This movie was a gamble right from the beginning. I mean, the posters for the movie were cool looking, the description sounded awesome and scary, and I like some of the cast. Unfortunately, every single review gave the movie terrible marks, anywhere from one to three stars out of TEN, and the consensus seems to be that the movie sucks (particularly the acting and the ending, which got nasty comments from everyone). I gambled on it anyway, with trepidation but high hopes (well, medium hopes, at least).
The sequence before the opening credits was creepy and cool, and the acting, at least from the beginning, wasn't THAT bad. The characters seem ok, though for some reason this group of friends decided it would be a good idea to spend a weekend at a secluded resort with people who used to date but had a messy breakup and brought their new paramours along. I smell DRAMA!
Now, I don't know about you, but if I arrive at a mountain resort for a weekend getaway and the place seems deserted and I can't find any staff to check me in, I'm going to realize that something is wrong and leave, and I think most people would be smart enough to do the same. I know that the movie would only be ten minutes long if the characters did this, but come on, even if the rest of the movie is good, this rampant stupidity would take me out of enjoying the story. I mean come on, there are cars in the parking lot with keys left in the ignition! Obviously something bad is going on. Even if I weren't a horror fan who has seen hundreds of these movies, I'd still be making tracks out of that place.
Even the birds and insects were smart enough to flee the place. Get a clue, characters! And yes, I further realize that it turns out they're all out of gas at once, but really, what the fuck? None of them thought to fill their tanks when they had a chance? How did they expect to get home after their weekend getaway if all the gas they have in their cars combined wouldn't even get them to safety? Suspension of disbelief...going...going...gone. And we haven't even seen anything supernatural yet. Sigh.
Ok, that just really botheted me and i needed to get it off my chest. Now that I've spent a few paragraphs bitching about what's wrong with this movie, let me mention that there is some good here. The main supernatural element, what happens when people are alone for even a second, is actually really cool. I understand why the movie is called "don't blink," and it works. Too bad the acting starts to devolve at thst point too, because this is a cool idea that could make a good scary movie someday.
The thing is, though, I've still seen a lot worse than this movie. I know that doesnt do much to recommend it, but this movie does have some good points. Unlike everyone else, I don't hate the ending. I thought I knew what was going on, but it took a different track than I expected. I get why people hated it, but I thought it was kind of cool. By the end of the movie, I was also kind of paranoid about blinking, not wanting to, you know, DISAPPEAR, so that aspect of the movie worked for me and really did creep me out. Once the actors were whittled down, those who were left wetent half bad. I guess I just wish the movie had smoothed out the rough edges and given the script some rewrites and maybe hired a few different actors, because it could have been a lot better with some work. Such is life.
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