Don't Blink (2014) Reviews

• Definitely Different, Frustrating but Enjoyable

  okiecrabjp2015-11-08

  I enjoy "different" horror movies. I'm not interested in torture porn and gore and people getting chopped up. I want something INTERESTING, whether it's Lovecraft or weird time travel or alternate dimension or thought-created nightmare stalkers - there has got to be a "WHOAH!" for me to enjoy horror movies. This movie was one of those, with the caveat that, though I won't spoil the ending, if you loathe movies that leave some lingering but relevant questions, you may not cotton to this film. But like me, if you can separate this "style" of movie-making, which I've seen some just call "lazy", the actual progress of the people and actions in the film were compelling and it is definitely a mystery type horror movie, though not a room-to-room-magnifying-glass type. If you saw and liked Coherence and I see people are comparing this to Phantoms (I haven't seen that yet, somehow), or if you like the "unknown/invisible", creeping ominous threat movies like Mr. Jones or Resolution, I think you may enjoy this film. I'm not saying it's perfect - there's a good amount of irritation at a few of the way things go down or people behave, that I felt kept it from being more fluid, and while the acting is by and large at least decent and believable, there are some boneheaded decisions - but not like most horror movies, at least not as frequent - it really doesn't get a chance to build to that level before the horror is in play. I did like the dialogue for one of the characters, who was a modern sci-fi and horror movie type that was constantly referring to what was going on as something from Stephen King or aliens or zombies or "the spirit of an ancient Indian burial ground", which made me laugh - he seemed the most "real", well, until later, but that's not germane to the point. Anyway, a lot of people on forums and other sites are giving this a really low rating, and while, for the overall and idea of a complete story, I can kinda see why... I still think what there IS there is good and different and not anything close to "usual horror movie stuff". I would have given it an 8/10, but I had to stop at 7 because of the unsatisfying or at least not well-enough intimated ending, because I agree with some people that say the "figure out what YOU think it means" is one thing, an artist can't show you a pristine, untouched canvas and say "just IMAGINE the awesome picture YOU want there!".

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• Decent Film With One Huge Flaw

  HorrorOverEverything2014-09-26

  I watched the trailer for "Don't Blink" and was instantly intrigued. I really enjoy suspenseful mystery movies and this looked like it would be a lot of fun, however I came out being pretty disappointed. So the film starts out looking like your average run of the mill slasher movie. Happy song plays as we are introduced to a group of friends on a trip together. However once things get going it is clear that this is not a slasher movie, since there is no killer and people aren't being killed, they are just disappearing. The group freaks out as they are picked off one by one by nothing. I remained interested in the film mainly because I figured eventually we would find out where everyone was going and why they were disappearing in the first place, but we don't. That's my main beef with this movie, it leads up to absolutely nothing. The whole thing is literally nothing but people disappearing. Imagine a slasher movie with all the good parts taken out. I really wanted to like this movie, but the ending made that really hard. But with all the negative aside, I have to admit I was entertained throughout. The ending left me upset but the rest did manage to hold my attention. 5/10

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• I will watch it again

  billinwest2016-05-16

  *** Spoiler Alert *** I'm a huge Twilight Zone fan, so the bizarre and off-key are appealing. I've read a few theories here (I appreciate how passionate people are about movies, and the thoughts presented in this forum)... The 666 PPP license plate (which I did catch). PPP being 6 upside down potentially representing Good. Noah, drinking water out of the trunk of his car. Didn't it seem like there was something in Noah's trunk based on his long gaze--or was it just a bad film edit? There is one theory about Noah, and all the animals are gone with the "ark", though I'm not behind that story because Noah ends up disappearing. I do wonder why they didn't search Noah's pockets for any clues--seems like a reasonable thing to do before you start shooting someone. The alien child, who is having fun with the humans, playing with them (there is actually an old Star Trek episode that has this plot as well). I find this theory entertaining -- though, the writers left no hint whatsoever of any alien presence. The "Help Me", "Dont Blink" messages and the noose tend to slant away from an alien influence, IMHO. I really like the theory about they all died in a car accident and one by one had to prepare to move on to the whatever was next. It ties in nicely with the fire engine because if you think about it, the authorities probably would have sent several fast police cruisers to respond to that 911 call. Not a lumbering fire engine that would have to navigate back roads. The fire engine would have showed up later. But - if it were a massive crash, a fire engine would most likely be among the first respondents. So here is a summary of our clues: 666 PPP The frozen lake with a boat, fishing rod at the ready, no fisherman "Help Me" "Dont Blink" "Noose" It snows though nobody remembers snow (this was probably due to filming over multiple days) Disappearing blood trails "I don't blink" from the MIB (nice touch BTW). I'm going with they died in a crash, and had to work their way to the next step in the process. The cabin was a "holding ground" for them to work their way out. The weird "clues" were just strange reflections from the group as they worked there way through the "on- boarding" process to wherever they were each going next. Remember Tracy was apparently a really good person, and some of the other characters not so much -- so there is a strong feeling of "Good" and "Evil". I think the MIB were brought in to clean up whatever was left of the ordeal. Who remembers: "Going my way?" from Twilight Zone? Anyway - I would be pleasantly surprised if they released a sequel and proved me completely wrong!

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• An Amateurish B-Movie Lacking Focus & Closure

  ArdentViewer2014-12-22

  In writing some recent reviews of horror/suspense films, I feel like it's deja vu all over again. As I've said before, I can deal with clichéd beginnings and loose connections, as long as the film goes somewhere interesting and leaves me either satisfied or intrigued at the finish. "Don't Blink" failed even my lenient criteria. I am going to preemptively try to counter some of the usual arguments – I like movies that are more psychological in nature, I don't expect/desire a lot of gore. This was simply a bad film. I expected the film to be at least somewhat predictable, given the hackneyed premise of "friends going to a remote location where bad things happen." Following the tired opening act, I was interested when people began to disappear. However, my interest was contingent upon there (eventually) being some kind of resolution or understanding, with escalating elements along the way. None of this occurred. People kept disappearing, and the only thing the characters were able to glean was that it was perhaps attributable to them "blinking" or somehow taking their eyes off each other. Nothing else happened. The plot was linear at best, and it could even be argued that it consisted of a point rather than a line. Even the "blinking" concept was inconsistently applied - some of the characters disappeared as soon as no one was looking, but some did not. It was unclear as to whether two people had to be looking at each other at once, or if one would suffice. Charlotte (the head case) should have disappeared ten times over given her catatonic state and the fact that the other characters were preoccupied, but she lasted almost until the end. The character development was nonexistent and relied upon stereotypes - crass guy, tough guy, slutty girl, brainy girl, hot girl, etc. I didn't get a good sense of the relationships between the characters (how did they all know each other?), and I didn't accept that they were a preexisting group. The characters were so shallow and the back-story so inadequate that I wouldn't have been able to keep track of their names without the close-captioning! I think the film could have worked much better had it been a group of strangers, or at least several independent groups within the larger group (it wouldn't have been any worse). Unlike some other raters, I thought the acting and dialogue were terrible. No one (with the possible exception of brainy girl) was believable. The lame attempts to keep the viewers interested (read: violence, sex) were contrived and ridiculous. I accepted the redheaded guy as a loose cannon, but the blonde guy suddenly going crazy and shooting at his friends was a huge leap. I guess the writers ran out of ideas of how people might disappear and had to get somebody to leave the lodge. If, as we later discover, that Brian Austin Green's character was going to propose to his pregnant girlfriend, would he really have taken the first opportunity to get laid with his ex? They didn't waste any time there, considering each of their significant others had only been missing for a matter of hours. The sex scene was superfluous/meaningless. The return of Noah was also far-fetched. His excuse of having fallen into a ditch and blacked out was uninspired and implausible. What ditch? If an injury was so severe that he was unconscious for 6+ hours, he wouldn't have been able to find his way back to the lodge (in the dark) unscathed. And the notion that he had come back from wherever the disappeared went was quickly squashed. This incident was therefore pointless. Had it been fully developed, the temperature subplot could have been intriguing. It played out like the writers had no idea where they wanted to go - first, we are told it's the end of the season, which is why the weather isn't as cold as it might be. Then, we discover that the lake is frozen, as if it's the middle of winter. Back at the lodge, we learn that the temperature is dropping severely, and that it had been unseasonably warm earlier (way to insert a contradictory fact). None of these instances tied together, and the weather concept never went anywhere. In addition, the clues to the missing people didn't coalesce. On the one hand, the remains of breakfast and the unused bath water lead us to believe that whatever happened had transpired very abruptly. On the other hand, the noose in one of the cabins and the messages left inside the lodge kitchen cabinet and on a cabin mirror suggest that the unknown events occurred over time. None of the characters even saw the messages - so what was the point of them? The biggest problem I had with the film was the lack of resolution. I generally like films that inspire viewers to think and encourage them to make their own interpretations. An ambiguous ending can be pleasing. However, in order for this tactic to be successful, sufficient elements must be provided throughout the journey. I've read a few of the other reviews where users praise the film for its purported "existential elements and philosophical undertones." I think they are giving the filmmakers far too much credit! I like intelligent, multi-layered films requiring independent thought, but I can also recognize the opposite - when viewers are left abandoned because the filmmakers were lazy or ran out of ideas. I refuse to rationalize this film's lack of an ending into something positive. If the film really was intended to be "meta," the approach was all wrong. Not all viewers are sheep. You can't expect us to overlook/excuse a badly-made film due to some possible deeper meaning. I think if executed differently (better direction, writing, acting), this idea really could have worked. Oh, well.

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• A philosophical horror film

  mokienatrix2014-12-15

  A good (and depressing) movie if you want to sit and ponder the futility of everything, but not so great if you're just seeking a Saturday night scare-fest. That's a problem, because it's terribly mis-marketed - the cover and blurb pitch this as a slasher film when it's definitely not. The film raises a philosophical question for viewers to chew on: does anything we do ever matter if everything we do will be forgotten almost as soon as we're gone? (One character even spells this out as he tries to leave a mark that can't be erased.) The horror here isn't a killer that can be defeated, a monster that can be escaped, or a conspiracy that can be unraveled and explained away, but the inevitable fact of death and our own eventual irrelevance, the fear of being erased by time. Like a post-modern danse macabre, each character acts a symbol (of evil, of family, of education, of religion, etc.), though it's disturbing to wonder if our sympathies would fall differently with a bit less B-movie scripting and a bit more A-list acting. I didn't particularly mind the open ending or the lack of explanations, because the question the film is poking us to think about has no objective answer. I doubt any concrete explanation the film could have cooked up would have worked without undermining that central question and turning the film into the straightforward slasher the cover advertises.

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