Customer Reviews

Don't Look Up

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

Don't Look Up is a movie that offers quality cinematography, but isn't theater-quality because of plot holes and weak performances.

Director Fruit Chan gained a cult following thanks to the underground success of "Gaau Ji" (Dumplings), his short film on the "3 Extremes" DVD. I enjoyed his work on that film, and even though Dumplings wasn't an overt horror film, it was more chilling than this one. Chan makes for a visually pleasing movie, but he would have done better with a different story.

The marketing behind the movie is also misleading. The DVD cover states "From the creator of The Ring comes a new vision in terror." Only it's not new, it's a story that Hideo Nakata came up with for a movie he shot several years before The Ring. The original version of Don't Look Up wasn't especially popular, and the 2009 remake isn't remotely as scary as The Ring.

I definitely enjoyed Reshad Strik's performance in the Hills Have Eyes 2 (bearded young guy), but was disappointed with him in this film. As a psychologically troubled young film director, Strik overreacts being afraid to the point where it's almost comical. Eli Roth (Donny the Bear Jew from Inglourious Basterds) gets top billing in this film, but he gets only about a minute of actual screen time. Film veteran Kevin Corrigan is a welcome addition to the cast, as is the seriously hot Carmen Chaplin.

My biggest complaints about the film include the plot holes and use of too many subplots. The bottom line is that the movie is made more confusing than it had to be. There's a bit of gore for hardcore horror fans, though the CGI may disappoint some people. Nakata also recycled one idea involving a fly from this movie to The Ring. I also thought that the twist at the end was simply unnecessary.

Overall, I just didn't find it that scary. Chan did a good job, but the story just wasn't that great. It seems like they were hoping to capitalize on the popularity of The Ring by remaking a previous movie that wasn't very popular back in 1996. It's worth giving a watch, but I would suggest that you not buy the DVD until you give this one a Redbox rental first.

You can say whatever you want about any film and the actors in it - but without a good script and a decent plot, the cast's talents are wasted, no matter how good the actual performers are.

Many films these days boast similarities to "The Ring," but in reality they only borrow slightly from the cinematography and the eerie ghost storyline. In "Don't Look Up," a troubled young film director goes to Transylvania to the scene where an ancient movie was filmed many years ago. The set where the movie was filmed was supposedly haunted by the presence of a young girl (there's a big shocker).

The story seems decent enough, but it is not really elaborated on enough, and the main characters kind of fumble about in an attempt to....well....I still couldn't figure that one out. It is basically a movie made without much of a point or much direction. The "scary" scenes won't make you jump and the plot is so full of holes that the effects of any "twists" the writers included in the storyline just add to the confusion. And on top of that, there are some attempts at humor when not-so-vague comparisons are made to "Young Frankenstein," and they come at odd moments and the characters do a poor job of transitioning from funny to serious, making the film not only hard to understand, but also awkward.

Not that a truly scary movies always makes a good movie as far as horror movies go... However The execution of the movie is done just right so that it isn't too disgusting, while still disturbing you quite a bit. Hidieo Nakata (creator of The Ring and this film) must be really talented because even though it has the whole angry ghost in common this is nothing like The Ring and still very intriguing in it's own way... Very cool story not like the other movies that reel you in with a dramatic and nicely drawn cover just so you can end up watching another story-less, comedic but overall worthless, waste of time that lives you more unsatisfied than you were before the movie... from the cover it looks like another one of those silly b-horror titled that somehow was not categorized as such. Also from the cover it could be confused for a boring drama of sort but it isn't, Lol don't watch this alone, or if you do, keep your wits about you, some scenes catch you completely off-guard! Collectors Note: For $1.72 It Is An Absolute Bargain, Just Pay The $3 Shipping And Add This To Your Collection.

A troubled movie director Marcus Reed (Reshad Strik) is given a chance to shoot a film in Romania. In an old movie studio that had been long disused, strange things happen to him and the crew, and apparently they have something to do with an abandoned film project in the 1920s that was shot in this studio. Also, Marcus is tormented by an image of a woman he keeps seeing.

While the premise of "Don't Look Up" is not bad, the film itself is a terrible mess. Confusing and incoherent, the story of "Don't Look Up" doesn't make sense. Perhaps with exception of one brief sequence about the creepy image of a woman, the film remains unoriginal throughout.

"Don't Look Up" is a remake of a 1996 Japanese horror film "Jyoyu-rei" ("Ghost Actress"). The latter marked director Hideo Nakata's feature debut before he made a J-horror classic "Ringu." Despite Nakata's clever use of movie studio, and effectively creepy moments of the titular "actress," "Jyoyu-rei" is far from perfect with a weak plot and an underwhelming conclusion.

Its remake is much worse. Everything looks amateurish here: incoherent story, cheesy production design, cheap special effects and wooden acting. Directed by Fruit Chan, Chinese-born director who has made much better films in the past such as "Made in Hong Kong," "Don't Look Up" is simply a terrible movie.

Another remake of a Japanese horror film featuring SURPRISE an evil female spirit!
While director Fruit Chan creates an eerie atmosphere, the script is so disjointed, the movie ultimately collapses on itself.
ET's Henry Thomas seems lost in his role and Reshad Shirk (sp) is a weak lead.
Its muddled and tedious, a misfired reimaging.

DON'T LOOK UP tried. It really did. Sadly, the movie is so disjointed that it almost makes no sense. I watch films very carefully and this one, while not a true stinker, tap dances very close to the edge of being a "bad" movie. The acting is good and bad in places. The issues with the film are many. It moves slowly which is fine when it is engaging. The film fails to engage. The plot is neither creepy nor scary. It comes off almost feeling like a spoof until you realize that it is trying to be serious. The movie falls squarely into the middle of the mediocre classification. It is not something, which I would own or really even want to watch again. The film simply tries and fails.

Gypsy bla bla who cares, this is just a sad movie from dumb start to even more ignorant ending. This movie ticked me off with it's ultra lame gypsy devil curse and sad pitiful effects. Why oh why did I spend this much time on this inadequate piece of garbage ? Please I beg of you do not waist your time on this movie you would be better of watching one of those Life Time flicks you have seen time and time again, well maybe not that but is there a Myth Busters on you have seen fewer then 4 times ? Stay away at all cost.

This would be a no star movie if not for some decent visual effects. The story is confusing and not very good, the acting at times is horrible. When I saw Eli Roth I figured it might be okay if he was willing to appear. Sadly he has less than a minute of screen time for his cameo. This movie is a real mess from top to bottom.

Wow - After reading all the reviews, I am wondering if they saw the same film I viewed. Simply put, this movie should have been entitled, "Don't Throw Up," due to all the bad acting, story line, special effects, etc. If there were a lower rating than one star, I would have rated that for this film. Now I understand why there were so many flies used in this movie - it's because it smelled like fresh dog crap. I am positive that this film is the worst I have seen in decades. I cannot believe Eli Roth, Henry Thomas and Reshad Strik would lend their names to this waste of celluloid. Now thank me for sparing you 98 minutes of excruciating torture...

Don't spend the money. Renting it was the scariest part about this movie. This movie was so slow. I turned it off about midway. I could not take it anymore. The acting was poor, a goofy story line, and the special effects are not any better than they where in the 70s & 80s low budget movies. "From the creator of THE RING"??? DON'T LOOK UP must have been his first movie. Don't waist your time!