The Lonely Ones

It's hard to adequately describe what The Lonely Ones does without spoiling it. I was starting to regret choosing this film near the beginning with the cliche college students going off somewhere to get drunk and party. Somehow, and I won't say how, the film unexpectedly improves and becomes a tense but campy fun time. The acting ranged from good to over-the-top in a fun way. The practical effects were genuinely jarring considering the otherwise obvious low budget. I definitely rate movies higher than most since I've seen some truly awful ones to compare, but this is one case where I don't see why it would be given a 1 or 2 unless they turned it off early on.

I'm disappointed that the director barely did anything in the industry after this one, since he made a genuinely surprising and entertaining film that's miles above the trash I expect from the 20-film packs I buy for $5.

Aside from the unnatural dialogue, we have to endure relationship problems and bickering. When the overacting nerds show up, acting like vampires (even though they're ghouls), I'm still irritated by the first half of the movie. I didn't give it a 1, but a 2 because through all of this, I liked the idea of making a movie about a pack of ghouls and a plot element that I won't discuss because it would be a spoiler (that comes out about 3/4th through the movie). Also, 1 of the producers' name is "Aaron Rottinghaus". What a great name for somebody who makes horror films!

As other reviewers have already pointed out, this is a low budget movie - the listed budget is $100,000 I've seen movies with a tenth of that budget and similar production value. With the grainy digital video, bad or non-existent lighting, bad acting, muddled sound, and cheap-looking FX in the first twenty minutes I figured I was in for yet another microbudget waste of time.

Then, an amazing thing happens, and the movie suddenly finds its stride about 1/2 way through. Right as I was getting ready to write this one off, the focus shifts from the melodramatic coeds (there's one giggle-inducing scene where the main girl shows her ex boyfriend the shirt of his that she's kept - LAME!) to the lonely ones - a group of creatures that live in the forest. The flat film-making suddenly steps up as the victims start getting picked off and from here on out there's actually some good camera-work throughout the rest of the movie. Even the performances and FX pick up, and as someone who has seen a lot of shot-on-video productions, I can safely say that the second half of the film carries it above most of its peers.

I won't ruin anything for the viewer, but there is a very well-built story here that is worth checking out. What I thought was a boring and drawn-out setup (honestly, it could have been trimmed down here and there) actually ties in to the film's payoff and unlike some other movies I've seen, the movie's loose ends are actually tied up very well in the finale. There are some twists I didn't see coming, and some of the characters' actions surprised me as well.

Unfortunately, the very good story is hampered by the low budget pitfalls described earlier. Also, one of fights between a lonely one and victim plays out like a lame backyard wrestling production, and some of the kills should have been more graphic. The main thing is that the monsters in the film aren't much more than people in fake blood and rubber teeth. I know that the movie was concentrating more on the creatures' personality and stuff (a novel concept for today's horror movies), but this would have been a better movie if the makeup effects had lived up to the descriptions we get of the monsters during the setups.

I wish the filmmakers would have tried to get a bigger budget before filming this because the potential is there for a really good movie, but it seems like they bit off more than they could chew with this one. Still, the story alone is worth the price of a rental so long as the viewer can get past the production value. One of the websites said this movie hits more often than it misses, and I agree there.

Made in 2004 and released in 2006, "The Lonely Ones" is an ultra-low budget cabin-in-the-woods slasher flick chronicling the adventures of nine college students—five girls and four guys—who vacation in a big modern cabin in Arizona owned by the family of one of the girls. Havoc ensues when they discover they're the prey of a few strange people lurking in the woods or, perhaps, THINGS.

This is the kind of micro-budget flick that rises above its limitations and offers something truly worthwhile. It only cost $100,000 to make and most of that went into lodging & catering for the cast and crew in the middle of nowhere. For the most part, the first 36 minutes are weak with all the characteristics of no-budget fare—dubious sound, bad lighting, fuzzy cinematography from hand-held digital cams, etc. But at the 36-minute mark things spark into motion till the end with numerous effective, moving or thrilling sequences. I'll be honest with you, I was about to give-up on the movie because of its shortcomings in the first act, but I'm glad I stayed with it because it just totally turned everything around for a pretty potent backwoods monster movie. Despite the presence of no less than a dozen characters (featuring a pretty diverse cast) and a non-budget, director/writer David Michael Quiroz Jr. was able to flesh out the characters with a well-crafted and original script. On top of this, there's a varied score that's pretty effective, even though one long sequence in the second act drones on with the eerie piano. Speaking of the piano, one part is reminiscent of Savatage's "Storm," which is good in my book. The score also includes some moving acoustic guitar pieces.

Of the five girls, they're all pretty average-looking (not ugly, just average) with the exception of petite cutie Devanny Pinn as Tifa, who's a unique-looking semi-hottie.

BOTTOM LINE: "The Lonely Ones" really surprised; it's a gem in a sea of micro-budget dreck. But you won't be able to appreciate it unless you can adapt to its no-budget style, which I was fully able to do after the first act (I also went back and re-watched the first act whereupon discovering that it's actually a solid set-up for the rest of the movie). Once the second act started I was gripped to the end and very impressed by the proceedings despite the movie's obvious limitations. This would be a great movie if it were redone with a decent budget. The director/writer should've gone on to better things but, as of this writing, he hasn't directed anything since 2009, and that was a TV episode. That's a shame because "The Lonely Ones" shows that he's got the talent to create greatness. He just needs the funds to back up his creativity.

The film runs 97 minutes and was shot in Greer, Arizona.

GRADE: B+

I have seen a lot of low budget horror films; even though most of them are pretty bad by any standard. "The Lonely Ones" is exactly the sort of quality effort that keeps me on the lookout for rare cinematic gems. It has a very well written plot, some very good performances, fairly grisly special effects and much better executed scares than any of Hollywood's PG-13 so-called horror films. Kudos also for making use of a mythological monster that exists in almost every culture, but which I can't recall ever having seen used in a horror movie. Well worth checking out; especially for real horror fans! I look forward to seeing the next project by Mister Quiroz.