DreadOut

I was fortunate enough to get the opportunity to sit down to watch the 2019 Indonesian horror movie "DreadOut". And I must admit that I was looking forward to watching it, as the movie's cover/poster definitely looked interesting. Sure, I hadn't even heard about the movie prior to sitting down to watch it. But it being a horror movie was all I needed.

And well, the term horror is one that you should casually glance at here, because "DreadOut" wasn't a scary movie. Maybe if you are a teenager in Indonesia, then "DreadOut" is scary. But for a seasoned horror veteran such as myself, then this was a mere stroll in the park. In fact, "DreadOut" was a rather mundane and boring movie actually.

Why is that you might wonder? Well, first of all, the storyline was just laughably simplistic and downright stupid. In fact, there were so many things in the storyline - or whatever atrocious thing this was supposed to resemble a storyline. Most of the events in the movie just felt random and put into the movie at the whim of a whimsical director. It felt like writer and director Kimo Stamboel didn't really have a script to work from and just made things up as the filming progressed. The movie lacked a red thread and had little to no continuity.

Then there was the acting performances. Well, let's just say bless the actors and actresses for participating in this heap of a movie, and trying to make something work out of the rubbish they had to work with.

Visually, then this is where "DreadOut" worked. The visual effects and CGI in the movie were actually really great. I liked that quite a lot, but special effects can only do so much for a movie that has virtually no script or storyline. But I will say that if you do get the opportunity to watch "DreadOut", do it for the special effects.

My rating of the 2019 movie "DreadOut" settles on a mere three out of ten stars. This is by no means a horror movie that I will be returning to watch for a second time. And it is not even remotely close to being near the top of the shelf when it comes to horror movies made in Indonesia. I found out that there is a sequel to this 2019 movie, and I can't really say that I am in a particular rush to go out there and find a copy to watch.

The movie would have been great if it weren't ruined by bad acting from some of the supporting actors (Cicio manasero & Irsyadillah) who apparently was too superficial which any viewers can see through the bad acting. The plot and story lines was quite decent, but the director just couldn't put it into the perfect frame. I give 1 star for the story and another 1 star for the leading actress (Caitlin Halderman) whom I thought was the one thing that made me stick watching till the end.

Oh Hell Yeah!

Just when the horror genre appears somewhat stale and stagnant a film like this is what's required. I'm not saying this is a brilliant movie, far from it, but it's a leap in the right direction.

So you get the obligatory horror opening sequence, which lets you know what happened in the apartment block. Though, I think this would have been better revealed slowly through the film and story. But hey, we're a now, Now, NOW, society as this movie actually illustrates. So we are witnesses to a kind of exorcism. Though, as we progress you become more unsure of what they were trying to exorcise. In the present day, a group of school kids decide to enter the rundown and abandoned building. They want to "live-stream" their spooky adventures and boost their likes. Though once in the building things start to go wrong when they find some ancient papers. One of which contains the spell to open the portal to the other realm.

Now here's the thing, the writer-director, Kimo Stamboel is a little too vague as to where the portal opens too. For me, it looks like the land of the dead. Where some form of witches or daemons resides. Clarifying these points would have made for a stronger story and film. All the daemon or witch requires is her Kriss back. Why? What's so important about the dagger? Again, unanswered. I like mysteries though a few suggestions towards the answers would have made for a stronger story.

Another drawback is the characters. They are quite stereotypical. The perfect girl and her friend. The hunk. The fool or joker of the pack. The quiet nerdy one. And the shy girl heroine who finds the strength to become their saviour. Each of these is portrayed well by the actors and actresses. However, more activity between them to build relationships wouldn't have gone amiss. At times, they feel like they're standing still waiting for somebody to say their lines before they can move. This adds a stiltedness to the film.

Well, that reads like I don't want you to watch this film. Nothing could be further from the truth. You're just forearmed.

What Stamboel gives you is a great romp through this darker realm. I liked the way one of the Daemons or Witches uses the Perfect girl like a doll. She hovers her in midair as she brushes her hair and changes her clothes. To these beings, we are little more than playthings. It's an eerie sight but progresses into a nice action sequence. Then there's the escape sequence towards the end of the film where everybody gets thrown about... and, boy, do they get thrown.

The best part of this for me though is the girls. No matter what happens the phones never stop filming. These women know how to make a movie - not like the snot-sniveller in Blair Witch.

One of the better ideas within the story was the use of the camera's flash. I will have to ask, however, what phone does she have because that battery life is freaking awesome. Not only is it recording most of the time it also uses the flash over a hundred times. Though the scenes are exciting and keep you from noticing this until later in the story. Another idea would have been to have the nerd-guy carry a couple or three power-banks.

This is a breath of fresh air in a stagnating pool of horror. If you would like something different in your horror sandwich then I would highly recommend this slice film. Though it could have been stronger and better scripted what you have is a decent and enjoyable movie. And being totally honest, I will probably watch this film again... it may even make it onto my Guilty Pleasures list.

I just hope that in the next film by Stamboel the subject matter is rendered a bit fuller and the directing shows the imagination his writing does.

Incoherent. Failed logic. Plot holes. Annoying one note characters. Essentially it suffers from every sins of bad writing.

I don't play the game even i have it years on steam so i write this review pure as regular viewer.

Ok was this movie good? personally i love all the scenes, the casts, the visual effect is top notch but somehow i don't feel any horror vibe of it, yes i heard some viewers scream and even some of them cover their faces on some scenes but then i realize that those viewers are came from the late generation or so-called "Kids Zaman Now" so my best guest is that this movie is targeting wider audience but not for hardcore type horror fans so i think it's understandable why this movie is take the safe path.

Do i recommend it?

Yes if you are not a hardcore type horror fans or if you just want to spend time with friends and enjoy horror movie with great scenes, seriously the visual effects is really good!.

No if you are already seen to much horror movies out there and i really don't recommend it if you are kind of people that know history and have a lot of references about Sunda and Java culture.

One more thing, i couldn't understand why this movie is rated 17+, in my opinion this movie should be rated 13+.