Fallen (2007) User Reviews

Interesting for a freshman effort

[Cinemachinery · 6/10 · 6 May 2009]

This being a "student piece", I'm not judging it overly harshly. Given the context, it's a solid work. Say what you will about the sound effects, etc., the overall package is disturbing and disorienting, and this shows the makings of a good horror director.

The short is somewhat couched in horror clichés: jerky movements, quick cuts, loud sound effects (much of which is static, which seems incongruous with the setting)... the use of sound might overpower the overall work a bit. What's more, once all is said and done, it's not really clear what happened, beyond that it was disturbing.

Still and all, this piece shows a lot of promise.

A movie about the dangers of having a concussion while hiking perhaps?

[Aaron1375 · 4/10 · 20 June 2010]

Some short horror movies try their hardest to over complicate things when presenting their ideas. They think if they make the film in black and white, put in some imagery that is mildly religious, and come up with an underdeveloped soundtrack that they are going to have a super hit that sure most mainstream audiences will not care for, but anyone who is pretentious will profess to like it even if they have no clue what it was about and deep down hated it. I will give this one credit though, I saw reviews comparing it to "The Blairwitch Project", but I can assure you it is better than that film. In that it actually shows the horror unfolding, rather than making you feel you should be scared at clicking and vague noises. However, it also annoys in that at one point the soundtrack consisted of a high pitched hum that became really annoying really fast. It also seemed to have really no direction. The story has some people hiking, one of them sees something which distracts him and causes him to trip and fall and really do a number on his head. Well the two guys begin helping him along and then the guy who has fallen proceeds to see images of a strange lady who makes a clicking sound that was a welcome distraction to the high pitched noise. Perhaps the film was a religious piece, perhaps the film was an anti-religious piece. The end though totally forgoes explaining what happened to the guy's two buddies as they carried him somewhere for help I would imagine, but this film left that out. It was to busy showing us a bunch of random scenes that did do a good job of giving me a headache.

This guy is no Peter Jackson.

[Hallows_Eve_Chocologic · 2/10 · 12 May 2009]

A). My ears are bleeding.

B). My eyes are bleeding.

C). My dog nearly had an aneurysm.

D). It was more clichéd than the first films to start the clichés, and was more cheesy than the cheeseburger that I buy from Burger King-and by the looks of it, was made for a price less than that same cheesy cheeseburger. My cheeseburger and this film: congratulations on your engagement! You'll be great together. You're both as crap as each other.

BOTTOM LINE: I was disappointed(no, really?).

Unusual and unique? I think not.

[Zan-tastic · 1/10 · 17 May 2009]

Art house-style horror films are so extremely common with student filmmakers these days (to the point of being passé), but I have to be honest: even though I'm not a film student, I know I could do better.

Having been a long time fan of all things horror, I didn't find this film short scary or creepy because I've seen too many of its elements many times before. The flashing imagery? The weird noises? The wooded location? To me, it felt like a clichéd mixture of The Ring, Silent Hill, and The Blair Witch Project.

To the director, I have this to say: Don't over-hype the movie, you only come off as pompous. This had a well-presented atmosphere and some interesting imagery, but that's about it. You definitely have talent, don't waste it on what 90% of students typically do.

My critique: Decent attempt, but nothing special or original.

If David Lynch made The Blair Witch Project ...

[serpentsdanslavion · 9/10 · 23 September 2009]

This short is more about mood and atmosphere than story, and I'm reviewing it as such. As I wrote in the summary this piece feels like The Blair Witch Project with a bit of David Lynch- esquire surrealism thrown in (also with elements of The Ring). The camera-work (and sound effects especially) work well together to create a nightmarish feel, and the image of the hands wrapping around the backpacker was particularly gruesome and disturbing - well done!

Suggestions for improvement - vary the soundtrack a little. A ringing tone can provide a good disorientating effect, but if it goes on for too long it feels a bit like tinnitus!

All in all, a very interesting effort - it'll be interesting to see what Bryce Britt (director) and Jeremy M. Reed (writer) do next.

An interesting and for the most part effective horror short

[Woodyanders · 7/10 · 11 May 2009]

A hiker takes a fatal spill while walking through the woods and experiences horrific visions of death. Director/cinematographer Bryce Britt's freshman horror short works up to a point: the stark black and white photography offers a few strikingly surreal and nightmarish visuals, the remote sylvan setting is appropriately desolate and isolated, the sound effects are largely quite creepy and unnerving (however, the use of a certain shrill and piercing high-pitched whining noise proves to be more annoying than unsettling), and Britt deserves credit for downplaying the usual excessive graphic blood'n'guts routine in favor of creating and maintaining a spooky and unnerving atmosphere (the occasional ghostly whispering on the soundtrack in particular is an inspired disquieting touch). With her long dark hair and bizarre penchant for feverishly biting her fingernails, Allison Reed makes for a pleasingly freaky angel of death. Alas, this movie does suffer from a grave dearth of any substantial plot or character development; you don't know the injured hiker well enough to truly care about what happens to him. That criticism aside, this short overall makes for a pretty disturbing and engrossing viewing experience.