Specter

I actually really enjoyed this movie for what it was. It is a low-budget movie but it has great atmosphere. The story isn't exactly strong though. The acting is decent but nothing to write home about. The strength of this movie lies in it's imagery. The strange happenings throughout the movie are not explained at any point in the film but I think that ads to the draw of the film. You don't really know what is going on or what is happening to this group of friends. You are left with many questions about why things went the way they did and I think that enhances the mystery and creepiness of the movie. I judge horror movies mostly on if they effectively deliver what a horror movie is about. For me it's atmosphere and this movie has it in spades.

There was no story line whatsoever. I waited the entire movie for an explanation.

Caught the film trailer awhile back for this found footage horror, and it actually looked decent. Now it was on my radar. So when it came to watching it, the excitement nosedived, I had mostly seen the best moments already. "SPECTER" had an interesting set-up of sorts, builds nicely, performances are fine, but once the chaos begins. The staggered, clichéd execution shows it up, by not going anywhere with its slim concept, keeping us, just like the protagonists in the dark (literally) of what's going on. When it came to the abrupt ending (auto power off), I was at a lost.

What starts of like a small coastal town (on location Santa Cruz) threatened by a tsunami caused from an earthquake in the Pacific Ocean, leads too many unexplainable events and an entire town disappearing overnight. So what looks like being a natural phenomenon (storms, earthquakes, floods, fire), could be something supernatural at work. Yet these one-dimensional teens (one with his brand new camcorder) who are experiencing these weird occurrences have also taken an unknown substance, which kind blurs a line between what's real and what's not.

That's the hindering aspect, because by the end, it feels like a bad trip. Even the camera footage is experiencing the shakes, distortion, where it never really distinguishes the illusions, or threat. We see dark tall faceless figures standing side by side, and then disappearing; glowing eyes in the dark, loud, or strange noises from unseen forces, bright lights in the sky, unusual phone calls, technology interference, people acting strange and turning up dead. And when it came to those instances, the fuzzy camera footage reared its ugly head. It becomes a frenetic jumble of heedless ideas and random images amongst constant wandering. Like a total freak-out, getting stranger as it goes along, but providing only confusion, and a few spine-tingling moments at the backend.

Before the chaos erupts though, in the lead up you get a sense of the upcoming disasters (spliced stock footage) and some little things along the way that look odd. This does point more towards something out-of-this-world contributing, since this guy rarely puts down his camera, but you can't pass up the drug related angle. In how they presented the hallucinations, they could've executed it better to set these dilemmas apart. I noticed when the credits rolled at the end (outside of Jordan Graham being credited a lot) it had a website link for more info, ugh, and it doesn't work either

Despite the fires happening in LA that added an extra layer of suspense, after the first act turning point I was nodding off out of pure bordum.

The concept was interesting when the characters were freaking out on the drugs and with the additional tension of the natural disaster.

However,I really don't appriciate the fact that when the cool stuff happend the camera was switched off. Half the time I was squinting at my 55 INCH TV to see what was going on in the darkness. Also I think I need to an advil for the ammount spastic effects going on.

Additionally the main character was tremendously unlikeable, borderline R-wordist...If the filmmakers put the script through a few more revisions, and in front of a professional, this would have turned out to be an intresting film. Definitely jumped the shark.

While the film is incredibly flawed and, aside from a bare bones story, incomprehensible to say the least, it overcomes this thanks to its cinematography. Though we never really understand what's going on, there is a mix of different themes to give a vague idea that the natural disasters plaguing mankind are the result of some otherworldly force, again though not one explained. It's rather hard to convey anything about this film other than it's found footage, is very muted in tone, and is very creepy. Many people will probably throw in the towel before the halfway point, but if you want something genuinely creepy this is one worth sticking through all the way to the end.