Finding Eden

This cheap movie is one of the dumbest I've ever seen. Without giving anything away from the predictable plot, a survivalist guy kills people *instantly* with wooden arrows! Moreover, the only shirt he's wearing while trekking for days and days, fighting for his life, is white, and other than some smudges, it has no tears or rips! And the list of inane things in this movie goes on and on.

Wasn't expecting much from this one, but surprisingly it was pretty good. Very basic low budget apocalyptic movie that kept my interest. It helped itself being short and to the point instead of long and drawn out. Not going to add anything to the genre but worth the watch.

When I stumbled upon this 2017 movie, I have to admit that the movie's cover initially lured me in. And since it was a movie that I had neither seen before, nor actually ever heard about, of course I had to see what writer Kraig Swisher and director Rodney Luis Aquino had to offer.

The narrative was a bit all over the place, and it didn't always make the most of sense. Some scenes felt randomly placed into the narrative, as they didn't really help to further the narrative in the least. It was not a particularly entertaining or enjoyable script, and I felt my attention span starting to slip gradually, but I managed to endure the movie to the bitter end.

I do believe that I wasn't familiar with a single actor or actress on the cast list, except for actor Joseph Gatt, which wasn't a bad thing. I do enjoy watching new and unfamiliar talents in movies. The acting performances were okay, but nothing noteworthy really.

It was not a movie that utilized a lot of special effects.

My rating of director Rodney Luis Aquino's 2017 movie "Finding Eden" lands on a generous three out of ten stars.

Just another B movie with non believable and fairly flat interactions between the actors. Better acting than some of these horror / thriller B movies but not by much.

Credit where its due, it had some nice camera shots (although theres a lot of shakey camera work) and the audio was pretty good. However still came across like an amateurish student film. Some shots dragged a bit and overall pretty boring. Even some of the action and kills come across dull and boring because they weren't shot in a very exciting manner.

I have to say my biggest bug bear was the aspect ratio it was shot in. It wasn't good and looked strange or stretched or something.

Storyline was pretty obvious and the flashbacks were a tad overused with some not very effective.

Probably a 4.5/10. Being generous because I like the post apocalyptic genre.

Greetings again from the darkness. Director Rodney Luis Aquino opens his first feature film on a happy and loving family consisting of father/husband, mother/wife, and son. They are a normal family who eat dinner together while discussing spitballs. The wife questions the husband's "vacation beard" ... a beard that has, by the looks of it, been growing for 3-4 months, leaving us to wonder what kind of benefits his employer offers. Their paradise is rocked one evening when the National Emergency Warning goes off. We learn from the news reports that the Earth has gone off its axis, leading to weather catastrophes around the planet.

We then flash forward as narrator Lisa (the wife) informs us "The Turn" occurred three winters ago, and sometimes she wonders if this is all a dream. It's not a post-apocalyptic world, but it might as well be. She tells us there are rumors of cannibalism; however, in this family they hunt for food and scrounge for water. Adam takes his bow and three arrows in hopes of nabbing dinner. But Adam (Jason Sutton) is no superhero. He leaves his beloved Lisa (Jennifer Faith Ward) and son Sam (Michael Campion) at the campsite. When he returns empty handed, he discovers his family has been taken. His mission is no longer wild rabbit for dinner, but rather rescuing his loved ones.

On his journey, Adam crosses paths with Fred (Joseph Gatt, whom you'll recognize from many roles), who tells him about "Eden", a community of good folks who are forming a new society. It's here where we learn that the bloody handprint signs Adam has seen along the way belong to Donner, a vicious guy who was kicked out of Eden. Of course, we understand that Adam and Donner are headed for a showdown if the family has any hope of survival. Veteran character actor Tom Proctor plays Donner, and he brings all he can to a role that embodies evil ... Donner is a deliciously nasty fellow.

With an ultra-low budget project, some slack must be given for production value. Kraig Swisher takes on the rare combination of screenwriter and cinematographer, and at times the dialogue could have used a jolt, while the visuals never seem to take full advantage of the Florida and Georgia filming locations. The sound mixing is entirely too noticeable at times (those footsteps), and Mr. Sutton doesn't really have the chops yet for leading man. Mr. Gatt and Mr. Proctor certainly elevate the film during their sequences, and the soundtrack is mostly in sync with what we see on screen. Overall, there are some fine moments, though we would have preferred the scenes of peril and danger to go much deeper, along with some more incisive commentary on the likelihood that most humans would take shortcuts when things go badly (like what is currently happening).