Customer Reviews

The Wind

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(7)

 

 

Ok, so the movie starts out with an interesting introduction which has absoloutley nothing to do with the rest of the movie. In short, the writing is uninspired and painfully dull; the acting looks like something you'd see coming from a high school drama class; the camera work manages to take the cliche b-movie camera work made popular in such films as "Army of Darkness," where an makes it nauseating, boring, inimaginative and genuinely bad; the characters have even less depth then you're average Saturday morning cartoons, and the story is so painfully terrible that simply watching it is a draining and genuinely unpleasant experience. Regardless of how short the movie may be, it seems to drag on forever. Do not buy this movie, honestly you shouldn't even waste the two bucks that it would take to rent this terrible movie. It is not worth the film that it is printed on. If you are unfortunate enough to see this movie, I am truly sorry, you have just wasted an hour an a half of your life and are now stupider for having watched this movie. I bid you all good day.

Cordially yours,
an honest reviewer

I saw this film awhile ago but remember it pretty clearly. I would have to categorize it as a "nice try". It definitely has a visual style and a kind of ominous undertone but the weakness of the script hurts it immeasurably. The characters are one dimensional and hollow and their actions have no basis in reality. It seems to be merely an excercise in style. If something like this is what you're after, check out Danny Boyle's Shallow Grave.

and PS, what's with the ballot stuffing? These reviews all sound like they came right out of a press release.

Words that describe this movie: amateurish, boring, dull, ridiculous, pointless, poor dialogue, etc. Eventually I wondered why I was wasting so much time watching, so I started fast forwarding though it. Then even THAT was sucking up too much of my life, so I stopped watching. Don't waste your time or money on this one. High school drama students could have done a better job. And it's obvious that those earlier reviews, which all praised the movie and were spaced within a few days of each other, were planted. A movie worth watching does not need people posting false reviews to get others to watch or buy or rent it. A movie worth watching will stand on its own, which this movie does not.

This is quite possibly the worst film. Ever. The acting was dramatically chiche and just plain BAD. The director was attempting artful Quentin Tarantino-like shots, but completely missed. And the soundtrack? I think it happened like this: "Hey guys, I have a friend who has this keyboard and he could totally score this movie if we gave him 15 bucks."
And the whole, "If you don't like The Wind, you totally don't get it" thing doesn't hold water. The script is completely unengaging besides the fact that it doesn't even much sense. So, if you like, rent or buy this movie if you don't mind paying good $$ to waste 2 hours of your life that you will never get back.

To get to the point, THE WIND is just that---a big gust of emptiness, illogical writing, inept acting and imaginative but uninspired direction. After starting off with the apocalyptic wrath of the wind, the movie shows us typical teenage stereotypes doing typically stereotypical things. A real waste of time and/or money. Don't bother.

This is the single-worst movie I have ever had the misfortune of watching. It is not horrifying, it is not compelling. It is not intelligent. I find it very hard to believe that the good reviews are legitimate. The movie stars out with an interesting introduction, and then turns into a high-school-film-class quality production. there is no story to speak of, the acting was bad, the directing was bad, the editing was terrible. Certain scenes were remarkably drawn out into unbearable torture (the scene with the female character loping gaily through a field, for example). Yeah, I "get" the point of the movie. You don't have to be an Einstein to figure out that Mongillo was aiming toward some kind of Lord of the Flies psyche piece, but it fails miserably.
I will now risk being cliched and say, "The Wind Blows!"

Young people commit murder in a woods. They start acting strange. Chick gets heavy breathing phone calls. Many Meaningful Looks are exchanged.
What does it all mean? You'll lose an hour and a half of a life that you'll never get back if you watch this yawnfest. That's what it means.

A group of "friends" use the flimsiest of excuses to gang up on and punish one of their own.

Something interesting could have developed from this premise. It could have given the writer/director scope to make a commentary on man's inherently violent nature. It could at least have riffed on the theme of one of Shirley Jackson's famous horror stories. In that typically subtle story, a woman is shocked to find that whenever she mentions her dog's minor misbehavior to one of her neighbors, that neighbor, with all too much relish, launches into some increasingly sadistic suggestions on how to correct the dog. "You could tie it up and get this pepper spray, and then..."

For just a moment, it looked as if this movie was going to head in that direction, expanding on the idea of what a thin veneer of decency most of us maintain. And under that - bloodlust. But too bad, "The Wind" doesn't explore that theme. It almost immediately reveals that what's underneath its veneer of presumption as a professional movie - is just a hopeless, meaningless mishmash.

And in fact, the movie usually doesn't even maintain a veneer of professionalism. For example, when the characters stand in a meadow clearing, ringed by trees, the narrator remarks on how a strong wind is blowing, stirring everything. But what we see is the most perfectly static landscape you could image. Not a leaf is moving even a hair's breath anywhere. They should have waited until there was at least a breeze - a wafting - something, before they shot that scene.

There is one shot that I think by sheer accident is striking. The friends are seen walking away in eerie synchronicity, like a silent pack on the prowl. But other than that shot, this movie is a pale, cold bowl of oatmeal. I don't say it's absolutely worthless. But I suggest you use it as a last resort, if it's the only movie you have, it's past midnight, and all the rental stores are closed.

First of all, to compare this movie to a classic like Lord of the Flies is like comparing Britney Spears to Vivaldi, so let's get that straight right off the bat. This is no Lord of the Flies. It's not even The Lords of Flatbush. And this "if you don't like it you didn't get it" is another good try, clearly from mostly "plant" reviewers who have some connection to the film or are championing it for ulterior motives, but also does not wash. This is hardly the stuff of deep intellectualism, so let's all stop pretending it is. Look at the primal way humans behave when all pretense is stripped away! How shocking! Let's just file that one in the "Been Done Eight Thousand Times Before, and Done Better" file. This isn't anything new or insightful. Hardly. The fact that ANYONE would even mention this movie in the same breath as Lord of the Flies or Weir's Picnic at Hanging Rock is absurd. The film itself is fairly well done, the directing competent and at times quite stylish. The acting comes and goes. Zeke Rippy is actually quite good and by far the most skilled actor in the film. Scott Parrish has an undeniable presence but is just such a studied and awful actor it ruins whatever else he has going on for him. Carolyn Camburn tries to do Veronica Lake-cool here (I'm probably giving her waaay too much credit on that one) but pretty much comes off like a corpse. Being subtle is a good thing (particularly in a film like this where everything is usually over the top), but someone should explain to Ms. Camburn that being in a coma is not the same thing as being cool and aloof. It requires far more talent, depth of understanding and wit than she brings to the role. With the exception of Joanna Bonaro (who is actually quite good in a small role), none of the other actors are even remotely memorable or worth mentioning in any meaningful context. Essentially, what you have here is a very good try from a director who clearly has some talent as a director. The salient word there is "director." He needs to stop writing immediately because the writing here is beyond bad. With more competent writing, a stronger script and overall better acting, THE WIND could have been something terrific, even possibly something as deep and exciting as it's pretending to be now. I hope we haven't heard the last of director Michael Mongillo, as I think he displays tremendous potential here. But that's what it is: potential. At one point in the "extras" section, Mongillo talks about a certain shot that goes on a long while and is quite well done. He says some people thought it went on too long and criticized it, but that if Martin Scorcese had done it everyone would be talking about how brilliant it was. Mr. Mongillo, the reason people talk about how brilliant Scorcese is, is because he IS brilliant and has a bevy of brilliant films to prove it. Go back and watch his films again. They have characters and depth, not just style and guys that look like Gap model rejects trying to act tough in a forest setting. Finally, as small, very low budget independent films go, THE WIND is NOT awful--don't get me wrong, it has its good moments and does have a lot going for it. It's a very good try, but come on, Lord of the Flies? Sure, and MTV is PBS.

I found this movie very funny!! It is horror, yes? It is sexy, yes? It is good! Friends kill friend in forest with big stick and bury in leafs. Their weak love soon tears apart! Tale of caution, no? Be careful how kill friend...you never know!! Side node: Resident Evil 2 is best video game I play forever. It features big in movie. Very good!