The Culling (2015) is an eminently watchable, waste of time. Spoiler Alert ahead. It was Written and Directed by Rustam Branaman, I suspect that he is the only one who can say whats going on here. On the plus side, the group seem well defined, an average and likable group. Less then two minutes in, the movie identifies itself by its particular horror movie genera. This is to be a group of collage age kids, going off in a van, into the country. Everyone knows that no good will come of it. The parts are well acted Jeremy Sumpter plays the lead Elizabeth Di Prinzio plays his girlfriend. Their four friends round out the group. Things turn sinister when they encounter a spooky little girl in the parking lot of a closing restaurant. Meet Lucy, played by Harly Graham. Things unfold in a logical order, and but for Amanda's (played by Lindsy Godfry) bad premonitions, everything seems in order.
Then the clichés start to kick in,Spooky Girl, weird noises, stalking camera-work, the whole ten yards. Particularly when the characters of Lucy's parents, Wayne and Mildred, played by Johnathon Schaech and Chelsea Bruland. start to do, "their thing"
The movie fails when it tries to explain itself. By introducing snippets of supposed clues along the way, for example, when running through the woods at night, we catch a glimpse of some ritual that seems to have nothing to do with the plot. Lots of horror movie hanky panky like this going on. "We got Shadow people, living in the basement" Ah it's satanic rites now, is it? The computer feeds back; "Too little information, it does not compute"
I do know that some of the characters were cheated out of a decent death scene. Speared by a tree branch, fer gosh sakes; He deserved better. It would be best to just let the lack of a story not get in your way of enjoying the train-wreck of the final quarter. Otherwise, Good tech stuff, lighting, sound and music all up to snuff. as it were. Seven out of Ten, "Wanted to like this one" Stars
Then the clichés start to kick in,Spooky Girl, weird noises, stalking camera-work, the whole ten yards. Particularly when the characters of Lucy's parents, Wayne and Mildred, played by Johnathon Schaech and Chelsea Bruland. start to do, "their thing"
The movie fails when it tries to explain itself. By introducing snippets of supposed clues along the way, for example, when running through the woods at night, we catch a glimpse of some ritual that seems to have nothing to do with the plot. Lots of horror movie hanky panky like this going on. "We got Shadow people, living in the basement" Ah it's satanic rites now, is it? The computer feeds back; "Too little information, it does not compute"
I do know that some of the characters were cheated out of a decent death scene. Speared by a tree branch, fer gosh sakes; He deserved better. It would be best to just let the lack of a story not get in your way of enjoying the train-wreck of the final quarter. Otherwise, Good tech stuff, lighting, sound and music all up to snuff. as it were. Seven out of Ten, "Wanted to like this one" Stars