beebeedoo
Cruising through my Fire TV; thought I'd give this one a try. Whoa! Kept my interests, no fast forwarding needed due to lengthy dialogue. All of the actors did great jobs, especially the survivor. Law enforcement portrayals were funny, though rang true in some places.
Photos were creepy, especially the one with the little girl. Appreciate that there was no conclusion as to what really happened. The survivor ended up being a folk hero at the end. Recommending to my sister, another horror lover!
R. Scott Howes
Sometimes the trailers lie...not this time. For some reason, this movie took some digging to find, a part from its trailers. As far as this sub-genre goes, this movie will be hard to top. I usually fast forward or pause a film, not this time. Not quite a mystery. More like a puzzle that someone keeps handing you pieces of, and even after you can see the basic shape, the pieces keep coming faster.By my usual 3 categories; story, acting, effects. 1, The story was interest all round. From how it was told; using video interviews, photos, and lastly a clip of found video, and point of view. Pacing was near perfect as we are carried a long. Skillfully put together. 2, the acting was really well done, very believable, no over acting. 3, effects. How do I explain this without spoilers? There is a definite art to what is clearly shown and what is indistinct, hinted at, in a horror movie. This balance was masterfully achieved in this movie. There are no big budget effects. In truth only one small snippet of live action at the end. Mostly its done with B&W photographs taken by the main character. 30 some photos that will leave you very uncomfortable.
This film has a great sense of realism. The movie ends, but the story goes on.
Jeff Potts
As a whole, this is a good movie, and pretty creepy. The acting is, for the most part, solid. However, there are some REALLY BIG flaws that just spoil the movie. For one, the only survivor of the town is an illegal alien whose first language happens to be English (his Spanish accent is horrible). The next thing is that they drag politics into the mix, adding an Alex Jones local clone in there for spice. The problem is that someone like Alex Jones would be more apt to delve into the photos and conspiracy than what the script presents. The portrayal of the sheriff is good at times, and at others pretty obvious. The guys in the bar? A prime representation of what an LA screenwriter's concept of town locals would be, in that it is stereotypical, one-dimensional, and about 160 degrees out of phase with reality. The phone call of the pastor as part of the "evidence" is completely ridiculous, and - again - sounds like some LA screenwriter's concept of local pastor gone mad, but missing the mark by a wide margin. The movie went into a lot of miscellaneous detail about the families of the victims and the background of the sheriff that could have been completely lopped off and no one would have noticed. Lastly, there is all of this evidence laid out, and all of this material gone over, and yet absolutely no conclusions about what it was that killed the residents of the town. And that's pretty much what made me kind of mad that I spent all of this time wading through the film, only to end up with basically nothing.That being said, much of the rest was done pretty well. The narration of events, coupled with the pictures keep you engaged through the film. And while they were a distraction in the narrative, the interviews with the family members were actually very well done. How they lay down each event as described by the pictures is very good. The most notable part of the film is the interviews with the "professional photographer" that I found bolstered the whole tone and direction of the film.So, a bit of a mixed bag. I would have REALLY liked this thing if they had just tightened things up a bit. Maybe they'll do that in a sequel. Who knows...?
Leofwine_draca
SAVAGELAND plays out as a very realistic documentary depicting the aftermath of one night on the Mexican border in which an entire town of people just disappeared, leaving only blood trails behind them. What's interesting about this one is that it features BLAIR WITCH-style levels of disquiet, as it's very convincing and feels just like a 'proper' documentary. The main problem with it is that it's all set-up, building to a pay-off that never really comes despite hints of greatness here and there.
AD
