Octane (2003) User Reviews

Well...

[ashleynwaldron · 4/10 · 22 November 2012]

I watched this movie only because I'm a huge Norman Reedus fan, and this was one of the few movies of his I hadn't seen.

One of the biggest problems with this movie was the pace. It spends forty minutes just showing Senga (mom) and Nat (daughter) bickering and arguing, which definitely does nothing to endear Nat to the audience. Then it briefly picks back up... only to slow down again. This definitely isn't something I'd watch on TV, just because I probably ended up skipping through an hour of this hour and forty five minute long movie.

Another problem was actually -and I hate to say it- Norman Reedus's character of the 'Recovery Man'. He pulls the role off well, but... well, there really wasn't enough of a role for him to do much with. He follows the group along, okay, so far so good... But then you get the impression that he's been following them for years as a tow-truck driver, but never gets anywhere, and just happens along Senga and Nat, and decides to sort of follow them, but not really. Then finally at the end, just as his character starts to get sort of interesting, boom. Movie over.

Also, as far as this being a horror, or thriller... There really was no substance to it at all. There's nothing remotely scary, or even chilling. The camera work was amazing, and did give off a creepy vibe, but the story itself was... very blagh, is the only thing I can think of.

Normally, I would say not bad for it's genre, but again, it really doesn't fit into a genre... Comparatively speaking, it wasn't horrible (especially compared to some of the trash passing itself off as good cinema lately) but it just didn't do anything for me. Again, it was more of a 'when is something interesting going to happen?' rather than 'what's going to happen?'.

No Good...

[Pampkeen · 3/10 · 7 October 2006]

Do not watch this one its so bad... Octane got me hooked on the first minute and then... just lost it. Worst movie top something for sure! Mischa should not be on this one! She's too good for this sh*t. I don't get whats real and whats not. I don't see the point. Its stupid and with a stupid ending also. Lost time watching it. Movies like this shouldn't be allowed to come out and make people lose time by getting them. "Vampire Clan" is the worst movie ever top 1 but this one is close to suck that much. Maybe the whole movie is in another dimension and they just forget to tell us, the pills that Nat's mother takes are the reason for the whole thing... ahah, nothing makes sense.

Not bad but really fell short of it's potential...

[Souless27 · 5/10 · 15 September 2006]

The film itself was not bad and mildly entertaining but it could have been so much more. I hate to see the start of good storyline turn into a big mess.

The cast was quite versatile and fit the character profiles well. The dialogue was quite cheesy in parts and a few of the 'extras/characters' (i.e. the black female cop) acted horrifically. *Jonathan Rhys Myers is so hot no matter what he's in but especially as a bad boy so he automatically bumped my rating up a star. * The beginning premise of the story, mother and daughter with a dysfunctional relationship get caught up in a dangerous cult on a road trip home was quite promising and the beginning 10 minutes were quite enthralling. After that everything unravelled. Several instances happened in the next hour and a half that made no sense and were never explained. I mean I guess you could make up your own conclusions but you had no idea who the cult was, the history behind them, what the ultimate goal was for the cult and what the hell was the last half hour being in a research lab all about?! You don't want a story line being obvious but you at least want a foundation to start on before you begin fantasizing about the rest.

There were just way too many questions unanswered that made the last 30 mins seem quite ridiculous and badly written.

Not a bad flick overall but I wouldn't put it at the top of your rental list.

If Only...

[rava-1 · 13 November 2004]

The involvement of Johnathan Rhys-Meyers and Madeline Stowe made me interested in seeing Pulse/Octane. For the first part of the movie I was rewarded with cool photography, a nightmarish tone and the increasingly complex portrayal of a messed up mother-daughter dynamic. I began to get excited about what was to come as I was reminded of great classics like The Hunger, Aliens or Near Dark. Unfortunately, this potential never came to fruition.

What begins as an examination of a mother's will to protect her petulant daughter from herself soon decays into just another "B" horror movie full of clichés and buffoonish action. Shifting the perspective from Stow's character to the daughter's (Micha Barton) removes all weight and tension from the story since Barton's character is as fluffy and foolish as any MTV V-Jay. Why should we root for the mother when the heroin-chic daughter would so obviously be more happy partying with Bijou Phillips' vacuous hitchhiker?

Jonathan Rhys Meyers uses his trademark sensuality to good effect here, but his character, "The Father," is given such short-shrift that he never becomes more than a caricature. Still, if he is some kind of symbol for wanton lasciviousness, it looks so good on him one roots for Barton to accept his advances and ditch her mother's increasingly silly attempts to save her.

Movies like this are really irritating because of what they could have been with a bit more vision on the part of the writer and director. I'm sure Stowe and Rhys-Meyers saw the potential in the script and were then disappointed. For me, Pulse/Octane is one that got away...

What's that knocking?

[callmeismael-1 · 2/10 · 6 April 2005]

Could it my valves rattling from cheap gasoline or is that me banging my head upon the wall for having allowed myself to watch "Octane"? This movie appears to be a good example of what happens when someone has a vague idea of a film story but doesn't bother to hash it out on paper before turning the cameras on. Not surprisingly, about half way through the film, the story gets lost somewhere on the interstate between stupid and boring. I wish I could give you an idea of what this film is really about but I'm as clueless as director Marcus Adams and writer Stephen Volk. Take some advice guys, get a tune up and consider going back to film school. Only this time, try attending class once in a while.

Vampire Tale that Fails to Deliver

[Carrigon · 2/10 · 27 May 2005]

In the right hands, this story could have been good. As it stands, it's a waste. The basic story of an angst ridden teen who runs away and joins a vampire cult is lost here. There are no real vampires and the cult itself isn't even really seen doing any blood drinking. There's a lot of drugged up looking imagery that would better suit a 1969 dope movie. Madeline Stowe's character just comes across as hysterical and delusional. It kind of makes you wonder if she's really in a nut house and this whole movie is just her delusion. It's not a good movie. And the ending is very typical Hollywood. Good girl gone bad goes good again. If you're looking for a vampire movie, this is not it. I don't see any reason to recommend this movie.

Interesting but overdone topic with classic horror movie ending

[koalavolador · 2/10 · 11 June 2006]

The movie starts promising but the turning point of the "cult" lacked credibility. Also it seemed as the director did not want us to really connect with the victim. Going through her parent's divorce did not seem enough to be sympathetic the her attitude problem. The whole movie is a "Rosemarie's Baby" gone wrong were everybody around the main character looks suspicious and devilish. Also, apparently the Mom was drugged somehow and we are never clear when her hallucinations begin. Therefore the special effects on her "mental trips" confuse and do not add to the plot in an essential manner. It was sad that what could be a nice thriller turned out to be as boring as a flat soda pop. Too superficial.

Uneven and strange just see it if you like the main stars

[phd_travel · 2/10 · 1 May 2014]

This is a strange movie with a super cast. No wonder it isn't famous or didn't do to well despite the talent.

Mischa Barton at her prettiest, Madeleine Stowe post lip job but still lovely, Jonathan Rhys Meyers at his most way off. What more could you want? A good story. It's a strange mix of thriller horror cult with vampire like blood stuff going on.

A mother and daughter are on the road but get mixed up in strange cult led by JRM. There are slow moments then some horror and action. It's all rather distasteful and meaningless and the story isn't well written. Things don't really add up to much or come together well.

Only worth watching if you are want to see the main stars in an obscure movie.

Aw, poor Madeleine...

[Coventry · 2/10 · 27 November 2007]

Ah, the adorable Mrs.Stowe… I sure miss the late 80's/early 90's, back when she was an elite member of the chosen few actresses club (alongside Linda Fiorentino, Lara Flynn Boyle and Sherilyn Fenn) who's every new film became instant priority-viewing on my movies' list. I wonder if she herself regrets the glorious days of "China Moon", "Blink" and "Unlawful Entry" are gone forever, especially now that she has to appear in below par and allegedly 'hip' new horror movies like this dreadfully irritating "Octane". This film is, briefly put, a big fat steaming & smelly pile of utter garbage. The story makes no sense whatsoever, the terribly slow built up atmosphere of mysteriousness leads absolutely nowhere, the "villainous" characters are pathetic & all but menacing and there's a seriously frustrating shortage of gore and sleaze. The ravishing Madeleine Stowe plays the uptight mother of an equally ravishing teenage girl (Mischa Barton) and the two are on a long and nightly homeward car journey. Things heat up when mommy forbids her daughter to go to a music concert and, bang, the girl promptly runs off with a bunch of rebellious teenagers in a giant truck. The fact she wanders off with complete strangers is already quite implausible, especially in this day and age, but the script even gets sillier when the strangers turn out to be members of some sort of bizarre cult. I think it's even hinted that they are a modern type of vampires, but that's never really confirmed. And then it even gets more retarded when literally everyone on the highway appears to be involved in this fiendish organization, including a female police officer and random motor home people in a restaurant. Stephen Volk's screenplay is truly unimaginative, borrowing even elements from 70's chillers like "Race With The Devil", Marcus Adams' direction is totally uninspired (not at all stylish, like some reviews I encountered dare to proclaim) and you know you're in trouble when someone without charisma like Jonathan Rhys Meyers is supposed to play an evil personified type of character referred to as The Father. Give me a break. "Octane" is a pretentious, pitiable and miserable excuse for a thriller, and if you have idea what good film-making is about you'll stay the hell away from it.

A Bizarre Movie With an Excellent and Intriguing Beginning and Ending in a Complete Mess

[claudio_carvalho · 6/10 · 21 December 2004]

While driving back home with her spoiled and arrogant teenager daughter Natasha Wilson (Mischa Barton), the divorced and pills addicted Senga Wilson (Madeleine Stowe) stops in a restaurant on the road for a coffee break. When they are leaving the place, Nat invites a mystic and mysterious hitchhiker to travel with them. Later, Nat meets her father Marek (Samuel Fröler) and has a serious discussion with her mother, and she runs away from her mother, joining a weird group. Along the night, Senga tries to find and recover her daughter.

"Octane" is a bizarre movie, having an excellent and intriguing beginning (the first fifty or sixty minutes), but ending in a complete mess. The style in the beginning recalls David Lynch, or David Cronenberg, with bizarre situations, but the conclusion is very ridiculous. I do not know what is recently happening with the writers of screenplay of horror movies: they create good plots with intriguing idea, but the conclusions are horrible. Just as an example, "Gothika", "Jeepers Creepers", "The Sin Eater" and "Dreamcatcher" are in this situation. My vote is six.

Title (Brazil): "Octano – O Caminho do Mal" ("Octane – The Way to the Evil")

A true mess

[libsechumanist · 1/10 · 1 October 2006]

Totally sucked. Boring. Awful. Ridiculous. Stupid. Exercise in wasting celluloid. Waste of Jonathan Rhys Meyers. Barton - always horrible. Barton - talentless. Stowe - surprised she'd do such tripe. Tedius. Wanting of plot. Wanting of a story. Wanting of good writing. Wanting of good direction. Wanting of art direction. Wanting of anything good. WANTING. WANTING. Totally sucked. Boring. Awful. Ridiculous. Stupid. Exercise in wasting celluloid. Waste of Jonathan Rhys Meyers. Barton - always horrible. Barton - talentless. Stowe - surprised she'd do such tripe. Tedius. Wanting of plot. Wanting of a story. Wanting of good writing. Wanting of good direction. Wanting of art direction. Wanting of anything good. WANTING. WANTING.

Sure, by far not the greatest film ever, but it was too much of a surprise for me to not be generous in my rating.

[Vomitron_G · 8/10 · 21 February 2010]

Damn! I still can't get over it. I expected absolutely nothing from "Octane" and such a nice surprise it turned out to be! Madeleine Stowe plays a stressy mother whose teenage daughter disappears together with a hitch-hiking girl they picked up earlier. The police doesn't believe her (actually, they are misled), and she goes off in search for her daughter, discovering several disturbing things along the way. Creepy and suspenseful flick, with a high 'what the hell is going on here'-feeling. Don't expect everything nicely explained to you, but a lot of the clues are there. A lot of people didn't seem to like this one (often because they were left with too much questions and thought the film to be messy in structure). It really is a shame, because this is a good & intriguing modern-day horror/thriller and highly under-rated, if you ask me. Not everything is spelled out for you, and that's the way I sometimes like 'em. At least for this one it worked for me. Not all events are plausible, I admit, but hey, it's a horror movie. Not a gory one, but near the end there is quite a bit of bloodshed. Especially some bloody painful things are being done to people's tongues. Great musical score by Orbital too.

Surreal, Nightmarish Road-Trip Terror.

[drownsoda90 · 7/10 · 9 September 2006]

While a lot of people are going to disagree with me, I think "Octane" (aka "Pulse") is an underrated horror movie. The film begins with a horrible car accident scene, where a dying man is suffering within the wreckage. A squad of impostor medical workers show up on the scene, but soon scramble to leave the scene after the actual medical crew arrives. We are then introduced to Senga Wilson (Madleine Stowe) and her teenage daughter, Natalie (Mischa Barton), who are on a late-night road trip on their way back home. Senga gets tired at the wheel, nearly crashing the car, but insists that she's fine and that they need to get home because Nat has school the next morning. After convincing her mother to stop, Nat and Senga enter a truck stop for a coffee-break. The people within the truck stop seem a little weird too. After picking up a disappearing hitchhiker (Bijou Phillips), Senga and Nat get into a heated argument, and Natalie runs off with the hitchhiker (who re-appears) and a group of strange people. Now it's up to Senga to get her daughter back from the blood-letting cult, with the help of a truck-driver (Norman Reedus) who also is aware of the psychotic blood-drinkers.

The whole film's idea and premise is intriguing, albeit a little strange. While this film may seem like a clichéd horror flick, "Octane", also known as "Pulse" from the video release, has a lot more going for it. The story is fairly well-written, the cinematography is very stylish and adds an eerie texture to the movie, the music is surreal and fitting, and the performances were all-around well done. The foreboding atmosphere of no escape is extremely consistent throughout the film, giving the movie a surreal and nightmarish feeling that works for the film's benefit. The entire thing almost seems like one big bad dream that you can't escape, and I think that is what made this film so interesting to me.

The movie was nicely shot and has some really eerie sequences tied into the plot, mostly Senga's encounters with the bizarre, extensive group of cult members that seem to run the entire area, mostly in the strange little off-road truck stops along the way. The opening is a great start, and the last twenty minutes or so- while they are a little strange - work out well and were all the more bizarre. Madeleine Stowe and Mischa Barton have surprisingly good chemistry, and play their roles as the troubled single-mother and the rebellious, bratty teenage daughter. I like both Stowe and Barton as actresses, and they do a good job here. The rest of the cast gives good performances also, nothing I saw was necessarily bad.

Although "Octane" has a few minor flaws (mostly some of the semi-confusing material that the plot revolves around and leaves unexplained), the film is done with a distinct surreal style, and uses some great imagery and a haunting score. While most people disagree, I think this film isn't nearly as bad as the reputation it seems to have. Granted, it's one strange movie, but that doesn't necessarily mean it's bad. 7/10.

Definitely unleaded

[Unicorn-9 · 2/10 · 22 August 2003]

Like so many British movies, this one doesn't seem to know what it's trying to say, and still manages to say it badly.

SPOILERS AHEAD: The first scene is quite well done other than excessive use of whip-pans to make it trendily 'edgy', but then it's straight into The Exposition Zone with our cliched Spoilt Brat Teenager and Overprotective Mother: why is it that so few British movies actually manage to give us characters who are sympathetic enough to care about? Then, well, not a lot really happens for what seems like an eternity, followed by an obligatory police station scene, a few dance video interludes, and, at long last, a final showdown, where a character who, unless I missed something (and I may well have done, I was dozing off by this point), has barely been in the movie up to now, suddenly appears to blow stuff up and save the day. Finally there's a happy ending but the dead villain drops by ready for the sequel... or does he? That's about it really.

Which is a shame, because it's nicely shot and has an awful lot of potential, it's just never developed, like the characters and their background. In particular, part-way through the movie we're very effectively brought to question whether Overprotective Mother is just hallucinating all this, and it actually gets interesting for a bit... but then we're quickly brought back to tedious reality. It would have been a vastly better movie if they'd decided whether to follow the Vampire Ravers plot or the Hallucinating Mother plot and stuck with one or the other: as it is we only get half of each and they're not very well tied together. And what was it with that whole abortion thing near the end?

SPOILER-FREE ZONE: On the plus side, the cute chick does run around in a transparent dress for a fair chunk of the final sequence, but it's not really worth sitting through the rest of the movie for. And the only day scene (I presume from the credits that the rest is at night so they could shoot it in Luxemburg and pretend it was America) has a couple of pretty wide shots in it, even though the grad filter is very obvious. Sad to say, the fact that those are the best things I can think of to say about the movie probably tells you a lot.

Surreal, pretentious & contrived road movie

[aliciadipesto · 12 March 2003]

SPOILER ALERT The kindest thing I can say about this film is it's trying hard to be many things on many levels. At least it's trying - very, at times, as I found out by the end.

The story starts with an overturned car on a bridge and the dying passengers groaning in agony. The paramedics on the scene turn out to be imposters more concerned with removing the bodies altogether but vanish quickly when the real emergency services arrive - a compelling start.

We turn to a mother (Madeleine Stowe) driving her teenage daughter home one night; they witness the carnage by the roadside and are waved along by police. Their relationship is tense and uneasy, culminating in a bitter argument in a truck stop and the girl flounces off in a huff. Minutes later the distraught mother sees her daughter climbing into a winnebago driven by the spooky couple seen hanging around at the earlier car crash - and so begins the cat and mouse hunt for the return of the ungrateful wench back to Stowe.

The idea in principle is excellent, the cinematography stylish, the editing intelligent, the soundtrack appropriately moody and atmospheric, the acting accomplished most of the time. It's just a shame the plot disintegrates an hour into the picture; the audience were sniggering by the end as the seemingly invincible Stowe single-handedly takes on a chemical plant, a cult of complete loonies and a variety of incendiary devices without a second thought. Her transformation from a pill-popping, overwrought nag of a mother to Lara Croft is laughable, especially since she suffers a serious car accident in the middle of all this, only to walk away with a blob of stage makeup at her temple, and a renewed commitment to retrieve her kid from the moonies.

Towards the end the subtext also questions the morality of abortion, which is for a start completely at odds with the amoral lifestyle of the character posing the question, but moreover a weird position to take in a self-consciously arty film like this, where the pro-life/freedom of choice issue is utterly irrelevant. A nihilistic film like this has no point anyway, so why ruin the climax with unconvincing pro-life rhetoric?

The cult's enigmatic leader possesses an eery knowledge of Stowe's past which again is inexplicable and comes too late in the film to be examined properly - more of this might have saved the film's failing integrity. By the time he gets around to condemning her for her attempted termination (at the same time as cutting his own tongue with a razor blade and opening the boot of a car to reveal the poor girl's dead father lying there - you see my point) the film's nearly over and there's no opportunity to delve further. I'm being too kind; at this point the movie had decended into total farce and I'd lost my concentration anyway.

The nauseating happy-ever-after ending reminded me of so many Stephen King novels where the author has set the scene so brilliantly he ties himself up in complete knots and the resulting ending's a huge disappointment.

What a pity a film with so many strengths and so much potential fell at the first hurdle.

Yikes!!

[kimeskj · 1/10 · 22 June 2006]

It took 3 attempts to finish this turkey, and I only did it because my husband was interested. Sad to say, all of our guesses as to what was happening were better than the actual plot. Who makes these things and why? Whatever they paid the actors could not possibly have been enough to compensate them for the damage it must have done to their future careers. I have been a lifelong fan of the Horror?Thriller genre, and this is a reasonably unique picture. I would rather see a trite plot that makes some kind of sense than whatever the heck this was. Watch this puppy at your own risk. There is no redemption for a movie that drags on without any real hint of what's going on and at the end there is no satisfaction.

"Octane".....among the worst movies I've ever seen

[layla_mail · 1/10 · 30 November 2005]

My humble opinion...this movie is the among the worst I've ever seen. I had to come here and read reviews to find out "Octane" was a horror! (as it didn't thrill me at all).Otherwise I couldn't even say what kind of movie was it. I am still confused and don't understand what was it about, who were all those people in the movie,what was the message of it,why did they do this and that, where were they going and questions can go on.... All I understood is that the movie tries to get into our minds and present all those guys as "evil" or may be "faces" of devil. Thanks God I got the message! If you haven't seen this movie yet, then you lost nothing. And...if they are ever going to give Oscars for bad films...then this one should get it!

What is this movie about?

[miss_girle · 2/10 · 21 May 2005]

A terrible movie.

I ordered this movie through Blockbuster.com. I found it by doing a search for Raves. The first time this movie was delivered it was cracked so I asked to have it delivered again. WHAT A MISTAKE AND WASTE OF TIME!

After the first few chapters I was asking myself what the hell is going on here? I found myself saying this movie sucks. There is no plot! If there was I didn't see it. So I waited it out and hoped it would get better. It didn't! There are no raves in this movie. There are few catchy techno songs but that is it. Jonathan Rhys-Meyers is hot, but the father? I think not.

Bottom Line: Don't waste your time.

Most Interesting Stupid Film

[R-Can · 1/10 · 3 June 2005]

What Happened? Who is that blood drinking boy? What happening the girls? Why are they killing people? There is not any answer for these questions I have never watched any movie like this before and I never want to too. what the is going on there? It was really worst movie I have ever seen . So don't watch it it is just a waste of time nothing more.. In the end there is a Gillette on the front mirror of the car :) I think director making movie more interesting and mystique but I think he is again making bullshit :) I didn't like any scene of these film.Think the worst things come together and this movie is created ... but i have to say that girl was beautiful and she is so cute I think she made her life mistake to act in this movie she can't be famous or make a career anymore :) with this film I'm sorry for her name...god Bellini; Verine sizing Kaufman malaria :)

A movie with no gas that's dead on arrival.

[Son_of_Mansfield · 1/10 · 6 April 2006]

What the hell is going on in this movie? I mean, beside the obvious ripping off of Near Dark and Martin. There are some odd sequences where a character on television speaks to Madeleine Stowe's character. Then, Stowe takes on the pseudo-vampires to save her daughter. Yawn. Bijou Phillips and Jonathon Rhys Meyers provide sufficient eye candy for whatever your preference is, but both are wasted as are Stowe and Mischa Barton, who broods her way through the film. The movie doesn't seem to go anywhere, meandering from dull scene to dull scene and the viewer is left with the distinct notion that they have seen this before. The one good thing about this movie is that it ends, which almost makes up for the fact that it began.

an exercise in style

[stephen-dhondt · 7/10 · 13 August 2004]

Before I rented the DVD, I came here to check out some of the reviews ... and they weren't that good. But I trusted my gut instinct and rented it anyway. So now that I've seen Octane, I have to say it's far better then most people say, but I also agree that this movie could've benefited from some kind of explainable narrative. Only people like David Lynch can pull off extremely unlikely plot lines and weird twists that don't make sense, without the audience questioning them. In case of Octane your suspension of disbelief only goes so far, that's the only negative thing I can say about this film. the acting is good, visually the movie is worth watching (some fresh ideas and nice shots), the soundtrack is terrific and the overall mood is just the way I like it. It is a flawed exercise in style, but definitely deserves more credit than it's getting so far.

The worst movie I've seen

[roadrunner2n · 1/10 · 3 August 2004]

This is without no doubt the worst movie I ever seen...For the life of me I can't understand why I could watch it entirely but maybe I was in an very very good mood....The plot is: A mother tries to save her daughter from a road killer cult....and that's about all you can make out of this movie...the rest is so stupid you have nothing to describe anymore....Watching it reminded me of the Van Helsing screenplay which I thought at that time was the worst of all...Well prepare to be happy: the screenplay for Octane beats it by far in stupidity and nonsense...The only thing that could keep you busy thinking at this movie is: Who was drunk/out of his mind ? the writer who produced this crap or the producer who approved it and payed the bills?

At times quite compelling!

[pseawrig · 8/10 · 21 February 2010]

As you have probably gathered from the other reviews, this film badly needed a script doctor. If you watch films only to watch "stories," then move on. If, however, you appreciate stylish, dreamlike imagery and provocative dramatic situations, then this film does have something to offer. "Pulse" has been running on Showtime (under the title "Octane") and I have watched long sections of it several times. As scenes and sequences, many of these sections are quite compelling. I would like to see what this film's screenwriter(s) produce in five or ten years and I would like to see this director work with more coherent material.

A good film, but not easy to follow.

[jhpstrydom · 7/10 · 15 December 2007]

If you're not the type of person that likes a film to be too complicated, then don't bother, you'll be able to catch the storyline if you pay pretty good attention, but, there is one plot hole that kind of stuck with me, that being, how did the main villain {the father} know all those things about Senga? That was the only thing that kept running through my head while watching it, otherwise it was a good film with a well done tone, and some creepy moments that might give you the chills if you picture someone actually doing them in real life.

Overall, it pulls of the blur between what's real and what's not thing very well, and will hold your interest from start to finish, but I don't recommend it to anyone who doesn't like a movie that confuses them to much.

Vampire Duds

[julioecolon · 2/10 · 3 September 2006]

Although I saw this film on television and sat through it in its entirety, I feel this is a vampire story of limited worth. If you like vampire movies and decide to see the film, be forewarned that it has many problems that will keep your interest wavering. First, there is the mediocre acting delivered by the mother and daughter protagonists, who never rise above clichés. The two are dysfunctional in a tawdry, uninspired way (No, you can't go to that rock concert. Why not????? Because I'm your mother and I said so!!! I hate you!!) that left me hoping their SUV would careen off a cliff in a dramatic Thelma and Louise finale, and after I was only 10 minutes into the film. Yet, inexplicably, they are given far too much screen time to allow for the development of scenes that might otherwise have proved diverting or gripping. Second, the screenplay lacks verve or ingenuity. It doesn't help matters that the screenwriter was sufficiently enamored of his script to have characters repeating lines as if they were memorable and profound truths. Far more problematic is the lack of cohesion and the absence of any thematic development in his script. He fails to develop an interesting and compelling rapport between mother and daughter (as mentioned above), a terrible blunder that weakened the story. Additionally, there are enormous holes in this story that will have discerning viewers feeling impatient and cheated. We are never given enough information to understand how the vampires work nor what their motivations might have been in choosing our boring little Nat as their next victim. Nor do we understand how it is that the head vampire, from all appearances the kind of high-school degenerate who might turn tricks for drugs, knows that the amphetamine-popping mother attempted a self-induced abortion years ago to rid herself of her surprisingly tenacious, now fully-grown and leggy, but limp, daughter. Third, there is the problem of films set in America but filmed elsewhere that lack a truly American film (think Eyes Wide Shut.) Everything about this film looks as if it were filmed on a desolate tundra plain. The truck-stops look decidedly foreign, the stretch of roadways don't look like American freeways and, worse yet, the extras don't look American. Finally, there is an irritating film score that had me feeling nauseated.