Director: E.B. Hughes
Year: 2020
Country: USA
Alternate Titles: N/A
Genre: Suspense/Thriller
Plot:
Taking a road-trip together, a man and his girlfriend decide to visit an old inn he frequented as a kid for a romantic getaway, but when a series of incidents and encounters at the motel start to affect he believes he's stumbling onto something far worse than the old stories of its haunted past.
Review:
This was an incredibly bland and troubling effort. Among the biggest issues is the absolutely unappealing and awfully written leads that just don't make this interesting. Tackling the idea of the abusive, jerk of a boyfriend who teases and makes fun of his girlfriend for anything and everything she does from making fun of the time she spends on social media to what she's looking at and even arguing over what the time is just because of what brand of watch he has doesn't make him sympathetic. That we're supposed to feel sorry for him about being stuck in this situation due to these issues is quite misguided and detrimental, especially with the lack of action involved once he discovers the video-tape partway through the film that could've gone a long way towards humanizing him. Instead, he hides it and continues not only ignoring what's going on around him but treating her like a jerk which really makes no sense at all.
On top of that misstep, there's little clarity on what the haunting at the inn is really about. The initial exploits here, from the video-tape of the murdered couple that goes missing to the strange sounds and voices in the middle of the night that hint at something going on, never seem to build to anything more substantial than pieces of a mystery that don't go explored. The idea of dropping this for an investigation into his background after the usual trope of the videotape getting erased or going off on useless adventures like the forgotten cellphone or the lighthouse visit just don't further any mystery at all here which tends to make this one run much longer than it needs to since so much of it doesn’t do much for the atmosphere at play. The technical merits here are quite impressive for an indie film such as this, much like the film's best aspect here which is a fine finale that tends to offer up some fine twists that are quite shocking. Still, it's too little too late to save this one.
Overview: */5
An initially intriguing thriller that offers up enough technical merits and the hint of an enthralling mystery, this one instead wastes these elements in an unlikable lead and go-nowhere scenes that drain any attempt at a worthwhile entry. Give this a shot if you're a true aficionado of low-budget indie thrillers or are able to look past the flaws here, while those that don't appreciate this style should heed caution.
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