Almost turned this off several times in the opening 15 or so minutes. Something told me to carry on.
Glad I did. While the negatives up front stacked up, they, like the Jenga game, quickly fell down and the positives began to multiply.
Beginning with Asian actors not only taking major roles, race, aside from a quick non-Asian, albeit racial joke, never was an issue. That was refreshing and progressive. Way to go, guys, not even bringing their heritage up and it was normal. Bravo. Second, such the strong female lead. For such an amateurish film, she 100% acted like a major Hollywood actress.
I digress, let me back up. The movie is about "on-paper" good thieves who upon their last score inadvertently make that their second-to-last and their real last isn't a blast. They encounter a killer with a torture basement and no way out.
The movie is mostly a comedy, though many ideas stem from many horror movies these filmmakers obviously admired. Unfortunately, for the film, the first third or so - when I wanted badly to call this a loss and find another Friday Night Fright, the "comedy" wasn't funny and the direction/camera work/flaws were so film-school reject, it's hard to believe the last two-thirds made up for it in spades.
The jokes got funnier (I found myself actually laughing out loud a few times) and the acting improved as did the cinematography. In that first act, I admired these unknowns were making a movie - that's not an easy task even when most of the stars align, but I felt pity as barely any of jokes landed. Once the first third was over, I forgot this was all-but friends getting together to attempt to make a film and was actually watching a horror-comedy-homage.
Plus, it was a huge plus this wasn't found footage as it hinted at in the beginning. Bravo, again, for not taking the easy and definitely stupid way out for making a real movie.
Overall, while not 100% there and it still felt amateurish at times, once they got their grove and you can spot the dozens of references to subgenre horror movies, you'll probably enjoy this. And yes, references. I believe these people loved the many movies this jammed in and it wasn't about thief or unoriginality.
This is an A for effort. I checked out your IMDb pages. Keep this up and grow more so we can see you get the box-office and praise you deserve.
***
Final thoughts: Horribly, though, I coincidentally watched this as real-life torture and abuse from two "parents" upon their multiple children came out this week. Two Californian "parents," absolutely destroyed their many children with actual torture for their whole lives. Mercifully, one of the kids escaped to get help and hopefully, those "parents" will live long enough to know the evils they did.
So, that all said, despite this movie being made LONG before this incident came to light, it was still kinda hard to watch torture rooms and devices immediately after a true story about the same kinds of malice.
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