49 reviews
This movie is more of an acquired taste, than anything else. You'll either love it for its refreshing take on this genre or hate it for making you feel left out.
The other reviews pretty much covered everything, so I'll make this short and simple: The story requires your undivided attention. If you miss a second of it, you may not "get" what it's all about.
The actors are actually very good. Surprised me, really, in their intensity. Their emotions were almost palpable.
My only "complaint" is that the "entity" itself had too little a role, and its appearance too subtle for cinematic effect.
Nevertheless, it's a movie I would recommend.
The other reviews pretty much covered everything, so I'll make this short and simple: The story requires your undivided attention. If you miss a second of it, you may not "get" what it's all about.
The actors are actually very good. Surprised me, really, in their intensity. Their emotions were almost palpable.
My only "complaint" is that the "entity" itself had too little a role, and its appearance too subtle for cinematic effect.
Nevertheless, it's a movie I would recommend.
- Christine_Plymouth_Fury1958
- Apr 5, 2012
- Permalink
Well, definitely liked the way that this movie started out. It had a bit of mystery with a kid psyching out, and with the illusion of a possible crime being committed. But, the film had a lot of slow moments to it, especially right after the first five minutes. It dragged a bit to long at times, and it bored me quickly. Once all of the friends got together out in the country, I felt like the characters were disjointed and acted more like they just met, rather than supposedly being best friends since high school. Fast forward to about the last 30 minutes of the film. This is where it just seemed a bit odd to me, and I didn't particularly like that portion of it. I felt that I knew where they were trying to go with it, but to me, it didn't quite get there. I could definitely identify with the "crazy" character, but again, what was reality and what wasn't? I don't know if parts of the film was supposed to be some sort of reconciliation, or was it mere punishment. I didn't hate the movie, but I didn't quite like it either.
- glennspillman
- Feb 12, 2017
- Permalink
The Good: With the exception of one actor, the acting was generally believable. The cinematography was decent overall.
The Bad: A dragging 30-minute exposition that could have been accomplished in 5 minutes or less. This is a movie not a novel; don't dialog us to death. As time went on I felt my interest in the characters decrease exponentially which, I imagine, stood in opposition to the director's intent. Ultimately, however, it's difficult to tell exactly what the director was going for. Regardless, the exposition never took me anywhere emotionally, and that left me with a "who cares" feeling that persisted throughout the majority of the movie.
Character believability also had issues. Without giving too much away, I thought the characters' reactions to the corridor seemed unrealistic. However, I fault the script more than the actors for this. Arguably, though, their reactions could be attributed to the affects of the corridor itself, which would be consistent with the "plot." Nonetheless, it made for awkward viewing and I found myself silently begging the director, "get to the point."
Additionally, there are episodes of violence in this movie that were unpalatable. Mind you, I'm a horror fan and can tolerate a fair share of gore. It would be incorrect to call the violence "gratuitous," because I think the violence was necessary for the director to get where he wanted to go. The problem was, the place he went was not fun, exciting, new, or even that interesting.
The Ugly: The "hair" and makeup. I mean, wow. It's not often makeup has a hand in sinking a movie, but when you see the bald character in the beginning of the movie you will understand my point. It was so bad I think it skewed my impression of his acting ability. I've read others comment about the special effects. I didn't expect much in this area so it wasn't as big of a deal for me. If you're a stickler for good special effects, you might find yourself frustrated.
Overall this movie felt like a bumbled attempt to stitch Dreamcatcher and Donnie Darko together and call it "art" under the guise of a psychological thriller. The thing about psychological thrillers, however, is that you have to get the viewer psychologically invested. This is where The Corridor failed.
The Bad: A dragging 30-minute exposition that could have been accomplished in 5 minutes or less. This is a movie not a novel; don't dialog us to death. As time went on I felt my interest in the characters decrease exponentially which, I imagine, stood in opposition to the director's intent. Ultimately, however, it's difficult to tell exactly what the director was going for. Regardless, the exposition never took me anywhere emotionally, and that left me with a "who cares" feeling that persisted throughout the majority of the movie.
Character believability also had issues. Without giving too much away, I thought the characters' reactions to the corridor seemed unrealistic. However, I fault the script more than the actors for this. Arguably, though, their reactions could be attributed to the affects of the corridor itself, which would be consistent with the "plot." Nonetheless, it made for awkward viewing and I found myself silently begging the director, "get to the point."
Additionally, there are episodes of violence in this movie that were unpalatable. Mind you, I'm a horror fan and can tolerate a fair share of gore. It would be incorrect to call the violence "gratuitous," because I think the violence was necessary for the director to get where he wanted to go. The problem was, the place he went was not fun, exciting, new, or even that interesting.
The Ugly: The "hair" and makeup. I mean, wow. It's not often makeup has a hand in sinking a movie, but when you see the bald character in the beginning of the movie you will understand my point. It was so bad I think it skewed my impression of his acting ability. I've read others comment about the special effects. I didn't expect much in this area so it wasn't as big of a deal for me. If you're a stickler for good special effects, you might find yourself frustrated.
Overall this movie felt like a bumbled attempt to stitch Dreamcatcher and Donnie Darko together and call it "art" under the guise of a psychological thriller. The thing about psychological thrillers, however, is that you have to get the viewer psychologically invested. This is where The Corridor failed.
- suburbandit
- May 31, 2013
- Permalink
- BA_Harrison
- Dec 12, 2014
- Permalink
- FlashCallahan
- Apr 18, 2013
- Permalink
Almost didn't see this one because of the horrible reviews I kept seeing. After watching I realized that I was entertained. The nay-sayers on this one either don't like horror, or don't like sci-fi. If your one who obsessively scans for plot holes, and constantly pointing out the this would never happen in real life, etc, etc, you probably shouldn't watch this movie. In fact you probably shouldn't watch most movies because none of them will ever stand up to your standards as movie are in fact not real life at all. Final thoughts: if you're into tripped out sci fi horror you might like this movie.
Lovely yours, Simeon
Lovely yours, Simeon
- simeonjeppsen
- Apr 5, 2012
- Permalink
- lagudafuad
- Apr 5, 2012
- Permalink
This movie is not for hard core horror or sci fi fans.
This is not your typical horror/sci-fi, as evidenced by some reviewers complaining that this movie was "boring". I have to disagree! It wasn't boring to me, but it isn't really a horror/sci fi either.
As for me, I appreciate and like a story that takes time to allow us to get to know the characters and has a slow burn while increasing tension.
The acting was very well done. And I grew to like and enjoy this group of friends. This story had a Stephan King, feel, to it for me. (His earlier works) I believe this was more of a drama with supernatural flavors, rather then any other category. (There was a bit of blood and violence at the end. Just not much)
The sci fi part of it was realistically based and was simply but effectively portrayed. It made me really think about possibilities!! It is a very well done movie, just put into wrong categories. Reviewers are expecting different genras. Thus, IMO, the lower ratings.
With-in 40 minutes of the movie, we have a solid foundation of the characters and an indication of what the main character is experiencing. And the pace sped up from there.
I thought it was a worthy watch, and recommend it to viewers who don't need a lot of action or gore to be interested and entertained.
This is not your typical horror/sci-fi, as evidenced by some reviewers complaining that this movie was "boring". I have to disagree! It wasn't boring to me, but it isn't really a horror/sci fi either.
As for me, I appreciate and like a story that takes time to allow us to get to know the characters and has a slow burn while increasing tension.
The acting was very well done. And I grew to like and enjoy this group of friends. This story had a Stephan King, feel, to it for me. (His earlier works) I believe this was more of a drama with supernatural flavors, rather then any other category. (There was a bit of blood and violence at the end. Just not much)
The sci fi part of it was realistically based and was simply but effectively portrayed. It made me really think about possibilities!! It is a very well done movie, just put into wrong categories. Reviewers are expecting different genras. Thus, IMO, the lower ratings.
With-in 40 minutes of the movie, we have a solid foundation of the characters and an indication of what the main character is experiencing. And the pace sped up from there.
I thought it was a worthy watch, and recommend it to viewers who don't need a lot of action or gore to be interested and entertained.
- tdwillis-26273
- Aug 5, 2017
- Permalink
Otherwise you might start watching The Corridor. The front cover looks genuinely well-made, with a real creepy atmosphere. How wrong it can be. Despite the intriguing visual art, the film is pretty dull.
It plays out like Stephen King's 'Dreamcatcher,' only not as good (and Dreamcatcher was pretty maligned!). Four (or was if five?) friends go to a mountain cabin to bond (or something, it doesn't really matter). There, one of them starts finding a wibbly-wobbly area of the surrounding woods that looks nothing like a corridor, yet that's what they call it. This wibbly-wobbly bit gives them all nosebleeds. Carnage follows.
However, what little carnage there is (and one particularly impressive gore scene) comes woefully too late. The characters are simply too dull to care about, which is a shame, as the actors do a decent job of portraying them (if you can excuse the worst 'bald' man's head ever to hit the screen).
The acting is not the problem, it's just the flow. The first two thirds are basically the guys sitting around discussing their problems. Most people will have already condemned the film before it kicks off. Then, when it finally gets going, you may enjoy the final third, but it's a hell of a long road to travel just for the pay-off.
If you liked Dreamcatcher, stick to it. If you didn't, you probably won't like this either!
It plays out like Stephen King's 'Dreamcatcher,' only not as good (and Dreamcatcher was pretty maligned!). Four (or was if five?) friends go to a mountain cabin to bond (or something, it doesn't really matter). There, one of them starts finding a wibbly-wobbly area of the surrounding woods that looks nothing like a corridor, yet that's what they call it. This wibbly-wobbly bit gives them all nosebleeds. Carnage follows.
However, what little carnage there is (and one particularly impressive gore scene) comes woefully too late. The characters are simply too dull to care about, which is a shame, as the actors do a decent job of portraying them (if you can excuse the worst 'bald' man's head ever to hit the screen).
The acting is not the problem, it's just the flow. The first two thirds are basically the guys sitting around discussing their problems. Most people will have already condemned the film before it kicks off. Then, when it finally gets going, you may enjoy the final third, but it's a hell of a long road to travel just for the pay-off.
If you liked Dreamcatcher, stick to it. If you didn't, you probably won't like this either!
- bowmanblue
- Dec 15, 2014
- Permalink
The Corridor is an interesting film as horror films go. Even as a small film it is undeniable that it is a creature of ambitious efforts. Fortunately, these efforts pay off to the tune of delivering the audience a disturbing and rare portrayal of what happens when the extraordinary brings out the unusual and ultimately the worst in a group of friends whose circle is dangerously close to splintering from very real pressures of the earthly kind.
The Corridor follows 5 men whose boyhood friendships have persisted into adulthood and who individually are still struggling to find their places in the grown-up world. Their roles are further questioned when a member of the group, Tyler (Stephen Chambers), loses his mother under suspicious circumstances that leaves Chris (David Patrick Fleming) injured and questioning the sanity of his life-long friend.
In an effort to reconnect and help Tyler in the emotionally grueling process of laying his mother's ashes to rest, the 5 men decide to plan a boys' retreat to the cabin they spent so much time in in their youths. Tyler, grappling with his dementia (an aftershock of the ordeal with his mother) makes a discovery in the woods that will threaten the sanity and the lives of the rest of the group.
The real terror in The Corridor is more subversive than the obvious antagonist and the depth of the film's themes skirt on the edges of such cult favorites as Fight Club, Donnie Darko and some of Lynch's more surreal efforts. The threat isn't so much the enigmatic force in the woods as it is the enigma that is silently killing the group from the inside: Who are you when you lack purpose? How do we define ourselves in a world that denies us definition? It is the the corridor itself that empowers the group and seems only to magnify their own personal problems into full blown psychosis.
Although this might seem a little heady for the casual watcher, TC speaks to those of us who saw our role models revealed as villains, saw our fathers too humanized to remain out heroes and ultimately left us in a world without warrior poets looking forward to jobs we despise and positions in life that rarely treat us with any real moments of fulfillment. It is this alarmingly emotional character study of the group that elevates the Corridor to a film that actually surpasses its intent. For the horror fan The Corridor delivers some truly disturbing scenes of torture and madness driven degradation that sticks with you long after the credits begin to roll. It is in these moments that we see a group of actors that have struck their rhythm and deliver on all levels of the script, from the intense loss and longing to the stark insanity that characterizes the latter half of the picture. Director Evan Kelly has hit the ground running and I for one am eagerly looking forward to his next effort.
Highly recommended.
The Corridor follows 5 men whose boyhood friendships have persisted into adulthood and who individually are still struggling to find their places in the grown-up world. Their roles are further questioned when a member of the group, Tyler (Stephen Chambers), loses his mother under suspicious circumstances that leaves Chris (David Patrick Fleming) injured and questioning the sanity of his life-long friend.
In an effort to reconnect and help Tyler in the emotionally grueling process of laying his mother's ashes to rest, the 5 men decide to plan a boys' retreat to the cabin they spent so much time in in their youths. Tyler, grappling with his dementia (an aftershock of the ordeal with his mother) makes a discovery in the woods that will threaten the sanity and the lives of the rest of the group.
The real terror in The Corridor is more subversive than the obvious antagonist and the depth of the film's themes skirt on the edges of such cult favorites as Fight Club, Donnie Darko and some of Lynch's more surreal efforts. The threat isn't so much the enigmatic force in the woods as it is the enigma that is silently killing the group from the inside: Who are you when you lack purpose? How do we define ourselves in a world that denies us definition? It is the the corridor itself that empowers the group and seems only to magnify their own personal problems into full blown psychosis.
Although this might seem a little heady for the casual watcher, TC speaks to those of us who saw our role models revealed as villains, saw our fathers too humanized to remain out heroes and ultimately left us in a world without warrior poets looking forward to jobs we despise and positions in life that rarely treat us with any real moments of fulfillment. It is this alarmingly emotional character study of the group that elevates the Corridor to a film that actually surpasses its intent. For the horror fan The Corridor delivers some truly disturbing scenes of torture and madness driven degradation that sticks with you long after the credits begin to roll. It is in these moments that we see a group of actors that have struck their rhythm and deliver on all levels of the script, from the intense loss and longing to the stark insanity that characterizes the latter half of the picture. Director Evan Kelly has hit the ground running and I for one am eagerly looking forward to his next effort.
Highly recommended.
- info-347-916579
- Apr 16, 2012
- Permalink
- rabbitpack
- Sep 18, 2019
- Permalink
- The_Dead_See
- Aug 18, 2012
- Permalink
- doorsscorpywag
- Apr 4, 2012
- Permalink
Honestly, I'm not sure why anyone gave this movie any sort of positive review. The only reason I've given it more than 1 star was for the acting of the actor who plays "Ev" (curly hair). Not even going to bother looking up his name.
Okay, this movie is REALLY not good, you guys. It COULD have been good, but the story had far too many unexplained nonsense going on. One reviewer suggested that we DO learn about what the Corridor really is... yeah, no. No, you don't. And you'll want to prove me wrong by finding the lines in the movie--and by quoting them directly--that actually explain what's really going on. Oh, wait, there aren't any. They SUGGEST some garbage that never really makes sense, and there is literally NO NO NO upshot to any of this.
I can't imagine why anyone would suggest that this movie is "mind blowing" or otherwise makes you think--no, sorry, it does not. It forced me to wrack my brain to figure out what the crap was going on (and not in the good way), but otherwise... it had no insights into human existence, mental disease, friendship, loneliness, meaningless, etc. If you think this movie was "mind blowing, whoa, man!!!!" then you're clearly uneducated. You probably also think that The Matrix is life-altering--and you've clearly never taken a basic Philosophy 101 class in college either.
Seriously, there are a MILLION other b-horror flicks to watch that are actually "diamonds in the rough," hidden gems worth your time. Oh my god, this is NOT one of them. So angry with you positive reviewers; you need to stop reviewing things IMMEDIATELY.
Okay, this movie is REALLY not good, you guys. It COULD have been good, but the story had far too many unexplained nonsense going on. One reviewer suggested that we DO learn about what the Corridor really is... yeah, no. No, you don't. And you'll want to prove me wrong by finding the lines in the movie--and by quoting them directly--that actually explain what's really going on. Oh, wait, there aren't any. They SUGGEST some garbage that never really makes sense, and there is literally NO NO NO upshot to any of this.
I can't imagine why anyone would suggest that this movie is "mind blowing" or otherwise makes you think--no, sorry, it does not. It forced me to wrack my brain to figure out what the crap was going on (and not in the good way), but otherwise... it had no insights into human existence, mental disease, friendship, loneliness, meaningless, etc. If you think this movie was "mind blowing, whoa, man!!!!" then you're clearly uneducated. You probably also think that The Matrix is life-altering--and you've clearly never taken a basic Philosophy 101 class in college either.
Seriously, there are a MILLION other b-horror flicks to watch that are actually "diamonds in the rough," hidden gems worth your time. Oh my god, this is NOT one of them. So angry with you positive reviewers; you need to stop reviewing things IMMEDIATELY.
I am a movie buff, and for me not to like a movie it must SUCK!! My husband and I LOVE horror films, we wasted 45 minutes of our life before turning this movie OFF!!! First I looked at the reviews as I always do and decided by the reviews it seemed like it would be a good movie, but as I watch this movie I think what in the world were the people reviewing this movie watching, cause it sure wasn't this movie!! This movie was absolutely awful, it never picks up, it is very boring, no horror in it at all, at least not in the 45 minutes I watched of it and that is waaaaaayyyyyy to long to wait to see some horror in a supposed to be horror film!! Do not waste your time!!!!!
- bettyboop-walkerbrown
- Jul 1, 2012
- Permalink
I can't think of the last time I saw anything this bizarre. The script must surely have been written by a genuine schizophrenic - parts of it are too idiosyncratic to be anything other than autobiographical and other parts of it are too strange to have any meaning beyond the context to the author's own delusions. There must be an endless number of scripts out there that are equally weird, produced daily by schizophrenics in mental hospitals all over the world. Here is one however, that someone decided to straight up make into a movie. I mean I don't know that this was the case but that's certainly what it appears to be.
There are however some genuinely scary moments amongst the bad acting and contrived scenes. For example - when the mother starts doing sign language on a loop on the video. The best bits of this movie (and they were very few) reminded me of "the Atrocity Exhibition". Check it out if you like unmitigated weirdness.
There are however some genuinely scary moments amongst the bad acting and contrived scenes. For example - when the mother starts doing sign language on a loop on the video. The best bits of this movie (and they were very few) reminded me of "the Atrocity Exhibition". Check it out if you like unmitigated weirdness.
- paigekristiina
- Aug 10, 2012
- Permalink
- FountainPen
- Feb 6, 2018
- Permalink
First off, once I realized the opening music was by the Great Lake Swimmers, I realized I was watching a Canadian flick and very keen. Overall I was not disappointed. Acting was fair to good for the most part. The story itself was somewhat unique and each character had sufficient personal baggage to keep things interesting.
Here are my pros/cons
Pros: not your typical story, Setting was excellent (nothing like a real snowy landscape to add an air of realism), Dialogue for the most part was well written, nice little scare scene when watching the video tape, Some not anticipated brutality
Cons; confusing ending, possibly meant to be that way, The jock's balding scalp. Come on, this was ridiculous. When we first see him about to come out of his house I actually truly thought he was wearing a cheap Halloween fake bald head. I thought maybe it was a joke, but evidently not. It is hands down the worst make up blunder I've seen, quite obvious this guy had a full head of hair.
So, playing off the Great Lake Swimmers soundtrack against the worst fake bald head ever, I give this movie a 5.
Here are my pros/cons
Pros: not your typical story, Setting was excellent (nothing like a real snowy landscape to add an air of realism), Dialogue for the most part was well written, nice little scare scene when watching the video tape, Some not anticipated brutality
Cons; confusing ending, possibly meant to be that way, The jock's balding scalp. Come on, this was ridiculous. When we first see him about to come out of his house I actually truly thought he was wearing a cheap Halloween fake bald head. I thought maybe it was a joke, but evidently not. It is hands down the worst make up blunder I've seen, quite obvious this guy had a full head of hair.
So, playing off the Great Lake Swimmers soundtrack against the worst fake bald head ever, I give this movie a 5.