Dreadfully Boring

Crappy film

Although it has its amusing moments, in eneral the plot does not convince.

an ambitious but ultimately ineffective debut endeavor.

Director Nick Castle delivers a suspenseful dark comedy about a group of college students who play a game of TAG, consisting of sneaking around with suction-dart guns and keeping tabs on who lives and dies.In the cat and mouse game, each participant lurks in the shadows… dorm rooms, hallways, and even showers… to "remove" their opponents from the list, all covered by L.A. based rock DJ Frazer Smith as the frantic scorekeeper.Enter Robert Carradine as a wannabe pulp writer working for the campus newspaper, interested in covering what, in his opinion, is a strange and subliminally violent pastime where students center more on a fictional death than studying, reading, or anything else worthwhile.With signature full lips, sexy smile and independence, quick-witted Linda Hamilton becomes his very own Lauren Bacall. But the real story begins after scene-stealing Bruce Abbott, as the brooding antagonist, getting accidentally taken out by a dart and being the only player who's never lost, loses his mind: turning into a calculating killer using a real gun with real bullets.Director Castle, a student of John Carpenter, keeps things at a steady pace and, as Abbott sneaks around campus like a shadowy wraith, the body count/horror film aspect works along with the dark comedy and steamy romance. While GOTCHA starring Anthony Edwards, with a similar plot of a game turned lethal, became more mainstream a few years later, TAG is darker and more intense.Kristine DeBell co-stars as a creative but ultimately unlucky gamer and Michael Winslow wields his voice sound effects sporadically. The tagline, "Everybody Gets It In The End," was used as an actual title overseas. And the name fits, almost.A parody of horror combined with Noir and a dash of exploitation, there are plenty of cool homage's to old black and white films and some more "modern" classics, including Abbott looking much like a youthful GODFATHER2/TAXI DRIVER era Robert De Niro.Good stuff from start to finish, 'cause you never know what'll happen next...For More Reviews: www.cultfilmfreaks.com

Basically a cross between a slasher film, romantic comedy and drama. The acting is better than in slashers but the script ends up being lacking at times, not enough comedy and the romance angle was largely boring. The biggest draw to the movie and the real reason there is a cult following of sorts (cult following among those who actually saw it) is because of kids or teens who had dart guns and loved the concept of the game being portrayed and in fact this movie inspired the creation of such games. The movie thus should have devoted more to the game itself. It not only would have made it more interesting but also more suspenseful.The killer is revealed within the first 20 minutes. It would have been better if the identity of the killer was not shown so we do not see what the killer looks like. The only time Tag players other than Susan and Gersh appeared was when they were interacting with Susan or Gersh. It would have been nice to see some of the other players making kills. In combination with the killer's identity being secret, or at least the face of each assassin not being shown until after a kill this would have increased the thrill factor because the audience would wonder whether each upcoming kill would be real or fake. Mixing up real and fake kills would have done wonders. Instead there were just 3 players murdered on screen with a total lack of surprise or suspense plus we do not care much about the victims either. With so few murders the movie needed more of the game shown and some suspense. Towards the end it is revealed that Gersh murdered 5 players. Yet only 3 bodies were shown in his room. If the budget and/or time did not permit hiring more actors or showing the other two kills at the very least the movie should have shown Gersh calling Carpenter to report the kills so the audience would be aware of them. The way the reveal played out, many viewers don't even realize these extra two kills supposedly occurred. Another problem is that while the killer has a motive to commit the first murder (to silence the victim) there is no reason to continue killing which for sure will result in getting caught. It is hard to buy that someone snapped so completely over a game even if he has little else in his life. Odd is that while he has no qualms about violating the rules while using a real gun he obeys the time limits, "no shooting after midnight". Compared to some slashers though with the likes of super human freaks nearly impossible to kill this is relatively minor.Another minor issue is that on 2 occasions various players teamed up to get Susan. Why would players team up to get her? If anything you would expect them to team up to get Gersh. Allowing players to team up seems to run counter to the whole spirit as well of each having a target.The love scenes were just plain boring and the retro music corny. The real charm was the game and it simply was not developed as much as it should have been. As in Halloween, music is used extensively to set the mood and try to frighten. There are not enough scary scenes though, and the only thrill is towards the end as the killer is chasing Susan.Action centers mainly around 2 buildings that are Gothic and Romanesque. Props for the choice because they look great on film. Definitely a film that is watchable as long as you take it at face value and accept some parts are slow moving.

OK, all one really needs to say is "This is a film about college kids shooting each other with rubber tipped dart guns." If you are looking into a movie with that premise for anything other than breezy entertainment, you need to raise your standards.That being said, this is a pretty good film. Linda Hamilton, as another commenter said, was really honing her craft here, and many of the skills that she demonstrated in Terminator were beginning to be displayed. Her simultaneous edginess and softness with occasional sultry looks are well worth a view. Carradine is passable as a lead as a wannabe "front page", but like all the Carradines, not very memorable.Finally, it is worth noting that Michael Winslow has some enjoyable scenes as a TAG contestant who entertains himself and others with his very commendable skills as a sound effects specialist. He would eventually go on to great fame in the Police Academy movies 2 years later.Not much in the way of technical expertise displayed here by Nick Castle, who played the Shape in Halloween (though he probably had no budget to work with). Most enjoyable for me was the boom mike that appeared in a classroom scene above Linda Hamilton's head. This however was his first directing role, and it had moments of greatness in it that showed his potential.

I remember watching this on HBO when I was like 12 years old. Thsi movie was cool then, but I haven't seen it since then. The funny thing is, when I went to U of Miami for college in 1990, we actually played a version of this game on campus. The campus was nuts playing this game too. You never knew who to trust. I do not think this movie is available on DVD at this point, and I think thats way it is not seen as a cult classic like others like it from the same era. Its just not available and no one uses VHS anymore. If they release it on DVD at anytime, check it out. it might be dated now, but it was still good. Good actors in it too.