The Stay

Story by: Scott Hamm Written by: Scott Hamm Directed by: Scott Hamm Produced by: Scott Hamm Acted in by: Scott Hamm ....and yes...reviewed by: Scott Hamm

Here's a definition of the word Ham: "An actor who is overly theatrical - in other words, 'overacts' - is usually referred to as 'ham'. ... The word is frequently used in everyday contexts to refer to someone who likes to draw attention to himself by being overly dramatic."

Now the movie review: (by someone not involved in any way to the movie, other than watching it)

I love independent films when they're done right. The acting in this is sub par. The difference between a good actor, and a bad one is that a good actor will never let you know there is a camera in the room. A bad actor struggles to keep from looking at it, and it shows in this film.Kipp Tribble was great, as was Nija Okoro.

Atmosphere is flat here. It relies too much on the dialogue, like soap operas do.

The plot is nothing new, but I can't fault the writers for that. There are only so many times you can place a group of people in a isolated area, and make it unique. This is situation is not unique.

The story line is right out of a soap opera. It's listed as a thriller, but it's more of a drama. Where are the thrills? If you stop, and make a sandwich while the movie is playing, you won't miss anything crucial. Short Cuts by Robert Altman is 3 hours long, and I pressed the pause button for bathroom breaks, and refreshment refills. That is drama.

The camera work was spot on. Too bad there wasn't anything special happening in front of it, and that pretty much sums up the entire film. If you don't watch, you won't be missing anything. If you do.....hey, write a review. It would be nice to hear from someone who didn't have anything to do with the birthing of this baby.

Greetings from Finland!

I really enjoy movies with a "small group stuck in an isolated place" setting. With few characters you get to know them better when there's more time for each one individually. 'The Stay' does take advantage of this. There is a lot of dialogue between the four main characters and you do get to understand their motives.

But. The actual dialogue is not very interesting and the more you get to know these main characters, the more annoying each one of them become. It didn't take too long until I began to wish they would all face a gruesome death.

Unfortunately despite the setting The Stay is no slasher and you are forced to spend a long time with these characters before the terror begins. And when it does begin, the killings are not imaginative or brutal enough.

The acting was not super good, but I think the bigger problem was the uninteresting and excessive dialogue between the couples. Bo-Lee's actor did a fine job.

I did enjoy the scenery and the camera work was very good. Points for that.

All in all I give a lot of respect for this independent production and have no doubt that mr. Hamm will make a more kickass film in the future. This time though I can't give more than a 4/10.

The story is meant to be horrific, it reminded me a lot of the kinds of stories we might get with 70's and 80's slashers. You can easily follow where its going and it does pick up at a pace you would expect for a traditional slasher. The ending felt a little weak though and it really could have used some better music to capture the horror element. Either way I thought it was a surprisingly good horror.

Yikes. The acting is mediocre at best. I can't get past the opening scene with the first terrible actor talking on the phone and then weirdly walking around his friends house with the obvious "I already did this 300 times" look on his face. Nah. Cringe. Hard pass.

As I've said in other reviews, when the director and writer and actor is all the same person, it makes for a terrible movie. And this was no exception. Scott Hamm is horrible on screen. Over acting and 1 dimensional. The plot kind of made sense, but then it didn't. My mind kept wondering off as the movie continued. The caretaker was just an annoying add on that wasn't utilized properly. 2 stars because I thought the black chick was the only sensible one, but then he dumbed her down too. Stick to your soaps man.