The Worst Film Ever

The film makes a home in your brain and the only cure is to see it again.

There are moments in this movie where the great movie it could've been peek out... They're fleeting, here, but they're worth savoring, and they happen often enough to make it worth your while.

Easily the biggest piece of Right wing non sense propaganda I ever saw.

Three junkies enter a derelict house in order to cook crystal meth. Soon they start sampling their own product and paranoia takes over. Or is there something spooky going on? Director (and DOP) Dan Mintz makes great use of the old boarded up house with its creaky floors and doors and where nary a ray of sunlight can enter. He also offers some effective jump scares, but it's the oppressive, claustrophobic atmosphere which makes this surprisingly strong horror film stand out for me. I also love that it offers only a hint of the paranormal and remains ambiguous until the end.Also worth mentioning is lead Brad Hunt who can act all kinds of nervous and paranoid and really gets under your skin.

Girlfriend comments1) "I had no idea it was this exciting!"2) "Did you know there was this much suspense?" 3) "I love this movie." 4) "This is so rad!"People afraid of horror movies but like offbeat or indie films should not overlook this title. This is actually not a horror movie at all. It's more like a suspenseful drug movie with supernatural overtones. There are no serial killers or monsters, and the filmmakers are uninterested in doing things many, more accomplished, filmmakers might do if they were to make a horror movie -- like inserting a pointless murder or similar scene of carnage just to keep things interesting. Cookers is one of those kinds of movies that seems like it should have been a play, or possibly was adapted from the stage. The dialogue is great fun, with sinister and paranoid ramblings scattered throughout. The cast is very strong, and seems quite comfortable with the dark material. Each of them is given a specific character arc that we get to watch them travel on, and there are some nice payoffs for each of them. The story definitely plays second fiddle to the creepy ambiance. This movie is all about the enclosure of these unpredictable characters in a claustrophobic, dilapidated setting. The dusty and abandoned old house is perfect. The production designer did some superb work on the interior—it's reminiscent of the wildly confusing layout of the house in Evil Dead 2. The music is perfect—it isn't manipulative or inappropriate, and has a studio-level quality that is very satisfying. Another strength of the film is how effective and consistent the quality of light is throughout; it never seems like there shouldn't be as much as there is, or that there is too little of it for all the sources present. The overall look of the film falls somewhere between video and celluloid; not quite cheap, but not glossy at all. 35mm might have been a more appropriate format, but it looks fine in standard. The sound, however, leaves much to be desired. At times it is extraordinary, but at other times dialogue levels are either disproportionate or completely inaudible. One of the most glaring weaknesses of the DVD is the lack of captions. For an indie effort, that's saying something—usually, there are either major continuity errors, logic blips, pathetic actors, and/or a lack of understanding of tone, story momentum, showing not telling, etc. The fact that this movie contains no real noticeable hiccups like these is quite extraordinary, and the creators should be proud of their work.

This film is a surprisingly effective and creepy little masterpiece that is a cut above its peers. Most low-budget horror films shot on grainy film are substandard, but the raw look works in this case, creating an unsettling realistic feel. This is due in part to good actors who are able to really create three-dimensional characters, something generally not seen in low-budget horror film-making. This particular film almost felt as if it were made in the 1970s, as it conjured up memories of movies I saw as a child which I found quite scary. Once again it can be proved that the absence of gore in a horror film can actually make the movie MORE frightening and disturbing, and this one is an excellent example of that technique. I hope other horror filmmakers can take a cue from this director and bring back the REAL horror movie as we remember it.

Cookers was quite a movie. When I made my first attempt to watch it, I was expecting to see a simple story about drug addicts fighting off evil spirits, much like any other low budget haunted house horror flick that we've all seen before, but with an interesting twist in that the main characters were speed freaks. After watching about thirty minutes I had to shut it off to take a break. With only three characters and an empty house in the woods, Cookers manages to create such a tense and unsettling atmosphere that I found it to be almost unbearable at times.The story could indeed be viewed as a simple one, as we see a young couple, Hector and Dorena, who are on the run with a crystal meth lab in their van and are looking for a place to set up shop for a while to lay low. With the help of Hector's buddy Merle, they find a secluded house that has been abandoned on the outskirts of town and make it their temporary home. Dorena is a "cooker", who specializes in actually making the crystal meth so that it can be sold on the street. Hector's specialty is doing crystal meth, so they are a good couple. Things get spooky and strange very quickly after Hector and Dorena get high, as the house may not be completely empty after all... Are they seeing ghosts or just hallucinating? And will Merle eventually betray them to cash in on the deal himself? Brad Hunt plays Hector, and he deserves much credit for holding this flick together. His acting in Cookers is award worthy. I don't remember ever seeing a junkie portrayed with such realism. Cyia Batten as Dorena was also impressive. The two of them worked very well together. Even Patrick McGaw was believable as Merle, who provided brief moments of comic relief and added a much-needed element to the film. All three actors delivered the goods and were always interesting to watch.Cookers also succeeds in the writing and directing department. Although it doesn't have a big budget, the few special effects that we do see are suited to the shooting style of the film, and never distract from the overall sense of "what's real and what's not" that keeps you guessing until the end. But this movie is not about building to a big twist or tricking its viewer. It is about drawing you into a bleak world of fear and hopelessness, and director Dan Mintz does an admirable job in capturing these emotions on film. Jack Moore and Jeff Ritchie wrote the script, and it is fresh with gritty realism and excellent dialog. Merle tells a bizarre story one night as the three of them are getting stoned, and it is truly chilling. Dorena also tells a story to Hector about her past, and it was heart wrenching.Cookers is not a film for everyone, nor do I think that I will ever watch it again. It is a movie that I will always remember, and one that I am very glad that I saw. Although the ending is somewhat weak, it is a relentless and riveting story that will appeal to those with an open mind who are in the mood for something different.