Val

Underrated. Much better than the current IMDB rating (5/10) suggests.

I hesitate to characterize this as a horror comedy. Its horror that doesn't take itself too serious. It was a fun ride. Poster and promotional phrase of the movie are dumb though, because they reveal this movie's twist. What was the reason for this?

In any case, i enjoyed this. A dialogue-driven offbeat comedy-horror movie? Whatever this was, it was entertaining. Kinda strange acting, but i liked it. Well structured characters, interesting enough to keep my attention. There was a second twist here that i didn't see it coming. Not mindblowing/original but good.

This was not scary neither hilarious or brilliant but i had fun watching this. Lower your expectations and if you like this genre, you will enjoy it too.

This movie was a really fun time. If you are a horror buff I really think you'll enjoy this, but at the same time it's pretty accessible to those that usually don't enjoy horror films(ie me). There aren't any stupid cliches, over the top jump scares or any dumb decisions that characters make just to move the plot forward.

What I really liked: The music and atmosphere. The music here is on point, and the thumping loud sounds really bring the mansion to life. I love the way the director uses music and blur to create a real sense of disorientation and confusion, which Finn( Zachary Moren) is clearly going through a lot of. The film starts out seemingly ordinary and through little details slowly starts to reveal that it is anything but.

The acting: Mischa Reeves as Val was incredible in this film. She is charismatic, mysterious and terrifying. It is difficult to describe specifics of what makes her performance great without spoiling so I will just say there are hints of foreshadowing that can be seen and make it that much more impressive on second viewing. The rest of the cast ranged from fine to great, no complaints really but Reeves was definitely a stand out and was easily the most entertaining character to watch.

The effects:

For a relatively small budget Indy flick this film has very good visual/special effects. This shouldn't come as a surprise if you have been following the creators on YouTube this past year as they have been creating a slew of horror shorts that have seemed to have been the perfect medium for them to hone their effect skills. Well done.

What I didn't like:

Meandering story early on The main issue I had with this movie is that you don't really get too much information on what the story actually is until well past the halfway mark. There is a point when things kind of click and you see where everything thing is going, I just wish that moment came sooner.

Overall- 8.5. Really solid stylized flick that struggles early on but once you're in you are hooked for the rest of the run time and you end up leaving on a relatively high note. I would recommend checking this one out, soon if you can as it is the perfect spooktober film to watch with some friends.

The film is a gem. Misha Reeves, as Val, grabbed my attention and kept it. The actors have good chemistry and the story was edgy and dark. Zachary Mooren (Fin) played a good counter to the manipulative Val.

This horror comedy thriller is rather difficult to watch as a comedic movie for most of its duration and yet if one has the fortitude to watch it through to the end, it seems to redeem itself some. The primary problem for the audience is the rather off-putting behavior of Finn scripted by Aaron Fradkin, also director, and Vitoria Fratz who plays Jenny, a close friend of Finn. The story outline is solid, but the presentation is somewhat awkward in places as the humor mostly offered up by the luscious and mysterious Val, the woman whose home Finn breaks into and played by Misha Reeves with great affect cannot quite make up for the rather initial overly dramatic, brusque and rough performance by Finn that is actually out of character. In summary, this movie does touch on the notion of good and evil quite well and the last third of the movie almost makes up for the unintentional repelling nature of Finn along with the rather innovative quality performance of Val.

They absolutely did NOT have enough material for a full length movie. The story had me mildly interested early on as I waited for clues as to what was going on. I did not feel the payoff was even close to being worth the time I spent watching. Much of the movie revolves around the interplay between two main characters. I really didn't want to spend time with either one of them. What really bothered me though is how repetitive it got in the last act. I would recommend skipping it.