Runtime: 87 minutes
Directed by: Alexandre Aja
Starring: Most of the
time, it's Kaya Scodelario, Barry Pepper, and a dog
From: Paramount
There is a dog... and it lives.
I usually don't give spoilers like that but I know that for some people in general, a dog or cat dying in a movie is a deal-breaker for them, whether they find out beforehand and avoid the movie or they see it happen and it ruins everything for them. I was glad a pooch death did not occur as cats and dogs dying on film is something done way too often in modern movies these days.
Until a few days ago I wasn't even planning on seeing this movie... at least down here in Florida-where I have experienced hurricanes before and only by luck have they never caused any real damage to where I live-there was some derision over how in a movie set in Florida (actually filmed in Serbia, which is a natural substitute for The Sunshine State) having a house with a basement... that is extremely rare due to the low elevation and the soil being all sandy. Turns out, there are even dumber things that could be nitpicked to death, although at least a lot of it can be explained away, like “this is a rare house w/ a basement,” “normally docile alligators are going berserk due to the weather” or “that ATM must be awfully light, because reasons.” Anyhow, I saw this because I wasn't sure if I would be seeing much in the upcoming month and with the AMC A-List app I use... I don't want to feel like I wasted a month there, you know.
A common refrain these days for new releases is that “films are too long” and they shouldn't be; at times I agree with that, especially with B-movies now falling prey to that mistake. I know then that those people will be happy that this is less than 90 minutes, does not waste much time setting the story up and there's no superfluous characters or moments that are only designed to pad the runtime. Much of this is two characters on the screen, w/ their dog occasionally appearing after about 15 or so minutes and college swimmer Haley goes into an evacuated area to look for her estranged dad Dave. Thankfully then for a movie of that design, both Kaya Scodelario and Barry Pepper do a swell job. My wisecrack about Serbia aside, where most of this is set, it is acceptable that except for pickup shots this was not filmed in the United States.
As the director is Alexandre Aja and Sam Raimi was a producer, thankfully this was a hard R and while not outrageously OOT like Piranha 3D, there are still some rather gruesome moments. The CG usually looked OK so this is like Jaws compared to practically every SyFy Channel creature in terms of plot, characters, effects, and all the rest. This drew a nice crowd (at least at my screenings) and they were really into the movie, reacting like how they should at the big moments. It is unfortunate that this weekend Tropical Storm Barry is going to go over Louisiana-especially considering I know someone who lives in Louisiana-but that is just bad timing and most people who would go and see a movie with such a premise... they will probably enjoy this nonsense; after all, the choice of end credit song makes it clear you shouldn't go through this with a fine-toothed comb made of logic.
I usually don't give spoilers like that but I know that for some people in general, a dog or cat dying in a movie is a deal-breaker for them, whether they find out beforehand and avoid the movie or they see it happen and it ruins everything for them. I was glad a pooch death did not occur as cats and dogs dying on film is something done way too often in modern movies these days.
Until a few days ago I wasn't even planning on seeing this movie... at least down here in Florida-where I have experienced hurricanes before and only by luck have they never caused any real damage to where I live-there was some derision over how in a movie set in Florida (actually filmed in Serbia, which is a natural substitute for The Sunshine State) having a house with a basement... that is extremely rare due to the low elevation and the soil being all sandy. Turns out, there are even dumber things that could be nitpicked to death, although at least a lot of it can be explained away, like “this is a rare house w/ a basement,” “normally docile alligators are going berserk due to the weather” or “that ATM must be awfully light, because reasons.” Anyhow, I saw this because I wasn't sure if I would be seeing much in the upcoming month and with the AMC A-List app I use... I don't want to feel like I wasted a month there, you know.
A common refrain these days for new releases is that “films are too long” and they shouldn't be; at times I agree with that, especially with B-movies now falling prey to that mistake. I know then that those people will be happy that this is less than 90 minutes, does not waste much time setting the story up and there's no superfluous characters or moments that are only designed to pad the runtime. Much of this is two characters on the screen, w/ their dog occasionally appearing after about 15 or so minutes and college swimmer Haley goes into an evacuated area to look for her estranged dad Dave. Thankfully then for a movie of that design, both Kaya Scodelario and Barry Pepper do a swell job. My wisecrack about Serbia aside, where most of this is set, it is acceptable that except for pickup shots this was not filmed in the United States.
As the director is Alexandre Aja and Sam Raimi was a producer, thankfully this was a hard R and while not outrageously OOT like Piranha 3D, there are still some rather gruesome moments. The CG usually looked OK so this is like Jaws compared to practically every SyFy Channel creature in terms of plot, characters, effects, and all the rest. This drew a nice crowd (at least at my screenings) and they were really into the movie, reacting like how they should at the big moments. It is unfortunate that this weekend Tropical Storm Barry is going to go over Louisiana-especially considering I know someone who lives in Louisiana-but that is just bad timing and most people who would go and see a movie with such a premise... they will probably enjoy this nonsense; after all, the choice of end credit song makes it clear you shouldn't go through this with a fine-toothed comb made of logic.
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