Altered Dvd Review
Of course what caught my attention right off the bat was the tag line "from the director of The Blair Witch Project". While I thought Blair Witch Project ended up being overrated I still thought it was an excellent indie debut from a promising director. What surprised me is how long it took for Eduardo Sanchez sophomore effort to get off the ground and i sure was surprised it was a straight to dvd effort instead of a big budget Hollywood movie. But you know what im sure that probably added to the charm of the movie was the indie feel instead of all the cliche Hollywood edits and plot devices. Sure some of it was predictable but it still had a fresh feel to it that was different than what i was expecting.
Im not big into giving spoilers while giving reviews, I will say the movie with the exception of about 10 minutes total all occurs at one house/garage. You know a movie that has that much of a limited location has to have some good dialogue or happenings to carry a full length movie. The story is about these 3 men that capture and wound an alien being in the woods and carry it back to a 4th friends house. Come to find out the men were abducted 15 years prior by aliens along with another friend and they all came back alive with the exception of the one friend who was never returned. The 3 men want to exact revenge on the alien while one of them wishes to keep him alive and seems to be harboring some secrets of his own.
The movie is a great mixture of mystery, horror, gore, sci fi throughout. The acting which are all newcomers to me was overall pretty good. The effects on the alien and the gore throughout the movie was top notch. There was a great scene with some intestines that had the gore hound in me smiling ear to ear. The sound effects were spot on especially during a cool scene with one of the guys surrounded in a field. To me this is the movie that I was hoping that M. Night's Signs was going to be. It had a cool atmosphere and "fun" factor that helped speed the movie along without ever being boring. The movie had a good fitted ending that ended the movie on a pretty strong note. While not flawless I thought it was definitely a pleasant surprise and I hope Mr. Sanchez doesnt take another 8 years to make his next movie. Recommended to alien lovers and horror lovers who like a thoughtful storyline with some decent gore thrown in. A solid 7.9.
Heres the trailer