Dismal (2009) User Reviews

Been there, done that, seen it done better.

[capkronos · 3/10 · 20 September 2009]

dis·mal (dzml) adj. 1. Causing gloom or depression; dreary. 2. Characterized by ineptitude, dullness, or a lack of merit. 3. Obsolete; dreadful; disastrous.

I think they had definition #2 in mind when they were making this one.

Mild-mannered teaching assistant Curt (Tim Morris) decides to take four biology students deep into Dismal Swamp to do some kind of research for extra credit. Squeamish Dana (Lydia Chandler) needs the points or else she'll fail and decides to go despite the fact her obnoxious frat jock boyfriend Brady (Brent Lovell) wants her to go to a keg party instead. Also coming along are Shelly (Capel Kane) and Gary (Will Triplett), who have a long-standing crush on one another, and Jamal (Jade Arnold), who brings along his sexpot girlfriend Eve (Meagan Reedy, who provides some T&A). The six arrive at their location and pitch their tents, the standard POV "someone's watching" camera-work kicks in and the film then basically spends the rest of its scant 79 minute run time poorly trying to copy THE TEXA S CHAINSAW MASSACRE. After about half of them are killed (via hook, bear traps and club), the survivors are captured, dragged back to a shack, chained up and have to endure an over-the-top redneck cannibal family who threaten to kill and eat them. Said family includes patriarch Dale (Bill Oberst Jr.) and a retarded giant that the credits refer to as "Idiot" (Jack Harrison), plus a surprise member hidden amongst the research group.

Though not the absolute worst of its type, there's still next to nothing to actually recommend here, especially for seasoned horror fans who have seen this same exact material countless times before. Aside from the general lack of originality, the acting is mediocre, the (digital) cinematography is murky, there's almost no directorial style to speak of and many of the price-cutting CGI effects (including blood splats, a trail of fire, a body sliced in half and an explosion) are completely laughable.

Boring and outdated

[jnijhoff · 3/10 · 19 September 2009]

After reading some of the reviews here, I was hoping for an 'oldschool' horror movie.

Unfortunately, the acting is quite bad, but that's not the worst. The movie is very slow paced, the 'special effects' look to have been made on a home computer, and the gore is not there.

Also the lack of 'scare moments' don't do it any good - what's a horror movie without the occasional scare?

Don't waste your time on this one, there are much better horror movies out there.

I just wanted to make sure this gets posted as it's a real bad movie. All the people here giving it 8-10 have probably worked on the movie, or know people in it.

Dismal horror movie indeed!

[mrcibubur · 4/10 · 4 January 2010]

This is a really dismal horror movie with absolutely no horror or drama and it is truly dismal as the title suggests. For me its a very poor mans 'Wrong turn' because this movie definitely takes the 'wrong turn' many times. It might have been better if it was filmed in 'blair witch project' film because as an amateur film it would have been more effective. the crocodile and snake scenes were completely laughable and the only enjoyable bits of the film (if I can call them that) were the sex scenes (but this was not meant to be a porno movie of any kind). Nothing clever or unpredictable or intrigueing or compelling about this movie and like a boring goalless draw in soccer, this will soon be forgotten. Watch it if you like, forget it afterwards and move on.

filmmakers got one thing right: the title!

[wayneklay-952-228446 · 2/10 · 17 January 2011]

I love a good independent film. When a cast and crew can meet or exceed Hollywood's best efforts with a fraction of the resources and clout, I stand up and cheer. But this film is nothing to cheer about. It's clumsy, poorly written, and the acting is lame. This is NOT a good independent film. Period. But what's even more amateurish than this film itself, is the creator's attempt to pawn off self-penned reviews, as legitimate viewer opinions. The first couple of "10 star" ratings posted on this site are so patently phony, my 8 year old could see right through it. And he's a cocker spaniel. Not only is this bunch poor filmmakers, they are very bad liars. Don't they know that "average" people don't speak or write like PR executives? Apparently not. They read like press releases. Giving credit where its due, they were hilarious to read...One even said: "trust me"...Whoever made this film must moonlight as used car salesmen. Or vice-versa. Bottom line, read the phony reviews for a laugh, but don't bother watching this one. Trust me: the only thing worthy of this film is the title.

Cliché.

[severon-2 · 4/10 · 22 September 2009]

Poor and rigid acting. Been there done that plot, with extremely predictable moments.

More than anything, amateurish direction. Scenes felt very stilted and flowed about as smoothly from one to the other as a square block kol-unk-ing down a mountainside.

Those leaving the 10 star comments, MUST be the crew/director themselves, because no one in their right mind would give this a worthwhile review.

Not the worst thing I've ever seen in my life, but not too far off either.

I apologize in advance for what I'm about to say. This movie was... dismal. HAHAHAHAHAHHA... okay I'm fine now.

Hey! Out here if you want sushi you better catch you some f*cking fish!

[lastliberal · 4/10 · 5 November 2010]

OK, formula for horror movie is to take three generously endowed college students out into the swamp and see who survives. Not very original, but you have to start somewhere.

Now, when Eve (Meagan Reedy) was lost, it really took the wind out of the movie. She sure could scream.

The movie moved slow until the end when we were treated to an unexpected surprise.

Dana (Lydia Chandler) did manage to get over her inability to dissect. Maybe she can pass Biology now.

Look for something better.

Yeah he's right

[broeoeh · 3/10 · 21 September 2009]

The first reviewer (from the Netherlands is right). The film is just some mix of "Texas chainsaw massacre" meets "The hills have eyes" in some really bad way. The special FX of the gore scenes may be quite good, but the explosions and some of the 3d gore scenes aren't realistic in any way and even outdated. Nothing new, a really flat story with bad characters (maybe the actors are much better with the right story) and cut scenes you'll already have seen in other films. If you haven't seen the above mentioned rather take a look on that films.... I think 3 out of 10 points is for the work the crew had to do on this but you will surely find much better movies out there than this one.

Do not waste your time with this movie

[atinder · 2/10 · 26 September 2009]

The movie start with two MEN on boat in a swamp waiting to kill Gator (Dose this sound like other movie? Hatchet anyone,) then one them goes into the water after thinking he killed Gator and gator gone and he get pulled under water, while the guy on the boat get pulled from be hide off the boat into the swamp just like Friday 13th .

Then the movie moves to a Girl in Class talking to the teacher, she worried that she not going pass the class, so teacher tells her to go on trip to the swap the next day, As she dose, while her boyfriend told her not too but she still goes anyway.

Then a lot boring build to them it about the 30 minutes long and it's really boring, then after that, the killing start again, You can't see much in first kill as it really dark, I could just about make it out, but the kills later on are more see able.

Then we find out that guy killing them is friends with the Sheriff (There bit The Teaxs chainsaw Massacre there).

There is one good death (The only worth watching scene in the whole movie)scene in this movie, a guy being held hostage alive on table getting chopped up but after that the death are a joke which will make you laugh because it so badly done, the ending is so over the top and acting was really bad too.

With all the stuff they got from the old movies. it still ended up being s really bad movie 2/10

Ding, ding, ding! We have a Winner!

[Coventry · 2/10 · 22 May 2018]

A winner? Well yes, because chances that you'll ever stumble upon a horror film worse than this are slim or even next to none! Sometimes the title summarizes everything quite accurately, right? "Dismal" is a downright dreadful and almost pitiably amateurish fan-boy effort without any redeeming qualities whatsoever. The plot is derivative of approximately three dozen of other (and much better) films, the attempts to insert tongue-in-cheek humor and genre references are miserable, the acting and directing are utterly incompetent and the make-up & gore effects easily rank among the lousiest I've ever witnessed. Once again, a group of dim-witted college students venture into an unlikely backwoods domain, a swamp this time, hoping this will help them obtain better grades and a recommendation from their teacher. But, big surprise, the only thing they face is a cannibalistic and mentally deranged pair of brothers. Bo Buckley's script is dull, predictable and uninspired, whereas certain basic elements (like tension-building, character development or creativity) aren't even attempted at. The use of computer-generated effects in slasher films is already a bad idea to begin with, but some of the trash shown in "Dismal" is beyond embarrassing. The girl falling face-down in a bear trap, or another girl getting cut in half by a cable cord, are just two examples of the poorest and least convincing slasher-deaths in history. "Dismal" only deserves a rating 1/10, but I'm generously giving it a 2 because I like the images of the fake giant crocodile and because the three lead girls are attractive (especially the petite blonde). If they were ever hoping to build a career in the film industry, they surely auditioned for the wrong movie.

sort of interesting

[kyleallencole9 · 4/10 · 8 November 2013]

I had read that this movie has gotten several negative reviews, I've always wanted to see it because i enjoy bill oberst jr's work. I finally watched this the other night, and i wasn't too impressed, but i guess it was pretty interesting. The kills weren't terrible, considering its a low budget flick. The plots been done before so many times, a group of students travel into the wilderness and fall prey to cannibals,but reminded me of the wrong turn movies. I'd never seen most of the cast in anything before, but they a decent job. The setting in this movie was actually impressive, it did the movie some sort of justice. I wouldn't recommend this unless your a bill oberst jr fan or a fan of low budget movies or enjoy cannibal flicks.

Not Bad At All!

[fuadkhan2002 · 9/10 · 16 January 2021]

OK, so for a free movie on YouTube for a biology teacher sitting bored during the pandemic and endless virtual testing sessions, this wasn't bad at all. I got to learn about a hairy woodpecker and that an American biology teacher actually knows that a black mamba is an African native snake and not an American snake, pretty impressive! The movie itself kept me engaged and the cannibals were quite entertaining and creepy. I could literally smell the stench of blood and gore when the scenes depicted them. The sexy teenagers were an overkill and not really needed. Though this concept has been done to death, literally, I wouldn't complain at all for watching it for free and getting entertained for an hour and a half. Give it a chance.

Great Visuals

[hkeith8019 · 14 July 2009]

This film was shot in what appears to be the backwoods, part being in swamp at night. That's not easy to do and the director and crew did a fantastic job of night filming in less than ideal surroundings. The plot is good, and the feel is like something out of Deliverance. Pacing was great as this film never dragged but kept on moving to the surprise ending, which I ain't telling ya (see the movie and find out). The actors did a very professional job with their characters. More importantly, they did not try to "camp" the dialogue and kept the story credible. The film has some plot twists to it and the transitions moved seamlessly so that the viewer didn't see it coming until it actually happened.

Dismal (2009)

[scottcgeiter · 7/10 · 11 February 2011]

First Of All This Is A Great Movie People Have To Remember It's Low Budget Besides That It's Very Good , Great Acting ( Jack Harrison ) ( Bill Oberst Jr ) Great Writing By Bo Buckley , Fearmakers Are A Up And Coming Giants In The Horror Genre , Likable Characters , It's Just Flat Out Entertaining , So All You Horror Fans Who Understand Low Budget Give This A Watch It's Fun And Very Gruesome At Parts Of The Movie Just Sit Back On Your Couch Turn The Lights Off And Enjoy The DALE Character Played By Bill Oberst Jr Was Awesome The Character Idiot Played By Jack Harrison Was Very Creepy Jack Harrison Also Did All The Stunts That Said Just Give It A Watch

LOLZOR - Black Cottonmouth Snake.

[sewalsh · 5/10 · 20 September 2009]

This film was mediocre at best I thought however I did get one chuckle out of it.

The scene after the black dude and his slutty chick got it on where everyone is back at camp and the teacher is questioning if anyone heard screams. The slutty chick says she saw a snake and screamed, a 'black' snake. She picks the name of a random snake which was indigenous to Africa but the teacher interrupts her and says it's most likely a cottonmouth snake.

Having never heard of a Cottonmouth Snake I immediately suspected the producer is having a laugh by saying that slutty chick was attacked by a Black Caught-in-mouth snake. Geddit?

Not really scary!

[paul_haakonsen · 5/10 · 18 May 2010]

Well, the story in "Dismal" was pretty alright, although it was amazingly straight forward and out of the typical Hollywood book of "How to make a Slasher Movie". There was nothing new or innovating here. Most stuff was something you have seen before, just served here in a new packaging.

As for the cast, nothing bad there. Lots of nice acting going on here. Especially the guy who played Dale (Bill Oberst, Jr.), he did a really nice job. And his character was so out there. It just worked so well.

The scenery and settings were alright as well, although the swamp and the cabin weren't really scary. Actually, the entire movie wasn't scary. Some nice death scenes, but nothing to make you jump.

The low point of the movie was the oh-so-fake effects on the fire and the explosion. It looked like a pathetic imitation of what it was supposed to be. But despite this, the movie proved to be entertaining enough - despite it being quite predictable.

If you are looking for a scary movie for the evening, this is not the movie to go for. But if you are looking for just another slasher-hybrid movie, then you should give this movie a chance.

bad use of CGI

[trashgang · 4/10 · 4 May 2011]

Here we have a perfect example why people tear flicks down. I don't have anything against low budgets or whatsoever but the makers must at least try to keep you attracted to the screen. From moment one when the teacher appears on screen you can tell, he's not what he seems to be, guess what, you are right. Isn't it bad that when you can guess who the bad guy is it appears that he is one of the bad guys. Secondly, it takes 40 minutes before things go wrong. And when things go wrong they sometimes are messy or even gory but other killings are done with CGI. I don't have problems with CGI but just take a look when things go awry at the cabin. The use over their of CGI tears it down, CGI blood, CGI fire, CGI explosion, sorry, no can do, I call it CGwhy. The last killing is gory and the bear traps are a mess but overall it's mediocre.

....swampthing part 4 ?!?!? hecks yes ? maybe ? ....no? ...huh

[godinamachine · 5/10 · 11 December 2021]

HEY EVERYBODY ITS ME, (4) and today we review .... swampthing part 4 ..........."uncut" and by "uncut " they mean CUT out all the gore and probably nudity of course .... so UNCUT edition !!!!!!!!!!!

(saw it on a youtube channel saying uncut)

I know youtube has rules but it sucks for avid film goings to miss out on some of the more important aspects of a movie ..... its not the acting, or the directing ...lets be honest ..its the boobies and the guts falling out that REALLY makes a horror movie lol....

SO this film is pretty standard AS USUAL for the kids go place meet monster / bad thing = dead story plot / slasher style horror ,it follows the program .... nothing wrong with that either ... its a safe space for the slasher genre.....

it has the usual expected twists ...so .. not really twists LOL... i mean ..you know whats going to happen a mile away, and i assume some gore ? And boobies lol.... but as previously stated ...rules .... boo ....

so characters ? ... well you got the standard troupe .... blond one , not blond one , nerd one etc ......swamp setting = cool .... at first i thought this was going to be a giant gator film ........ NOPE .... first twist LOL ....the bag guy though ..... ugh .... his out of scary costume look is scarier than his in scary costume look LOL ... for reals ... his face not in a mask looks more intimidating than with the .... "imma robber" looking face mask thing .... personally .... i think it would have been cool if they would have had a more "gator" like mask for him in the beginning to kind of go along with the swamp feel / gator theme they had kind of going on .... BUT instead its more "hey gimme your wallet" out side the local 7-11 at 2 a.m. .........BUT thats only until this guy decided to take it all off and look more like a 7 foot frankenstein warboy from the new mad max movie ... then the last half the film he was in normal face .... so ... kind of felt split , like 2 movies ... slasher first half , backwoodsy chainsaw style last half ..... like ..okay good job switching it up BUT at least keep the dude repping the mask thing all throughout .....give me some stability here , i mean this isnt my home life ..jeez ........

and of course everyones favorite creepy uncle looking mofo " bill oberst jr." is in this film .... this guy ... next to clint howard has to be in more films than anyone in hollywood for reals ... hes in movies already that havnt even been made yet .........and believe me you have seen him in everything from top billed block buster films to some kids camcorder at home movie made with friends ..... this guy is EVERYWHERE ......and you have to love his intensity ....he brings a realism with him .... he plays hard you can tell .... i hope to one day work with him myself .......

over all everything is decent and on par.... nothing WOW but nothing bad either just kind of middle of the road playing it safe really ...so thats how its going to get rated ....

5/10.

Not much to say about this one....

[pm_alan · 2/10 · 26 February 2012]

It's funny, in the IMDb cast section it lists one guy as playing "idiot". I thought that was everyones role in this "movie". This was SERIOUSLY one of the worst movies i've ever seen, mostly due to the acting. I never thought acting could be so bad that I actually felt pain from watching it. Usually I laugh at bad acting, but this was just dismal (teehee). The guy playing the teacher should probably find another job, because unless his acting goal was "act like you don't know anything about acting" then he failed miserably. It's sad, the most horrifying scene is right after the two students have oral sex, and they try to explain why she screamed. Idk, maybe the story-line could have worked, but everything else about this movie fails. The cannibal wasn't even intimidating. Another great scene was watching the slutty girl get killed, as she hopped around on one foot, seemingly in NO pain from having one foot chopped off. The way she gets killed though......wow, i'll leave that golden nugget for you all to watch in pure disbelief.

Dismal

[Scarecrow-88 · 2/10 · 7 November 2010]

The name of the movie is appropriate. College kids find themselves out in the wilderness on class assignment running afoul of backwoods cannibals who have a cabin where they carve up human meat after trapping their quarry. The usual savagery, poor computer generated violence(the girl split in half and an exploding house both are examples of CGI at its worst), nauseating camera style, and the same old/same old storyline of depraved killers hunting down, torturing, maiming, and killing in the style of HOSTEL/SAW, kids falling/running into traps designed to catch animals(in this case, humans since the hunters of this film enjoy their cooked meal to be people) for food. Imitating Texas Chainsaw Massacre has become depressingly old hat and tired. No need to go into details regarding the cast of characters since they are the usual human bait unknowingly entering the domain of sickening hick wackos who love to terrorize and eat their victims.

Same old story with a twist

[cadenceaurora · 5/10 · 11 October 2020]

I wouldn't lie here a bit by saying, it wasn't the worst but wasn't even the best. It's same the old plot where bunch of young boys and girls go in a trip, move around and you know the rest, same predictable outcome. I liked the twist at the end though which got me to give it a bit of higher rating. Acting was bad of young adults but a great job by the actor who played dale. Overall, I wouldn't say its not worth it but its a predictable plot so go for it only if you love Cannibalism, gore, forest etc.

Seen-it-all-before slasher effort

[kannibalcorpsegrinder · 5/10 · 24 September 2012]

While out in the woods doing research, a group of students come across a deranged cannibal killer in the area and must fend off his attacks before they're all captured and consumed.

This one really ended up being just overall mediocre and rather unremarkable. It's not that this was a terrible movie, but it was just entirely bland and not really all that special. You'll have guessed everything in here ten minutes before it happens, all the plot twists will be given and the entire look and feel of this one just screams quickie-cash-in attempt without a lot of effort put behind it. The gore is somewhat decent in the kills, which at times is incredibly brutal in concept and bloody in execution, and the final stalking in the woods has its moments where the characters manage to display some brains and ingenuity while dealing with the simple-minded killers who are depicted as quite clumsy despite being told they're experts of the land and area, but overall this one just feels like the greatest hits from every lost-in-the-woods-with-a-cannibal-family flick every made with no attempt at offering a new song for the collector. It all depends on whether you enjoy it despite the familiarity or knock off points for that factor.

Rated R: Graphic Violence, Graphic Language and Nudity.

Excellent indie effort

[William_x_Lee · 10/10 · 13 July 2009]

What I enjoyed about the film, was that it did not attempt to overreach it's bounds. It is what it is: a good old fashioned scare flick, which captivates the viewer from the first scene. What it reminded me of is the first time I saw the Texas Chainsaw Massacre back in the 70's. You kept saying to yourself "Damn, are there people out there like this?" Which when you think about it, is pretty creepy and that is where this film succeeds. While this film did not have the budget or Hollywood exposure of today's studio films, it is a worthy indie film which is far better than a lot of the low budget crapola on DVD now. In fact, you can take all the Pg13 horror flicks Hollywood is spewing out, and replace them with this. A good film done in the traditional horror genre, without bloated special effects, spoiled Hollywood stars, or a misguided remake of another sequels' sequel. Kudos to cast and crew.

A piece of Sh*t movie, still entertaining though

[slapandpckle · 7/10 · 3 July 2011]

This movie did not take more than a week to put together, probably less than that. The acting is Sh*t, the story is sh*t, and worst of all the effects must have been done by Crayola. There is one point where a cannibal is shotgun-blasted in the chest, cartoon blood illuminates the screen, and there is NO HOLE in his shirt from a f**king shotgun-blast, just some red paint. I won't however give this movie a bad rating because although sh*t, it was still entertaining because it is sh*t. It's good to watch because it will crack you up how bad it is. This movie is so poorly made in fact that one of the actors appears to have farted when one of the severely charred cannibals grabs her leg, and it sounds like not just air came out her a** either, we're talking wet dook status here.

Old School Horror

[tcoll32 · 10/10 · 8 July 2009]

I was very fortunate last August to get the chance to see the premiere of this film. Dismal is a story about a group of college kids on a sabbatical to the swamp but it's not the gators or snakes they need to worry about. The swamp is home to a demented family that eats anyone that trespasses on their domain. The film has great scares and gore. It also boasts an amazing cast lead by my personal favorite Bill Oberst, Jr, as Dale. Trust me this is one psycho killer worthy of the Hall of Fame. The movie is coming out soon so please trust me and check it out. This was a great throw back to the 70's horror of The Hills Have Eyes and other great shock films.