The Lock In (2014)

Directed by: no one was listed at time of writing.

Produced by: Holy Moly Pictures 

Runtime: 98 minutes

I learned about this movie from an online news site that likes to report on the more offbeat things. The headline for this movie compared this movie to The Room. Being an idiot I went out and bought this movie expecting a train wreck just like The Room.

This is The Room. It is an amazing train wreck of a movie. It is incompetently edited, has insane direction and things happen without rhyme or reason. It also has lots of passion and charm that makes it a memorable train wreck.

This is The Lock In. Or rather this is me holding an empty bourbon bottle because The Lock In is streaming on demand and does not have a dvd release. This is a competently made film that understand the horror genre, and understands how to make a believable found footage film. Yes The Lock In has a different message but it conveys this message better than The Room could ever hope to do. Well I bought the ticket so let me take you on the ride that is The Lock In.

Since this movie is not twenty years old, I usually try to write a spoiler free review. However, four minutes in to the movie it spoils itself. So just to let you know the rest of this review is full of spoilers.

The movie opens with former youth pastor Chris explaining that the footage the viewer is about to see is disturbing. So disturbing that he quit being a youth pastor and took up selling insurance. Then he says the most horrifying thing in the whole movie, all the kids involved in the footage live.

This leads into the movie's title card and introduces the main characters. Due to not really caring and the rushed pace the movie introduced the main characters I did not really get the characters names. So I will just use the nicknames I gave them from my notes. The movie rapidly introduces Born Loser, Camera Guy and Mr. Mugging. Born Loser get lectured a lot for things he either didn't do or for things that are not as big an issue. Camera Guy is behind the camera eighty percent of the film and then there is Mr. Mugging. Every time the camera goes near Mr. Mugging this tool is trying his best to be annoying and is a great success at this. Most of my notes about this movie involve wanting this character to die horribly in this film.

The trio are going to a church lock in. A lock in is where a bunch of kids get locked in a church overnight and play games and do youth related stuff. Mr. Mugging thinks that this night will be epic and wants the events filmed. So Camera Guy and Mr. Mugging go pick up Born Loser and Mr. Mugging proceeds to cause problems for Born Loser. Mr. Mugging nearly shouts about how Born Loser had pizza and studied with a girl. This leads to Born Loser's parents taking him aside and giving him a lecture about the evils of premarital sex.

The plot starts to move again as the trio make their way to the church lock in. However, Mr. Mugging hasn't been annoying in two minutes and guilts the other two into cleaning his car. So they pull up to the nearest dumpster and end up finding an adult magazine.Mr. Mugging thinks it is a brilliant idea to hide the magazine in Born Loser's stuff. This plan goes about as well as most barely thought out ideas, the magazine is found and the trio get in trouble. Though Mr. Mugging does make himself human and likable by admitting it was his stupid idea but youth pastor Chris is blaming all three of them for the magazine.

So youth pastor Chris and the three protagonists go outside and burn the magazine. Back inside the church, the trio are amazed that they only got a lecture instead of being sent home and ending the movie early. This amazement is brought to an end when the adult magazine returns unexpectedly in Camera Guy's stuff. So the trio run upstairs to throw away this new magazine when everything goes wrong. The trio throw the magazine in the first trash can they can find and the trash can starts moving. Scared the daylights out of them, the trio run down stairs to find all the doors locked and there is no one else in the church.

This starts the bulk of the movie were the protagonists running around the church with the demon appearing at random to scare the trio to another part of the church. I liked how you never get a clear look at the demon in this part of the movie but it would have been better if the demon hurt some of them. Like Mr. Mugging for example, he could have used several needless beatings.

My pettiness and blood lust have nothing to do with the plot so back to the plot. As the trio are trying to escape the church and the demon they run into the girl that Born Loser likes. There is more running and not a lot of Mr. Mugging being injured. At one point they hide in a kitchen and Token Female Interest reveals that her parents divorce was caused by the images pornography put in her father's head. After some pointless dialog and a short nap, Token Female Interest hears her friend at the door and foolishly opens the door and is pulled out of the scene and the rest of the movie.

The idiots three decide to go running around some more and end up in a office with video camera setup. Like all normal people trapped in a church with a demon they do the most logical thing and watch the footage on the camera. The camera is being used to record a counseling secession of some guy who is dealing with porn addiction. After a few minutes of the addict explaining his on going problems with porn addiction the pastor leaves the frame and then things get weird. The guy looks into the camera and starts talking to the trio by name with a demonic voice.

This leads to the best part of the whole movie, Mr Mugging gets so scared that he leaves the group. Sadly this act does not lead to his grisly destruction but I will take victory where I can. Camera Guy and Born Loser run away and take shelter in a broom closet. The camera is running low on power at this point so the light on the camera goes out and the two of them take a quick nap. When Camera guy gets the camera up and running he find that Born Loser is gone.

Now Camera Guy is on his own and goes wandering around to find a way out and other people. Instead he finds and confront the demon, none of this is shown. There is  lots of yelling and growling but nothing is shown. Somehow Camera Guy gets away and runs into the main part of the church where everyone is sitting looking sleep deprived. They are all puzzled as to why he is talking nonsense about everyone missing an demons. As far as they know, he was with the group of kids the entire night and just left to go to the bathroom only to come back ranting and raving crazy nonsense.

The final scene is of the trio talking in the not dead Mr. Mugging's car. Born Loser and Mr. Mugging don't doubt that Camera Guy what he had experienced but they don't remember any of the events he is talking about.  He gets dropped off at his house and films himself throwing out his collection of adult magazines that he collected by dumpster diving. Then the movie just abruptly ends without credits.

MVT: Underneath the message there is a horror film begging to be let out. The writer of this movie understands horror and with a rewrite or two and a budget this would be an amazing horror film.

Make or Break: What makes this movie for me is the technical competence. Cgi is used sparsely and only when there is no budget for practical effects. Character conversations are framed so that you can see who is talking to who. As for breaking, the purpose and tone is what broke this movie for me. This is a film aimed at teenagers and goes out of it's way to try to speak to teenagers. This makes watching for entertainment rather difficult especially if you are in your thirties.

Score: 1.4 out of 10  

 

[REC3]: Genesis (SXSW 2012)

Directed by: Paco Plaza

Written by:Paco Plaza & Luiso Berdejo

Starring: Leticia Dolera, Diego Martin

It might very well improve your viewing experience to pretend that this film is not entitled [REC³].

As it is, [REC³]: Genesis follows the zombie outbreak to a wedding reception as partygoers-turned-flesh eaters rapidly turn the proceedings into a bloodbath. Amidst the carnage, newlyweds Clara (Leticia Dolera) and Koldo (Diego Martin) are separated and must hack their way through undead friends and loved ones to reunite.

Yeah, not exactly what one expects as a description for the third installment in the [REC] series (and that's without mentioning the format switch). A little underwhelming, perhaps? Not very rousing, I agree. So, let's try redacting the title and running the description back one time.

[REC³]: Genesis follows the zombie outbreak to a wedding reception as partygoers-turned-flesh eaters rapidly turn the proceedings into a bloodbath. Amidst the carnage, newlyweds Clara (Leticia Dolera) and Koldo (Diego Martin) are separated and must hack their way through undead friends and loved ones to reunite.

Sounds better, doesn't it? At least, a little bit? Point is, redact the title, ignore it, maybe swap it for something else -- Dead Wedding, Till Undeath Do Us Part, Zombie Honeymoon (oh, wait...) whatever -- it just plays better casting that title aside. For better or worse, [REC³] is brand identification, and this film is not indicative of that established label. That said, I'm unsure if it's fair of me to hold it against the finished product for not delivering on what I think the film should be. Perhaps, I've saddled the picture with unfair expectations. Although, I doubt I'll be alone in that department.

While I'm staunchly not in favor of the found footage genre, I greatly appreciated and enjoyed the first two [REC] movies. In fact, I prefer [REC²] despite the re-treading nature as the film offered a fresh perspective and a killer conclusion that promised something grander ahead for the next film. Unfortunately, [REC³] fails to live up to that promise. It does not go bigger. It does not expand on the mythology. It doesn't really answer some of the more pertinent questions. And what's most frustrating, based on the production value displayed, it certainly appears that the filmmakers had the budget to do all those things with this feature.

Now, if you can sever ties to the [REC] franchise, there's ample to enjoy. The director, Paco Plaza, severs those ties early on and aggressively by visual means. The film's first stanza is presented as a found footage wedding video, setting up the characters and dropping the cues of the forthcoming infection. Frankly, it's the least interesting section of the film, and I welcomed the abrupt shift to a standardly shot film as the handheld shaky cam disappeared. The switch happens suddenly as Koldo rips the camera away from the videographer, smashes it against the floor and toebashes the lens until we cut to the red recording dot on a black screen. This red dot slowly fades then dies, and the found footage look dies along with it. When the film fades back in, we pickup right after the camera-bashing except now all is lensed in a cinematic scope. This rough transition symbolizes the change in direction, signifying that this will be a very different [REC] movie visually, narratively and tonally.

One of those stark differences is the tone. Gone is the straight-ahead bleak scarefest typical of the previous installments. In it's place is more of a horror-comedy hybrid that emphasizes sensationalized gore. Before you'd see a character yanked off screen screaming in agony only to return as a blood-drenched deadhead whereas now you'll see that character mobbed and bloodily chewed asunder. Or previously you'd see someone cower, hide and scramble for cover as opposed to the latest approach that sees our groom goofily dawn knightly armor to protect himself as he searches the reception hall. Putting expectations to the side, it all works quite well and makes for a lot of fun.

Technically speaking, Plaza deserves credit for excelling at making a traditional horror film. Whether it was his intention or not, Plaza certainly proves that his talent isn't relegated to the found footage stylings. [REC³] is beautifully shot, rich and vibrant. After the format switch, I anticipated that Plaza might struggle blocking action scenes, reflexively falling back to a handheld camera operator documenting the events with way better image quality. Fortunately, Plaza's action direction is strong in places, if not spectacular, and always solid. If anything the direction lingers a bit long, at times, on the attacks and gore in sort of the opposite end of the spectrum from the "peek-a-boo" found footage approach. In regard to the horror effects, Plaza doesn't shy from putting the gore on display, and does so with largely practical applications rather than CGI over-reliance. And while I've been critical in the way expectations were defied, I still must credit Plaza for attempting to divert the [REC] formula in so many phases and bravely jettisoning the safety of found footage.

If you're familiar with this franchise, you know that Plaza co-directed the prior films with James Balaguero yet helmed this one alone. Apparently, the pair opted to split up in order to finish off the franchise so each could craft their own final entry to complete the trilogy. Thus, it seems as though we'll have the unique situation where we have four films comprising a single trilogy by swapping out one or the other on the backend. Even with this line of thinking, Balaguero's film will carry sequential numbering, tentatively titled [REC⁴]: Apocalypse.

Make or Break scene - The high point of [REC³] occurs in a tunnel/corridor where Clara has the opportunity to escape clear and free, but instead she makes a stand; she opts to turn around and fight through a zombie horde, vowing not to leave without her husband. This scene succeeds on multiple levels. For one, you believe Leticia Dolera's conviction and unrelenting love, never doubting for a second that she would march through infected monsters. And second, she doesn't march through them empty-handed, but rather with chainsaw-in-hand and sexily tearing her gown to skirt length for better zombie-killing technique. Also, as corny as it may sound, Clara bellows that this is her day -- the bride's day -- and no one's going to ruin it as she cuts her undead assailants to bits, working to wonderful comedic effect. And if anyone tries to steal her special day, as the cool action unfolds, she'll feed them a roaring chainsaw blade. Literally.

MVT - For many of the reasons listed above, Leticia Dolera as Clara is the most valuable thing about the film. I love the ferocity with which she conveys her determination in finding Koldo. At the same time, she's able to portray a very heartfelt emotional performance, especially in creating that necessary chemistry with Koldo. Her performance is so well developed that it enhances Diego Martin's work as Koldo, making you understand why he, likewise, refuses to vacate the premises without his wife.

Score - 7/10