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Wednesday, November 9, 2011

[3.25/10] 11-11-11 (2011)


11-11-11 (2011)

Full review: Earlier this year, the director of "Saw" II, III & IV, Darren Lynn Bousman, brought us "Mother's Day" - the most memorable and brilliantly-brutal 'home invasion' movie released over the past few years. Unfortunately, not many good things can be said about his upcoming horror thriller, "11-11-11". In fact, Bousman's latest project is so God-awful, it's hard to believe that it got a theatrical release, even if a limited one. It should have gone straight-to-DVD, or why not straight-to-TV, as it looks and feels cheap, dull and dated from beginning to the end. The movie sounds very promising on paper, and makes us expect some kind of horrifying demonic apocalypse, but sadly, this misguided effort never lives up to its premise, hence, what we get is a stupid religious horror with and embarrassingly underdeveloped story, that features nothing more than overused horror cliches and cheap thrills. The supposed-to-be-shocking twist in the end, which is delivered in same style as "Saw", is downright ridiculous and hugely disappointing, just like the rest of the movie. "11-11-11" also could be described as "Insidious" meets "The Number 23", but not at all in a good way. It borrows some ideas from both films, but it neither has the creepiness of "Insidious", nor it's at least as potentially good as "The Number 23" was. Moreover, the film never uses the 11/11/11 gimmick properly. It's a superstitious date indeed, but the warning it brings is not much of a big deal, nor is very disturbing. It's a shame indeed, because in different hands, and with a better script, "11-11-11" could have been a solid and very intriguing horror movie. The acting is mediocre at best. Timothy Gibbs appears stiff and uncomfortable as the anxious Joseph Cronevery, whose life becomes plagued with strange happenings, and the constant sightings of the number 11. He's just a weak lead, and don't have the skills to carry the movie on his shoulders. Michael Landes does a decent job as Jospeh's religious brother Samuel, but he doesn't really have a lot to work with or enough screen time to shine. Wendy Glenn is often annoying as the obsessive stranger, Sadie, but thankfully she barely shows on the screen as well. Obviously, the director himself didn't have a clear inspiration, nor much enthusiasm for this movie, as "11-11-11" is an absolute lackluster in terms of execution and visuals. Bousman's direction is generic, lacking in creativity, and completely and utterly all over the place, which makes the film even more confusing and incoherent than it already is. Add to this a poor and incredibly sloppy editing, bland cinematography and sub-par special effects, and you get a movie that has a made-for-TV feel written all over it. Being set in Barcelona, Spain, "11-11-11" at least has some decent settings, some of which are gloomy, creepy and effective, unlike the movie itself.

Overall summary: Dull, unimaginative, poorly-crafted and, of course, gimmicky, Darren Lynn Bousman's cheap apocalyptic horror thriller "11-11-11" promises a lot, but delivers absolutely nothing. It's more awful than "Saw" II, III and IV put together, and it's hands down the worst, most pointless and underwhelming movie of the year so far.

16 comments:

Maynard Morrissey said...

wtf? are you sure haven't watched Asylum's rip-off, titled 11/11/11?
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2015262/

George Beremov [Nebular] said...

Maynard, unfortunately I didn's see Asylum's "11/11/11", but Bousman's "11-11-11", which hit theaters this Friday.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1712159/

WTF indeed, I was asking myself the same thing while I was watching this rubbish. So disappointed I can't even tell you.

Maynard Morrissey said...

omg I can't believe it. I mean, I'm really pumped for it and I didn't expect a review so bad.

I thought you might have downloaded the wrong movie

George Beremov [Nebular] said...

Harry, I couldn't believe it either. It was like I was watching a workprint or something. So dull, so lifeless and so disappointing. I was so mad at Bousman and his underwhelming direction. It seemed like he didn't care about this movie. Like at all. And I loved "Mother's Day"!

That one leaked 2 days ago, thanks to the early DVD release in the Netherlands. I was so so excited when I saw it uploaded online, but after I saw it, the only thing I wanted to do is to scream. No, not because I was scared, but because I was mad at it.

✗✗ said...

Oh that is too bad. Initially I thought it looked a little cheesy but then I thought the story might have promise... apparently not. lol. I'm glad to learn that it's a waste of time now rather than later, thanks! : )

George Beremov [Nebular] said...

Nicole, no, it's not cheesy but it's lame, which is even worse. LOL.
Skip, there's just nothing new or interesting about it.

Unknown said...

I thought better than your opinion of this, but I think I'm considering lowering mine a little. Some of your justifications are sound.

And I swear the finale was a sure sign that Bousman had been hanging around Jigsaw for too long.

Unknown said...

Well it's no wonder the film has gotten barely any promo here in the States. I think I've seen a poster and maybe one television spot for it. And from that 30 seconds I could tell I so did not want to see it. I love your razor-sharp review, sweetie.

George Beremov [Nebular] said...

J-Son, I know you did. For me, nothing about it work and it felt dated and cheap.

I can't agree more about the ending. Typical Bousman style. Not sure if that's a good thing though. LOL.

George Beremov [Nebular] said...

Mel, I had no idea it didn't get any promo in the US. Now I can say there's a reason why. It was dump from beginning to the end, and nothing what I've expected. Thanks, sweetheart. :)

HorrO said...

We agree once again. Can't believe it was that bad. I was hoping for at least something interesting with the whole 11-11-11 thing. I guess that is why no theaters around here showed it. Thank God for free sites. Lol I heard of the one Maynard is talking about but haven't seen it. If this was that bad, I can't imagine that version. Great review!

George Beremov [Nebular] said...

HorrO, I couldn't believe how bad it was either. I was sitting in my chair thinking: What the fuck is that? What was Bousman thinking?!

The Asylum's "11/11/11" would be even worse, I'm sure about that.

Unknown said...

I would love to know what he's thinking actually, really felt he had the potential to go further.

On a sidenote, Darren Bousman dropped a note on my take on the film. Not sure if it is really him, but it's good of him going around to read if it is.

George Beremov [Nebular] said...

J-Son, just read the comment from Bousman left on your post. This guy has to be devastated that the movie leaked online 3 days before its release day. As far as I know the DVD has been released in Netherlands already.

venoms5 said...

I don't think I've heard of this one, George, till reading your write up of it. Wow, what a step backward this must be! It sounds like the 2000s version of the equally limp and disappointing FINAL CONFLICT: OMEN 3 which promised a lot and delivered very little. I do like the first three SAW's but felt like they should have stopped after that one. There's scarcely any promising directors anymore whom we can label the next Romero or Carpenter...or even Hooper for that matter.

George Beremov [Nebular] said...

venoms5, seriously? The first time I heard about it was months ago, and I was so excited to see it, but sadly it failed on every single level.
I mentioned the Saw movies, because I'm a true Saw hater, and I hated pretty much all of them.

Haven't seen OMEN 3, but its doesn't sound promising at all. Thanks for the comment. :)