Indigenous

Prey's trite premise made me feel like I had already seen the film several times before. I hadn't. There's no way I'd watch this garbage more than once.

The formulaic storyline sees a group of young backpackers in Panama hiking to a scenic waterfall in a remote part of the jungle, despite being warned not to do so by friendly local Julio. The travellers' trip turns into a nightmare when they find themselves hunted by blood sucking cryptids, the chupacabra.

Reminiscent of countless other 'horrific vacation' movies, including An American Werewolf in London, Hostel, Turistas, Chernobyl Diaries, and The Ruins, with more than a touch of The Descent thrown in for good measure, this lame creature feature brings nothing new to the table, director Alastair Orr content to wheel out all of the expected genre clichés: rapid, wobbly editing and dark cinematography that prevents us from getting a good look at the monsters for most of the movie; 'found footage' shot on the characters' phones; and gutteral noises to creep out the viewer and sudden screeches to make them jump. Even the survivors are predictable from the outset.

Technically, the film is slick enough, and the cast do a reasonable job, but when the finished product is so derivative, what is the point?

2.5 out of 10, rounded up to 3 for latin hottie Laura Penuela as Carmen.

This is an amazingly dreadful movie. Starts off looking like a pretty good C-Grade movie and some fun in the jungle with an unknown beast. That's what it is, but most of the time we run around with a flashlight, screams from the humans and screeches from the beast. We hardly see the beast and have no feelings towards the humans (like who cares if they die). Avoid this one, no joke.

Below mediocre, thoroughly amateurish attempt making a survival horror film in the jungles of Panama. The film is about a group of friends who decide to explore an impenetrable area called the Darién Gap.

The Darién Gap (Spanish: Región del Darién or Tapón del Darién) is a break in the Pan-American Highway consisting of a large swath of undeveloped swampland and forest within Panama's Darién Province in Central America and the northern portion of Colombia's Chocó Department in South America.

Having learned from a friend about a beautiful waterfall in that area, which has a pool very good to swim in, they decide to undertake an expedition despite the friend's warning about a vicious creature that inhabits the area. This creature, the Chupacabra, is thought to be an evil spirit inhabiting the body of a half-man, half-animal being.

The film opens fairly straightforward as most films in this genre do. A group of tourists enjoying themselves, sucking up the atmosphere, drinking, making love to their girlfriends etc., etc. Then they decide that rather then surfing at the coast, they do something adventurous and explore this impenetrable area called the Darién Gap. They find the waterfall as the friend said. They then bathe in the pool below the waterfall for a while, till one of the couple decides to leave and do deeper into the jungle. Then all hell breaks loose...

The director, I feel, is unable into inject a real spark into this film. The actors that were chosen did their jobs as per the script. But the script itself is so obviously dull and predictable, that we already know what direction the film is headed at. In the past I saw a survival action-horror film that set the benchmark for all movies of its genre. This film was Predator, a 1987 film directed by John McTiernan. Also note that The Thing (1982) directed by John Carpenter is also a survival-horror film. Basis of such movies is an outer-space alien killing off humans.

More films you may like: Dawn of the Dead(1978), Tremors(1990), Jaws(1975), Shakma(1990), Prince of Darkness(1987), 30 Days of Night(2007).

Thank you for reading this review. May you live long and prosper.

RELEASED IN 2014 and directed by Alastair Orr, "Indigenous" covers events in Panama when five college-age youths vacation there for some fun in the sun. Things go awry when they visit a beautiful waterfall in a forbidden area of the jungle.

This is a professionally made monster-in-the-forest flick with a competent no-name cast highlighted by gorgeous Panamanian locations and winsome Laura Penuela in a bikini. Precious Lindsey McKeon is another highlight on the female front.

My only problems are that (1.) the plot's hackneyed, particularly bringing to mind "The Last Tribe" (2009), which is marginally better in some ways. Other flicks come to mind, like "Touristas" (2007) and "The Ruins" (2008), which are superior to the other two. (2.) There's no depth in the plot: This is a monster movie focusing on partying youths getting chased in the forest by savage creatures and that's it. As such, the film's not very compelling despite the horror and thrills. On the bright side, the last act throws in an unexpected curve ball and shows that the movie wasn't micro-budget. Another positive is that this is arguably the best and most realistic chupacabra flick out there (keeping in mind that I've only seen four such movies).

Speaking of which, 'chupacabra' is a Spanish word, which literally means "goat-sucker" (from chupar "to suck" and cabra "goat"). There are two varieties of this cryptozoological beast: (1.) a reptile-like creature with leathery/scaly greenish-gray skin and sharp spines or quills running down its back; and (2.) a hairless form of canine with a pronounced spinal ridge and prominent eye sockets, fangs, and claws. "Indigenous" interestingly features neither of these, although the creatures come closer to the first description, I suppose.

THE MOVIE RUNS 1 hour 26 minutes was shot in Panama. WRITER: Max Roberts.

GRADE: B-/C+ (5.5/10)

Similar to the film The Ruins but with a kind of humanoid and bloodthirsty monster. Very weak actors, filmed poorly. You may watch it, but it's just to pass the time.