Acolytes

Acolytes presents an interesting mix of original concepts in "screaming teen" cliché horror with a more thriller-like pacing. In some ways Acolytes is very successful, but in many other ways the film fails miserably.

Overall Acolytes avoided the typical archetypes of the naivety and innocence of youth of endless horror films in the like of Cabin Fever, Texas Chainsaw Massacre, and countless other films where unsuspecting and relatively naive and innocent teenagers, have sex, run around screaming and one-by-one are plucked off by some sort of monster. Instead this innocence is replaced with pride, retaliation, and arrogance. The characters had several opportunities to save themselves from immanent death and despair, but failed to do so due to their own personal demons. In the end you were left with the feeling that there were no (and perhaps are no) innocent victims.

As the name implies, the film also touches greatly on following a leader or authority. This was used in a direct sense of if the main character would become like the serial killer and was also used less directly throughout the film. Following a central figure is a reoccurring theme throughout the film.

Through all this, the film makers also incorporated a lot of cliché, which I suspect was intentional and gave the film a unique mixture of depth as well as shallowness which I found intriguing. This, perhaps inadvertently, plays well with the characters who are, at first appearance very shallow but as the story unfolds it becomes obvious that they are, at least the two main male characters, quite complex.

Technically the film has a lot of problems however. The cinematography, which is typically regarded highly, I find rather sophomoric and over-stylized, utilizing formulaic 2/3 approaches far too rigidly. Many transitions I felt were also over-stylized. The use of symbolism was not only vague, but also greatly over used.

The plot was poorly planned and relied exclusively on misinformation in order to achieve a rather hokey twist ending, which was poorly resolved and leaves viewers confused. Methods used to resolve the climax are cheap and ill-prepared, motivations are routinely unclear, and major plot points remain untied in the end.

Overall, the film's relative originality, themes and thesis are lost in a maze of poor technical execution, over-stylized imagery, unclear motives, obtuse and unnecessary symbolism and cheap twists maintained only by a lack of or entirely incorrect information.

If the film were better executed, it would have been excellent. However, Acolytes receives only two stars in my opinion.

This is a small but nicely filmed dark Australian thriller. As is the case with many Australasian films it never worries about veering away from the predictable and this makes for an absorbing film. It follows 3 teenagers who happen to find a dead body and knowing who the killer is attempt to bribe him to help them with a local thug.

I found this film grabbed my attention from the start helped by good believable performances from the 3 young leads. They are backed up well by Joel Edgerton, who has recently made it big thanks to his role in the excellent 'Warrior', and who really shines in this as the creepy local psychopath.

It's a pretty grim story but never less than compelling and builds an impressive amount of tension as the film nears it's climax. This is a chilling and bleak film and whilst it's no classic I was surprised at just how good it was.

A very impressive effort which is well worth more than one viewing.

This is not truly a horror, more of a slasher variation. Three teens stumble upon a serial killer. They decide to not call the police. That about settles it right there and then. About one hour more of absurd behaviour and thinking and the movie ends.

The film had its good parts, mainly the relationship between the three teens and the psychological tension at the end. The middle, however, was pretty damn annoying, especially the flashbacks at twice the sound volume that instead of frightening me were making me fast forward.

Bottom line: some Australian movies are very good. This is not one of them. I rate it slightly below average because of the premise. Could have been a lot better with a minimum of effort.

ACOLYTES – CATCH IT ( B ) Acolytes is about two teenage Boys and a Girl who find a dead body in the forest and rather then telling the police, the boys plan to use the serial Killer to take their revenge from the Guy, who molested them… when they were kids. The concept of the movie is really interesting and the execution is also very enthralling. Although, in the end it became lot more Twisted than expected. Sebastian Gregory, Joshua Payne and Helena M.Lawrence make a dynamic trio. Watching them juggling through all was quite enjoyable. Joel Egerton is becoming my favorite Aussie Man, I loved him in Animal Kingdom and here he didn't have much scoop but he did creep me out through his mustache. Michael Dorman as Child Molester was pretty darn good. Overall, really good Aussie Thriller, I enjoyed it because of its story and performances by ensemble Aussie actors.

Just read some of the other reviews on here and I have to disagree.

First - good cinematography with some really great shots. End of story. The tripe fest that is The Descendants that was filmed in beautiful Hawaii with a much larger budget looked like a brochure. Ugh.

Second - cries of clichés, ridiculous plot twists and poor acting per reviewers. Can anyone really name a film that does not have some clichés (excludes any movie that did it first and more than 20 yrs ago). I've never seen 3 human beings sewn ass to face before, but then everyone cries how it's just for the shock value, too disgusting. Can't win either way. Poor acting from teen actors - was there room for improvement? Yes. Has anyone spent actual time around a couple of teen boys who were same sexed raped??? I'm thinking these kids are not too emotive, erratic, angry and confused with a dash of self-destruction and death obsession. I'm fine with the plot twists; kept it moving. As long as there was no cop-out dream sequence, then I'm willing to give some leeway.