I'll make a plus/minus review, for a change :
PLUS + by-the-book script writing. Always good in B-horror guilty pleasures IMO. Sketchy char building, plot devices line up, forces in place for motion, atmospheric setup and here we go. Doesn't mean it's not inventive, of course.
+ Nic as a mute. A dream come true! I respect Mr Cage a lot as an actor, mind you. You gotta love it when A-list actors embrace low-profile genre projects; like he had done with Mom & Dad, or Reynolds with The Voices, or Johansson with Under The Skin.
+ not as repetitive and stale as some reviews could lead you to believe. There are some twists and turns.
+ diligent set design. Given the budget and time limitations that this production must have had, I found the care put in that field to be quite noteworthy.
+ ridiculous fight scenes, yet not overlong, keeping the movie at pace. Just little nuggets of fun every now and then.
+ score works fine. Hitting a few high spots along the way.
+ thankfully, a lot less CGI than I expected.
+ pinball porn.
MINUS
CONCLUSION 7 may be too high of a mark, but this flick makes so many things right, it's hard not to like. It is good-natured, hardworking, cartwheeling out of its way to try and make you have some silly fun.
It won my heart over.
PLUS + by-the-book script writing. Always good in B-horror guilty pleasures IMO. Sketchy char building, plot devices line up, forces in place for motion, atmospheric setup and here we go. Doesn't mean it's not inventive, of course.
+ Nic as a mute. A dream come true! I respect Mr Cage a lot as an actor, mind you. You gotta love it when A-list actors embrace low-profile genre projects; like he had done with Mom & Dad, or Reynolds with The Voices, or Johansson with Under The Skin.
+ not as repetitive and stale as some reviews could lead you to believe. There are some twists and turns.
+ diligent set design. Given the budget and time limitations that this production must have had, I found the care put in that field to be quite noteworthy.
+ ridiculous fight scenes, yet not overlong, keeping the movie at pace. Just little nuggets of fun every now and then.
+ score works fine. Hitting a few high spots along the way.
+ thankfully, a lot less CGI than I expected.
+ pinball porn.
MINUS
- Regrettably, the little CGI there is is absolutely awful. Animatronics are so much scarier than over-animated, cartoonish, shape-shifting computer processes with little concern for ambient lighting.
- shameless Five Nights At Freddy's rip-off, despite their claims. Of course it is. I don't know how they got away from a lawsuit, especially since WB bought the films rights of the franchise years ago.
- some fine performances, making the bad ones look so much worse. Having Beth Grant (sheriff) and David Sheftell (deputy) in the same room, and talking, is a bad idea.
- excessive ugliness of the animatronics' design. They're meant to look scary, far too much. Much like the doll in the Annabelle movies, who would craft or buy a doll looking like this?! Chucky was kinda cute out of the box!
CONCLUSION 7 may be too high of a mark, but this flick makes so many things right, it's hard not to like. It is good-natured, hardworking, cartwheeling out of its way to try and make you have some silly fun.
It won my heart over.