LOOP TRACK: MISTÉRIO NA FLORESTA

Loop Track (2023) I'm ashamed with myself that I did not catch a screening of this. It's a brand new New Zealand Horror movie and I somehow didn't get around to seeing it big. I had assumed it would be a horror comedy and not just because the writer / director / star Tom Sainsbury is a very funny kiwi comedian. I assumed that because we tend to do horror comedy very well here in New Zealand. Loop Track surprised me by being a very straight forward Survival horror (and a little bit of a different subgenre that I wont divulge because it's a spoiler) that more or less takes itself completely seriously. It's really tense, well shot, written, directed and well, you should really just see it for yourself.

4 pairs of hiking socks out of 5.

So I watched this movie on a recommendation from the reddit r/horror, when I asked for a list of good horror movies from the last 10 years or so. I asked for non mainstream, obscure movies that were well made. This was one of these movies.

I am not going to tell you anything about the movie, except it is about a man with very bad social anxiety going on a hike in the Kiwi forest. Most of these other reviews are literally giving you there own fan fiction, as they must all be award winning screen writers lol. Really don't want to say much more than this, due to I personally like to go in blind to a movie like this. I will say it is a slow burn, and takes until a good bit of the movie to get where it's going, so if you don't like these types of movies, then maybe don't bother. I am a horror fan and I thought it was pretty original, you'll know what I mean when you get to the end. Oh another thing, I read that it is a horror/comedy? Well imo there really isn't anything funny in it, unless it's a kiwi thing, idk. So don't expect any laughs.

This one was a good time but didn't get all the way there for me. They did a great job with tension building and suspense without it being boring and the characters and acting were there for sure. It was lacking a bit in story... I know not everything needs to be spoon fed but I think there was a little too much left up in the air with this one.

Also the reveal was a little silly looking although not awful. It just generally felt a little undercooked, but the things that were successful here I thought they did a really nice job with. This is a slow burn for sure but I think overall worth it. 5.5 rounding down to a 5, would recommend.

Something this movie finally made me realise is that New Zealanders have entirely unique senses of humour. I probably should've realised it years before now, but this was the film that made me click. Almost every joke in this movie is something you would never see come out of a movie made in a different country.

'Loop Track' is a great example of doing everything you can with a concept. Squeezing every last drop out of the stone, if you will. In theory, the film has no business being as interesting for 90 minutes as it was. But because of the way it was done I found myself enjoying myself for the full run time.

I really had no idea where this movie was headed for the majority of the run time. And where it did head, I didn't mind ultimately. It went down a path and it committed to it was the important thing. For what this was I thought 'Loop Track' was a great effort in film making and great example of making a low-budget work to your advantage. 7/10.

This was fantastic all the way through. Acting was great, suspense was perfect - actually had me a little on edge and I watch horror films almost exclusively and none of them do what this film did. There were 2-3 scenes in particular that stopped me in my tracks. TENSE. Great job with this.

I don't know why others were let down. They must never watch horror films - this was far above par for horror films with much bigger budgets. I would have paid to watch this in theaters and not be upset. Slow burn, kept things moving, and kept you guessing. Really enjoyed this!

I was shocked to see the lead was also the writer and director. I hope to see more from him.