Tell (2012)

Very well executed

Good story, Not enough for a whole film

It's not great by any means, but it's a pretty good movie that didn't leave me filled with regret for investing time in it.

It’s sentimental, ridiculously long and only occasionally funny

Having known Ryan Connolly from Film Riot, I had high expectations from him to create a high-quality, professionally-done short film. And although it wasn't necessarily "short" (at least, not in the sense that most people would consider short), he did meet my expectations and then some. Let me say right now that I am not a fan of horror or thriller (however, I am a huge Michael Jackson fan. But that's another story). However, this short film made me enjoy the thrill of being scared and feeling a lot of suspense. From a technical stand point, some could argue that some moments were long, boring, tedious, and beat around the bush. However, I feel as though these are the moments that inflict suspense in the audiences minds and allows their imagination to go crazy. And, in my opinion, he executes these moments perfectly. Speaking of technicality, from an avid film-maker's point of view, I absolutely enjoyed everything. From the lighting, to the color grading/correction to the cinematography. It was beautifully done and such a pleasure for a fellow film-maker's eyes to view. Overall, I gave this short film an 8/10. The only problem I had was that it was not fully original. For those of you who are reading this who are up on your English Literature, you may see some parallels between this short film and a famous short story. But again, I suggest you watch this no matter what kind of genre you are into because you never know what you may or may not enjoy. Hats off to you, Ryan!

First of all: This movie has been done on a very low budget. This hardly ever shows and I rated it like I would rate any other Hollywood-backed movie on IMDb, which might almost be a little unfair. Still, I have to give this movie high praises. It has a very simple story yet easily keeps you entangled for over 30 minutes (a very long runtime for a short-film).The story is based on "The tell-tale heart" by Edgar Allan Poe. The movie itself shortens it even further. It contains very little dialog and can be considered more of a mood piece. From the very beginning, the music, acting and cinematography keep the viewer at the edge of his seat and deliver suspense in an amazing yet not obvious way. The main character Taylor (Todd Bruno) carries the movie brilliantly, without his outstanding performance it would not have been the same. The same way would a lesser composer or cinematographer have left this movie boring and lifeless. As it is, this movie is very close to a perfect thriller and I can recommend it to anyone.Some minor things that bugged me: All the main actresses were not as convincing as I had hoped. There were some very slight focus issues at times. In very few places, I would have liked the score to be a little more quiet or non-present, to release the tension for just a second.Over all, I am very pleased with the movie and found it entertaining at least and brilliant at best. In comparison to big commercial films, I am rating it at 8/10 stars. For a very low budget film, I would easily give 10/10.

First of all, you need to realize that when I give something a 5/10, I'm saying that it's perfectly average. Many people consider a 5 to be a poor score but I don't. I consider it to be neither good or bad along the bell curve. There are around 50 or fewer movies in the history of filmmaking that I'd give a 10 and only around 100 or so that I'd give a 9 which will hopefully put things into perspective. I actually wish that more people thought like that. 5 is average.It's tempting to consider this a first effort from Ryan Connolly and his team and while it is, in a sense, it's also not. Ryan is a very experienced writer and director when it comes to working with no budget and has a pretty fair following with his YouTube channel, Film Riot (which by the way, is a good place for aspiring filmmakers to learn). Throw in years of film school and it's not exactly as if this is a total noob effort. That's a good thing though because I try not to make that distinction when I'm doing a review. I review without prejudice regarding budget or experience. It could be $200 mil or $1,000 as I believe Tell was. (which really puts the 5 into an even better perspective) Ryan Connolly is a pretty good writer with a good sense of timing. I would have preferred to see something more original from him over a retelling of The Tell Tale Heart. So now when you're rating the script, I'm stuck with having to rate a story that's a great original tale, but the problem is, this is simply a story that's already been done. The original was fantastic. However, this is more like a copy from a xerox machine, it's never going to be as good. The acting was average (remember what I'm comparing it to) which bodes well for those who were in it. I wasn't pulled out of the story because of shoddy acting. That's also a testament to the director and his ability to get performances which may have been beyond the scope of what the actors had previously been able to do. Good job for a first effort. The way Connolly uses lighting and camera angles to set moods for the shots was very good and on par with many of Hollywood's directors. Especially when you consider that he did not have the money to build sets to the specs of the shots that he wanted. I've always felt that this is a strong suit of his and I'd like to see what he could do with a bigger budget.The most glaring problem for me is that I felt as if some of the shots ran too long and should have been either removed in editing or made shorter. Using a scene from the beginning as an example, the main character is moving from inside the house out to his car and back again. The viewer doesn't need to see the actor go to the door, open the handle, close the door, walk to the car, open doors, close doors, walk back to the house, open the door...Similar situations play out throughout the entirety of the film which slowed the pace too much and if anything, left me bored, searching to forward into areas of more suspense.Overall, I say it was a good "first" effort but there are some glaring issues that I think could have made it better. The scores are going to be artificially high as the fan base gives it scores that should be reserved for the best films in the history of cinema but that's to be expected. I still think that this was a solid debut that should draw some needed attention in his direction and hopefully set Triune Films up for a successful career.

I'm a huge fan of Ryan's work on Youtube and I was super excited to see this movie since I watched it being made through all his shows. I was not disappointed! This movie is really scary and well put together. The budget might have been lower budget than some movies but you couldn't "tell" it. The quality was phenomenal and the film making superb. Some of the acting gets a little stiff at times but all in all this is a great ride! Ryan is a quality Director that will be making plenty of waves down the road. I look forward to following his career and saying, "Hey! I was there when he was just a wee little film guy with a YouTube show! He was a funny little man with a vision! Highly recommended!