A Horrible Way to Die (2010)

Thanks for the memories!

Best movie ever!

Beautiful, moving film.

I think this is a new genre that they're all sort of working their way through it and haven't got all the kinks worked out yet but it's a genre that works for me.

A serial killer does his usually stchick on unsuspecting characters after he escapes from jail. His ex-girl friend is in hiding and under witness protection because she testified against him.But, the cinematography was so bad, it was hard to follow the story.I think the director got a string of Christmas lights and decided to use them in an out of focus foreground for a 'anxiety' effect. Really? A very poorly conceived decision. 'Shaky cam' was used on Blair Witch and a few others. You might try a tight story line, good actors, and scenes and presto a movie and a tripod.Rather than move you into the story, such techniques take you out of the story since you are very aware of the effects and fail to follow the story. But maybe the cinematographer had the d'ts'Pulp Fiction had very little 'artsy out of focus lights' as an effect to get the audience in a tipsy mood.Story line wasn't bad, but ruined by the constant use of out of focus lights and jumpy camera work. Did you not have access to a pair of sticks?Plot at the end was good though and should have been extended instead of endless AA meetings.

Well, the title ain't lying. Lots of people die in this movie, either on screen or off, and one person comes very close to dying, and all of the methods used are pretty horrible."A Horrible Way to Die" brings an admittedly unique spin to the serial killer movie. It uses mixed up chronology to tell the story of a woman whose boyfriend, a convicted serial killer, escapes from prison and comes back to find her, and the efforts of a new love interest to help her and keep her safe. The wacky order in which the story is told makes it feel richer than it probably is, and there are some major plot twists toward the end (up there with some of the biggest) that are handled less than delicately (you can practically hear the gears grinding at one point as the movie shifts into an entirely new direction). And stylistically it feels like a film made by a film student who's been itching to get his hands on a camera and can't control himself once he has -- the camera is always, I mean ALWAYS, moving, randomly zooming, drifting off to the edges of the frame, going out of focus. It's exceedingly annoying.But the film does have a morbidly grim appeal to it. I can't say I necessarily enjoyed watching it, but I can say that it was memorable.Grade: B-

I was actually compelled to watch the film, as it has a claustrophobic feel and was genuinely disturbing. The increasing feeling of dread reminded me of the Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974).The theme of the recovering alcoholic girlfriend was realized about as well as someone mostly unfamiliar with AA could make it. I imagine the screen writer and director spent a few evenings at a "high bottom" AA club, as the drunks were all pretty nice people and not criminalistic, rude and violent. You felt genuine concern for the fate of the alcoholic girlfriend.The killer himself was largely ordinary looking and acting, which left you off guard, when he showed his true colors. The kill scenes are fairly graphic and paced well. Some things are done off screen like the Texas Chain Saw Massacre, which for me added to the suspense.The dialogue, pacing, non-linear plot and the stark Midwestern landscape (mid-Missouri it seems as the bar where one of the killings happens is off "old 63") complete the feeling of desolation. You actually could run into people like the people in the film and probably have. I don't see where Blair Witch comparisons are made by other reviewers.My main problem with the film, however, is the terribly trite, Wes Craven-like ending. It seemed almost plagaristic of Scream, where you could tell where it was going but hoping they wouldn't be dumb enough to go there. A serial killer "fan club"? What? Why? I was glad to see the fan boys get offed, but that also was completely predictable.The terrible last scene actually ruined what could have been an iconic horror film for the 21st Century like the Exorcist, Halloween and the Texas Chainsaw Massacre were for the 1970s. If I were the director of this film, I would remake the film with an alternative final scene.

I watched this movie because it was billed as 'Horror'. The only thing that was horrific was the cameraman and editorial department. They couldn't even afford fake blood - so they filmed all the murders off camera.The only reason I did not shut the movie off after the first 15 minutes was twofold - first: a lot of the actors were actually decent. Second: the story was a pretty original one, albeit the film managed to make it really confusing from start to finish, if a semi talented director would have gotten this story it could have made for a really decent movie. My Advice To You: If your not a film student - STAY AWAY!