Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Something of an acquired taste, March 11, 2008
I have seen nothing but derogatory comments about this film, but I found Shrooms to be a pretty fun little horror movie. Sure, you don't have to have eaten a Deaths Head mushroom to see prophetic visions of how the film will end, and the story doesn't exactly break new ground in terms of character development, but Shrooms does have a suspenseful moment or two and I happen to believe that the look and feel of the film (which some have decried as hopelessly bland) creates the appropriate atmosphere for the setting and the events that take place there. It's Ireland, people, not the bright and sunny beaches of Rio de Janeiro.
Forget about the whole potato business. Apparently, Ireland is all about psychedelic mushrooms. In the film, five dumb Americans have just spent tons of money to fly across the Atlantic in order to camp out deep in the woods and indulge in the hallucinogenic visions wrought by the local "magic mushrooms." Well, one of them, Tara (Lindsey Haun, who happens to bear a strong resemblance to Kirsten Dunst) came in hopes of hooking up with host Jake (Jack Huston); her four annoying friends (two stuck-up girls and their annoying boyfriends, one of whom looks like the skinny guy from Jay and Silent Bob while the other one is dumb frat boy material) tagged along for the psychedelic adventure.
Already bummed over the fact that Jake isn't paying her much attention, Tara decides to eat one of the mushrooms she finds - unfortunately, it's a Deaths Head mushroom. Supposedly, anyone who eats one of these particular shrooms - assuming he/she actually survives - gains several dark attributes, such as the ability to predict the future. Being the main character in the film, Tara naturally survives, waking up in time to hear Jake tell the others about the dark monk who terrorized and murdered a number of the kids under his charge, including a shrouded boy who poisoned him, and is said to still roam those very woods looking to kill those who would enter his domain. As you can probably guess, Tara soon begins having terrifying premonitions of her friends' violent deaths - just before those deaths actually happen. Soon all of the characters are scrambling around the woods in search of help and answers as they are picked off one by one. Tara begins seeing the dark monk seemingly stalking her, the boy in the shroud pops up a time or two, and a family of inbred hillbillies stops by to make things even more interesting.
There are some obvious parallels between Shrooms and another recent film which shall remain nameless; I only mention this because I raked that other movie over the coals for the absurdity of its ending and, in retrospect, overall approach to the entire story. A case can certainly be made that Shrooms borrows heavily from this other film - yet here, the story actually works reasonably well (aside from its predictability and lack of originality). With the characters all befuddling their minds with psychedelic mushroom delights, one can never be sure if what you are seeing is real or a hallucination. With so much wriggle room to work with, Shrooms actually turns out to be a pretty effective little horror movie, in my opinion. Did I mention there's a talking cow?
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8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
There's a fungus among us..., May 8, 2008
This was an interesting little morsel of gore and ickiness. At times whacky and crazy, over the top and sometimes unbelievable and bit weird, it wasn't the best horror movie I've seen in a while but I enjoyed it for what it had to offer. Basically a group of friends takes a trip to Ireland where they are meeting up with some guy named Jake that has bespelled Tara, our heroine. Their whole purpose of going there is to take magic mushrooms and have an experience while camping out in the middle of dark, scary woods. Everything is going all right until they settle by the camp fire and the guide spills the beans about an abandoned orphanage where mysterious hooded monks tortured bad kids and how the grounds are still haunted. Not exactly a place one wants to be with no cell phones, help out of the way, crazies living in the woods in hand made shacks and while intoxicated on fungus of all things.
The fun part of the movie was watching the mood decline and the chill take over. The haunting and the scary stores suddenly don't seem so made up anymore and when intoxicated from taking the wrong mushroom, Tara starts to see the future; her visions are nothing short of dark and horrific. At the end it's a lot of running around, screaming, trying to escape the wrath of the mysterious black shape that is keen on having them meet the maker and trying to figure out what is real and what is simply the worst trip of their whole lives. Are people dying or is it all in their imagination, you won't know until the end! There is gore and blood and strange disturbing things, but I won't spoil them, it was more fun watching it all unravel on my own.
I liked the ending; it came to a stunning conclusion although it did remind me of a certain French film I saw last year, overall not bad and mildly entertaining for a rainy afternoon. I had my likes and dislikes about it but I'm glad I got to see it.
- Kasia S.
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12 of 17 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
EGH! .....SHROOMS........ SHMOOMS!, February 2, 2008
I saw the trailer for this film on HD NET and it looked promising. I was happy to hear that I was going to get a free sneak peak showing opening night in my home on HD NET! The movie is about a group of campers who go to Ireland to do "shrooms" or "magic mushrooms"(what they were called in my day)in the woods. Having dabbled in many things in my youth, I know this is a bad, BAD idea! The films starts off like so many other horror movies going to unfamiliar surroundings to party and have sex, then tell a scary story to freak everyone out before going to bed. Lots of cliché's fill this watch-able but, ultimately forgettable horror film. I did like the ending a little, as it seemed to make this all seem possible. If you see it coming on cable you might want to give it a look but, it's nothing special just a time waster.
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