When I randomly select my movies for Bloody Streaming Roulette, there is a method to my madness. There are films that obviously, I have seen on these streaming services. So, if by chance I land on one I have seen, i.e. Wyrmwood (2014), Hellbound: Hellraiser II (1988), I immediately re-spin. Fingers crossed I have yet to land on a film I have already reviewed for BSR. Boils and ghouls, I do it this way because it keeps the allure of blind choice alive. The true spirit of the game of chance. I don’t want the randomness of this game clouded by taking the easy way out and reviewing something I have seen before.
Enough rigmarole…
SPIN THAT SHIT!
Let’s Be Evil (2016)
We find ourselves in the near future, where society is collapsing. Education funding is being cut at a break neck pace, leaving most children behind. Feeling the downfall of our society eminent, a secret group has created a safe haven for educating America’s elite. Where these children can learn, while not being distracted by the worlds’ problems, in an underground facility. Recruited to chaperone these children in their educational adventure are three young co-eds. The trick is, everything must be seen through these 3-D style glasses that create an augmented reality. If you take the glasses off, there is nothing to be seen but darkness. Everything is going swimmingly; the children are automatons of education. Zombies of input. That is, until weird occurrences begin to happen. Children start disappearing and reappearing out of thin air. Alarms randomly go off, creating immediate tension with the chaperones. One of the children, is not like the others, Cassandra. She is the highest level in her class but doesn’t seem to adhere to the automaton schedule as the others.
The opening sequence was amazingly well done. A wild scene culminating with a young child, covered in blood. I was hooked. I immediately thought this was going to be a great film. But then the movie started. Once our protagonists got to the facility everything grinded to a halt. Although it’s an intriguing idea, this film really dropped its pace pulse to near flatline levels. Since everyone must wear the 3D glasses to augment the reality of the facility, this film is basically a POV flick. The POV wasn’t the issue, that was actually well done. It was the dreadful pace that weighed this one down and considering this film clocks in under the 90-minute mark, that is not a good thing. Finally, at the 60-minute mark we begin to see what is going on. Without spoiling, the story was not very surprising.
This film had so much going for it. It really could’ve been a sci-fi horror masterpiece, had it not been so goddamn dull. Dragged down by needless dialogue. Lack of body count and lack of well, HORROR. The acting was mediocre and honestly, I only cared about one of the characters. I’ve really only bashed one of the films I’ve reviewed for the Syndicate, 2015’s #horror. Let’s Be Evil is exceptionally better than #horror, but missed the mark on so many levels. Don’t get me wrong, it is still worth a watch. It was very tense the last 20 minutes of the film.
But don’t expect too much, because you will undoubtedly be disappointed.
I think it’s worth a watch, but where do we stand?
Well folks, my winning streak has come to an end.
IMDB: 5.3/10
ZombiSurvivor: 5.4/10 – pretty much agree.
As always, thanks for reading my jibber jabber!
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-ZS
