The Retreat

It's not bad, however, the story jumps around way too much, almost making it tough to know what's going on. I'd say this is more of a thriller and not horror. The cinematography is great, but it's unfortunate that they used some kind of orange and teal filter. Everyone's skin appears orange.

It goes like this...This is reality, ok, nope THIS is the real reality, fine... Wrong again THIS is the REAL REAL reality....ah ok...Guess what, they all lying, THIS is the Super duper real and only reality...ok wtf? No worries, its a dream.

In the end the mess is so big that doesnt make sense and the only thing you want is the thing you watch to end so can go on doing something better, like watching mushrooms grow.

Well, "The Retreat" wasn't really as good of a horror movie as I had expected. Sure, the movie was watchable and entertaining enough for what it turned out to be, but it just wasn't a particularly memorable or outstanding addition to the horror genre.

"The Retreat" had some interesting enough aspects to it, such as the wendigo and the creatures that scuttled about with it, and the trip into the forest (around which the movie's plot evolved), and the happenings in the forest. However, the movie just spiraled downwards and out of control as the storyline went from being interesting to downright confusing and totally dropping the ball as to what was going on. That part is where writer and director Bruce Wemple totally lost me.

As for the acting in "The Retreat", well it was heavily reliant on the performance of mostly two actors, that being Grant Schumacher and Dylan Grunn. I will say that they managed to carry themselves well enough, despite the fact of not having a properly constructed storyline to work with.

"The Retreat" is labeled as a horror movie. A very weak horror movie, mind you, because there literally was nothing scary about the movie. I think the label psychological thriller mystery might actually do the movie more justice.

Ultimately, while I did manage to sit through the entire course of the movie, I can honestly say that "The Retreat" is not a movie that had me particularly entertained or thriller. Nor is it a movie that I will watch a second time.

My rating of "The Retreat" settles on a four out of ten stars.

Sure, this movie tries to have an artsy, plot-twisty feel. But the two realities that are presented in the movie are easy enough to understand and I thought it was interesting to see both sides of it. It certainly held my attention, and given most movies these days I give it a big plus for that reason alone! The creature designs were interesting enough (albeit low budget, but that isn't always terrible!) I think this movie would even be worth a rewatch, but I don't think it's my new favorite by any means. 5.5(teetering on 6)/10

Like a student film, by bad students. Trying to be waay too clever jumping between realities. Walk before you can run filmmakers, very dull ho hum.