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Directed by Written by Starring Presented by 84 minutes |
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CRAZY EIGHTS Review
CRAZY EIGHTS is the story of six friends who are summoned together at the funeral of a childhood friend and receive a token the friend left behind: a map leading to an abandoned hospital. The friends go to the spooky hospital and upon finding a time capsule they all hid there, they also find the bones of what looks to be a child. As they are all trapped within the hospital, they learn of their dark pasts and one by one get offed by the strange presence that's with them. Yeah, the story is basically formulaic with the majority of the film taking place at an abandoned hospital (a location done way too much in movies these days) but the filmmakers have a chance to really make something different out of it, and sadly, they don't. At a short running time of 84 minutes, the film moves very slowly, and predictably at that. The film boasts a strong cast though, and the performances are good given with what they have. Dina Meyer is a standout as the lead heroine, showing grace and grit we've seen from Meyer before. Lords plays a bitch well, and Frank Whaley is always good playing an asshole, which he does to full effect here. George Newbern and Gabrielle Anwar are not given much, and Dan DeLuca (who co-wrote) stays mostly in the background. The problem I felt with the film is that it tries to be too much of a drama at times with the characters coming to terms with their pasts, then switches gears quickly to horror with quick flash frames of the supernatural presence haunting them. The characters aren't well drawn out and it felt the sympathy should go for the familiarity of the actors rather than the characters they portray. Meyer usually is the heroine so by default we root for her. It can work in a way, but I felt it didn't here. The special effects by Monster In My Closet are good when shown but sporadic in its editing. The death of one is a highlight. In all, CRAZY EIGHTS had the potential to be something very good here, as there are some very good moments throughout. It's well shot and edited with some good performances. Instead, it's a retread formula film that we've seen done before which offers nothing new to the genre except that it can deliver an ensemble film on a low budget. CRAZY EIGHTS: 4 Out Of 10 Maggots |
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