Apocalyptic (2014)

A Masterpiece!

I cannot think of one single thing that I would change about this film. The acting is incomparable, the directing deft, and the writing poignantly brilliant.

Although I seem to have had higher expectations than I thought, the movie is super entertaining.

One of the worst ways to make a cult movie is to set out to make a cult movie.

The found footage film continues to be the go-to-guy when it comes to low budget horror film-making. A lot of people are fed up with the sub-genre and it is easy to understand why as, aside from the shaky-cam being capable of inducing headaches, there is also a certain over-familiarity about a lot of them. I consider myself to be fairly forgiving of these types of films myself though and do think the general set-up is one which can result in effectively sinister films when approached correctly. It would probably be fair to describe Apocalyptic as a bit of a mixed bag though. As it never escapes from a certain predictability inherent in found footage and does wind up with the kind of ending that an awful lot in this genre have. But it was still nevertheless a film which was successfully creepy and did keep me interested. Set in Australia, the story has documentary film-makers travel deep into the country to meet up with a religious cult to make a film about them. As could be predicted, these people prove to be very strange and some troubling events follow.As is common with horror movies, character decisions here are often somewhat illogical, with the film crew hanging around for longer than they should and letting some things slide which they shouldn't. But I guess this is part and parcel of these types of movies to some extent. What was more of an issue for me was the central figure of the cult leader, who unfortunately was fairly badly acted by David Macrae, ensuring that this pivotal character had no charisma at all. I think it was quite damaging, as this is a leader whose actions are so extreme that they require some charisma in order to explain others going along with them so readily, such as the nightly ritual in which he chooses a different woman to sleep with every night, including a (very) young girl. These creepy details, along with the odd behaviour of the women cultists and what is discovered in the woods in the dead of night, are the kinds of things that make this one stand-out though and ensure that it does make some impact. It's a bit too basic and limited overall to be regarded as anything great but it does still offer some off-centre elements and ideas, and it never outstays its welcome.

It's amazing just how many so-called 'found footage' films there are these days. After the success of "The Blair Witch Project", many other independent filmmakers have also sought to make their mark with small budgets and films that supposedly consist of actual footage from real (and usually scary) events. The basic idea isn't bad but there is a problem with too many films trying to cash in on this style of picture. In other words, after a while the films start to have a certain sameness to them and few of the more recent found footage films are particularly watchable. This is my problem with "Apocalyptic", as it fails to break new ground and has an all too familiar ending.An Australian journalist and her film crew are shown at the beginning of the movie attending an AA-type meeting for addicts. However, one of the participants talks about having escaped from a cult and the reporter smells a story. So, she and the crew get permission from the cult leader, Michael, to stay with them and record their lives. The cult, it turns out is very small--with about a dozen people in it. All are women apart from Michael.At first the group seems odd but also quite happy. Sure, there are some weird aspects to the group--such as Michael claiming to have divine authority as well as his sleeping with most of the women. But the group still seems fairly normal. However, through the course of the film, Michael reveals himself to be a Jim Jones-type guy and he plans on a mass suicide. This final portion was not especially original--not only because of the famous Jonestown tragedy but because of another recent found footage movie, "The Sacrament", which pretty much recreates the Jonestown deaths. It also comes off as a bit exploitational and creepy watching all this at the end as opposed to being scary.So is it any good? Well, the film work is pretty much what you expect from such a movie and you get the jerky camera, folks running and the like. But the story, as I already mentioned, lacks freshness. It's just a case of 'been there/done that' and the ending is clearly what most folks watching the film are expecting. It would have been a lot more interesting with some OTHER twist--anything but what the film seemed to telegraph during the first hour or so of the picture. I think everyone associated with the project tried hard and it's watchable, but nothing more unfortunately.

The great thing about Chinese food is that you don't have to work very hard to eat it (or at least I don't). I just begin to shovel food in my face.I was very glad I picked up Chinese food before sitting down to watch Apocalypse because I was so glued to the screen for the last 20 minutes I didn't even realize the bowl was empty.I'm assuming some people will draw similarities between "Apocolypse" and Ti Wests "The Sacrament" (both based on cults and both released this year) and those similarities are many. However "Apocolypse" is a grittier, more realistic-feeling interpretation of what I think it would look like inside a Doomsday Cult.While researching "The Sacrament" I kept seeing references to the real life Jonestown Massacres (loosely based upon it?) and that took away some of the mystery for me while watching the film. With "Apocolypse" I had no such pre-conceived notions and therefore was genuinely enthralled by the film and it's surprisesThe phrase "shoestring budget" is mentioned on a few websites when I was researching this film I think it was filmed in a very short amount of time with a minuscule amount of money but YOU COULD NOT TELL! This film looks as good as any major motion picture FoundFootage film out there (Devils Due, Delivery, PA). Even the small details of the film are pretty fantastic, down to the hand-made animal skin shoes the women wear.Its refreshing for a horror film not to rush and shove the gore in your face. Apocolyptic takes its time and, like a good campfire, uses it's kindling to feed the progression of a growing fire of suspense.The only downside was the lack of character development of the Cult leader: A Creepy, frail, pale, bald-headed, white-robed re-incarnation of Jesus (supposedly) I wanted to know more about him and really understand why these people worshiped him. The premise of the film revolves around him and his followers but I didn't really feel his charm or charisma come through the screen.Aside from the similarities to "The Sacrament" I found this a wholly fresh take on the Found Footage trope.

I went down to Melbourne (Cinema Nova) just to see the mans film himself Glenn Triggs new inspiring film "Apocalyptic". This was after seeing his prior film "41" I had high hopes which he did deliver very well :) Casting was fantastic! he did a great job, locations, character/s and story were all fantastic as well. I was captivated from start to finish the only thing that let me down the most but it was nothing major in terms of overall story or structure was the sound design I would of thrown a bit more sound design in there to really set it off and give it that Wow! Factor. I just felt that it was missing and really needed to give it that BOOM!! Shot of emotion. But other than that overall I thought it was a very well designed, put together film and I give it 7/10 i prob would of went up to 8 or 9 with the sound design.Luke (Writer/Producer/Director)Shilling Entertainment