Chill: The Killing Games

Well, after a chaotically hellish afternoon yesterday, I was delighted to find my reward for surviving it in the mailbox: my DVD of Chill: The Killing Games arrived, and I cocooned off with a nice sticky bowl to enjoy my prize! As expected, it did not disappoint... it had all the excitement and flavor of a Hunger Games/Running Man mashup, but with a healthy (your doctor's opinion of the actual health benefits may vary, lol) dollop of Scream folded into the mix just for fun! The cinematography of Noelle Bye Hansen was incredible, and when combined with a masterfully-scored original soundtrack by Shaun Green and Jason Hursh, the sublime performances of Roger Conners and a wonderfully diverse cast of players, all blend cohesively together to create an intoxicating brew that grows ever more addictive as the story progresses, as it steadfastly compels you towards the nerve- jangling final brainstem twister that ends the story (for now) . I look forward with great anticipation to seeing Chill progress in subsequent installments!

Skot Pierson, Zombie Guru & "Master of All Things Green" Reporting for Zombiepalooza Radio!

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Five minutes into this flick and you know its Amateur Hour. 10 minutes in and you know you're first impression was right. 15 minutes in and - if you lasted this long - you know it's an endurance contest, who will will you or this "entertainment" not worth watching. If you make it as long as 20 minutes, five yourself credit for being stubborn, but recognize that your time is valuable and read a book with this on in the background; the noise ill make you concentrate more on the book. Giving credit where credit is due: The fake reviews rating the flick a solid "10" were at least spaced out over several months, rather than - in most cases - being clustered together in a single month. A strategy much smarter than anything exhibited in the flick itself.

I recently watched this slasher/murder mystery film and it was quit the refreshing experience. First, the acting was superb! Roger Conners was perfect for the role as the "final girl/scream queen". His character was well developed and gave viewers a new character worth rooting for! Noelle Bye and Meredith Holland, along with Roger Conners, wrote a great story that took viewers along for an unconventional treat.

The highlights of the film were the following- * great setting, a performing arts building after dark! This echoed other great slasher films, like The Clown at Midnight and Stage Fright (to name a few) * great cast, every character had their uniqueness and charisma that they brought to the role, which made this indie movie rise above others! * cinematography, creative shots with some inventive storytelling kept this movie interesting right from the beginning. * carnage, the movie had a rather high bodycount and at times was brutal. This was all practical effects, no awkward cgi included. * ending, pulled together nicely despite killing off some fan favorite characters. I would highly recommend viewing this when you can, I believe later in 2015 a DVD will be released! Definitely a recommendation to fans of slasher movies, particularly the 80's/90's aficionados!

I have been watching horror movies for a long time. I started with classic horror in the 70's, and then relished the golden age of the slasher in the 1980's. I've seen so many horror movies, actually, that the vast majority of the modern ones bore me... endless torture porn, poor reboots of classics, and insipid writing have left me as cold towards modern horror as a corpse.

Chill: The Killing Games, however, is different. An homage to the classic horror slashers of the 80's, Chill gets all of the elements right... great characters, a killer (no pun intended) premise, and genuine suspense combine to create a horror film actually WORTH SEEING.

The plot is pretty straightforward (which is a plus, because plots that bend over backwards to be "edgy" or "twisted" often come across as lame): Chill is a popular role-playing game played in a small Ohio town. Everyone draws roles at the beginning of the game, and one person is chosen to be the "killer". The rest are their potential "victims". The killer then uses toy weapons to "get" the others, and anyone who survives the night is the winner. One night in the 1980's, however, people actually died playing the game, and so it went unplayed for years. All of this changes when a group of students decide to revive the game... with deadly results.

One thing this film succeeds at is making the viewer genuinely like the characters. Far too often, characters in these films are introduced just to increase the body count. However, the suspense factor is heightened when one genuinely likes the characters (one of the reasons that Friday the 13th Part IV is so well regarded is this very same thing). Special kudos go out to Roger Conners and Angelia DeLuca for creating likable, memorable characters. And Kelly Roger's goth chick is hilarious.

Now, this film IS micro-budget, and it shows in spots... the audio is a bit uneven, and the soundtrack is a bit odd in spots. But DP/Co- Director Noelle Bye's cinematography is first-rate. Besides, I'd far rather watch a good film with a few technical flaws over a slick production that sucks overall. This Heathen Hippy says to check it out.

I am a big fan of slasher movies. I grew up on the 80s slashers. Besides seeing the trailer, I wasn't positive what I would expect from Chill: The Killing Games. I was really surprised at how well this movie was. There are a few down points to the movie, that I will get to in a bit. I'm first going to start off with the positives.

Positives: Acting - Three actors stood out to me. Roger Conners (Kyle), Brad Arner (Jared), and Angelia DeLuca (Maddison). All three of them were literally perfect for these roles. Brad played the douche-bag to perfection. I loved the interaction between Roger and Angelia. They showed real chemistry between them. I'm not taking anything away from any of the other actors. I enjoyed everyone's performances. Kelly Rogers (Raven), David Gilmore (Donnie), and Erinn Bakun (Kelly) were fantastic as well. I wish there was more scenes with Donnie and Kelly as well. Really great job to everyone involved. Another great point for the acting. Each character was different. You didn't have similar characters in the movie. So it is very easy to get behind a character and root for them to survive at the end.

Story - 100% original. This is what you want with a horror movie, especially a slasher movie. Yes it does play the "who done it" role, which is typical now a days. But the story keeps you focused throughout and you never lose your interest. The dialogue had some corny lines here and there. But there was some GREAT lines from Kyle, Roger, and Maddison throughout the entire movie. You also don't see the ending coming at all. That was a great surprise.

Special Effects - I'm not quite sure on the budget of the movie. Regardless what it was. The special effects were on point and not cheaply done. It is very easy to tell, that a lot of thought and effort was put into those scenes. Beautifully done.

Negatives -

Beginning of the movie - The first act of the movie is really slow. This isn't a bad negative. But I can see how some people could get turned off by the movie. A good majority of the first act, is only dialogue and builds the story up. The movie doesn't get going, until the game is about to be played. Then the pacing throughout moves really fast and you don't lose your focus.

Audio - It is very easy to tell there was some audio issues, especially during the indoor scenes. The audio isn't horrible, by any means. But you can tell there was some problems throughout. There was some times during the climax moments, that you couldn't understand the dialogue from the actors.

Even with those two negatives, Chill: The Killing Games is a well put together independent horror movie. I would really recommend this movie to any fan of the genre. You really do get everything you want in a horror movie. Great story, great actors, and fantastic gore.