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38 out of 57 people found the following review useful: A sick mystery in horror clothing, 13 March 2005 Author: SuperGus from LBC, SoCal
I went to one of those secret test screenings they do here a lot in Los Angeles. I knew this was a horror, am a big fan, but had never heard of it. We were urged not to talk about the story until it opened, especially the surprise ending. If their so worried about the big twist, then don't screen it! The movie opens on a family traveling in a minivan demolishing a deer on the road. Then they encounter a mysterious noxious gas that maims their dog and nearly decapitates the father. The first 3 minutes is totally sick and whack. Then these college kids, strangers, share a ride through the desert. I especially liked the blind guy and the music obsessed geek. When their truck breaks down and they get trapped at a motel, the movie really takes off. It veers into weird, funny, scary, strange to totally messed up. A psycho ecstasy dealer (who I recognize from "Resident Evil") is after them -- or isn't he? There are sightings of mutilated dying people -- including a hilarious and gory appearance of a "half a trucker." An old man shows up in a RV looking for his missing wife. And I don't even really need to say it, but, someone or something is killing them off one by one... It's the mystery that really makes this light years better than most horror films I've seen recently. Unlike THE GRUDGE, this one makes sense. I'll admit, I'm still trying to sort out all the little details of what really happened. I worked my way back through the movie all night and it's even better in the morning. Not all the special effects were finished and the sound wasn't done either, so I can only imagine Reeker will get even better. Two mangled thumbs up!
45 out of 74 people found the following review useful: Give these guys cash!, 16 March 2006 Author: edgent
I went to see the movie knowing it was a low budget movie and probably more of the same to boot, thinking it'd be bad goreish effects and ready to be bored. Actually committed to hate the movie.But something happened. The movie's twisted sense of humor, as you can experience in the first minutes, gets you into watching the movie just to see what silly thing happens next, along with its jumpy moments, and typical bad guys and the so predictable deaths everyone knows (the proverbial closed door leading to a dark room that everyone seems to step into... or not:); but hey, it's still lightweight fun! Then the movie's final twist is revealed and all the silly things make sense, shifting the what you thought it was bland predictable stuff into something else you didn't really notice because you were having fun poking at the holes of the movie and its apparently predictable stuff.The movie ends, people in the theater have stopped laughing and are silent in amazement, and my friend slowly says this weekend he's not going to the desert... just in case.
19 out of 30 people found the following review useful: Fear the Reaper...um, I mean REEKER!, 22 March 2006 Author: Coventry from the Draconian Swamp of Unholy Souls
I feel a bit sorry to say that this isn't a great film and sadly suffers from a lack of originality, because I really did enjoy my viewing of "Reeker" and I certainly wouldn't hesitate to recommend it to other hardcore horror fans on the lookout for new thrills! "Reeker" is a fun film, with decent production values and lots of exhilarating gore, and it's only near the end that the script begins to show some major holes and plot twists that featured in many other movies already. Up until when the story becomes painfully predictable, Dave Payne manages to build up some genuine suspense, likable character-drawings and even some vivid black humor. Five twenty-something people who only know each other vaguely are on their way to a famous rave in the desert when their journey suddenly takes a nightmarish turn. After a truly banal drug-incident, the gang returns to the nearest motel, only to find that everyone has mysteriously vanished there. The only living soul for miles around is a middle-aged traveler who has severe problems himself, as he somehow lost his wife on the isolated desert roads. Things get really uncanny when a terrifying figure, bizarrely dressed and smelling horribly, shows up killing the cast members in – it has to be said – very imaginative ways! You certainly won't be complaining about a shortage of excitement, as the film doesn't cut back on grotesque make-up effects or over-the-top gory moments. After the first glimpse at the unusual killer and the ominous atmosphere, it becomes clear that "Reeker" is slightly more ambitious than your average high-school slasher. Such an ambition is definitely praiseworthy and promising for Payne's future career, but sadly his "idea" has been used already in many other (classic as well as more recent) movies before. Of course, I can't mention which ones because that would have the same effect as revealing the actual twist. Michael Ironside is the terrific experienced actor of the film, but he receives excellent feedback from the enthusiast young cast. Derek Richardson (who was in "Hostel") is very good and Gillmore Girl Arielle Kebbel is more than adequate as well. "Reeker" guarantees a fine watch all together, but it's a little shortcoming to end up a genre classic.
11 out of 15 people found the following review useful: Confused..., 1 July 2006 Author: tonywilkes from Scotland
*** This review may contain spoilers ***
I'm confused because this is one of the worst films I've ever seen, and yet some people seem to like it. The characters, the dialogue ('Didn't you just go to the bathroom already?' 'Tell that to my bladder') and the acting was awful, and... actually that's enough. Take that away from any film and you have a bunch of set pieces which either work or they don't, but it's not a film in any kind of enjoyable sense.The pre-credits part at the beginning was great and I was actually set up to enjoy a great film - only it sucked. I quickly realised that I was watching five of the most shallow, dumb-schmuck, downright stoopidest high school folk ever committed to celluloid, and after ten minutes my reaction was 'Jeez, make them die already'. Harsh but true. They weren't even clichés, they were cardboard cut-outs from a How Not To Write A Move book. For a group of young kids thrown together in the midst of an ordeal watch My Little Eye.The inclusion of a blind guy could have been interesting if it hadn't been handled so badly. The first mention of it - 'Thanks for rubbing it in' - was a bit ridiculous; he's been blind since the age of 6, hasn't he got over it yet? He can't still be bitter about it! And when a trucker meets him he is confused by why he doesn't shake his hand: 'He's blind.' 'Oh.' As if the blind guy (his name's Jack, but his role in the film is essentially Blind Guy) would stay silent and not hold out his hand to be shook when introduced to someone.In the scene where Blind Guy enters a room and there's a woman with no face scratching a message into a table, he doesn't see her. Because he's blind, you see. But as he keeps mentioning how his hearing compensates for his sight, would he not have heard her moving around? This, coupled with him later saying he was blind since age *7* (apparently a continuity flub), made me think that he was in on the horror side of things. The number of plot holes, blind alleys and red herrings is enough to keep people guessing about what's going on (and not in a good way) and the ending doesn't help either. You can't just montage a bunch of new stuff that makes no sense and have the two surviving characters say 'Do you remember anything about the crash?' 'No. Do you?' 'No.' It's the equivalent of a 7 year old writing a poem and ending it with, 'And then I woke up. It was all a dream'. Blech.The whole 'Group Stuck In A Horror Motel' thing was done infinitely better in some film I don't remember the name of from 2002/2003. It's ironic that I should forget its name, as the name Reeker will be etched in my memory for a long while yet, and not in a good way.But hey, you kids have fun!
11 out of 17 people found the following review useful: F-in Great!, 14 June 2005 Author: harrisonflyboy from IL
F-in Great!I saw two midnight movies at the Tribeca Film Festival, "Reeker," the first, and by far the best, was a welcome surprise in a world of tired horror retreads. What we have here is something that is not so much new (the story is in the great tradition of "kids stuck in the middle of nowhere") as done right to such an extent that it elevated the material beyond my wildest expectations. Not only was I totally sucked into the mystery, but I was caught up in the plights of the characters (all superbly fleshed out), AND scared out of my seat. In addition to jumping and almost making a pass at the dude next to me (don't ask), I laughed so hard on at least half a dozen occasions that I missed entire scenes... This movie is FUN. Kids get stuck, something's not right, a rank odor follows them around... they start getting killed. You'll never forget the blond in the outhouse. The production is compact – filmed mostly at one desert gas station/motel – with some scenes on the road and in Los Angeles. The music is spot on. If you're a music lover, the smart placement of several songs is well worth the price of admission. The gore fx and computer fx are great, especially for an independent movie. The whole affair has a very "classic horror movie" feel. There is a twist end. These types of endings only bother me when they don't work. In this case, this is one of the reasons this movie is so clever. With the reveal you learn that all the mayhem you've just witnessed actually was working on many levels. It's a puzzle that may leave some scratching their heads. My advice – PAY ATTENTION! "Reeker" avoids the standard run of the mill slasher pitfalls, creates a new monster/killer that's so original it's almost not (You wonder why no ones thought of this villain before). If you don't take your horror too seriously, want a change of pace from your J-horror fetish, get in line and catch "Reeker" the day it opens.
21 out of 37 people found the following review useful: not scary and illogical at times, 11 August 2006 Author: manicman84 from Poland
"Reeker" didn't live up to my expectations at all. The film has really surprising turn in the end which, in contrast to "High Tension", is beneficial for this flick as it sheds a new light on a story which until this time has completely no sense. In fact, "Reeker" doesn't deliver anything new and even misuses certain patterns. In addition, the film is not frightening and evokes not much tension, which is significant shortcoming for this kind of flick. Not so frequent gory scenes are anything but original or imaginative. What's more, the flick drags incredibly and is illogical at times. Similarly to other movies of this genre, characters behaves very irrationally. For instance, the scene with a guy jumping out of the window was ridiculous. On the other hand, among virtues of this film I can rate good cinematography and beautiful desert settings. All in all, I regrettably cannot recommend this horror film.
11 out of 18 people found the following review useful: I liked it..., 9 July 2006 Author: gavintabiner-1 from United Kingdom
I have just got back from watching Reeker and i have to say, i really liked it.Yeah, so it follows the same basic plot outline as millions of films before it but hey, its a proved plot outline, it works.. The film revolves around a group of youngsters who are traveling to a 'rave' that is taking place in the desert. Whilst on their journey they encounter a few problems relating to death and horror, that is the basic plot. This film has a nice ending that is well explained, it is very easy to watch and i really do recommend that you go see it.......NOW...
3 out of 3 people found the following review useful: Reeker, 10 July 2007 Author: Scarecrow-88 from United States
Heading for a rave, Gretchen(Tina Illman)tells Trip(Scott Whyte)he needs to relinquish a batch of drugs he stole from illegal pharmaceutical chemist Radford(Eric Mabius)or else hitch a ride with someone else. This shortly after they leave a diner with various people having lunch. Gretchen, who has a kind heart, decides she'll give Trip a lift back to the diner so that his cell phone can gain a signal. Cookie(Arielle Kebbel)has a bladder problem and needs to urinate before their trip back to the diner. On their way back, Cookie notices a turned over SUV which looks similar to the one they are riding in. When arriving back to the diner(..and a little motel nearby), the group notice no one around. It's certainly suspicious because they had just left from there with plenty of people inside. Patrolling the grounds, the group begin to fall one by one to a mysterious hooded figure with a type of gas mask covering his ghoulish face who, before appearing, introduces himself with a foul stench as he arrives from this type of gaseous cloud..could he perhaps represent "death"? Other members of the group include blind Jack(Devon Gummersall)with an abundance of witty liners, often poking fun at his handicap and Nelson(Derek Richardson),a turntable musician who has a gig lined up at the rave. In a peculiar group of circumstances, Radford emerges, and disappears, all throughout the characters' terrifying ordeal..what's his part in the grand scheme of things? Another one of those gory "characters running from death" horror flicks, this actually has some entertaining moments. The characters are interesting and funny..quite likable and nowhere near as obnoxious and annoying as these type of flicks often litter us with. Surprisingly, several gore scenes show body parts removed from unfortunate souls..one poor fellow was stuck in a garbage bin with his entire lower body removed! I'm not sure how I take the twist at the end..it's awfully derivative of other films of it's ilk(..such as "Final Destination"). But, the flick sure is strange enough, with an unusual killer with unique abilities and arrives differently than the usual grim reapers this evil one clearly emulates.Michael Ironside has a small role as Henry, this awkwardly behaving man looking for his missing wife who Trip encounters when running from Radford, often clutching his side as if he could keel over any minute.
4 out of 5 people found the following review useful: Truly Average!, 15 June 2006 Author: Pete Oppersdorff from United Kingdom
I wasn't expecting much from a film called Reeker but being in Argentina was the only film in English available, so i was hoping to be surprised.Nothing sets this film apart from anything thats been made in the past few years. It contains elements of Final Destination and Identity but doesn't pull the respective elements off as well as it these films.Obviously one of the main elements in any horror flick is its gore factor which i do admit this film pulls off well, but for most of the film i was asking myself "what next", as is revealed in the end in what i thought was a half decent conclusion. I say conclusion not twist because a twist should take everything you thought you knew about a film and turn it upside down in a stroke of genius, all this does is makes sense of the last hour and half for which i didn't know why all this was happening as it all seemed rather unclear.The actors do their part as horror isn't exactly a complex role, and the direction is steady throughout so its not gonna blow your mind.I'm not gonna tell anyone on here to stay away from this film, i like horror and such especially if they try and do something a little different with it like this does but as i said i found it all rather tedious from start to finish. I'm sure there are people who will like this film as the gore and the ending are enough to satisfy but i feel after Saw, Final Destination and Identity, the bar has been raised for what is a slowly revitalised genre.If you liked any of the above films especially Identity and Final Destination i recommend it but don't expect anything too shocking or original. 5/10
4 out of 6 people found the following review useful: it certainly reeks alright, 5 November 2006 Author: stevenkickstart from lanarkshire scotland
well i went to the cinema to see this on the back of reading some positive reviews on IMDb and i was really disappointed.Where do i start, it has every horror cliché in the book, the girls are bimbos, the guys are stupid, everyone seems to split up all the time instead of sticking together and the film was just boring.It just seemed to take bits from final destination and jeepers creepers and pass it off as original which it wasn't.It takes a lot for me to want to walk out of a film and i was on my feet a few times but i persevered until the end and even the ending wasn't original so overall a very poor film that doesn't even deserve to be watched on DVD
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