Director: Antoine Le
Year: 2020
Country: USA
Alternate Titles: N/A
Genre: Supernatural
Plot:
Eager to know what really happened, the history of a controversial vlogger is researched by a mysterious stranger through his last-known uploads which feature him and a crew documenting the morbid history of a local hotel and coming across the disturbing guests that are haunting the building.
Review:
This was a pretty solid and enjoyable genre effort. One of the strongest features is the usual assortment of setups that are in play here with the backstory of the area and what's going on at the hotel. The backstory about the haunting of the hotel and the various urban legends that are told about the guests that have befallen the guests, from the legend of the serial killer who lived there dismembering victims and performing satanic rituals with their bodies or the incident involving the tourist that happened there which are told about the hotel work rather nicely. In conjunction with the eeriness of the hotel layout and its general design, it sets a fantastic location for the creepiness to come.
That comes into play with the series of incredibly tense and chilling encounters they have during their stay. With the first clue coming to pass from the elevator game they play, this one features plenty of chilling and highly creepy encounters where the group starts getting caught up in the ghosts that live in the hotel. From believing they're simply benign only to be proven otherwise with their physical incidents, getting emotionally and mentally upset by what's happening to them or the surreal descent into the basement which is some of the most terrifying scenes in the film, this section is impressive with quite a lot to like here as the full reveal of what’s going on is done through some enjoyable sequences. These are the film's positives.
There were a couple of issues here. Most of the film's flaws here stem from the supposedly hilarious and humorous antics that he partakes in which are neither funny nor original. Making gags with prop hands, fake heads or body parts, constantly causing discomfort in his friends or loved ones and generally being a nuisance to anything and everything around him in the name of trying to be funny just causes him to be off-putting and irritating. That these antics aren't even that clever or unique as character traits as well don't help this and makes for a troubling time getting into the film, especially with the long intro that gives us a chance to see this in action quite frequently.
The other real problem to be had here is the seemingly disjointed tone at work throughout the film. While most of his antics are designed to be funny and fail miserably, the idea that so many of these scenes that feature hauntings taking place against them or other strange events that are clearly freaking them out yet two seconds later the group carries on like nothing's wrong. It happens frequently after many of the incidents and has a completely infuriating feeling once they keep behaving irrationally to what's going on. Lastly, there are way too many endings here where it could've done one or two instead of where it really ends, making it drag on too much. These are what hold this one back overall.
Overview: ****/5
A far creepier and more enjoyable effort than expected even with these minor problems, overall this one manages to be quite effective and enjoyable which works nicely here. Give this a shot if you’re curious about the films’ history or a fan of these kinds of genre efforts, while those aren’t interested in the style or subject matter here might enjoy it but will need caution.
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