Panic Button

That kind of movie (a bunch of people stuck in a small location) is always a gamble. Every actor has to be good, the story must be interesting and well written, the director must know where he's going. You can't hide an empty script or anything else behind some great camera work, an amazing location or a celebrity among the actors.

In that case, I have to say: well done !

It's not a great movie but it's a good one, which is impressive considering its kind and the fact that it's a low budget.

As other reviewers have said this is low budget British horror with not a big name in sight. It's Social Network meets Saw on a private jet and most of the action (maybe 85 out of 92 minutes) happens in what is a claustrophobic and slightly greenish (?) space. But I take my hat off to the film-makers for going for a high concept piece. I enjoyed the final twist and found the characters right at the end immensely creepy. It did set my mind racing...I don't think the production values were that bad. Yes, the camera is clearly Hal 9000, but then I wonder if that doesn't say more about who put it there than anything else. I was waiting for one of the characters to make a reference to the Hal 9000 likeness, and to snigger more and make a joke of 'Dave'...but then...

I think there's been a lot of over-positive reviews which is perhaps a tad suspicious from people who've only ever reviewed one film ie this one, and then a few really quite nasty ones. I think the truth lies somewhere in between. For something low budget this is fine: I think it'll gain traction when it hits the £3 DVD barrier.

I like Brit horror and this is OK. 6 or 7 out of 10.

I wanted to give it a 1/2 star instead of a full star, but I couldn't figure how to do it.

The premise seemed promising at the beginning, but everything started to fall off after about 15 minutes into the movie.

The acting is terrible; the characters aren't even remotely interesting. You can't sympathize or hate(for that matter) any of the characters.

The ending is absolutely meaningless! And when the credit rolls you involuntarily spit in your soda.

British cinema used to be great, but alas; it's gone Hollywood. We're all awaiting its return.

"Interesting" as another reviewer put it. But kind of worn out too. You wish they'd actually care about the characters they write or portray. It feels very unnatural and very cliché (especially towards the ending) and does not really get you involved. And it started out so good. You have no idea who those guys and the tension gets almost unbearable at the beginning.

But all that doesn't matter in the end. Because the movie throws any logic out the window (no pun intended) and tries to stick with a known formula. It doesn't work out that good for the movie. While not the worst movie, you have to be a fan of the genre to take the time to watch this.

Right, well this movie starts out by blatantly stating to be based on real events. Yeah, must have been very loosely based in such a case. Because I didn't buy into this as something that had happened, not by a long shot.

"Panic Button" is about a group of people participating in some type of event or competition set up by a social network. But as dark secrets start to surface and as the participants are given very real assignments the game changes for the worse.

Now, I will say that "Panic Button" is entertaining for what it was, a movie to entertain the viewer. It is, however, not a memorable movie, nor is it a movie you will watch more than once.

Director Chris Crow did manage to air some interesting enough aspects, such as no online privacy, the ever-present 'Big Brother', people's desperate desire to want 15 minutes of fame (which always end in shame, given the pathetic nature of reality broadcasting), and the backside of social medias. While those do make for some interesting aspects, the movie just never got beyond mediocrity.

Not a movie with a lasting impact, "Panic Button" disappears as quietly and without notice as it did getting here. A mere five out of ten stars rating from me.