Post by Mr.HoRrOr on Mar 9, 2013 2:31:42 GMT -5
Plot:Six lives are caught up in a supernatural perfect storm, as an evil threatens one of them and to tear apart the soul of a small Pennsylvania town.
Cast:
Corey Feldman
Joe Raffa
Nicole Cinaglia
David Bonner
My Thoughts:Nice try!
Review:"6 Degrees Of Hell", from filmmaker Joe Raffa, follows a group of friends plagued by a dark malevolent, sadistic, and evil force. That has its sights set on them as they go about their daily lives. Movies like this usually start off with a few cliche plot caviats. Such as the characters being your typical, obnoxious teenagers. Or sex, drugs, and debauchery being involved. In this movies case. The aforementioned cliches aren't present. Surprisingly.
These kids are more your typical hard-nosed small towners. Who just seem to have bad breaks most of the time when trying to accomplish a goal. Or move up in the world. There is however one cliche though. Which I've already mentioned. The film is set in...A SMALL TOWN. It just seems these days like movies aren't even trying to find a delicate balance between the settings of the story anymore. Now sure, you can make the argument that it's always easier to set a horror movie in a small town because well, in small towns. You can do all kinds of cool stuff with the story.
Like have monsters and ghouls run wild with no one seeing hide nor hair of them. And the local "law", dismissing everyone's claims as BS and Fantasy. But these small town monster stories are just beginning to irk me a bit. It just seems like these people can't get a damn break. Sure, small town life in "non-fiction" land is probably mostly boring. But in fiction land, can we please move one of these films to a big city setting? Or at least a medium city setting like Miami?
At any rate, this movie sets forth the plot arc of a girl being followed from "the other side". By an entity she made contact with when she was taking part in an activity originally set up to help her contact the soul of a lost loved one. Which is how these things usuall start. But hey, it's a better plot device than..."some stupid kids just screwing around with a ouija board." This, "demon". Then begins to quickly insert itself into her life. And the fact that the films lead female is "psychic"...doesn't help matters.
It seems our "netherworldly friend". Is specifically attracted to her because of her abilities. And this naturally sets in motion a scenario where everyone around her begins to suffer and die because of this entity. What's even funnier is that one of the girls friends relatives, is in the business of giving haunted attraction tours. And building haunted houses and such. So with all of these macabre vibes surrounding this girl. It makes it quite easy for this force to linger and plot its eventual escape from the other side. Into the human world. And through the girl, is how it plans to do this.
This movie has an intriguing and at times complex storyline. That works in its favor. But the budget and acting combine to drag it down a bit. The budget is obviously an indie film dollar amount. But when watching this on DVD, it's lack of major funding shows through enough to ruin some of its key scenes. This isn't as much a knock against the movie. As it is an observation. But it doesn't help the movie either because the scenes where the lack of budget come into play. Are supposed to be the movies crowning moments.
The acting isn't that terrific either. More like in-between. At times it's decent. At other times, it's quite bad. Specifically at the end. As the films finale puts forth all hell breaking loose. Literally. during a Haunted House Walk-Through. But what works for this film, is its ''Sleepaway Camp" vibe. When watching this movie, it reminded me of "Sleepaway Camp 2" and "Sleepaway Camp 3". Not in terms of story, but in terms of how it was shot. And the set pieces and all that. It had a nice indie feel, and appeal. But at times, it didn't rise to the occasion because of that very shoe-string budget.
So you kind of end up pulling for the film to really make the most of those "key" scenes. But you know it will only crack half of that bar because of small budget. In the end, both sides of the coin end up being a wash. And what shines through in "6 Degrees"...is its story. That is quite strong and intricate above the average indie slasher movie expectations. And also includes some throwback elements by having the backdrop of the story be Corey Feldman's character discussing a set of gruesome murders with a local police officer.
And by the way, on the "slasher" part of things. One of the more interesting directions of "6 Degrees". Was its decisions to go more psychological horror and demon horror, early and often. Saving most but not all, of the real slasher blood, gore, etc. For the final act. I wasn't "super impressed" with this movie. But it's certainly a nicer, more refreshing try than the standard re-hash, re-cycle, and repeat crap that comes and goes every week or other-week, on DVD.
A fresh attempt is still admirable. Even if it isn't fully pulled off to perfection. Sure this movie had flaws. But the story was well-crafted enough to make it one of the more "psychologically interesting" indie horror movies to be released into the straight-to-disc marketplace.
THE GOOD:The story is really well done. It has holes, sure. Like for example why the psychic girl didn't just try and user her powers to put back into the box. What she originally let out in the first place? Too scared I guess. But the story was cool, and a lot deeper than you'd expect. It also had some elements of potential truth to it. In terms of the interactions between "that world", and ours. All sorts of interesting theories that have been backed up by truth in past research.
THE BAD:The small town setting was too obvious and easy. Again, a small-city or medium-sized-city would've been a more outside-the-box choice. Also the acting at times hurts the picture. And its goriest moments? Are too ambitious for a budget this tiny.
OVERALL:Two and a half stars out of four.