It's not great by any means, but it's a pretty good movie that didn't leave me filled with regret for investing time in it.

if their story seems completely bonkers, almost like a feverish work of fiction, you ain't heard nothing yet.

Excellent and certainly provocative... If nothing else, the film is a real conversation starter.

Great story, amazing characters, superb action, enthralling cinematography. Yes, this is something I am glad I spent money on.

Not that you'd know by the cover but Never Hike Alone is a Friday 13th fan film, in fact it's hard to believe since the whole thing looks so darn professional.It tells the story of a guy making a video for his social media site, he's travelling through the forest and comes across the remnants of an all too familiar camp. Before he knows it he's being pursued by everyones favorite hockey mask wearing psychopath.Now again let's be clear this doesn't look like a fan film and if you didn't know better could almost be confused with being an actual entry into the franchise. Standing at around the 50 minute mark with fantastic production quality and including the return of Tommy Jarvis (Played by franchise alumni Thom Mathews) this is very impressive.As much as I like Jason I've tended to find the Friday 13th series quite underwhelming. For the most part I've never thought they were bad, just not as monumental as most believe themselves. This however is very respectable and I'd love to see the creators get their hands on funds to make a feature movie (Even if it is about Jason).The cast do a solid job, it's well scored and I'd consider it essential viewing for fans of the franchise.The Good:Looks and sounds considerably too good to be a "Fan film"The Bad:Jason was far too smallWeak endingThings I Learnt From This Movie:Recording yourself breaking the law and then uploading it onto your social media page for the world to see makes perfect senseWe need more chokeslams through tables in the movies

Horror is the most frustrating genre for me, yet I am completely in love with it, and I keep coming back, desperately wanting it to succeed. When it works, it really works, but most of the time the genre just refuses to produce decent content. I'd say about every four years, there is one or two horror movies worth watching, and as usual, this isn't one of them.I actually had high hopes for this movie (my standard for horror movies these days are way lower than a normal film, unfortunately) judging by the first ten minutes. After I talked myself into getting past the dumb title, I was willing to give this film a chance, and honestly? The acting and camera work seemed better than what you would normally find in a low budget slasher flick. This excitement I had was shattered pretty quickly. The first thing that was completely idiotic? The main character is inspecting a sign/rope with his back toward the villain as he is getting closer in each frame. Okay, fine, all good. Our main character looks down, and now we see that the villain is about five inches away from the guy. Our main character grabs his knife (only recently noticing the footsteps, for some reason) and turns around. Five inches away, people. Guess what? The villain disappears. Into thin air, nowhere to be seen, and there was absolutely nowhere to hide behind but believe it, it happened. Honestly, this was pretty hard to get past, but alas, I powered through, because I was now viewing this film as a comedy. Another thing that was absolutely hilarious was the sound editing. It's bad. Really bad. The killer's footsteps were over-dramatic, unnecessary stomping. I mean, really? Not to mention it was always in the killer's POV, like, we get it, the villain is walking towards the main character. No need to raise the volume to level ten for this. Also, any solitary movement the main character makes is very exaggerated. In another scene, the guy finds an area completely splattered in blood. Guess what? He continues to look around the house. In all of this mess, I will admit, there was something that was actually creepy in here. I don't know what it was. The shots of the bare tree limbs? The main character's expression while looking off into the distant woods? I don't know, but it still couldn't save this movie.This wasn't even a sixty minute movie, and they still managed to make it absolutely terrible. Horror is something that few are willing to put effort in, I guess. It's a shame, and I can't believe I took the time to write a review about this film, out of all the films.

We can all agree that most horror franchises lose a fair amount of steam at some point. Michael, Leatherface, Pinhead and Freddy all suffered from too many bad sequels, and Jason is no exception. Honestly, the last great Friday the 13th film was Part 6: Jason Lives.....31 years ago. Sure, people tend to love some of the others that followed for various reasons, but most certainly not because they're great horror films. Enter writer/director/actor Vincente DiSanti, who spearheaded a Kickstarter campaign in 2016 to fund an originally estimated short 22 minute fan-film. With an enticing teaser trailer and fantastic incentives, it's no surprise that they surpassed their goals, which might explain why it turned into a 55 minute film rather than the original 22. Anyway, here we are in October of 2017, with the film brilliantly being released for FREE all over the world on.....wait for it......Friday the 13th! Amazing. Let's dig in.An avid back country hiker and vlogger, Kyle McLeod, is out hiking on a solo trip when he stumbles upon a deserted camp. He soon discovers that this camp has a brutal history and worse yet, he might not be alone.Never Hike Alone is hands-down one of the best Friday the 13th films ever made. DiSanti and his crew took all of the fundamental elements that made the franchise so great in the first place and puts a fresh spin on it by incorporating the found footage narrative. But wait! Before you roll your eyes, hear me out. I personally can't stand found footage films. I find them lazy. But the way DiSanti incorporates it into Never Hike Alone works brilliantly. It's only a small tool, and thankfully, most of the film is shot traditionally. Even so, the found footage angle is still done surprisingly well, in that it's not shaky- cam nonsense, which was entirely refreshing. And that's another thing I found surprising here. The film itself is visually impressive. In fact, if you were to judge it purely on the camera-work alone, it's a better looking film than any of the last 6 in the franchise, including Freddy VS Jason. But that's just me. On a technical level, it delivers the goods in every single department; from the sound editing, the score, the effects, the stunts and most importantly, the editing. It's a trim 55 minutes that never overstays it's welcome, and utilizes every second to help push the film further along at a brisk pace.On a narrative front, the film packs a punch. While the first half does a good job of setting things up in a timely manner, it's really the second half that delivers the slasher goods, and boy you're in for a treat. Every creative and technical decision DiSanti and his crew make bring the film to life in such a startlingly frightening way, that it makes you wonder why filmmakers today can't make films like this anymore. He doesn't bring anything new to the table, other than the found footage angle, but uses the typical slasher tropes to full effect, and in some instances, enhancing certain elements for a much more visceral experience. I don't want to give too much away before you've actually seen it, but needless to say, Vincente DiSanti did his homework. For example, every single time Jason (DiSanti) took a step, it sounded like a giant dinosaur was walking the Earth. You felt every single step. And that brings me to DiSanti's portrayal of Jason. He does a phenomenal job. The guy is big, and he takes on the role with gusto. I'd have to say it's probably one of my favorite Jason's after C.J. Graham in Part 6: Jason Lives. The makeup department also needs to be commended. I loved Jason's "look" in this. Traditional, yet cleaner. Again, it's more in tune with his look in Part 6 than say his zombie-look in Part 7 and 8.If you've been missing a good traditional slasher, then Never Hike Alone will surely fill that sweet spot. The film was filled with nonstop surprises for me. It's so good in fact that you'll want more. You'll wish they were able to stretch it out for an extra half hour, but trust me when I say that it's a strong 55 minutes and just as long as it needs to be. And wait till you see the surprise at the end. I couldn't believe it. Such a.....awe hell. I'll just let you experience it for yourself. Just a great bombshell in an already great experience. I think you'll be pleasantly surprised at how good this little crowd-sourced film is compared to big budget studio films in general. Only, it's not just good.....it's GREAT!!For more cult cinema please visit www.robotGEEKSCultCinema.com

While the official Friday the 13th movie set for release today was cancelled this is a worthy replacement.This is the best looking Friday the 13th fan film I've ever seen with some simply stunning outdoor cinematography and extremely well- made sets for a tiny budget fan film.Having the movie be about one person trying to survive against Jason gives the movie a different feel to the original movies. The one on one survival aspect is what makes the movie worth watching as it isn't just a cheaply made Friday the 13th rip-off like most other Friday fan films it's something entirely different; there's more suspense and a focus on survival instead of sex and partying, a welcome change.The special effects are great; there's a scene where Jason bleeds through the holes in his mask that made me jump forward in my seat, I can't believe they never did that in any of the 11 Friday movies with the mask.The few kills were fairly lacklustre, save for one kill that takes place in a dream, but this isn't a body count film and I didn't expect there to be any kills at all. The action is really focused on the fight scenes with Jason which were done better than most of the official movies.A few things that irked me: Jason's mask was totally white, no red triangles, but I assume this was done for legal reasons as I've seen the mask look different elsewhere before (eg. GTA 5 White hockey mask was updated to no longer look like Jason's mask). Jason's footsteps are very loud to the point where it gets annoying, plus a few other sound effects were pretty annoying; why would an axe make a *shiiinnng* sound when being pulled out of dirt?Overall a fantastic movie that I would rank higher than some of the official Friday the 13th movies, plus it has a wonderful surprise for Friday fans at the end of the movie that leaves the story open for a potential sequel. This film is a must-see for any Friday the 13th fan.