Isolation

Rented this today on a whim, and it turned out to be surprisingly good. New release from Blockbuster, fyi.

Written and directed by Billy O'Brien (who is obviously a big fan of Alien, Cronenberg's The Fly, and The Thing), this Irish film concerns a farmer who takes money from a genetics company to let them experiment on his cows. Of course, the experiment goes wrong and before you know it, there are a handful of people stranded on the farm in the dead of night, trying to figure out what is killing the cows, and they soon discover they must also avoid becoming prey themselves.

While not really original - the script is pretty derivative, and any horror fan can see the ending coming a mile away - the strength of Isolation lies in its atmosphere (the farm is a wonderfully scary setting - almost a character itself), excellent performances (no one I recognized except Dr. Nikolai from The Cave), and O'Brien's obvious skill behind the camera. It's low-budget but looks great (probably because practically the entire film is shot on the same farm), and relies on minimalism rather than over-the-top effects. No CG that I could see, thank God, but the effects work is really good, and suitably cringe-worthy.

Anyways, Isolation is a very well-done horror film that I think a lot of you will like. Its relative lack of creativity is outdone by the care with which it's handled. This is the first I've heard of Billy O'Brien, but he's definitely a name to watch. Check it out.

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Originally Posted by BioMechanic

It's low-budget but looks great (probably because practically the entire film is shot on the same farm), and relies on minimalism rather than over-the-top effects. No CG that I could see, thank God, but the effects work is really good, and suitably cringe-worthy.

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See, this is the lesson I wish more low-budget movies would learn- don't go outside your budget. If you can't make something look good with the resources available to you, don't fucking do it.

Here's an example: I was flipping through the channels and came across one of the Sci-Fi channel's shitbombs. A building exploded, only I guess they couldn't afford to blow up an actual building, so they simply superimposed an explosion over a real building. Then they superimposed fire over the windows to make it appear that it was "burning." It looked horrible.

Here's the simple fact that the director should have followed- if you can't afford to blow up a real building, re-write your fucking script. The same goes for bad monster suits, lousy CG effects, you name it.

The best example of a director cheating on a big effect and getting away with it is John Carpenter in Escape From NY. Airforce One is about to crash into a building. Carpenter knew, with his budget, that there was no way he could make a plane hitting a building look believable. But he found a way around it- right as the plane is about to hit, it switches to a computer monitor where a wireframe animation shows the collision. The way it was filmed, it totally worked.

I think low-budget moviemaking really does work when they stick to what works. But some of these assholes think they're Stephen Spielberg and think they're making bigger movies than they really are. Be creative with what you actually have. Jerkoffs.

I read about this on Blood Disgusting, didn't know it was out yet.

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Originally Posted by Dolemite

But some of these assholes think they're Stephen Spielberg and think they're making bigger movies than they really are. Be creative with what you actually have. Jerkoffs.

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The funny thing is that Spielberg initially got noticed by making the most of what he had. He did some movie and for the "explosions" in the sand setting he filled buckets with dirt and had his friends jump on a sea-saw on the other side of the hill.

Spielberg became one of the greats for a reason, and it had nothing to do with his deep pockets. That's a luxury he can afford now because of his stellar work.