I am a big fan of Jim Mickle's work to this point, having seen and thoroughly enjoyed his last 3 movies, including the impressive vampire film STAKE LAND and his recent COLD IN JULY. I had not yet, though, seen his debut movie so was excited when it came on demand for me to finally get the chance.
I would say, though, that this movie does not come close to the quality of his later films. There are some bright, inspired moments and some good ideas here, but there are just as many negatives that I could point to, which really keep this film from being a decent, but mediocre genre flick. In short, the ideas are good, but the execution often falls flat. That's no surprise, though, given the inexperience of the director at the time and the low budget they had to work with.
In essence, it's an infection movie. That handicaps it right off the bat for me. No matter what wrapping you want to put your infection in and what spin you want to give it, the fact remains that we've been there, done that and been there again. So, to impress me with an infection flick you really have to up the game. The idea of using rats is a little unique and I certainly give them some credit for the "were-rat" creatures which were creative and at times very effective.
Typically, when a low budget indie is going to give me another re- tread of the infection flick there are limited ways to make that stand out. The best I've seen usually give me memorable characters, good acting or a really well-developed script. I didn't feel any of those coming from this one. The characters are never developed in any way that I grew attached to them, the acting and dialog is so limited that the actors aren't even given the chance to impress and the script is far too reliant on action for me. To top it off, the committed what was the worst sin by giving me two horrible cliché endings for our main characters. Who couldn't have predicted the old "hero gets bit at the last minute of the film" routine? Then, to put the icing on the cliché cake, we get the NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD ending where our final hero has escaped all the violence only to be killed by overzealous government officials.
The biggest drawback for me was the directorial style, which is surprising given that I'm pretty much an advocate of Mickle's genius. There are too many gimmicks and tricks here that really wreak of a film student trying out all the stuff he just learned in class. Odd camera angles, odd soundtrack music, too many zooms and pans, all of it looks like your average film school project.
This is not, at all, to say this movie is all negative. I'm pointing out some faults that kept it from being as good as I hoped, bu there's a lot to enjoy here, as well. The movie has an excellently crafted claustrophobic feeling, given the setting of the apartment complex. It kept me solidly engaged throughout its' run time, as I didn't really find the pacing to bog down at any point.
You can see all the trademarks of a director who was soon to go on to much better things, but they are still being honed in this debut.
I would say, though, that this movie does not come close to the quality of his later films. There are some bright, inspired moments and some good ideas here, but there are just as many negatives that I could point to, which really keep this film from being a decent, but mediocre genre flick. In short, the ideas are good, but the execution often falls flat. That's no surprise, though, given the inexperience of the director at the time and the low budget they had to work with.
In essence, it's an infection movie. That handicaps it right off the bat for me. No matter what wrapping you want to put your infection in and what spin you want to give it, the fact remains that we've been there, done that and been there again. So, to impress me with an infection flick you really have to up the game. The idea of using rats is a little unique and I certainly give them some credit for the "were-rat" creatures which were creative and at times very effective.
Typically, when a low budget indie is going to give me another re- tread of the infection flick there are limited ways to make that stand out. The best I've seen usually give me memorable characters, good acting or a really well-developed script. I didn't feel any of those coming from this one. The characters are never developed in any way that I grew attached to them, the acting and dialog is so limited that the actors aren't even given the chance to impress and the script is far too reliant on action for me. To top it off, the committed what was the worst sin by giving me two horrible cliché endings for our main characters. Who couldn't have predicted the old "hero gets bit at the last minute of the film" routine? Then, to put the icing on the cliché cake, we get the NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD ending where our final hero has escaped all the violence only to be killed by overzealous government officials.
The biggest drawback for me was the directorial style, which is surprising given that I'm pretty much an advocate of Mickle's genius. There are too many gimmicks and tricks here that really wreak of a film student trying out all the stuff he just learned in class. Odd camera angles, odd soundtrack music, too many zooms and pans, all of it looks like your average film school project.
This is not, at all, to say this movie is all negative. I'm pointing out some faults that kept it from being as good as I hoped, bu there's a lot to enjoy here, as well. The movie has an excellently crafted claustrophobic feeling, given the setting of the apartment complex. It kept me solidly engaged throughout its' run time, as I didn't really find the pacing to bog down at any point.
You can see all the trademarks of a director who was soon to go on to much better things, but they are still being honed in this debut.