O. Unilateralis

Wow. This isn't an easy film to review. Its storyline seems straightforward: a road trip gone horribly wrong. But the narrative operates on so many levels. I can't go into what all of these are without dropping a spoiler, but I will say that it contains elements of eco-horror and sociological horror. The three main cast members do a fine job, particularly Mi Chelle Nessk's Abbie. Sweet and sheltered but smart and adventurous, she's a mix of classical horror movie victim and a new kind of character just beginning to find her strength. There's a sense of dread and doom almost from the start of this movie. Abbie is the light in the darkness, and as I watched, I grew more and more afraid for her. Anyway. I could talk about the levels of symbolism in O.U. for hours, but I won't. I want you to find them for yourself.

Recalling the experience to the audience, a stranger shows footage of a group of friends taking a camping trip out into the woods where they begin to break down into quite disingenuous forms of themselves, eventually finding it to be caused by them stumbling onto a massive, global conspiracy

This was a highly impressive and enjoyable genre entry. What really works with this one is the rather impressive setup that generates a lot to like about how their change in personalities comes together. From the beginning, we get an idea of what each of the group is like, with the stereotypical jerk looking at the situation as an excuse to get laid anyway he can, the somewhat more reserved yet no less scummy friend that tries to keep everything level-headed and their sheltered, innocent companion that views the whole thing as an adventurous, world-building experience but is wholly out of her element with them. This combination creates a great dynamic that gets explored rather nicely as time goes on with the feminist angle of her taking care of the controlling men attempting to use her for their own purposes throughout the experience. From there, the idea of slowly introducing the horror into the storyline is a fun addition that's handled extremely well. The fact that the entire thing comes together with the gradual build-up of elements that aren't quite that out-of-the-ordinary yet slowly build a sense of menace which is highly enjoyable and immersive. The initial discovery of the bloody abandoned car by the side of the road and how it leads into the group arriving at the abandoned town in the middle of nowhere where there's no one around. The slow-burning revelation about the true conspiracy coming to light in the area not just from these elements but the reveal in the finale which introduces a massive, global storyline that explains away not only what happens in the finale but introduces a highly impressive and dark idea of the takeover taking place that it subtly hints at. As this features the best action in the film as well as some pretty decent gore effects, there's quite a lot to like with this one overall. There's not really much to dislike about the film. The main issue that would disappoint some is the generally underwhelming and slow-moving beginning where not much at all happens here. The beginning build-up to the main storyline featuring the group getting to know each other and point out their various personalities which get wonderfully exploited later on are done without much in the way of anything interesting going on. The constant questions and resentment over his inability to score with her serve this fine enough but the excursions into filming a shot-on-video horror film are time-wasters that don't need to be there since we've already gotten the idea that one is interested in her so it serves no real point to have these diversions. As well, the film does seem to conflict with its found-footage set-up at the end, breaking one of the main rules about the genre in that the majority of the events in the final half feature no real need to be filmed by the characters in the film so it comes off rushed and awkward. It's not that bad but still has some issues about it.

Rated Unrated/R: Graphic Language, Graphic Violence and a Rape.

I will admit - the opening scene had me slightly confused and discouraged. Despite that, I continued to watch, and am glad that I did. This low-budget independent thriller had many disturbing scenes that made me angry, upset and highly disturbed. In my opinion, those are emotions that are integral in a horror film.

Low on gore, a good build on character development and nicely thought out. I really dug the overall feel of this piece, and recommend it to those that are not into the typical mindless popcorn horror flick that seems to dominate in these times.

The ending also left me slightly confused, and left several questions in my mind unanswered. And I liked that... Today it seems many want all their gifts neatly wrapped and labeled with defining labels. I myself, like the thought of the unknown.

I especially enjoyed the end credits with it's cacophony of news reports that I suspect are actual clips from the real world.

If you like your horror well seasoned, medium rare and questionable I would say give this one a watch.