Portal (2019) User Reviews

Short and Unsweet

[view_and_review · 5/10 · 20 August 2020]

Cut in the mode of the movie "Grave Encounters," "Portal" is about ghost hunters looking for a real haunted house. After failing too often to find a real haunted house they steal a tip about a house that may be the real deal: the Dalva House. The Dalva House is where patriarch, Richard Dalva, killed his family and himself (so the legend goes).

The ghost tracker crew set up their elaborate ghost hunting equipment at the Dalva House really feeling they'd capture something. After hours of getting nothing, the ringleader, Steven (Ryan Merriman), decided to read an incantation he unearthed. The incantation didn't awake ghosts though; it awoke a demon.

The good thing is that the movie is only an hour and fifteen minutes, so if it's bad-which it kinda was-then you only have to suffer through an hour and fifteen minutes. If it's good, which it was at times, then you've got a taste.

The movie was a bit hackneyed with the ghost hunter aspect as well as the ominous Native American ushering an enigmatic warning about going to the house. Later in the movie the Native American's adopted sister, Fiona (Heather Langenkamp, as in the girl who played Nancy in Nightmare on Elm St.), would remind the production crew that they had been warned about going to the house while I, as the viewer, screamed, "Could his warning have been more confusing!?"

A warning is, "Don't go to that house. Stay far away from that house. You'll die if you go there." A warning is not, "You don't find the ghosts, the ghosts find you." I mean really, WTH!? You do know that they're trying to find ghosts, right? Your "warning" gave them all the reason they needed to proceed with their plans.

There was further cause to be bothered when the ghost hunter crew dug up the shallowly buried incantation. Per Fiona, who happened to be a surviving Dalva family member, she couldn't destroy the incantation, so she buried it. Yeah, she buried it about 18 inches deep, in the back yard, with a marker to indicate its location. She may as well had set it on a table with neon lights around it saying "Read Me." I've seen Easter eggs hidden better than that evil spell.

I've already spoiled most of the movie so I may as well spoil the ending. Steven ends up dying. He has to trade his soul for the soul of his producer, Cris (Jamie Tisdale), because that's how the rules work. It was another unoriginal plot piece liberally borrowed from movies before it.

Even though the movie only got worse in the last half-hour, it wasn't so bad I couldn't stick it out.

Had potential, so what?

[Patient444 · 5/10 · 19 October 2019]

Is this the first time I notice the potential a movie wastes? So many horrors manage to develop a better scrip than you'd expect for a low budget production yet completely fail to deliver. Why? In my opinion so far is because sometimes, like here, the subject is overused, and has little room to wiggle. In all sincerity what more could they have covered, what is there uncharted?

I did like the premise sure, but ever since I've seen Grave Encounters, a movie that managed to shock a little through its very end, which I found to be the cherry on top, movies like this, found footage or not, are quite bound to respect the very same rules the ones before them did. Sure, I wanted it to be good, and to have fun with it, perhaps even to experience a few scares, but excepting the self satire, it brought nothing new.

It is definitely not a bad movie, but most likely you have seen it before under other names, so if you just have to check this one out as well, do it at your own risk and time. You have been warned.

Cheers!

Good idea

[BandSAboutMovies · 3/10 · 25 November 2019]

The ambitious host of an amateur ghost hunting show called Ghost Seekers who wants to keep his show pure, unlike the competition but is sick of the same old boring haunts that every other show encounters. He drops the entire budget of the season by asking another host to tell him what houses they plan on exploring and heads to a place that may really be more than his team is ready for.

This movie is directed by Dean Alioto, who also created Alien Abduction: Incident In Lake County, a found footage film that predates The Blair Witch. He co-wrote it with Peter Dukes, who wrote and directed 2017's Escape Room.

The Dalva house, where the haunting in the movie happens, is really the place where Ben Affleck and Matt Damon wrote Good Will Hunting.

Ryan Merriman is the lead and he's been in plenty of stuff, from the TV series Pretender to The Jurassic Games. The producer of his show is played by Jamie Tisdale, who was on the From Dusk 'Til Dawn TV series the film The Devil's Candy.

Perhaps the best-known actress in the movie is Heather Langenkamp, who was Nancy in the A Nightmare on Elm Street films. She's now the co-owner of AFX Studio and was doing the effects for American Horror Story: Cult by day and shooting this film in the evening.

I've seen enough ghost chasing movies to last me until 2030, but this is a well-made movie that fans of this genre will enjoy.

it goes up and falls down hard...

[lifelinespublishing · 4/10 · 16 October 2019]

I wish I could write something really good at this movie as the beginning was only the better part of this film, once it reaches the middle and towards the end, it kinda went downhill pretty fast., The actors are average as not one of them was the weak link acting wise, I guess they should have made it more scarier like those in the NUN / CONJURING special effects.,

anyways, I won't recommend this to someone who wants to be truly scared, I fell asleep towards the end, Yes, it's that boring!

a 4/10 for me...+ 1 for the actors performance and +1 for the beginning, it had potential

Two stars for Heather

[smoke0 · 28 October 2019]

Zero for everything else. This would have worked beautifully had it actually been presented as a first person footage film rather than a film about first person footage filmmakers, and without the happy ending, it could have been a great found footage film, but in any case, it isn't any of those, even as the thing looks like it was filmed by someone in the cast with a handheld camera most of the time, so, as usual, a wasted opportunity.

I am so tired of waiting for a new found footage / first person film I can actually get excited about...

Bad, bad movie.

[neuroticpeacecorpse · 1/10 · 29 September 2020]

Take a 75 minute walk with your dog, do the dishes 5 times, and forget about this movie. Not worth watching or spending money on.

Boretal

[allmartyrs · 3/10 · 27 November 2019]

Alright for a C movie. Actors aren't bad. Humor is alright. Lightning sadly is horrid. At least throughout all act 2 which should be the meaty party but sadly it turns into a rather generic ghost? possession? movie which falls flat on suspense and atmosphere.

What a disappointment

[thescarexp · 3/10 · 22 November 2021]

With the cast, I was hoping this film would be, at the very least, decent. It was not. The storyline is whack. It's actually really pretty bad. It's funny though because I get the feeling all the actors thought they were making a gem. It's not. It's better left unwatched or immediately forgotten.

The casting ruined it; tired tropes and lots of nopes.

[bash-01270 · 1/10 · 8 February 2024]

As with everything being pumped out of Hollywood these days all the scientists are black, all the relationships are interracial, and there's women identifying as men for no reasons besides ticking boxes. This indicates, like most everything Hollywood puts out, the writers are writing for writers, not for an audience.

The casting is atrocious. The scientists are unbelievable. You've got Fu Manchu in the forest who has never heard of nail clippers with two inch fingernails and well - I don't want to have to tick the spoilers tag so I won't go into more detail. But the concept was great, the execution was dreadful.

FUN HORROR ROMP

[ladymitchm · 10/10 · 3 November 2019]

Smartly executed with a wink and a nod to some of horror's most effective scare tactics. Thoroughly entertaining, with a great cast and script. A fun thriller on all fronts!

Pity, it had great potential

[namstonk · 6/10 · 16 October 2019]

So, directing solid, acting jolly good, dialogue/script spot on, nice bit of humour taking the mick out of the genre, all things required to make a very good movie. However, well nothing actually happens, no jumps, no gore, no blood thirsty demonic creature vowing to gut you etc. You just wish the budget could have been stretched just that little bit more to allow some sfx. If it wasn't for the positives mentioned you'd be looking at a movie with a score of 3/10, pity, but I will look for further work by the director in the future.

A refreshing ghost hunting thriller/horror flick!

[alisoncarol · 10/10 · 2 November 2019]

Portal was a refreshing horror/thriller take on ghost hunting experience gone wrong, with solid laughs and suspense throughout. Seriously kept me entertained entire time, and normally I don't even care for horror but this had some witty fun moments. It's always nice to have that combo of horror and some humor. Really fun...definitely still had some scares too. Great performances and was shot really well. I wish I could see more from these characters. When it was over I still wanted to hang with them. Hopefully we will see more from this Director. A solid reccomend.

Marginally entertaining

[rivertam26 · 6/10 · 3 April 2020]

This is a serviceable little horror flick. Released quietly last year I was initially intrigued by the trailer, the casting of Heather Lagenkamp(Nightmare on elm st.) and childhood crush Ryan Merriman (Ring 2). The movie centers around a group of paranormal investigators trying to do legit shows but on the verge of cancellation they finally discover something real and begin to regret it. The movie doesn't bring anything new to the table but it's marginally entertaining. Sadly the films best performance comes from Lagenkamp who only shows up 15 mins before the ending and still packs one hell of a scream. As for the rest of the cast they're okay. A little more imagination and development would have benefitted this but it's still not a bad way to pass the time.

3/5

Sly, funny horror comedy, though imperfect

[I_Ailurophile · 7/10 · 7 October 2021]

The very idea of "ghost-hunting" is such utter nonsense that I automatically have a hard time engaging with any media that plays with the notion. Like exorcism flicks, however - if a slightly different spin is put on the concept, that can make all the difference and pique my interest. Though it's not entirely successfully, I'm so very pleased that 'Portal' takes a bit different of a tack that makes this pretty fun.

Overt tropes and leaps in logic. Dialogue and story beats that are alternate between ham-handed, and sardonic and intelligent. Music cues aiding scene arrangement to build tension and release it with cheeky, fun inversion of expectations. Unnecessary shots of "creepy" children's toys and innocuous house features. This is all done with clear intention to supply the great punch of 'Portal': not horror, but comedy. The film pointedly mocks ghost-hunting with wry, stone-faced satire that pokes at every unconvincing scrap of hokum the genre dallies with - both TV shows, and movies that self-seriously operate in the same space. This is especially true in the first half, which one wishes were more representative of the picture as a whole: in the latter half, 'Portal' turns marginally more serious to emphasize plot, and in so doing the film becomes a little uneven.

Still, despite being a tad inconsistent - and maybe a little too self-aware at points - this is so much fun! The filming location is choice. I think the special effects look good, and other details like hair, makeup, and wardrobe are given fine consideration. I enjoy Corey Allen Jackson's score, both in and of itself and for the boost it gives to the cutting tone of the film. And I think the whole cast is super, with special commendations for Heather Langenkamp and Gregory Zaragoza - demonstrating poise and force of personality as level-headed interlopers who find the "ghost-hunters" in dire straits - and for Najarra Townsend, who illustrates (within the limits the screenplay gives her) range, physicality, and nuance that I know she carries so well.

It may seem like a small thing, but I must deduct another point of regard from the film's success for the unsightly use of neo-Nazi paraphernalia to adorn Zaragoza the first time we meet his character. I assume that that choice was fiercely ironic, but it's unwelcome one way or the other. It's an unfortunate inclusion that plants a solid red flag and somewhat sullies my enthusiasm.

Yet whatever its deficiences, I am pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed this. The slant it takes will turn off some viewers, nevermind that its approach to the humor is so dry and earnest that it could easily be mistaken for a serious horror flick executed poorly. But if one is willing and able to engage with the movie for what it is, 'Portal' is a wonderfully funny, entertainment lampoon of one of the most dubious sides of the horror genre. Definitely worth checking out if you come across it!

Better than Expected

[robandchris-76850 · 7/10 · 23 August 2021]

Well normally a 3 star rates movie is just that, but in this case it surprised me, bit wierd bit strange but an enjoyable movie.

Pretty good acting, other than that nothing memorable about it.

[Tooobe · 6/10 · 3 February 2020]

Pretty good acting, other than that nothing memorable about it.

Not bad - took the trope to interesting places

[theStationkeeper · 6/10 · 2 March 2023]

Hi. I'm a fan of both horror films, and the found footage/mockumentary format, and my reviews reflect that.

This wasn't as bad as some reviewers suggest. Lets just assume this isn't up for the Oscars and move on from there.

The two leads were relatively strong, particularly Jamie Tisdale. For the first half it was pretty much all on them and they did pretty well with it. Myk Watford brought some Cajun fresh air to the show.

The script was nothing blazingly original for fans of the genre, still it put its own twist on it and that's admirable.

It was nice to see Heather Langenkamp, most notably from the "Nightmare on Elm Street" movies, and that's where the film really finds it's footing and it's pace.

As always with these, if you're looking for something of the level of "Get Out" then you'll leave the film wanting. However, if you've enjoyed films like Hell House LLC, or Savageland then you'll probably find enough in this movie to keep entertained and engaged, even though the quality doesn't necessarily rise to the level of those films.

On the whole, there were enough interesting hooks and character business to keep my attention and entertain me for the runtime of the film.

So entertained, yet so angry...

[dopeydinosaur · 6/10 · 26 January 2024]

This movie is about some television ghost hunters who are shooting their first season's finale in the hopes of being renewed. Everything rides on this last episode: Will it be exciting enough for the audience? So of course, they manage to finally find a (truly) haunted house and then... blow it. Nearly every time something really cool is happening, the dummies aren't recording it and it doesn't dawn on them that all this freaky stuff would have made great footage! Their honest reactions as things begin to go wrong would have made great footage. But no, they react like the Scooby-Doo team and basically run around all scared and not being ghost hunters at all! Idiots. The movie however, was entertaining, but I just couldn't get past the fact where they didn't capture all the cool stuff on camera!