Waste of time

Fantastic!

All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

One of those movie experiences that is so good it makes you realize you've been grading everything else on a curve.

That's a lie. It wasn't shockingly bad. I wasn't surprised at all at how bad this was.Actually, the only reason I saw this film was because they filmed it at my high school in the small town of Simi Valley. I remember when they filmed it ( I believe I was a sophomore or a freshmen at the time)i was an extra in the background with a gripfull of other students.After a lot of time, I finally saw it... and with no hope for it at all. But MAN! Holy freakin' god! This movie is painful to watch.Maybe its because they filmed all over my hometown and tried to make it look like a random beach city.... but its not. Its Simi Valley... VALLEY, about an hour away from any beach.The acting was lame, which I expected, the special effects I didn't even want to consider. The editing/sound editing was pathetic beyond belief and when I saw that there was a screenwriter....well, that was a joke all on its own. It makes me wonder, did this movie cost really anything at all? Probably not much. Don't waste your time. Go enjoy your time and watch yourself in the mirror for an hour and a half. There's probably better surprises there anyway.

The Source begins as troubled teen goth Reese Hauser (Mathew Scollon) & his Father Jerry (Johnny Venocur) look to start a new life in a non discript American town somewhere. Things get off to a bad start as Reese quickly finds himself & his goth lifestyle being ridiculed by just about everyone else, add this to the fact that his Father is the new history teacher, the school principal McKinley (Ronald Rezac) is a bit of a bully himself & things are not going well. However Reese is befriended by fellow losers, goth's & nerds Zack Bainbridge (Edward DeRuiter), his sister Ashley (Melissa Renee Martin) & their friend Phoebe Lewis (Alice Frank). While out exploring some lithium deposits in some local woods the four discover a magical rock which concentrates all the lithium's power into one stream which, when stepped in, enhances ones psychical attributes as well as unlocking secret dormant powers, Zack calls it 'scionics'. Zack gains the power of telepathy, Ashley has the power to control others & phoebe has the power of telekinesis while Reese has the power of psychical regeneration & healing. At first they use their new found powers to gain a humiliating but ultimately harmless revenge on their tormentors, that is until one of the group decides use their powers for rather more sinister reasons...Edited, co-written & directed by Steve Taylor I was quite surprised at how much I didn't hate The Source, I think that's a better way of putting it than how I much I liked it as I don't really want to give the impression that The Source is any sort of masterpiece. The script by Taylor & Roger Kristian Jones moves along at a fair pace & to be brutally honest rips-off The Craft (1996), or should that be borrows some of it's ideas & themes? I unexpectedly quite liked the character's in The Source, they all have just enough personality to be likable which was essential if The Source is to work as a film & engage the viewer while a special mention goes to the the girls in The Source who are seriously hot which doesn't hurt. Generally it's pretty lightweight stuff, it doesn't even try to say meaningful things about serious issues like bullying, depression, conflicts with parents, theft & friendship that The Source brings up. Instead it skates around them a little which is fine as the acting & writing involved isn't really up to high drama, but we do get lots of special powers being put to good or bad use & where on Earth did the idea of a magical rock come from? The Source also went into a direction that I didn't expect & a nice climax.Director Taylor turns The Source into a feature length music video. He tries everything, editing tricks, shots where the camera tilt's back & forth for no apparent reason, hand held jerky shots, slow motion, reduced frame rate, the image turned upside down & various other gimmicky techniques. One more thing I have to point out is that The Source is probably the brightest film I have watched, from the garish clothes to the outside scenes where the grass looks so bright it would glow in the dark & for some reason there are flashes of light shooting around the screen all the time almost as if someone was shining a torch on random objects in the scene, very strange & I'm not sure what it's all about. The Source lacks any real violence or gore, a cut arm & a few splashes of blood is about it while there isn't any nudity either.On a technical level The Source isn't too bad considering that the budget must have been small to say the least. It was obviously shot on video rather than film which might explain why it looks so bright, unfortunately when something is shot on video it has that cheap 'n' nasty look & feel to it. The music sounds like it has come straight from a techno rave CD while generally speaking it's quite well made. Apart, that is, from one or two poor CGI special effects particularly at the end. The acting is decent enough & I think I'm in love with Melissa Renee Martin...I wasn't expecting to but I actually rather liked The Source, it's nothing to heavy, it's good fun & provides 100 odd minutes worth of entertainment. Don't get me wrong it isn't brilliant but I personally think it's well worth a watch.

The Surge gave me far more than I expected from a direct-to-DVD low budget picture. Even the special effects--while certainly cheesier compared to a big budget flick like X-Men--were pretty decent, all things considered. And the soundtrack, which includes Marilyn Manson riffs and lots of hardcore techno, was surprisingly good.The new kid at school, a relentlessly harassed Goth (the smoldering Matthew Scollon), hooks up with other misfits--a computer whiz-kid, his out-of-control bratty sister, and a nerdy-but-sweet hippie chick--and harness the mysterious power of some glowing stones. Much like the X-Men, each teen has a particular "super ability", whether it be psychic, "persuasive," telekinetic, or healing. The acting is hit-and-miss, stand-outs being Melissa Renee Martin as the caustic Ashley (seemingly channeling Sherri Rappaport's performance from Little Witches six years earlier) and Alice Frank as the mild-mannered flower child Phoebe. Frankly, I expected more from the aforementioned Scollon as the Gothic Reese--sometimes he hits just the right amount of pathos & angst, and sometimes it's like he's simply phoning his performance in. But he's nice to look at.The similarities between this film and earlier teens-with-powers-get-revenge films such as Mirror Mirror, Carrie, and most especially The Craft are very strong. There are aspects of the plot and even dialog in this film that seem to be lifted ("inspired') from The Craft directly--and yet the overall message of The Surge is a bit more positive than that film. While the movie certainly has its share of tense teen-revenge moments & violence, it's not as nihilistic as the DVD box art would have you believe. Definitely worth a rental or cable viewing, especially if you've got a tolerance for lower budget horror & sci-fi movies like I do.

The description on the cable guide was:"Four teenagers use psychic powers to get revenge on the bullies in High-school. 2002"And I think, OK time for some brain candy wrapped in bad horror. I was wrong. This was actually a pretty good movie, there were a few unexplained plot points but in general I really enjoyed this film. I also fell instantly in love with the actress playing Pheobe - Alice Frank. Oh and Ashley ain't too bad either. The acting in this is far better than I expected and for a low budget film the sets and effects were very good. I also will be looking for this on DVD to buy.