I consider myself to be a pretty big fan of Horror/Cult/B-Movies. This film had been on my watchlist for a long time, and I was very excited to see it! I had super high expectations from what I had heard online, and even now as I am writing this it's sitting at a 92 on Rotten Tomatoes. After seeing the film I can't understand how it can possibly have a score that high.
From what I have gathered online, some other people feel the same way. The movie becomes an argument of "style vs. substance." I will say, the style is amazing. I loved the soundtrack, especially in the opening moments of the film which had me wondering if I was going crazy... and it reminded me of "The Shining" in some ways. Stylistically, I also enjoyed the sets and colors of the film which I found very interesting and helped with the whole nightmarish theme.
Unfortunately for me, all of this style cannot help me overlook the insane lack of substance to the film. For a movie to be this well regarded I was expecting a lot more in terms of story. One of the most painful things about this movie is the dialogue. Let me pause here a moment. Yes, I am aware that the story was originally supposed to involve a much younger cast, but then the script should have been changed.
The dialogue is very childish, which I could possibly ignore... if that was my only problem. It's the combination of terrible dialogue and terrible dubbing that make it pretty unbearable. One of the words in the movie, "Occult," was never said without sounding totally bizarre and had me cracking up.
In connection with the dialogue, there were a lot of odd plot holes to this film that could have had sweet pay offs. One example, Pavlo, the giant freaky school handyman/butler was set up with this gem of dialogue:
"This is Pavlo, our general handyman. He's really ugly, isn't he? Don't be afraid to say so. Can't understand you anyway, he speaks only Romanian. You see that gorgeous smile? He's felt very handsome ever since he got those false teeth."
Sadly, he and other odd and interesting looking characters are introduced but do absolutely nothing later on in the film.
A part of me did really enjoy watching this movie. This is the type of late night horror movie you can mock as you watch with friends, but also has fantastic music and color at times. The part that bothers me, and perhaps I'll get over in time, is the weird, super high praise this movie is given. It might be the the most overrated horror film I've seen. My advice is to go in with low expectations and you'll have a fun time.
From what I have gathered online, some other people feel the same way. The movie becomes an argument of "style vs. substance." I will say, the style is amazing. I loved the soundtrack, especially in the opening moments of the film which had me wondering if I was going crazy... and it reminded me of "The Shining" in some ways. Stylistically, I also enjoyed the sets and colors of the film which I found very interesting and helped with the whole nightmarish theme.
Unfortunately for me, all of this style cannot help me overlook the insane lack of substance to the film. For a movie to be this well regarded I was expecting a lot more in terms of story. One of the most painful things about this movie is the dialogue. Let me pause here a moment. Yes, I am aware that the story was originally supposed to involve a much younger cast, but then the script should have been changed.
The dialogue is very childish, which I could possibly ignore... if that was my only problem. It's the combination of terrible dialogue and terrible dubbing that make it pretty unbearable. One of the words in the movie, "Occult," was never said without sounding totally bizarre and had me cracking up.
In connection with the dialogue, there were a lot of odd plot holes to this film that could have had sweet pay offs. One example, Pavlo, the giant freaky school handyman/butler was set up with this gem of dialogue:
"This is Pavlo, our general handyman. He's really ugly, isn't he? Don't be afraid to say so. Can't understand you anyway, he speaks only Romanian. You see that gorgeous smile? He's felt very handsome ever since he got those false teeth."
Sadly, he and other odd and interesting looking characters are introduced but do absolutely nothing later on in the film.
A part of me did really enjoy watching this movie. This is the type of late night horror movie you can mock as you watch with friends, but also has fantastic music and color at times. The part that bothers me, and perhaps I'll get over in time, is the weird, super high praise this movie is given. It might be the the most overrated horror film I've seen. My advice is to go in with low expectations and you'll have a fun time.
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