Lost After Dark (2014)

Simply Perfect

Lack of good storyline.

Good start, but then it gets ruined

It is a whirlwind of delight --- attractive actors, stunning couture, spectacular sets and outrageous parties.

I thought that the film The Final Girls, which is an homage to 80's slasher flicks, embraced the genre almost perfectly, but played it too safe resulting in a mixed bag. Lost After Dark fares even worse, having zero comedy, zero fun and drags the viewer through complete boredom before the final credits rolls. The film is a chore to get through and rewards the viewer with absolutely nothing. At their high school dance a group of friends decide to steal a school bus and go up to a family cabin for some fun. Their bus breaks down in the middle of nowhere and the kids find themselves being picked off one by one from a crazed cannibal killer. Who will survive? What will be left of them? And every other 80's horror tagline you can think of. This film desperately needed to be played for laughs and the biggest mistake it makes is that it chooses to play everything seriously. It wants us to believe that this film could have actually been from the 80's. Yet it has none of the charm that those slasher films had, as bad as some of those movies were, they had a sense of charm. This film has zero, nada, nothing really going for it. Being intentionally retro does not equal a good film. It purposely inserts the classic "film grain" to make it feel authentic. It never works. It even lamely incorporates the "missing reel" gag that worked to hilarious results in Grindhouse. Here it's a pathetic attempt to try and feel more genuine. It fails, miserably. Aesthetic failures aside, the script fares even worse.It seems the only thing the writers know about are the clichéd horror stereotypes. We are given the jock, the token black guy, the nerd, slut, good-girl, etc. We are forced to listen to them spew inane dialogue back and forth in a sad attempt at building character. It never works and makes the film feel longer than it actually is. The entire first half of the film drags at a wickedly slow pace and the so-called pay off of kills doesn't ever reach its potential. I will give the film some credit though, it surprised me with the initial death. That one moment where they manage to fool the audience and pull the rug out from under our feet is the only interesting moment in the entire film.

Ian Kessner did a great job capturing that classic 80's horror movie vibe, while still keeping things fresh with some really unpredictable twists and turns. I cared about the characters, but was completely wrong in who I thought would survive (and I consider myself to be a guru of this genre). It was kind of fun to be wrong and kept on my toes. Joad is just creepy. I hope he comes back for a sequel because I feel like he has more damage to do. It was a truly scary and fun time and I'll also like to give a shout out to one of my childhood crushes David Lipper for rocking a mustache like no other. If you're looking for genuine scares anda fun movie experience, I would definitely recommend this movie.

People who are still under their 30's shouldn't watch this because they won't understand it at all. This is made for those who grew up in the eighties or earlier. Yes, this will take you back to the heydays of the slashers. It takes a while before things go awry but once it does it's pure entertainment. It isn't that gory after all but it will satisfy those who love slashers. There's a bit of humour added with the reel missing when the goriest stuff should be shown. For me it was a mediocre flick, why, because it do misses a few typical slasher stuff, there's no point of view to see, only once but it didn't work out because the victims already saw their killer standing in front of them. Secondly the necessary nudity was missing too. But hey, it still is an ode to those flicks and it even shows with a cameo by Halloween 2 director Rick Rosenthal as the sheriff. You don't watch it for the performances, you watch it for the slashing and there are a few to catch. Said it before, for the lovers of the good old slashers.Gore 1,5/5 Nudity 0/5 Effects 2,5/5 Story 2,5/5 Comedy 0/5

I went into this movie VERY skeptical, the reviews and ratings made me quite hesitant but I was bored and decided to give it a shot and I gotta say I don't get all the hate.First off, maybe I'm wrong, but the vibe I got was that this was a straight faced parody. It was made to honor slasher films while making fun of them without being over the top ridiculous. Was I ever that scared? Not really. Did I have a laugh and enjoy the ride? Hell yeah!What I also liked was that, while the filmmakers were trying to honor the classic slasher, they also tried to be creative. They mixed it up. It took a little too long before the kids started to get killed, but I enjoyed actually getting to know them for once (which we never really got to in slashers), and I liked all the performances. And I read someone say the cast looked old for their parts, I guess they haven't seen a classic 80s slasher in a while. THOSE actors look old. Pretty cool to see Stephan James from Selma do a l little slasher like this.Also Robert Patrick was EPIC! Everything he said was like a t-shirt slogan!I get that it's not for everyone but I really think people should give this flick a shot. Go in with a fun open mind and you'll enjoy the ride!