The Rizen

I don't really know where the line is drawn and things become "indie" but i imagine this is lower budget. Acting was great, writing was creative. I wasn't keen on the choice for the old school looking filter on the camera shots, but whatever. Fun "indie" find. In the realm of, but much better than what used to be called "Straight to VHS".

No pun intended - I almost only watched the sequel to this. I mean it is better than this one right here, but it does build on things that are being introduced here. Which is a fun little movie I reckon - it has quite a few flaws ... and you have to really suspend your disbelief ... and also like the silly humor this sometimes boost. When it is not violent and goes for the throat that is. Weird mixture that does not always work in its favor. Actually the movie is visually ... well it does not look like a movie that is only 5 years old. It has aged quite baldy - or at least the stream I saw it on did suggest that. Whatever the case you have to be a real horror fan (who likes silly humor) to even consider watching this.

Simply terrible. There is a plot of sorts but it is poorly explained. People walking around in dark corridors being attacked by zombie-like faceless creatures. Flashbacks that add to the confusion. Seriously, how did they get away with this one? Two years later the same people reprised; the second film isn't as bad and does sort of explain things, but this one doesn't score for anything, including special effects. Nowadays, far better films of this genre can be found on YouTube, some are made by kids with little or no adult supervision and with a fraction of the budget.

I don't get it. It seems like they put in some effort on the effects but man were the effects pretty cheesey or what? And the Story? The Story was just not good. The script wasn't good. The acting seemed forced. I can't give this anything better than a 3/10.

The "zombies" are covered in bandages which gives it a Silent Hill vibe which was cool. But that's where it stopped. It felt more like a stage play than a movie. In fact, I have to wonder if this was made for the US market as the British accents are so over the top it felt false - everyone sounds like they went to Eton. I only gave this more than one point because the actors showed up...

Part of me really liked this film and another didn't. Hmmm. Would have been much better without the extra cheese factor. Very lovecraft as another viewer stated, which I loved. I also understand the humor but, it was overdone and not in a good way. I might recommend it if one was in the right mindset.

I rented this one off iTunes. It was Horror and something else...and it's October/Halloween. And I'm tired of Vampires, Zombie Apocalypsi and Evil Nuns. And this one smelled...different. Now a couple of the other reviewers have touched on the almost cheesy set-up and cheesier dialogue. Plus when you see the zombie creatures in the movie preview it's not like it's gonna be a surprise. And the zombie things appear pretty soon, so you might sit back and say "Oh Please! what's the point of watching the next Hour and fifteen minutes?" To that I would say...The movie is Not really about the zombie things. They are just a symptom. You have to connect the dots... But first you have to be willing to sit thru this Movie to be bothered to connect the dots. That's it's First Flaw. And it's a Bad one, which is why I gave it a 6/10. It will drive away the casual Horror/Splatter fan just because it will bore them. It's repetitive. It will drive away the curious viewer because they won't see any way to make sense of anything of Who the characters are or Why they are there in the first place. And again, the beginning will bore them. It's repetitive. I stopped watching halfway through because of the monotony and went to sleep...but I didn't delete it. Something...missing...drew me back to it the next night and I resumed watching. In the end, what pulled me in was the underlying Lovecraftian feel. And because I've read Lovecraftian horror, I was pulled into pulling the clues together: the flashbacks, the time shifts and the disconnected dialogue pieces make sense if you've read Lovecraftian Horror. Even the repetitive parts had minuscule clues in the dialogue that I started catching. But if you never have read any Lovecraft...it's all disconnected nonsense. That's this movie's second deep flaw. I suspect the other reviewers who gave it somewhat positive reviews have basically READ Lovecraft or similar writers. Because this movie only worked for me because I was filling in the details and images mentally as if I was reading a book. And then the Ending drove it home. If you've never read Lovecraftian Horror...it will just be a cheesy, repetitive mishmash that's not even all that great in the cinematography category. But if you've read Lovecraft...give this one a try. You will likely find it...interesting. But it's definitely NOT a Saturday Night Main event. Last-- some reviewers have opined at a possible, though highly unlikely, sequel. Here, I completely disagree. There is NO good ending, No rescue, and No Second Chances in Lovecraft's Universe. The Ending will fit.

...and what I got was 1 hour and 41 minutes of "bleh". Some films of this type are bad yet thoroughly enjoyable to watch, this is not one of them. The whole film feels as though it was shot without and rehearsals or preparation. Mate, seriously, I... I can't even talk about it any further. Watch it if you want but, meh.

...once you understand that it's actually quite entertaining. I see a couple of complaints about the scientist being over the top, well he's supposed to be. I mean really it's more of a caricature than a character... Q:"What about his teeth?" A: "There certainly are too many teeth." ....in case you missed it, that was funny, and it was supposed to be. This movie is straight comic book style camp, with a spooky atmosphere. Think Dr Who meets Hell-raiser. Once you realize that it becomes both funny and spooky, and hits it's intended mark well. In all I gave it a couple of extra points because they obviously were on a strict budget but still did quite well with it. If you walk in expecting a fright-fest you will be disappointed, but if you take this the way it was intended it makes for a very entertaining experience.