+1 (2013)

Simply Perfect

Best movie ever!

Blistering performances.

The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.

As seems to be typical with Dennis Iliadis' work, the cinematography is spot on, and a dismal set-up turns unexpectedly engaging and nerve-racking. Unfortunately, it relies far too heavily on clichés, the dialogue is awful and the plot becomes so twisted and ridiculous that the artifice shines through. And yet in spite of everything, it really grabs your attention and doesn't let go. Alongside "The Last House on the Left", Iliadis proves that he is a very talented filmmaker, if only he could keep a firm hold on the plot.

"+1" is the kind of a movie where you have just got to be sold on the premise. That being that some manner of mysterious asteroid has struck our earth and is producing sinister doppelgangers of everyone in the immediate vicinity of it's crash site. Therein lies the foundation for this exceedingly odd yet mildly engrossing and mostly worth the while story (say, 2 3/4 out of 5 stars) written and directed by Dennis Iliadis, whose previous project was the 2009 remake of "The Last House on the Left".The plot revolves in and around a completely hedonistic pagan ritual of a college bash thrown by a rich kid in his folks mansion while the parental units are away. David (Rhys Wakefield) has just fallen out of favor with his girlfriend (Ashley Hinshaw) of two years (this courtship time period is reiterated several times in the flick for no apparent purpose) and is on a mission to patch things up at this swingin' soiree. The mission proves to be easier said than done, however, as body duplicates and time dimensions get as screwy and scrambled up as the alcohol and drug-addled brains of the preponderance of partiers.And just as we come to believe that it's ostensibly a case of all's well that ends well (well, mostly), we get this glimpse of a final image that seems to be telling us, "Hey. Not so fast there, bub." And here we go again...

Meteor strike warps time as rich kids kick off a big party.Entertaining. The first half is like Buffy with Boobs - something for the guys & gals, a little shy lesbunism, the world turned upside down - although nothing too dangerous, things will work out in the end. But the menace does get dialled up in the final act, as the kids confront their dopplegangers. Violence turned out a bit gentle, but the irony was good if not all that funny. At least we didn't have the "pen & paper" scene to explain the scifi. The central characters seemed too cosy - like an afternoon with Joss Wheedon's extended family - I dunno, something wasn't right.Overall pace and humour uneven. Maybe the real problem was the music: they pumped it out for the party scenes, and went all strings for the romantic interludes. Too much.

A few reviewers have said that there's a good premise in this movie. I'm inclined to disagree.Basically there's a party and some identical clones show up. For some reason the clones are delayed in time - that is they do the things the originals were doing about fifteen minutes previously. Every now and then the mains power flickers on and off, there's a little bit of dubstep music, and the clones catch up a few minutes on the time delay. Finally the delay disappears entirely and the clones seem to merge with the originals.It's not a good idea for a movie. It's just weird.Maybe if the creators went for a surrealistic, intellectual art vibe it could have worked. Unfortunately it feels pretty moronic.This movie does have a lot of genuinely young-looking actors in it however. There's no thirty-somethings pretending to be teens here. Kind of refreshing for a change.I can't think of anything else to say. Boring. Needed some actual horror. The creators should have sat down and watched a couple of classics for inspiration. If they had just copied a few ideas from "Invasion of the body snatchers" no one would have complained. There's too much pointless melodrama going on here. The lead male is also a detestable loser.