess that missed its mark right out of the gate. Anyway, maybe next time...

Everything in this series is done extremely well. It touches nerves and has a decent amount of suspense. The acting and directing is great. What bogs this this series down is the extended mellow-drama and 'weepy' scenes that are both excellent and worthy of watching, but they last for many seconds too long, and add nothing to the complete story as a whole. People watch this to be SCARED, and not feel sentimental for characters they barely know. Now, not that anyone can do anything about it, but you have an average of 6+ minutes of 'flashbacks at the beginning of the show. Well over 2 minutes of rehash, a 2 minute theme song, and then 2 minutes of end credits. It's a FORTY FIVE minute show! Stop pandering to SO many different audiences and tighten it up! The series 'LOST' had the same issues, but far worse. It was a bore-fest with a pointless outcome. Seriously! I would like to see this series survive for at least 5 years because it's very original and kinda awesome. But STOP teasing your audience with meager 'people drama' in each show. Give us some damn guts and gritty darkness worthy of the show's premiere. I doubt anyone will read this who is in charge of production, but it needed to be said. After so many decades of watching garbage dramas pretending to be "Horror/suspense", I really hope and pray you folks keep everyone on cast and crew employed for a LONG time. Bless you all.~

Here's the Rub: 2.5 Minute AWESOME intro song that blazes an amazing trail of atmosphere toward the main story most appropriately and beautifully. But, then we have 2 minutes of unnecessary flash-backs to the previous week. All any series needs of this quality, caliber and simplicity is just the last 15 to 30 seconds of the LAST 15 to 30 minutes of the previous episode. It needs NO more! Assuming it's done with the same richness and flow. It's an absolutely stellar production, yet it gets bogged down in high mellow-drama in unexpected places where the need for further HEIGHTENED suspense is most needed. The mellow-drama is done exceptionally well though regarding the further development of relationships in each episode, but gets far TOO 'sappy' almost immediately, which, at least for me, steals from the deeper need of the frightening dark-intent of the show by putting it near the ending rather than the middle.

In a sense, like FAR to many series that pertain to horror, it almost seems to be trying to entertain to many types of audiences. Never a good approach when the main theme is horror/suspense, both of which this series does above average. My only advice would be to minimize the 'sappy', and enrich the uncomfortable discomfort without the need for more 'gruesome', which this show is actually almost lacking, unlike many others. I think it's a 7.0 so far. May it long-live-and-prosper another ten years...

Everything about this film is almost under-done in ways. The suspense was certainly ok, what little there was. But I can see why there were no other actors in it. Then it would have had to become a television series. Lots of unexplored potential here, so it makes sense why the disparity of opinions regarding the film. The ONLY problem that I had with it was that "Jeff" the robot sounded exactly like the insufferable character 'Borat' (by Sacha Baron Cohen). Truly irritating and definitely NOT a happy coincidence. I say that because obviously someone involved in the filmed had the voiced changed completely at the one-hour mark. My deepest gratitude to whomever made that decision! It's a brainless little adventure that is a nice escape from the now constant insanity that surrounds us daily, and globally. It's not worth a second thought...just enjoy it.

Sometimes a movie just nails it with all the right moves and subtleties and flows like a crazy river through your dark, poetic need to be entertained by a film of this genre. But without all the profanity, over-acting, and senseless, overworked drivel that passes for "drama" and 'effect". Bleak and violent as this is at times, that is not the feeling it ultimately leaves you with. The music is utterly perfect, the acting is seamless, and the dialog and direction just work together like a well-oiled machine from beginning to end. It's damn fine film making that MANY other new directors(and even some older ones) could, and SHOULD take SERIOUS notes from. Can't put too fine a point on this except to say; "Damn, that was really good."

Any real "critic" doesn't whine and complain about how "Bad" they thought a movie was, while also not blabbering about how great a movie is with NO explanation as to WHY they thought so. Too many princesses writing curt, nasty reviews that obviously approach what they watch with TOO high expectations. This is a decent movie that was done well, for the most part, but like any movie, it has it's flaws. It's a 5.5 in my book. I would watch the sequel if it was at least this good. Photography and directing were above par. No complaints about the acting whatsoever. Amazing location find. And yes, despite the crybabies saying it's not, it IS indeed a "sci-fi" movie, like it or not. Biggest fault: No history of how and why they are there, or almost anything else. It misses the mark by not providing enough personal history, and lacks basic high drama. I would definitely use a different director if a sequel is ever in the works.

Awesome premise, and a good start. Adrienne Barbeau kicks ass, and the acting is good all around. But then comes the angst, and solitary angst, and then the group angst and unresolved grief and personal opportunism. Then just more and more disjointed suffering and trauma that no one is doing anything about while no questions are being asked about anything. After the first half, it just become a 45 minute 'trailer' of nonsensical grief and greed scenes that make very little sense to anyone who can reason and who has the most basic of common sense. Nothing is ever explained. In all honesty, I would barely call this a "movie". It seemed it was going to be a nice, tight little drama, but no such luck. With 2 writers and 2 directors, SOMEBODY screwed this little pooch sideways in the second half. I think the actors deserve an apology...

It's a shame when the supposed 'underdog' becomes someone you start to despise, or begin to have zero sympathy for. Or, the simple fact that no one is very likeable in the entire movie. OR the fact that there is absolutely NO character development or plot origins explained. It's just a sloppy film with no explanations to some very obvious and basic questions. People's moods and motivations scurry around each scene like a herd of starving hamsters trying to figure out where they're going. In order to have 'plot-twists', you really need to have a 'Plot'! It leaves TOO many questions unanswered, and that REMAIN unanswered, even before the movie is half over. The director of this 'almost' movie needs to study the best directors of all time, and even copy some of their style until he can find his own.

Hey, Bruce is one-note, one-song guy with a standard shtick of action plasma running through him. It's always been that way, and he does it well. When he doesn't, it's because he has crap to work with. Most "science fiction" movies are utter garbage, or at least just barely watchable if you know how to drink your way through them. Or write a little poetry, or talk to your mom during the romantic parts. This doesn't pretend to be something it's not, and thus, doesn't take itself too seriously. When I saw the ratings and looked at the trailer, I thought "Wait, something is a bit off here!" I rarely review anymore because over the years there are more and more whiners and princesses, and self-entitled primadonnas who are 100% negative, and that is NOT a "review" of a film! Complaining and belittling of any creative effort, no matter HOW seemingly bad something might be doesn't create a whole picture of an experience using the objective mindset needed to accurately explain an 'opinion' that is worthy of being taken seriously. Meaning, that too often it's ALL about the reviewer's emotions and expectations and creative 'fragility', and NOT about the movie itself. This was fun and perfectly campy, well written well acted. Everything was pretty believable and didn't insult your intelligence by pretending it was anything other than it was. It was simple and genuine and the writer knew his characters fairly well. And he wrote accordingly. The strongest arm of the movie is that it had genuine suspense! I was certainly not expecting that. Sadly, there are more and more princesses in the world writing reviews and less and less castles for them to feel safe in so they won't be SO disappointed and bereaved when a movies falls short of their narcissistic demand that it should have been better. I give it a six. The extra star is for the fact that it didn't insult expectations I never had in the first place.