The Luring

This was an absolute waste of time. Please do not waste your time watching this horrible car crash of a movie. I cannot believe anyone would pay for this, I am so baffled how it even got produced . It was all jumbled and all over the place, the acting was extremely low, the scenes did not connect, nothing made sense. I have NO idea how one person in the reviews said they watched it 3 times, probably because nothing was making sense and they couldn't accept that fact.

First off, let me say that I don't understand the low ratings here... "The Luring" is a pretty well-made suspense film - a rarity in the genre, and for that I was EXTREMELY grateful! They are rare enough from big studios and rarer still in the indie film world. The attention-grabbing opening scene immediately engaged me, making me want to find out the rest of the story of "the cabin in the woods" - which admittedly is a standard horror film trope, but it was done so well that ...trope/schmope. I'm IN. Production value is top notch, with simple, yet effective practical effects, and the acting of the entire cast is strong. The story flows well most of the time - but as is the case with many films like this, the viewer occasionally needs to work to suspend their disbelief. The child actor (Jake Katzman) in the opening scene was particularly good. Not easy to find effective child performers, and the other kid actors were good as well. Don't want to give too much away, but there were times while I was watching where I was literally screaming at the TV for Claire (Michaela Sprague) to ditch Garrett (Rick Irwin) because...DAMN - what a whacko that character is! Then there is another character who reminded me of The Tall Man in Phantasm, and he is appropriately creepy. Also very creepy was the ultra tall clown, and I wish there was more to that subplot. Overall, There is a lot to like with this indie thriller, and director Christopher Wells' work. Recommended.

We all know the cliche shot of a child letting go of a balloon, but this film makes the balloon to main villain. Could be an interesting idea.

The plot is very slow. The characters are unsympathetic. The villains aren't menacing.

Some of the visuals are genuinely creepy. The clown is a bit of an obvious choice, but it is creepy. They do some intersting things with the lighting during the conversations with the villain.

The Luring takes it time on screen, not rushing, so I did check it out closely, see if I'm not missing anything. Some scenes felt random, the colour changes a lot, of course I thought about symbolism, but I failed to capture it...perhaps because it was not really there. Just a shadow, a whisper, but nothing really concrete, that would come back and hit you in the head with a brick after reconsidering those particularly, weird moments.

For a horror or a psychological one, it never seems to up its game, it genuinely becomes more and more easy to anticipate what's going to happen, so you will find no spark there. Towards the end it did have a scene, so out of the blue, so bold, it really managed to make quite the impression, and it even got me thinking how much more room there was for it, or in how many other movies, such scenes could appear and just shake you from the core. But then it continued towards its conclusion, one that I saw coming for the last 30 minutes, so it was a steady, easy ride from there till the very end.

Overall, sadly, I don't feel like recommending The Luring, because it has a weak plot, slow but not in a good way development, and the ending itself falls flat. If you do decide to watch it, lower your expectations and just try to see what those out of touch moments are all about. Because even if they represent something, the ending itself is so explicit..made little sense to make the movie stuffier for such a bland finish.

Cheers!

Good movie to watch for the thrilling and horror scenes in the movie it is a psychological drama movie good to see.