Deathtoad03

I have so many thoughts. Let’s get this outta the way, this movie is pure fear. You know that feeling when you’re a kid and you get up to go to the bathroom and you hear a noise and you just stand there in the pitch black hallway for 5 mins not moving a muscle. Ok well if that feeling was a movie, this would be it. This movie takes awhile to get going, but once it does…oh boy. It wasn’t perfect. I had 3 main criticisms. First of all I didn’t think the kids were nearly as panicked as they prolly should have been. I grew up with a little sister, and I can tell you as a former child myself if we were in this situation as kids we’d just be crying the whole time. That being said, I don’t think that would work for the movie so I’ll give it a pass. The second thing I wasnt crazy about was the pacing. I think every kinda agreed on this. I think this movie would have done itself a lot of favors by shaving off at least 20 mins of the nothing still shots. Certainly keep a lot of them though because that exact cinematic strategy is also what makes this movie so creepy. The main issue i had with it is the unnecessary subtitles. I just felt like they distracted from the eerie vibe and I would rather be forced to lean in and listen to what the voices are saying instead of just being able to read it. All this being said, everything else was flawless. You feel trapped in this movie. The long shots keep you waiting for the scare. Sometimes it comes and sometimes it doesn’t so it’s unpredictable in a way most arent. The atmosphere was on point. The audio was crisp yet grotesque. The whole thing just felt unnatural, like you werent watching a movie. It felt wrong in a way thats hard to describe, but that confusion is also what makes it so interesting. This movie really is a middle finger to anyone who thought the Conjuring was a scary movie. This movie was creepy in a way that is artistic. People didnt like it cause they thought it was boring, but they didn’t give this one enough time to hold them hostage. Great film!

Very solid! I always love when movies try something different. Very interesting concept. It felt like a different take on a backrooms style concept. Not knowing what each anomaly would be added a layer of suspense. I think this film could have improved in some areas tho. I felt the ending was somewhat predictable. Overall I enjoyed it a lot.

I liked a lot of what they did here for sure. It was very spooky and as a horror film I think it did its job. There are just some very obvious ways the film could have been better. Firstly, a lot of people thought this movie was boring, I don’t agree. Audio horror leaves a lot to the imagination, but thats why it’s so eery. That being said, I had some issues with the dynamic between the two podcasters. Namely that they didn’t feel like the kind of people who would have a podcast. They kept getting tired or scared, which made them stop dead in their tracks after not recording very long. It didn’t feel like they were taking their content seriously. There was also no information on how popular they were, or what their relation to eachother even was. They were just two random people who might have conflicting views on the supernatural, but even that is questionable given that they give this rivalry no attention and are constantly reminding themselves to “stay in character”. This film would have been a lot stronger if the entire movie took place over the course of one long livestream. The only breaks would be for her to check on her sick mother or something like that. This way, we would have a tense tug of war between the podcasters, and people would call in fanning the flames. It also would have added a steady pace to the film and created more mystery as details are revealed more naturally. Instead we got two people who pretended to like the supernatural, but at no point seemed to be able to handle the pressure of their jobs. They couldn’t handle the heat, but refused to leave the kitchen. And it’s a real shame, because this movie nailed the atmosphere. The potential was through the roof, they just didn’t go far enough.

On my 12th birthday, my dad brought me to the theater to see my first true horror movie. I had been a fan of gateway horror up until then and this particular day kickstarted my true love for the genre. I have been a horror fan for 11 years now, and I’ve seen hundreds of horror films. This one….this one was a unique experience for me. I did not think that was fully possible anymore. I have never seen a theater so distraught before. Some of these people were crying, and people ran out of the theater. This movie reminded me why I love this genre so much. Perfect film! The only reason I don’t have it as a 10 on here, is because I can’t justify putting it above my nostalgic comfort films.