Lost After Dark (2014)

I'll tell you why so serious

This film is so real. It treats its characters with so much care and sensitivity.

It’s not bad or unwatchable but despite the amplitude of the spectacle, the end result is underwhelming.

Blistering performances.

This 2015 horror features 8 teenage friends who decide to ditch their high school dance and have a party of their own. They borrow a school bus which runs out of gas and look for the nearest residence. They find an old house and become stalked by a cannibalistic killer lurking there. What can I say? This is a weak slasher flick that tries to pay tribute/homage to 70's & 80's films of the genre. It starts OK, but falls flat. The characters aren't really likable, some scenes are very dark and the deaths aren't that impressive. Robert Patrick (The Faculty) appears as an ex-army soldier turned vice principal. I'd probably watch this once only if you're a fan of slasher or Grindhouse films.

I thought that the film The Final Girls, which is an homage to 80's slasher flicks, embraced the genre almost perfectly, but played it too safe resulting in a mixed bag. Lost After Dark fares even worse, having zero comedy, zero fun and drags the viewer through complete boredom before the final credits rolls. The film is a chore to get through and rewards the viewer with absolutely nothing. At their high school dance a group of friends decide to steal a school bus and go up to a family cabin for some fun. Their bus breaks down in the middle of nowhere and the kids find themselves being picked off one by one from a crazed cannibal killer. Who will survive? What will be left of them? And every other 80's horror tagline you can think of. This film desperately needed to be played for laughs and the biggest mistake it makes is that it chooses to play everything seriously. It wants us to believe that this film could have actually been from the 80's. Yet it has none of the charm that those slasher films had, as bad as some of those movies were, they had a sense of charm. This film has zero, nada, nothing really going for it. Being intentionally retro does not equal a good film. It purposely inserts the classic "film grain" to make it feel authentic. It never works. It even lamely incorporates the "missing reel" gag that worked to hilarious results in Grindhouse. Here it's a pathetic attempt to try and feel more genuine. It fails, miserably. Aesthetic failures aside, the script fares even worse.It seems the only thing the writers know about are the clichéd horror stereotypes. We are given the jock, the token black guy, the nerd, slut, good-girl, etc. We are forced to listen to them spew inane dialogue back and forth in a sad attempt at building character. It never works and makes the film feel longer than it actually is. The entire first half of the film drags at a wickedly slow pace and the so-called pay off of kills doesn't ever reach its potential. I will give the film some credit though, it surprised me with the initial death. That one moment where they manage to fool the audience and pull the rug out from under our feet is the only interesting moment in the entire film.

Reviewed by: Dare Devil Kid (DDK)Rating: 3.2/5 stars"Lost After Dark" is adorable. That may not be the comment the filmmakers of a horror movie are looking for, but it suits the tone of this particular movie anyway. It's shot in the style of cheesy '80s horror movies – the "Friday the 13th" and "Texas Chainsaw Massacre" knockoffs that we love for their sheer audacity and ability to poke fun at themselves.Adrienne (Kendra Leigh Timmins) and her friends ditch the high school dance to spend time alone at her cabin. She, Jamie (Elise Gatien), Marilyn (Eve Harlow), and Heather (Lanie McAuley) all hope to hook up with Sean (Justin Kelly), Johnnie (Alexander Calvert), Wesley (Stephan James), and Tobe (Jesse Camacho) in some combination or the other, and it would also be Adrienne's first time. But the school bus they steal breaks down and they end up in a murder house running for their lives. Also the vice principal, Mr. Cunningham a.k.a. Mr. C (Robert Patrick) catches them leaving, and chases after them. The cast is just lovely at playing their archetypes: the virgin, the slut, the jock, the A- hole, the nerdy best friend, etc. Pacing gets a tad uneven when the makers dedicate too much time showing Mr. Cunningham pursuing the kids, but the payoff is worth it and Patrick kills it.Writer/director Ian Kessner along with co-writer Bo Ransdell get the tone exactly right. "Lost After Dark" is a loving homage that is all sincere, no snark. It does break the rules for some clever twists, but it never makes fun of the horror movies it's inspired from. Rather, the film celebrates those movies in a way that shows we don't have to give this style up just yet – it can still be as much fun as it used to be. You might also recognize a few of the gags from "Grindhouse" but they are arguably better done here. The picture is treated with an effect to simulate a dirty film print, but it's minor and only in the beginning and to simulate splices and reel changes.Along with being as brutal and graphic as any other straight-faced horror movie out there, "Lost After Dark" is also an intriguing attempt to recreate the style of a slasher straight out of the 80s, and for the better part succeeds in its attempt.

Ian Kessner did a great job capturing that classic 80's horror movie vibe, while still keeping things fresh with some really unpredictable twists and turns. I cared about the characters, but was completely wrong in who I thought would survive (and I consider myself to be a guru of this genre). It was kind of fun to be wrong and kept on my toes. Joad is just creepy. I hope he comes back for a sequel because I feel like he has more damage to do. It was a truly scary and fun time and I'll also like to give a shout out to one of my childhood crushes David Lipper for rocking a mustache like no other. If you're looking for genuine scares anda fun movie experience, I would definitely recommend this movie.