An absolute waste of money

It's fun, it's light, [but] it has a hard time when its tries to get heavy.

Simple and well acted, it has tension enough to knot the stomach.

Strong acting helps the film overcome an uncertain premise and create characters that hold our attention absolutely.

Yet again I have been fooled by a low budget, film students end-of-year project masquerading as a movie.Production is non-existent, the acting is comparable to a porn movie, the budget is minimal and the story (what there is of it) is tatty and confused.If I had made this film with my friends on a mobile phone I would be really pleased, but I would never ask people to part with money to watch it.It is actually painful to watch.For instance in one scene a guy walks out to the kitchen, does a cartoon tripple-take for about a minute at the horde of zombies descending on the house, runs back to his friends. But they are making out, so being a polite kind of guy he doesn't want to interrupt so he just stands there whilst they get off with each other (out of shot) and then forgets about the killer zombies contained by a flimsy screen door a few feet away, luckily so did the writer as the characters have a stroll around the house a bit later.It is not one of those movies that is so bad it is good, it is just bad. There is no funny moments, no gory affects, no tension, no nudity, the twist in the tail is pathetic and makes no sense.The only tolerable parts are the sub plot shown in flash back regarding the two sisters relationship (which holds no baring on the plot what so ever) and the sound track is good in parts.

This little indie flick takes it's time . . . slow to the boil. I did not expect intelligence. I realize some people just want mindless mayhem with their horror, but in this case my advice is to wait it out. Let the water simmer to a rapid boil, which in the later part of the film it does with surprisingly grossed out sequences, including eye-candy gore and creepy mental horrors. No one wants to see harm come to either parent, and this film is heavy on playing with the minds of the characters. Yes, I used the C-word. This is a horror film that actually has real people, and real situations -- believable with in the context of an "undead" movie. The Director does not rely on fake scares or teen stupidity.The road on the way to the film's frantic mayhem is filled with character development, scenery and a haunting atmosphere. There are still some horror film staples .... "Oh, no. The car doesn't work" and the ever popular, "Yes, I know they're probably dead but I'm going out to look for . . . " all the way to a current problem in horror films, "Yes, we all have cell phones but none of them work." I forgave the film makers because they really give the viewer a creepy little tale worthy of any horror fan.The actors were talented and brought depth to their roles. The men stood out because I believe their characters were more developed than the ladies, which is not a strike against them at all.

The two 10 star comments so far have CLEARLY been left by people associated with the production of this movie. The plot was weak, the acting was atrocious, the sound was muddled, the characters were idiots, and the ending made no sense.Still, I give 3 stars because I happen to like crappy D-grade movies, and, aside from the muddled sound (when characters speak) it was of decent production quality for what I'm sure was a really low budget.SPOILER: The girls' parents are missing, the cabin has been ransacked, and they find a severed hand. Then they just sit around the living room of the cabin with the hand on the end table, chit-chatting and totally relaxed saying "Dad will know what to do when he gets here". They may not have any options but they are not acting at all concerned. I also love it when Jen wants to compare the ring on the hand with rings from a newspaper article. Rather than look over at the hand, which is two feet away, she makes her boyfriend take the ring off of it and bring it to her. Would you be stripping severed body parts of jewelry when all you needed to do was glance at it to make the comparison? Would you even be touching it?!?

I was privileged to obtain an advance DVD of this independently produced film, and have now had the opportunity to view it several times, on a 50" plasma HD TV, no less! RPM Films and Wyche Elm Films are no strangers to film production, but their previous efforts have been along the lines of short subjects, instructional films, and music videos. This is their first attempt at a feature-length film, and their attention to detail is readily apparent. The on location filming took place in the lake country of Wisconsin, and the beauty of the Fall colors and serenity of the calm lake surface provide the perfect backdrop to the building sense of foreboding and impending doom. The tag line "Fear the Calm" was well-chosen. The film is exceptionally well paced and edited, the camera angles are well thought out and carefully chosen, and the sound quality is remarkably crisp for a film shot primarily outdoors and in a lakeside cabin.The major actors are all in their late teens or early twenties, and like the actors in "Blair Witch Project", "Night of the Living Dead", and some other cult classics, are unknown (for the moment). The cast is impressive for their seamless absorption into their characters. The older sister (Megan Burgess): controlling, yet insecure; stilted, yet hiding a dark secret. The younger sister (Alissa Bailey): town slut, or over-compensating for her alienation from her family? The older sister's boyfriend (Bill Zasadil): a real "boy scout", but is he doing penance for some prior sin? Finally, the younger sister's boyfriend (Mike Parrish): is he a zombie expert, or just a target for everyone else's derision? The young cast made it look easy. The test of a skilled actor is not to appear to be acting, and these four passed their test with points to spare.If you enjoyed earlier independent horror movies, such as "Blair Witch" and the original "NoLD", you should certainly enjoy this movie, as it exceeds them both in production values. Altogether an admirable effort for RPM and Wyche Elm. I look forward to more from them.