Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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12 of 12 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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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Badger, badger, badger, badger, MUSHROOM! MUSHROOM!, October 16, 2008
Six attractive twenty-somethings decide to visit Ireland for a weekend of drug-induced fun. During the first day of foraging, Tara accidentally ingests a bad mushroom and does not get bigger or get an extra life; she's a heroine on heroin. She makes the same mistake as the guy from Into the Wild: she ate something bad. Hey, Vanilla Ice tried to warn her; it's a poisonous mushroom. She bit into a "Death's Head Fungi", a heart-exploding portal to another dimension that is purported to cause uncontrollable ferocity, and the ability of premonition and communication with the dead. How was she supposed to know? What's the difference between the bad one and the good one? A black dot. Good luck finding the speck after you've already taken hits that have you thinking you're a badger who can see singing snakes.
After the hallucinations begin, Jake tells the story of a sadistic monk who terrorized and beat children. A few feral kids didn't like his brutal ways, and decided to get back at him by putting a bunch of Death's Head mushrooms into his soup. The result, of course, was a homicidal maniac who executed everyone in sight. Undeterred by the story, the rest get higher than a kite. Soon thereafter, people go missing and the viewer doesn't know where to separate reality from insanity. Keeping with horror movie tradition, while being chased by silhouettes in the forest the kids continue tripping. Two characters get hit in the head with rocks - stoned. Ba-dum-cha!
As for the characters, I'd say one "actor" udders the best line of the entire film: "You know you're fu*#ed. Dead fu*&ed." It's hilariously unnecessary, and foreshadowing for a movie that's easier to predict than a sunrise.
Overall, this movie is a bit half-baked. The actors are somewhat convincing in their terror, but the visions seemed too similar to "The Ring" for my tastes. Although, there were definite hallucinations and paranoia happening. At one point I could swear I saw some massive cleavage and good acting. Oh, wait, I saw both. It's worthwhile for some interesting visuals and a fresh angle, but it's not ground-breaking by any means.
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