Stay Alive

I'm not really sure if I would have seen this movie if it weren't for a couple members of the cast that those being Sophia Bush, Jimmi Simpson, and Samaire Armstrong. And considering how much I do not like Milo Ventimiglia I was looking forward to seeing him getting killed. I thought he was a bad actor before his like 5 minutes in this movie and let me tell you he is even worse than I thought he was. Luckily for me (and anyone else seeing the movie) his character is killed early on so you don't have to endure his presence for very long.

The movie is actually pretty good and the rest of the cast worked very well together. And none of them phoned it in. Unfortunately it isn't very scary but that is compensated for by the fact that it has a rather good story. Sadly for the box office numbers of the movie they didn't play up that story in the previews. Had they done that it might have had some better numbers, at least in the first week. Because lets face it even if you manage to pack 'em in, in the first week if the movie isn't scary nobodies seeing it again or telling their friends to see it.

While the directing wasn't bad I do think choices made in that area are what really hurt the scare factor of the movie. Barely any of the movie takes place at night and most of the killings take place in bright day light. There is no room for big scares in bright light. That is not entirely the directors fault since the producers would have had to sign off on that decision. So in the end it's behind the scenes decisions that really hurt the movie.


Spoilers Ahead:


To base it on Countess Elizabeth Bathory was really quite ingenious. While true it's one that not a lot of people are familiar with and has every element needed to make for a great horror film. However, doing it as a ghost story wasn't the best way to go. I get what they were going for, trying to bring in elements of The Ring but with a video game rather than movie. Problem is that this never really builds up to the killings. All the killings happen way to fast and because there is no real build up they aren't scary.

When Phineas (Jimmi Simpson) gets killed while standing on the side of the road in bright daylight it's just like boom he's dead. He's not being stalked or anything he's just run down and killed by a ghost horse and buggy.

They give away the part about everyone being killed the way they die in the game way to soon. Of course they give that away in the preview so it doesn't really matter when they give it away in the movie you already know. Huge story flaw. That angle of the story is further flawed by the fact that the ghost activates the game so it can kill people. I don't like that aspect of the story. Better angle for the story as a ghost story would be that you have to finish the game to survive and the ghost is trying to stop you from finishing the game.

I would have prefered to see the story have a real flesh and blood killer. Either the person who designed the game or just so whacko hacker guy/girl who lurks around watching people play the game and kills them in the manner they died in the game. That would also make the part where the game unpauses itself more plausable. Another reason I don't like the ghost story angle most of the time is that it leaves no way for the hero to escape suspicion. In this case Hutch (Jon Foster) has managed to become a suspect and some what piss off the leads detectives. One of those detectives ends up dead. Yeah, Hutch ends up getting rid of the ghost but it's really not over there. I know it's just a movie and all but it's a still a story and it needs the potential for a good out come for the hero.

Serious issue with the characters in the story was the moments in which they became complete idiots. October (Sophia Bush) is about to be killed in a house that's under construction. They can't get the door open and then try to the window open. There is a brick sitting on the scafolding behind them and the just keep pounding on the window with their hands trying to get it open. It's not that hard people, break the glass. Then later Hutch is trying to get into the plantation house where is the set for the game so he can save Abigail (Samaire Armstrong) and he can't get break through the door. The couple hundred year old wood door that has several glass pains in it. Again he doesn't break the glass he waits for Swink (Frankie Muniz) to unlock the door in the video game. Stupid, stupid, stupid. Not long after that it turns out that while he didn't think to break the glass earlier Swing does know that glass breaks when he throws a rock through the window of their van so he can get back to playing the game to try and keep Hutch and Abigail alive.



I did pay full price to see this one and I really don't feel that I over paid. I enjoyed the movie and for me it was worth the money and the time to see. However, most people probably wouldn't feel that way and it's probably better as a rental.