Panic Button

Typical thriller/horror with a modern twist. Basically low budget "Saw" with some modern plugins. If you like such movies ,maybe you will like this one.

For a low budget movie its a good effort.

The plot is in my opinion lacking, it leaves no room suspense to build up. Or to build any relationships between the characters or the viewer. Feels rushed. The story unfolds by itself, with little active choices.

The noname actors give a good performance, trying to make the most of it.

These other reviewers must be friends of the director or something giving it 10/10.

PANIC BUTTON is another low budget 'single location' thriller about a group of people trapped in one place and forced to confront some unpalatable truths about themselves. Although much is made of the plane setting, the lack of a special effects budget means that this might as well be set anywhere: a train carriage, a cellar, you name it.

The film has much in common with your usual thriller in this mould and indeed one of the cast, Jack Gordon, would go on to be in the almost identical TRUTH OR DARE (which was much better, by the way). The usual problems unfold, namely poor scripting which takes the form of unlikeable cast members you either don't care about or actively wish bad stuff to happen to.

The low budget nature of the production precludes the presence of any name actors and the best they can come up with for a lead is a former EASTENDERS actress, Scarlett Alice Johnson. None of the actors are particularly bad, but they're not great either when saddled with such underwhelming characters. I appreciate that the emphasis is on the psychological here rather than unnecessary torture porn but the running time does drag and there's not much to get excited about when all is said and done.

As other reviewers have said this is low budget British horror with not a big name in sight. It's Social Network meets Saw on a private jet and most of the action (maybe 85 out of 92 minutes) happens in what is a claustrophobic and slightly greenish (?) space. But I take my hat off to the film-makers for going for a high concept piece. I enjoyed the final twist and found the characters right at the end immensely creepy. It did set my mind racing...I don't think the production values were that bad. Yes, the camera is clearly Hal 9000, but then I wonder if that doesn't say more about who put it there than anything else. I was waiting for one of the characters to make a reference to the Hal 9000 likeness, and to snigger more and make a joke of 'Dave'...but then...

I think there's been a lot of over-positive reviews which is perhaps a tad suspicious from people who've only ever reviewed one film ie this one, and then a few really quite nasty ones. I think the truth lies somewhere in between. For something low budget this is fine: I think it'll gain traction when it hits the £3 DVD barrier.

I like Brit horror and this is OK. 6 or 7 out of 10.

That kind of movie (a bunch of people stuck in a small location) is always a gamble. Every actor has to be good, the story must be interesting and well written, the director must know where he's going. You can't hide an empty script or anything else behind some great camera work, an amazing location or a celebrity among the actors.

In that case, I have to say: well done !

It's not a great movie but it's a good one, which is impressive considering its kind and the fact that it's a low budget.

I wanted to give it a 1/2 star instead of a full star, but I couldn't figure how to do it.

The premise seemed promising at the beginning, but everything started to fall off after about 15 minutes into the movie.

The acting is terrible; the characters aren't even remotely interesting. You can't sympathize or hate(for that matter) any of the characters.

The ending is absolutely meaningless! And when the credit rolls you involuntarily spit in your soda.

British cinema used to be great, but alas; it's gone Hollywood. We're all awaiting its return.