Human Resources

Having worked in retail, I could relate to the characters stuck in retail hell. I really like the premise of this movie. The huge eerie store, the retail workers boredom and feeling they are in a dead end job. The setting, a large hardware store is the perfect setting for a horror movie. A new employee realises that there is something wrong with the place he is employed at. The secret is much more horrific than even he realises. The story does manage to build a nice creepy atmosphere and it gives you the feeling that something is...off. Empty employee files, weird noises. Strange sights , the movies does a good job with it's obviously limited budget. A movie like this is not to everyone's taste, but some will find themselves enjoying it.

What caught my attention was that, according to the PR package, this film won 4 individual awards at various festivals focused on indie horror. But disappointment quickly followed. The premise is interesting. So interesting that some of the critics suggested placing it in the category of "workplace horror," but then remembered that such a category, if it did exist, would have almost no other competing films in it. The idea that a protagonist (Hugh McCrae Jr.) could be so desperate for a job that he would put up with "unusual" workplace happenings is interesting, and might even strike a chord in today's economy. But the followthrough was just not there; the film is way overlong at a 1:45 running length; and, seriously, how many H&S shots of McCrae looking harried or anxious can one viewer tolerate? I think the key here is that indie awards are given out by people who live and breathe indies, and they sometimes forget there is another entire universe of entertainment out there. ((Designated "IMDb Top Reviewer." Please check out my list "167+ Nearly-Perfect Movies (with the occasional Anime or TV miniseries) you can/should see again and again (1932 to the present))

Don't bother unless you want to fall asleep fast. Any of the 10/10 reviews were done by the director and his family/friends.

The premise had promise, however with the lackluster performance of the lead, the shoddy filming and the far too guessable plot, let's this film down. One of the most annoying parts of this movie was that the characters were so boring that they might have well been played by mannequins, at least then the "character development" choices (ie the lead's constant "anxiety") would not have been present.

If you want a not great but fun retail horror film, watch Black Friday or something similar, as they will at the very least be entertaining.

I knew after watching the trailer this was a low budget movie, so no surprises there. True, the acting can be a little wooden (not just at times, but throughout) but it has a campy kind of feel to it.

Sam, the main character, does have a strange, pained expression throughout but I just took that as a character decision either on the part of the actor or director. I kept expecting some kind of twist where this quirky guy turns out to be quirky because of some dark past that gets revealed towards the end, but no, he's just weird and painfully awkward.

The crew seems to have fun with it, and with a movie like this you really can't take it too seriously. I mean, look at some low budget indie horror from years past like Evil Dead and it just went full blow into the camp aspect. This movie doesn't quite "go there" and takes itself a little more seriously, but not so much that you end up feeling sorry for them for missing the mark. If that makes sense.

So... 6 out of 10. Normally I might have bailed on a movie like this within the first few minutes but it was at least entertaining enough that I sat and watched the whole thing merely because I was hooked on the "what's going on" aspect and wanted to find out. It could have been better, but it could have been a lot worse too. For an apparently young crew and a first time director, it wasn't bad and I'll cut them all some slack for the parts that didn't really shine.

Do not waste your time bad acting bad directing one scene he sneaks into a locked room then when he leaves he leaves the door open. The guy never notices the locked "room " is open awful directing and producing the slips up they let go. The characters are unbelievable as human beings let alone their characters the acting and script was that bad. My life is worth less for having watched this that time is gone don't make the same mistake. I have to keep writing to submit this what else can I say there is nothing good about this movie at all except maybe the woman actor maybe better than this movie i wish her luck and a better movie in the future.