SummaryFive interlocking tales of terror follow the fates of a group of weary travellers who confront their worst nightmares - and darkest secrets - over one long night on a desolate stretch of desert highway.
SummaryFive interlocking tales of terror follow the fates of a group of weary travellers who confront their worst nightmares - and darkest secrets - over one long night on a desolate stretch of desert highway.
Tacking the weakest segments onto the end of the film may leave some viewers exiting the theater with a shrug, but the interesting bits are original enough to stick.
This movie reminds me of why I LOVE indie horror flicks - especially anthologies with a thru-line. (And an excellent use of uroboros to boot!) It's creepy as hell, the score is amazing, and the special effects - for an indie flick or any flick for that matter - are truly impressive. Sure, you'd expect the make-up in a horror flick to be impressive, but the larger pieces and creatures are pretty amazing. Kudos to the makers. And the acting is top notch. They're rolling this **** out slowly, I'm told - check it out if you're into films like It Follows, You're Next, and A Horrible Way to Die. (And, of course, the stellar V/H/S series.)
That was a surprisingly good movie. For an anthology, all the segments are pretty equal in terms of ****'s way better than the other recent anthologies like Holidays,Tales of Halloween and Trick r' Treat.
This entertaining-enough quartet of loosely interwoven terror tales falls right into the middle ground of horror omnibuses, with no outright duds but no truly memorable (or scary) segments either.
The movie shifts gears with each section.... This hodgepodge encourages some variety in the world-building, but, to the littlest detail, it’s derivative — and, worse, not scary.
A great throwback to Horror Anthology, this low-budget indie film, scares, shocks and excites its audience with 5 cryptic tales, that intertwine as the story progress' over the films 90 minute run-time. Now the hard part about reviewing a film like Southbound is that it is essentially 5 mini movies to which i will take the long road in reviewing each individual tale
The Way Out: Essentially the hardest story to figure out out of all 5 stories, it is also the shortest, Dealing with two men trying to escape grim reaper like figures in a pick up truck in the middle of the desert. Without any backstory as to the two men's predicament there is a certain level of intrigue and urgency, created by the story which leaves you chipping at your nails and eager to see what comes next in both this story and the next segment
The Siren: is about as close as you will get to the cliche horror films of the late 2000's and early 2010's following a group of less than intelligent young people, driven into a situation that they brought themselves into. However in saying that it is a fun sequence to watch and unlike the prior sequence has a definite follow up within the next segment of the film which as least resolves one of the many, many questions created by this part of the film
The Accident; Is the Third and quite possibly the best sequence of the film, dealing with issues of morality and sanity. The accident is a true throwback to the days of horror and uncertainty as we find ourselves eager to find a happy ending for the protagonist, Lucas who has his emotional limits pushed to the max, when everything is not as it seems and everything begins to fall out of his favour
Jailbreak: Is the most underwhelming portion of the film, However in that being said it is hard to compete against the best part of the movie and still retain interest in what is left. Following Jacob who has been looking for his sister for the past thirteen years, there is a constant sense of tension and danger, as Jacob pushes further and further into where he doesn't belong, with severe consequences that await him
The Way In: Is essentially your basic home invasion film, staring Mom, Dad and the only child, Gem as they find themselves trapped by 3 men donning presidential masks who begin inflicting physical torment onto the family, for reasons made not so clear. Throughout the segment you find yourself rooting for the family but by the end of the sequence everything soon becomes abundantly clear
8.5 - Cinematic Picture/Imagery;;
4.0 - Plot Sensicality;;
5.5 - Script/Quotonics;;
7.5 - Acting/Character Instillation;;
8.0 - Plot Captivation;;
9.0 - Popcorn Fulfillment;;
7.0 - Aftershock expector/effector;;
If going off cinematics, 7. If going off storyline, 6.
A scenic treasure set in a desert landscape with undertones of mysterious creatures & twisted people plague the dark setting ominous. The plot very choppy and interchangeable; slowly you learn through the captivation of scenimatography you’re in the inset. Though the plot could’ve been different, it would’ve changed the inset effect. Script was average, and well understood. The actors did phenomenal falling into character often deviating with lurking precursors hinting what’s around the corner; sometimes spoiling the shock but not enough to ruin the movie. Plot captivates audience and doesn’t stray to never land for entire film (other than the terrestrials which could’ve been better). Intertwining science fiction with horrific undertones; the setting insets with ongoing progression of expecting spirals. As you’d hope for when watching a fiction horror. Though, many different sets of characters never allows for a main character - but each character doing great acting. There’s not much focus on character attachment specificity so the aftershock, whilst mind boggling is lingering but limited to the beginning of one’s thoughts.
The movie has the element of creative suspense right from the beginning, suggesting more than it reveals in the first 3 minutes. The interwoven nature of the stories is as fascinating as it is mind-numbing. For lovers of short-story collections, this movie is definitely a riveting flick.
The only thing this film gets right is the connective tissue that holds the anthology format together. The individual pieces themselves are not scary, do not create any real tension, do not feature much in the way of originality (which could be forgiven if any of them were executed more adeptly), and the most of the actors' performances were barely passable, even for a horror movie.
Do not watch it. It's the worst movie ever made. Complete waste of time.
Unnecessary gore. Unexplained but childish horror themes.
Ideas stolen from many other great movies in an amateurish way.