Dir: Gonzalo López-Gallego
Year: 2014
Cast: Sharlto Copley
Genre: Mystery/Horror/Thriller
Cert: 15
John, played by Sharlto Copley, wakes up in a massive pit full of rotting corpses, he has no memory of how he got there or who he even is. A mute Asian woman helps him out by tossing down a rope, he climbs to find she has run to a near by house. Inside there are a group of strangers, all without memories, and terrified as to who might be a threat. They have to try and work together to uncover the mystery of how and why they are there, while something nightmarish outside is potentially preying on them.
Considering there is so much going on in this film left to mystery, it's hard to explain a lot without spoiling anything. It's a very interesting concept that has you on your toes at all times. Because you're not clued in on anything, you're just as lost as they all are. You don't know who to trust, who did what, why the bodies are there, why they are even there. Even as we get glimpses of their memories flooding back, we're still out of the loop. This was definitely one of the films merits. Also leaving you wondering what genre it even is. Is it a zombie apocalypse? Is it a sick game set up like some sort of SAW puzzle? Are they part of some sort of an experiment? You're left wondering all of this throughout which is very strong because it's not being fed to you on a plate and you just sit there watching brainlessly. It has you thinking the whole way through. But there are several big problems with this, some of the acting is awful, not necessarily by Copley, because he's savage in everything he's in, but because I know his real voice, to hear him do an American voice sounds odd to me, but he doesn't act badly.
Some of the supporting cast sound like they are reading everything off of a teleprompter in front of them, it sounds really false and forced. There is also not exactly a lot going on in the film either. You're being brought along through the mystery but there's nothing very exciting going on, more so just interesting. There is a lot more they could have done with such an interesting idea, it's like they just wanted to keep pointing out how they don't know anything. There is a cool atmosphere throughout though, it's set in some dingy abandoned woodland out in what looks like somewhere in Romania or something but I think it was filmed in Spain. It had a similar, but not NEARLY as effective atmosphere to Ils (Aka, Them).
To me the film falls flat at the end, it has smart aspects but it's a fairly overused plot point that I think games are even tired of now. You're interested to know what happened but you don't exactly give a bollocks about any of the characters. It's a great premise, really ambitious idea but it doesn't deliver how it should. Sadly a lot of the violence was kinda lame too... It's a good film and nothing more, definitely forgettable but it's worth a look if you want something a bit head-scratching and entertaining. The poster led me to believe it was going to be some sort of WW2 set War horror, it definitely looks like one! Anyway, good fun and nothing more. It wont be winning any awards that's for sure!
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