Michael Ledo
John awakes in a pit with dead people. He was helped out by a mute oriental woman who doesn't understand English. He goes to a house. There are people inside. Everyone in the group has amnesia and a mark on their arm. The house has plenty of food and ammo. Driver licenses let the people know their names, but they remember nothing else.The film doesn't do a great job of dropping clues, but by 55 minutes into the film, you get a better idea what is happening, but it isn't until the end all is revealed.I liked the opening scene. It was slow and effective. I also liked the ending, how it tied things together. The problem I had was the characters. They were not entertaining or memorable. They effectively played the scared hollow headed people they were scripted to be, and that left me getting bored as they strolled through the woods.Makes an okay rental.Parental Guide: F-bomb. No sex or nudity.
Anderson Santos
I quickly browsed on the reviews and can't really understand the good reviews, but well everyone is entitled to his opinion. For me its quite simple, horrible acting, there is no real mystery, its a very predictable end, there are scenes that I even said: "this is really bad acting" it's not a very common sentence from me. In the other hand (let's see if there is something good) the story-line has a good passing, well it's pretty much it.TL;dr A group of people wake up with amnesia, with trust issues between them, they try to figure out what made them be in that place all together. In sum it's not worth it, "The Cube" is way better, and that one was much cheaper, for sure.
amesmonde
A man wakes up in an open grave pit with no memory of who he is or how he got there. Later he encounters a group of people with the same amnesia affliction and they try to workout who is who to survive random attacks from the crazed infected in the area. Not to be confused with Open Graves (2013) the premise itself from writers Chris and Eddie Borey is pretty intriguing but it never flows to meet its full potential turning into a zombie horror cliché by the end. Spanish director Gonzalo López-Gallego offers lots of style and suspense, as John played excellent by Sharlto Copley and the other characters suffering from memory loss piece together what going on with virus infected people attacking at any given moment. There's a novel idea of the infected being repelled by the dead. It's forest, mansion, body pits, abandoned complex and camp give López-Gallego's plenty of atmosphere accompanied by an ominous score.Along with Copley, Thomas Kretschmann is notable as paranoid Lukas, sadly Max Wrottesley's interesting character Michael who is not as clever as the others gets killed off disappointingly too soon. Open Graves is wonderfully filmed with overhead shots, lighting storms, earthly wooden shacks, gritty cells and it has great sound design to match. There's also some nicely executed make up effects. Where as the likes of Eerie 13 flows on its low budget, Graves feels expensive but doesn't seem know what to do with the small stellar cast in the paranoia scenes which become repetitive. Borrowing from The Crazies, Night of the Living Dead and I am Legend's set ups to name a few with the impending trigger happy army, the infected attacking the house and experimental drugs, it falls short as anyone familiar with the genre is always one step ahead of the characters which becomes increasingly frustrating. Certainly worth watching for López-Gallego's grounded spin on the genre, nuances and Copley's fine performance but comes with the aforementioned advisory notes.
hprashantarora
6.3 out of 10 for this movie? Are you kidding me? I have seen my share of horror flicks and Open Grave is certainly ranks among the best, at least in my opinion. It's a slow burn and that perhaps could be the reason why it received such a low rating. Yes, it does not have the frenetic energy of World War Z or the glossy sheen rendered by CGI overload in The Cabin in the Woods or the gross out factor of Hostel. Open Grave stands on it's own by the virtue of it's ability to deliver a suspenseful story which starts as a murder mystery and then evolves into a completely different beast while at the same time pitting the stripped personality of central characters against their primal instincts- all set against a very bleak and rather increasingly strange background and no one has a clue as to what will happen next. The characters, just like the audience, make one gruesome discovery after the other, not just about their circumstances but about themselves as well since they are all amnesiac but one. Who is that one person and why is that one person so important? The suspense is edge of the seat and it leaves you guessing right up to the very last frame of the film. How many horror movies in your experience can claim that distinction? The story that Open Grave tells is certainly macabre or at least the treatment is, which I must say is handled rather very well.If you are not too nit-picky about revealing accents, as some reviewers are, and like a good story with some very good acting, writing, cinematography, and a slow and steady buildup with a decent payoff then this movie is for you. And, don't worry- there will never be a mind numbing sequel/prequel to this one; unlike Saw (one of my favorites) this one forces the audience to use their brains rather than pulling a fast one.
AD
