Visitors Review

(2012-05-24 02:27)

Kind of pointless with inconsistent audio

First, the technical part: streaming this movie on a roku was frustrating. The audio wasn't properly converted into a digital format. The background noise overtook the dialog and I found myself turning it up to try and hear the actors speaking and then turning it down when the music kicked in. Very frustrating viewing experience. If you're watching it on a roku, buyer beware.As for the movie itself, perhaps I missed something due to the audio but it struck me as a movie trying very hard to be intellectual without actually having a point. They eluded to a lot, hinted at something greater coming towards the end and I stuck with it hoping for an end that would justify the intensely slow pacing. When the credits rolled, I felt cheated. It kind of strikes me as a movie that wrapped it up quickly when the writer ran out of ideas. There was nothing proposed to justify the madness. It just kind of all fell flat. Very disappointing. But again, maybe I missed something because of the audio. I really can't recommend this. The cast, acting and filming was good. The special effects were a little cheesy at parts but you kind of expect that with a low budget flick. I'm giving it two stars in the hopes that maybe I missed the point because of the audio problems.

Big Willie Style (2012-05-23 09:50)

uhgg

You got to be kidding me... I'll never get that time back. Lousy movie. spoiler alert the road ends in madness. each person gets there in their own time, and that's the end of the road for them. I struggled to get thru this show. I hate myself for doing it. At least i never have to watch it again.

(2012-05-22 22:36)

Pointless

This review is from: YellowBrickRoad (Amazon Instant Video) Do not bother to watch this movie it sucks. The filming, lighting and acting are all fine , and the movie starts out good. There's mystery and they are out to investigate. It finally wears on you though and by the end you are totally bored out of your mind with it's useless, pointless ending.

(2012-05-22 10:57)

Yellow Brick BORE

Oh my god, This movie was such a let down and so boring. It was one of the worse. Like Blair witch all hype.

sirloin869 (2012-05-19 11:41)

how do you get to the yellowbrickroad?

I'm wondering if this is supposed to be a real place, or based onactual events. I'd like to get some factual back story if there is any.It was a pretty good movie. Having been a 'wilderness' person in myyouth, and knowing several wilderness experts in my adult life, I'llsay this is pretty close to the truth of what kind of mental breakdowncan occur: city-living changes a person, and city-folk ain't made foranything but city-living. Like domesticated pets, they can't surviveback in the wild. The movie takes it to a whole different level,though. I'd love to get the history from like a Barnes and Noblesbookstore, but I can't verify if this stuff is 110% fake or not.

(2012-05-18 18:04)

Tedious and ultimately pointless

This review is from: YellowBrickRoad (Amazon Instant Video) Sorry I didn't heed the warnings about this one.There is nothing more annoying than a writer who thinks that he is 40 IQ points more clever than he actually is.The story is about a group of researchers on a trek in the NorthEast US to document the fate of an entire town that simply walked off into the woods one day, decades past, and simply disappeared.Sounds like an interesting premise.That's where the interesting bit ends.Can't give away much at all without inherent spoilers other thanto say that long, long, Long before this tedious bit of reletntless introspection is over you really Want it to be over.This isn't a horror film. Rather, it is a comdemnation of the human condition by an author that desperately needs a prescription for Prozac.Had to force myself to watch it all the way through so that I could write a review. Having .... Finally seen the "shocker" ending, can't say I really cared. It didn't really explain anything (as it could be interpreted a half-dozen different ways including a few obvious metaphors) and, truthfully, I didn't care what the explanation would be because I had already given up on the writing by then.So if you've already made the mistake of paying for this movie and compounded it by spending your time watching it, I can say with some confidence that you can pretty much walk away from it at any time without missing anything. (You can still salvage that time and get an extra load of laundry done.)

illogic66 (2012-05-17 15:58)

Starts bland, becomes bizarre and disturbing

I saw this film on Netflix. I barely paid any attention to this filmfor the first twenty minutes. The ideas were interesting but thecharacters weren't. I began paying attention when the music started,and it got weird fast. The atmosphere of the film became very menacingand nightmarish-- the sound effects, lighting and visual design wereexcellent. Some of the violence was really strangely-visualized andlooked like it was intentionally fake-looking in some ways-- there wasa murder and a suicide which both looked oddly humorous, but could haveeasily been done more realistically even on this film's budget and Ithink it was a stylistic decision by the filmmakers to make thecharacters' intentions more ambiguous and make the audience wonder whatthe hell's going on.I liked the fact that things were not entirely explained; one reviewerhere said they hoped it would become a 'cannibals in the woods' story,and to me that sounds much more obvious and way less interesting thanwhat happened. I don't like having everything explained to me, and Ifelt the script's best point is the fact that it carefully andstrategically draws the viewer to use their imagination if they've gotone-- it evoked a sense of wonder, though a very dark one which reallyhad me feeling uneasy at times. I'm a musician and was very impressedwith the use of sound as a supernatural weapon of sorts. I've hadnightmares like this film. Side note: I think the filmmakers may haveheard the song 'Return to Oz' by the Scissor Sisters, because there aresome lines of dialogue which are very similar to the chorus from thatsong.

(2012-05-16 21:46)

Horrible movie

The movie actually starts out a bit interesting, but becomes a horrid abomination in successive waves of cheesiness.Whoever wrote this had a good idea, but decided to become retarded in their presentation/development of it. The short of it: A group sets out to find the cause of a mass disappearance from the 40's, and begin trudging through the woods in pursuit of the cause. They then start killing each other, and finally, one guy finds his own personal hell. The end.Save your money, avoid this movie. I wish I did.

(2012-05-15 15:09)

Great premise, well executed, awful ending (slight spoilers)

This review is from: YellowBrickRoad (Amazon Instant Video) Remember when you'd visit your grandparents and they'd play their favorite old tunes over and over and over and over again? Did it make you so crazy that you told your sister/brother that you were going to kill them? No? Then this film isn't for you....Did I enjoy the film's premise, yes! It was well executed, the acting was solid and once you go beyond the "ghost hunters" concept and move into the why they are making this trip in the first place - it was good. Was I freaked out by some of the more suspenseful moments? Yes, absolutely. I kept looking over my shoulder and turning on lights while I was watching this. That part was fantastic and I felt the film delivered in giving me the heebie-geebies. The scene at the cave really caught me off guard.Was the ending a complete and total let down - HECK YEAH! The premise held promise, the actors had me in full freakout mode and then? Well, I won't tell everything, but let's say that even the Cowardly Lion would have said, What the what? That's not scary at all....So would I recommend it? No, I am sorry to say that I cannot...If anyone is open to getting a slight thrill for 80% of a film - go for it. For everyone else, see something else.

Boyd (2012-05-14 23:24)

Juevenille self important teen psychology strikes again

What is wrong with you people making these films ? ... Just because youcan, doesn't necessarily mean you should ... This pile of garbagehasn't got a story or a plot one could speak of... Certainly not onethat would interest anyone with more than 2 brain cells to rub together... Its kind of Blair Witch 54 ... In other words nothing reallyhappens but a crowd of dimwits go into the woods and die Unfortunatelythis didn't happen to the film makers, which is a shame, as I couldhave saved an hour and a half of my life and done something useful likecut my toe nails ... Cos even that would be more exciting than watchingthis rubbish When are these brainless hims and bims at film schoolgoing to learn that you need talent ( as well as parents rich enough topay for your time at school ) before you can make ANY form of art

(2012-05-14 07:53)

AWFUL!!!!!

Save your money because the trailer is as good as it gets. I, unfortunately, bought this movie from WALMART and my first clue this movie was a dud was when I opened the case and found it empty(FATE trying to tell me something??). I got a replacement and when I watched it, I was thoroughly pissed. The premise was good, but the execution left a lot to be desired. Nothing was explained, there was no real continuity. The whole movie just seemed a lot of scenes stitched together with no clear beginning or ending.

aaronpico2004 (2012-05-13 22:12)

How NOT to make a movie...

Really?...This film is a prime example of how a director might have a clear ideaof the motivations, and subtleties of a story, and fail at translatingthem to film. There's too much assumption that the viewer knows what'sgoing on. Take my word, we don't. There's no continuity between scenes.The film seems like a series of scenes as opposed to being an entirestory, and the acting follows suit. The film feels disjointed and hasplenty of hackneyed & borrowed tidbits throughout.I finished the film as an act of discipline. It did absolutely nothingfor me, sorry.

jowe_thumbs (2012-05-13 09:08)

wow I would rip off my own leg to avoid this movie.

This movie was very interesting but not in a way that was positive, itwas interesting because it means there was someone out in the worldthat thought this script was worthy of turning into a movie, it'sinteresting because someone took time to write this, it's interestingthat someone financed this. The acting is laughable, the plot is mindnumbing, the only positive thing I can say about this movie is that thetrailer was good enough to draw me in and by the time this moviestarted to get really bad I had invested just enough time in the movieto have to finish it to see if it had any as-semblance of a plot. Thefirst ten minutes of the movie is interesting and the idea of thismovie if well written could of been an interesting horror movie, butnothing is resolved I can't spoil the ending of this movie becausethere was none. I could tell you all the plot points and the ending inthis review and it wouldn't matter and it wouldn't spoil a thing foranyone, I really have a hard time believing that anyone could thinkthis movie was even passable as a movie, and even if this movie had abudget of five bucks I would say it was to expensive, I like about anymovie and try to find the good in everything there was just nothinggood to find about this movie that had plot devices that went nowhere,characters that there wooded and no personality, horrible effects andeverything you can think of that would make a bad movie, MST3k couldnot even make this movie entertaining. I wish there was an option togive this movie less than one star. You can search and search andsearch for meaning in this film and you will never find anything, whatwas the significance of the hat? the music or any of the characters?Why was the Dr. guy asking them all those questions?Why did the girlfrom the town act like she knew why all the towns members walked andthen she never told she just kept mentioning it. It just baffles howbad this movie is. I did have to watch the leg ripping off scene morethan once because of how ridiculously funny it was!

alistair18 (2012-05-12 23:51)

What the hell?

Firstly let me start with the genre of this film. Definitely by nomeans is this a horror. I wouldn't even know how to class this film atall to be honest. Someone commented that the first 110 min are reallygood and then it goes downhill. Honestly from the first minute you aregreeted with the worst production values I have ever seen. Bad acting,bad editing, no story to speak of. One of the worst movies I have everseen.It took me several hours to just finish the god awful train-wreckbecause I got so bored. I kept stopping to go have a few beers in thehopes that a slightly drunker version of myself would enjoy the rest ofthe movie. No such luck. Stay well clear of this mess of a film. What awaste of something that sounds like it could have been so interestingif someone else was given the premise and asked to write a story aroundit! Avoid at all costs.

hovey1127 (2012-05-11 12:17)

Almost a complete story.

YellowBrickRoad (2010) - In 1940 the entire population of Friar N.H.dressed in their Sunday best and walked off into the woods. They leftbehind their lives and apparently their sanity. Later the army findsthe remains of the frozen and murdered town folk. There is noexplanation to why this happened but it is a mystery that has hauntedour main character Daryl Luger (Clark Freeman). He is an academic andauthor who has waited for classified documents to declassified so hecould research the mystery. With his wife Erin (Cassidy Freeman) friendand psychiatrist Walter Myrick (Alex Draper) a team is formed to findthe trail the residents of Friar took. There group includes twocartographers, Melissa (Anessa Ramsey) and Teddy Barnes (MichaelLaurino), an intern Jill (Tara Giordano), equipment guy Cy (Sam Elmore)and local who works her way into the group Liv McCann (Laura Heisler).This group finds the now available secret coordinates of the trail headare not so accurate. As they stand in front of the Friar N.H. movietheater The Rialto (In real life in Lancaster N.H.) they wonder how itcould be that the information is so wrong. Lucky for them Liv isworking that day and says she can show them where the YellowBrickRoadis. In her best (ugh.) Yankee accent she says she can lead the way. Soour group sets out to answer the question of what happened 70 yearsearlier. Complete Review at HTTP://soresportmovies.blogspot.com

pcabins (2012-05-11 10:32)

are you kidding?

I live in the North Country and in the creepy woods. When I hear themusic, I turn around. Oh, thanks for finding my hat. What a waste of mytime. Writing this is scarier! Please don't come up here and do anothermovie like this. It should come with a dislike button. I can't think ofanything else to say...you have to submit 10 lines of text. I supposethat would be easy if the movie had anything good to write about. Thisis line 7...I am in trouble! Okay, the acting was okay. The movie isslow without suspense and lacks content. The premise is really good.The story of Friar NH is really fascinating. Someone else needs to do amovie about this.

(2012-05-05 07:32)

Wonderfully unsettling slow burn supernatural horror

YellowBrickRoad is a very cool, scary little cerebral horror flick. The genius premise is executed so nicely that you really feel like you're watching a nightmare. Don't let anyone tell you too much about it before you see it and have yourself a fun evening. It's also a significant contribution to the America indie film scene. These guys made a smart, effective, enjoyable movie that's better than almost any studio made horror movie in recent memory. Check it out.

Mr Saxon (2012-05-05 01:02)

"What if people start forgetting the way back?"

In 1940, almost the entire population of a town in New Hampshiremysteriously leave their homes, their belongings and even their pets,and head north along a trail into the dense wilderness. The corpses ofthose discovered are the only trace of what might have happened to thepeople of Friar. Many years later, Teddy Barnes and a team ofresearchers, pathfinders, historians and psychologists decide to followthe same trail and uncover the mystery of what happened in 1940. Butwhat waits for them at the end of the trail - and will they survive toreach it?I know what you're thinking. This is a movie about a group of peoplewho, whilst following a mysterious trail through the wilderness insearch of answers, begin to perish. It therefore must involve maskedkillers or mutated bears, right? Actually, no. "YellowBrickRoad" takesits inspiration from some of the classic older horror movies – such as"The Shining", "Deliverance" and the original version of "The WickerMan" – and, instead of aiming purely for the eyes of the audience, italso aims for the mind. This is a slow-burning psychological horrorfilled with sights and sounds which get under your skin and worm theirway into your brain; just as they do with the characters themselves.That's not to say that there isn't gore or violence in"YellowBrickRoad". There are several scenes involving terrible, bloodythings happening to people, but the film-makers shoot those scenes in away that forces the audience to let their imaginations run rampant andfill in the gaps. It's not really these death scenes that will stickwith you after the movie has ended, though. It's the way that"YellowBrickRoad" forces you to watch as the seemingly well-adjustedindividuals to whom you're introduced at the beginning rapidly driftinto insanity, rage, loneliness, brutality and utter confusion as therules of reality change around them.For a good portion of its running time, "YellowBrickRoad" is a creepyand unsettling story that fully preys upon our fear of the unknown.Without resorting to cheap scares, the movie accurately portrays how agroup of people might act if they took too many steps northward andsuddenly found themselves in the Twilight Zone. All of the main actorsdo a fine job and, despite working with an obviously limited budget,the directors utilise sound, along with moody, lonesome cinematographyand the rustic setting to create a tense and spooky atmosphere.Some may have a problem with the ending which perhaps veers a bit tooclosely into David Lynch territory, but I found it to be an interestingand apt way of closing the movie. For those who are fans of horrorcinema, such as "Session 9" or "The Shining", in which the protagonistsare confronted with something unknown and terrible that slowly burnsaway at their sanity and willpower, this may be close to essentialviewing for you.

Agnelin (2012-05-03 05:56)

Brain gas

Do not, under any circumstance, waste over one hour and half of yourlife watching this trash -this is my advice for anyone who, like me, isbeing fooled by the appealing title and premise, believing he/she isabout to watch something even mildly entertaining. This is not onlymind-numbingly boring, it is also a major bad joke on the generalpublic.Being the absolute horror movie buff that I am, I was very interestedin watching this movie. It was brought to our regional fantasy andhorror movie festival and it was the film that appealed most to me. Itseemed to be an independent, low-budget horror (a category that putsforward a high ratio of very satisfying surprises) and I was veryintrigued by its plot outline: back in the 40s, all the inhabitants ofthe town of Friar left all their belongings behind and walked on aforest trail. They were all found dead, except for one survivor whocouldn't offer a rational account of what had happened. In the presentday, a group of some kind of experts decide to go on the same track,hoping to, at least, document what happened and, with some more luck,find answers to the mystery.The first couple of minutes or so are good, with what look likephotographs of the corpses and the derelict town, and the audiorecording of the classified interview to the only survivor. From thatmoment on, what follows is an increasing amount of boring, incoherent,random, inane and -probably, yes- pretentious brain detritus that triesto pass itself off as surreal, off the beaten track, unusual,thought-provoking and probably not suited for everyone (read: thenon-intellectuals). The movie is packed with completely flat charactersthat come and go and do the most bizarre, stupid and pointless things;stupid dialogue; and bad acting. Much worse, however, is the fact thatthere is no real story that I could comprehend, nor do I believe thereis any meaning behind this amount of nothingness, besides the meaningthat each viewer will want to attach to it. But when a symbol standsfor nothing at all, it accepts any meaning at all, right? My score forthis movie is 1/10.

dayeaton (2012-05-02 13:41)

real characters, real terror

Watch out. Mitton and Holland have made a film that gets under yourdefenses -- reeling you in with quirky, flesh and blood characters, acompelling storyline, eye-popping performances -- THEN it scares thecrap out of you. The night I watched, there were gasps, and shrieks,and there were also some good-sized laughs. You sense that these two,young writer-directors could make any kind of film they want: they justhappen to love horror. I suspect they cut their teeth on films from thegolden age of psychological horror: Rosemary's Baby, Carry, TheShining. But they've been watching The Coen Brothers and other mastersof character-based intrigue.