FJWWindsor
I love the Caribbean (or most anywhere tropical) as a vacation destination. So watching a group of hedonistic millennials enjoy a Panamanian excursion full of good food, drink, dancing, romance and water sports drew me in, in a somewhat nostalgic manner. However, I soon realized how superficial these characters were, and the movie descended into the mundane when they started making decisions that defied logic. The residents of the area are unanimously warning to stay away from the jungle waterfall?!?! Nah, let's go anyway! Things start going awry and people start getting hurt/killed. Shouldn't they stick together?!?! Nah, let's all run in separate, distinct directions and get lost. You get the picture.IMHO, accelerated motion film technique has become overused these days, and it was especially annoying to me in this film. Quick glimpses of the creatures did not heighten the tension for me. Still, I did give it four stars, as this movie is better than some of the tripe I've wasted my time on lately.
Arun George
The one thing that instills excitement is the magnificent-looking Panamanian forest locale. The characters are thoroughly one-note and utter some of the crappiest dialogue you'll ever hear. The lead male character even passes a smug-grin (or something similar!) during a pretty dire situation.The film, directed by Alastair Orr, takes quite a bit of time before it embraces its horror conception. The first forty minutes is merely tourism advertising for the country. Not one character amongst the "group of friends" exhibit any subtlety to make them stand out, or get the viewer to empathize. All the essentials have been ticked off: a happy intimate couple, a couple that's going through a rough patch and the playboy who hooks up with a local. This group seems to have really horrible decision-making skills too. When the chupacabra begins to hunt them down, they decide to "head for higher ground", while making a run towards their vehicle would have made more sense. The lead male character ventures into the cave of the supposed monster all by himself with a flickering torchlight and catches a good view of the beast devouring human flesh before he decides to run off. While the social media angle was a welcome diversion, the final act seemed too far-fetched. The creature looked ghastly: some not-bad make-up work on the features! Camera-work is fine while capturing the rich natural essence of Panama but shaky during those scenes which are supposed to induce terror. This movie is likely to be compared with Neil Marshall's 'The Descent' for its similar looking flesh-eating monster, but sans great story- telling and claustrophobic dread. One does feel that the director could've utilized the dense forest setting to his advantage but 'Indigenous' ends up an average fare.Verdict: A B-movie with very little genre-thrills!
Flow
Aahh, horror and all that it comes with it. Same lines, same plot, same surroundings, same reactions and last but not least, same characters. Still, a far better production than say, Animal, easily two steps down compared to The Descent, overall, an OK movie, for a night with the friends. While most of it was easily anticipated and had the same moves every horror has for the last 20 years, it managed to act OK, and keep you there, in front of the screen without leaving it too soon or skipping forward. Don't expect anything decent, little below it, but below indeed.Anyway monster horrors are my favorite, so for me it was nice seeing one more. But I wouldn't recommend it to everyone out there. Maybe try The Cave, or The Ruins instead. Those are more likely to impress.Cheers!
James Wright
There are a lot of positives about this film; specifically the way its shot and written, especially in its initial tease of being a found footage film before abandoning that idea, while holding onto some aspects of modern social media to move the plot forward.This film is smart, but perhaps a little too smart for its own good as it ends up cramming in a lot of what it wants its audience to see and understand without much signposting, which can lead to some confusion and overall apathy towards the characters. For instance the film seems to want you to really care that one character owns a restaurant, but I am still not really sure why. It is reminiscent of DeadMary, another smartly written film with a great concept, but takes too long showing you characters to try to make you identify with them and care about what happens to them, whilst somehow not managing to achieve this aim. Instead what could have been laid out in a couple of short and simple scenes in the first five minutes takes around half an hour and by then you have given up actually trying to remember who these people are and what their relationships are to each other.Overall though this is an enjoyable, if slow starting, monster flick that attempts to play with its audience, to at least some success, and is definitely worth a watch for any fan of modern horror.
AD
