A teenager investigates the case of a missing local baby, though he discovers a dark secret that has been unleashed in his town, and an evil spirit that will stop at nothing to find its heir... Read allA teenager investigates the case of a missing local baby, though he discovers a dark secret that has been unleashed in his town, and an evil spirit that will stop at nothing to find its heir.A teenager investigates the case of a missing local baby, though he discovers a dark secret that has been unleashed in his town, and an evil spirit that will stop at nothing to find its heir.
- Wylie
- (as Daryl 'Chill' Mitchell)
- Keg Stand Assistant #2
- (uncredited)
- Director
- Writer
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaWylie tells Julian all the people in Louis Le Prince's 2-second film 'Round Hay Garden Scene' died as soon as they made the movie. In reality, only Le Prince's mother-in-law, Sarah Whitley, died after making the film, 10 days later.
- GoofsWhen Quinn films himself at the end, the camera pans down from the house to his face. When Julien watches the video, the camera pans up from the ground to Quinn's face.
- Quotes
Julian Miller: He was adopted? It says Harlan's real parents died when he was four, born in New York, bounced around foster homes until the Diehl family adopted him.
Riley: Well yeah, a lot of poor families do it for subsidy money.
Julian Miller: His real name is Harlan Prince, descendant of the mysterious Louis Le Prince.
Riley: Mysterious who?
Julian Miller: Louis Le Prince.
Riley: Never heard of him.
Julian Miller: Well that's why he's mysterious.
- ConnectionsFeatures Roundhay Garden Scene (1888)
Having said that, let's get back to "Playback". I must say that while I did enjoy watching it, I couldn't help but finding the screenplay and story lacking. The idea is nice while not all that original (The Ring has already given us "evil from a videotape" and this was simply too similar), but the twist was too obvious and predictable. A good plot twist is one where the balance between the hints given and the element of surprise upon the discovery is kept. In this case - the hints were too thick, and the surprise was gone. That might be because I'm a Horror freak and have watched many Horror and Thriller films, but I can't help but expect more.
The second thing, which was really sad for me, was Christian Slater's roll. Oh my, how the great ones have fallen and been humbled to a shady background role of a semi-pedophile creep. I'd hate to think that after his illustrious career Slater has been degraded to his role here. Depressing.
However, while not being the best film ever, Playback is far from being bad. The effects and cinematography were very impressive, the original indie-rock soundtrack was great and is in my opinion good enough to purchase if available, and the way some of the scenes shot by the kids in the movie end up realized by the killer was very nice. But the best thing about this film is for sure Toby Hemingway's acting (and a great job by the make-up department). Hemingway was superb, and I look forward to seeing him in other films!
All in all, like I've mentioned, Playback wasn't the best film ever, nor the worst. It had its moment, and while it could have been a lot better - it could have been a lot worse too. I personally rate it a 6, but recommend that you give it a shot.
- nitzanhavoc
- Jan 26, 2013
- Permalink
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Details
- Release date
- Country of origin
- Official sites
- Language
- Also known as
- Playback: Bloodline
- Filming locations
- Production companies
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
Box office
- Budget
- $1,600,000 (estimated)
- Gross US & Canada
- $264
- Opening weekend US & Canada
- $252
- Mar 18, 2012
- Gross worldwide
- $57,587
- Runtime1 hour 38 minutes
- Color
- Aspect ratio
- 1.78 : 1