Killroy
October 5th, 2007, 01:42 AM
http://img181.imageshack.us/img181/5690/shrooms052107md1.jpg
A group of teenagers have just arrived to Ireland to meet with their friend, Jake (Jack Huston (http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1658935/)), who has promised them a literal trip of a lifetime. The plan is to go camping and in the process, hunt for Liberty Cap (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psilocybe_semilanceata) mushrooms, aka "magic mushrooms". Once enough have been collected, they will brew it into a tea, drink it, and then experience drug-induced "energy, visual hallucinations, uncontrollable laughter and profound wisdom". Once the camp has been set up, and the group begins their scavenger hunt, Jake finds that another type of mushroom is populating the forest this season called the Deaths Head mushroom. This nasty fellow is a fungi that, according to legend and in complete contrast to the ones they are looking for, allows you to speak with the dead, demonstrate uncontrollable ferocity, shape-shifting as well as the supernatural ability of premonition. The catch being that all of these abilities will be bestowed upon anyone who eats the mushroom and does not have it shut down their heart, lungs and kidneys. Their trip is about to turn into a bad one, in both ways, as one of the group makes the extremely stupid mistake of eating one of these dreaded fungi, and starts seeing the future...a future that involves a figure cloaked in black stalking and killing her friends one by one. Talk about a buzz kill.
Paddy Breathnach (http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0106456/)'s Shrooms is a slasher film that takes the psychological horror route, echoing such films as Session 9 or even The Blair Witch Project, but nowhere near as effective. Instead of gore or extreme violence, Shrooms tries to garner the scares from the beautiful and creepy atmosphere of the Northern Ireland woods as well as using camera techniques and editing, attempting to create the visuals and surreal scenes one may expect if having a nightmare, or in the case of Shrooms, under the influence of a hallucinogenic. These tactics are used successfully a few times in the film, but by the end of the film they actually end up making you feel as if you have been a bit cheated and that the film was playing loose with it's own rules in an attempt to keep you wondering whether any of what you are watching is actually happening, or at least happening the way you are seeing it. This is a shame, too, as the premise was a great one rife with all kinds of possibilities...seriously, a group of teens tripping in the woods when a killer strikes? It almost writes itself. Unfortunately, Shrooms is a movie that contains nothing any horror\slasher fan hasn't already seen before, and done better, even if it is aptly directed. In fact, the film follows the slasher formula so well, you will probably have figured out the entire movie 30 minutes in and predict exactly how it will end.
Breathnach shows he has a good eye at times, with a few camera techniques working well and a few scenes being just creepy enough to linger in memory after you are done watching the film. In particular, one of the teens late night romp in the woods after he has drank enough hallucinogenic tea for six people (complete with a talking cow), and another scene involving one of the females and a sinister conversation with two of the local denizens. The fact that this film takes place in the woods, and then later, an abandoned building in the same woods, help the film keep a somewhat creepy vibe throughout, even when the film fizzles in the last act. The young cast are easy on the eyes, but that's about all that can be said. None of the characters are particularly likable, aside from Jake, but he gets put into the background midway into the film. Lindsey Haun (http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0369424/) does ok in the lead, but there is really nothing spectacular about the character to keep her out of the ranks of all the other unmemorable female leads that have starred in all the other second-rate slashers. The remaining cast are capable yet interchangeable, and while they do a passable job at acting scared, none of the cast act as if they are under the influence of any mushrooms that would cause some of the things they are seeing. The musical score by Dario Marionelli is formulaic but does work when it is supposed to even if it is a little too familiar.
Ireland has never been known as a mecca of good horror movies. In fact, they are not known for horror movies at all. Things have changed a bit lately, with the arrival of such mediocre Irish offerings such as Dead Meat, Boy Eats Girl and Isolation. While not exactly stinkers, none of them rise past possible rental status. Shrooms doesn't break the mold as it is not really a bad horror film, but aside from some spooky scenery and a couple creepy scenes, it ends up being unexceptional and by-the-numbers.
It does have a kind of cool poster, though. Blimey!
Links
IMDB (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0492486/) | Trailer (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9RDlVBGsSJQ)
Pictures
http://img128.imagevenue.com/loc534/th_58347_2007-10-04_231737_122_534lo.jpg (http://img128.imagevenue.com/img.php?image=58347_2007-10-04_231737_122_534lo.jpg)http://img155.imagevenue.com/loc721/th_58348_2007-10-04_231816_122_721lo.jpg (http://img155.imagevenue.com/img.php?image=58348_2007-10-04_231816_122_721lo.jpg)http://img176.imagevenue.com/loc549/th_58353_2007-10-05_002516_122_549lo.jpg (http://img176.imagevenue.com/img.php?image=58353_2007-10-05_002516_122_549lo.jpg)http://img142.imagevenue.com/loc202/th_58354_2007-10-04_231641_122_202lo.jpg (http://img142.imagevenue.com/img.php?image=58354_2007-10-04_231641_122_202lo.jpg)
http://img19.imagevenue.com/loc1171/th_58432_2007-10-04_231358_122_1171lo.jpg (http://img19.imagevenue.com/img.php?image=58432_2007-10-04_231358_122_1171lo.jpg)http://img140.imagevenue.com/loc463/th_58437_2007-10-04_230905_122_463lo.jpg (http://img140.imagevenue.com/img.php?image=58437_2007-10-04_230905_122_463lo.jpg)http://img42.imagevenue.com/loc849/th_58438_2007-10-04_231015_122_849lo.jpg (http://img42.imagevenue.com/img.php?image=58438_2007-10-04_231015_122_849lo.jpg)http://img135.imagevenue.com/loc124/th_58443_2007-10-04_230615_122_124lo.jpg (http://img135.imagevenue.com/img.php?image=58443_2007-10-04_230615_122_124lo.jpg)
http://img182.imagevenue.com/loc493/th_58508_2007-10-04_231307_122_493lo.jpg (http://img182.imagevenue.com/img.php?image=58508_2007-10-04_231307_122_493lo.jpg)http://img164.imagevenue.com/loc897/th_58509_2007-10-04_230531_122_897lo.jpg (http://img164.imagevenue.com/img.php?image=58509_2007-10-04_230531_122_897lo.jpg)http://img44.imagevenue.com/loc1023/th_58514_2007-10-04_231150_122_1023lo.jpg (http://img44.imagevenue.com/img.php?image=58514_2007-10-04_231150_122_1023lo.jpg)http://img19.imagevenue.com/loc1113/th_58519_2007-10-04_230430_122_1113lo.jpg (http://img19.imagevenue.com/img.php?image=58519_2007-10-04_230430_122_1113lo.jpg)
A group of teenagers have just arrived to Ireland to meet with their friend, Jake (Jack Huston (http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1658935/)), who has promised them a literal trip of a lifetime. The plan is to go camping and in the process, hunt for Liberty Cap (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psilocybe_semilanceata) mushrooms, aka "magic mushrooms". Once enough have been collected, they will brew it into a tea, drink it, and then experience drug-induced "energy, visual hallucinations, uncontrollable laughter and profound wisdom". Once the camp has been set up, and the group begins their scavenger hunt, Jake finds that another type of mushroom is populating the forest this season called the Deaths Head mushroom. This nasty fellow is a fungi that, according to legend and in complete contrast to the ones they are looking for, allows you to speak with the dead, demonstrate uncontrollable ferocity, shape-shifting as well as the supernatural ability of premonition. The catch being that all of these abilities will be bestowed upon anyone who eats the mushroom and does not have it shut down their heart, lungs and kidneys. Their trip is about to turn into a bad one, in both ways, as one of the group makes the extremely stupid mistake of eating one of these dreaded fungi, and starts seeing the future...a future that involves a figure cloaked in black stalking and killing her friends one by one. Talk about a buzz kill.
Paddy Breathnach (http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0106456/)'s Shrooms is a slasher film that takes the psychological horror route, echoing such films as Session 9 or even The Blair Witch Project, but nowhere near as effective. Instead of gore or extreme violence, Shrooms tries to garner the scares from the beautiful and creepy atmosphere of the Northern Ireland woods as well as using camera techniques and editing, attempting to create the visuals and surreal scenes one may expect if having a nightmare, or in the case of Shrooms, under the influence of a hallucinogenic. These tactics are used successfully a few times in the film, but by the end of the film they actually end up making you feel as if you have been a bit cheated and that the film was playing loose with it's own rules in an attempt to keep you wondering whether any of what you are watching is actually happening, or at least happening the way you are seeing it. This is a shame, too, as the premise was a great one rife with all kinds of possibilities...seriously, a group of teens tripping in the woods when a killer strikes? It almost writes itself. Unfortunately, Shrooms is a movie that contains nothing any horror\slasher fan hasn't already seen before, and done better, even if it is aptly directed. In fact, the film follows the slasher formula so well, you will probably have figured out the entire movie 30 minutes in and predict exactly how it will end.
Breathnach shows he has a good eye at times, with a few camera techniques working well and a few scenes being just creepy enough to linger in memory after you are done watching the film. In particular, one of the teens late night romp in the woods after he has drank enough hallucinogenic tea for six people (complete with a talking cow), and another scene involving one of the females and a sinister conversation with two of the local denizens. The fact that this film takes place in the woods, and then later, an abandoned building in the same woods, help the film keep a somewhat creepy vibe throughout, even when the film fizzles in the last act. The young cast are easy on the eyes, but that's about all that can be said. None of the characters are particularly likable, aside from Jake, but he gets put into the background midway into the film. Lindsey Haun (http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0369424/) does ok in the lead, but there is really nothing spectacular about the character to keep her out of the ranks of all the other unmemorable female leads that have starred in all the other second-rate slashers. The remaining cast are capable yet interchangeable, and while they do a passable job at acting scared, none of the cast act as if they are under the influence of any mushrooms that would cause some of the things they are seeing. The musical score by Dario Marionelli is formulaic but does work when it is supposed to even if it is a little too familiar.
Ireland has never been known as a mecca of good horror movies. In fact, they are not known for horror movies at all. Things have changed a bit lately, with the arrival of such mediocre Irish offerings such as Dead Meat, Boy Eats Girl and Isolation. While not exactly stinkers, none of them rise past possible rental status. Shrooms doesn't break the mold as it is not really a bad horror film, but aside from some spooky scenery and a couple creepy scenes, it ends up being unexceptional and by-the-numbers.
It does have a kind of cool poster, though. Blimey!
Links
IMDB (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0492486/) | Trailer (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9RDlVBGsSJQ)
Pictures
http://img128.imagevenue.com/loc534/th_58347_2007-10-04_231737_122_534lo.jpg (http://img128.imagevenue.com/img.php?image=58347_2007-10-04_231737_122_534lo.jpg)http://img155.imagevenue.com/loc721/th_58348_2007-10-04_231816_122_721lo.jpg (http://img155.imagevenue.com/img.php?image=58348_2007-10-04_231816_122_721lo.jpg)http://img176.imagevenue.com/loc549/th_58353_2007-10-05_002516_122_549lo.jpg (http://img176.imagevenue.com/img.php?image=58353_2007-10-05_002516_122_549lo.jpg)http://img142.imagevenue.com/loc202/th_58354_2007-10-04_231641_122_202lo.jpg (http://img142.imagevenue.com/img.php?image=58354_2007-10-04_231641_122_202lo.jpg)
http://img19.imagevenue.com/loc1171/th_58432_2007-10-04_231358_122_1171lo.jpg (http://img19.imagevenue.com/img.php?image=58432_2007-10-04_231358_122_1171lo.jpg)http://img140.imagevenue.com/loc463/th_58437_2007-10-04_230905_122_463lo.jpg (http://img140.imagevenue.com/img.php?image=58437_2007-10-04_230905_122_463lo.jpg)http://img42.imagevenue.com/loc849/th_58438_2007-10-04_231015_122_849lo.jpg (http://img42.imagevenue.com/img.php?image=58438_2007-10-04_231015_122_849lo.jpg)http://img135.imagevenue.com/loc124/th_58443_2007-10-04_230615_122_124lo.jpg (http://img135.imagevenue.com/img.php?image=58443_2007-10-04_230615_122_124lo.jpg)
http://img182.imagevenue.com/loc493/th_58508_2007-10-04_231307_122_493lo.jpg (http://img182.imagevenue.com/img.php?image=58508_2007-10-04_231307_122_493lo.jpg)http://img164.imagevenue.com/loc897/th_58509_2007-10-04_230531_122_897lo.jpg (http://img164.imagevenue.com/img.php?image=58509_2007-10-04_230531_122_897lo.jpg)http://img44.imagevenue.com/loc1023/th_58514_2007-10-04_231150_122_1023lo.jpg (http://img44.imagevenue.com/img.php?image=58514_2007-10-04_231150_122_1023lo.jpg)http://img19.imagevenue.com/loc1113/th_58519_2007-10-04_230430_122_1113lo.jpg (http://img19.imagevenue.com/img.php?image=58519_2007-10-04_230430_122_1113lo.jpg)