Freakdog

The 2008 offerings once more walk among us.
Jekyll
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Post by Jekyll »

Well Shrooms certainly was not to my taste last year and this faired even worse with me.

Boring boring boring.

Kept thinking about the 'Medusa Touch' film while watching this.
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The Soapmaker
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Post by The Soapmaker »

I really do get the feeling there are some very suspicious posts bigging up this film.

Surely no regular Frightfesters/horror fans actually thought there was anything remotely original or interesting about it?
mark
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Post by mark »

Just to balance all of the single posters who joined on the 25th. The worst film of the festival by a looooooooong chalk. Boring tripe with no redeeming features whatsoever - I would like that 90 mins of my life back please
odishon
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Post by odishon »

Solid production values but a shame a British director has gone for the American teen market.

Even more of a shame that those obviously with some link to the film are now joining this forum to big it up unconvincingly.
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Post by Khouri »

I must confess I was a little bit disappointed with this film. It’s a shame it wasn’t set somewhere in the UK, especially as it was all filmed on location in Ireland. I can understand the point that films set in the United States will sell better in the States, but it just seems like a bit of a cop out :? .
I originally had high hopes for the film and the idea for the story is interesting, but the way that Kenneth killed from his bed was a little bit boring. Originally I thought it was going to be some kind of creepy mental projection as there was a shot at the beginning of the film on the camera in the hospital that showed a dark shadow, but this seemed to have been abandoned in the rest of the film. I personally would have found this creepier than having Kenneth twitch and shake in the hospital bed.
I think that maybe it was the direction rather than the writing that didn’t click with me as I did find the idea of the story and the way people died quite entertaining.
It certainly wasn’t one of the worst films of Frightfest and there were definitely some good bits to it.
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Post by dangerous_jamie »

I didn't really enjoy it too much either, but one thing that I really liked about that you don't normally get with hospital based films/tv shows/whatever was the way it didn't patronise the audience by expositioning all the hospital speak. I think that gave it an air of realism, to me at least because I have a very limited knowledge of even the most basic of medical procedures.

The direction was really nice too, but the story just didn't grab me. In fact, the constant use of Freakdog as an insult in the flick really pulled me out of the experience, I don't know if it is a well used insult across that bit of water but for me it didn't seem like a phrase anyone would ever use (at least in that context).
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streetrw
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Post by streetrw »

odishon wrote:Solid production values but a shame a British director has gone for the American teen market.

Even more of a shame that those obviously with some link to the film are now joining this forum to big it up unconvincingly.
(A) Dublin - Irish (Eire), so not actually British. :)

(B) Agreed, and it's so obvious that it turns you against the movie. It's spamming and nothing more.
rach
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Post by rach »

dangerous_jamie wrote:In fact, the constant use of Freakdog as an insult in the flick really pulled me out of the experience, I don't know if it is a well used insult across that bit of water but for me it didn't seem like a phrase anyone would ever use (at least in that context).
Hmm, well since watching this movie Frank has been heard uttering it on several occasions.


I thought the movie was utter tripe. But so was Shrooms.
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Post by Girl Serial Killer »

I didn't particularly enjoy this either, and like many others, didn't much dig 'Shrooms. I liked the concept and the science angle, but I think possibly I'd have enjoyed it more if we'd seen a little more of Freakdog himself and the way he was being treated, before he was confined to hospital bed.
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Post by Reanimator »

Not very original but this was ok - worth a watch!
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Post by Gungrave »

HUGELY down on this one. Had no preconceptions other than the fact that Shrooms was ALMOST a great little flik.....

One dimensional characters, embaressing dialogue and a lack of any sort of engagement beyond a few jumps let down what had a great core idea. Had the whiff of limited pre-production time and poor casting.

Sorry, hate to be an ingrate but it left me totally cold.
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odishon
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Post by odishon »

streetrw wrote:
odishon wrote:Solid production values but a shame a British director has gone for the American teen market.

Even more of a shame that those obviously with some link to the film are now joining this forum to big it up unconvincingly.
(A) Dublin - Irish (Eire), so not actually British. :)
I stand corrected! Was kind of just thinking 'not American'. :)
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Post by lupogirl »

Very much a low point in the festival. Unoriginal, overlong and very slow paced. Did not get involved with any of the characters. The only good thing were the deaths.

The Q & A was somewhat lackluster in comparison with Frank Henelotter

I actually enjoyed Shrooms. Talking cows - great stuff. Actually had atmosphere and some creepy moments.
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AndyJWS
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Post by AndyJWS »

Well, I'm a sucker for a half-decent medical thriller... which is exactly what I thought this was :wink:

Not 100% convinced by the title and yes, it's very much Patrick, but it's also slick and with pretty decent kills. Certainly an improvement on Shrooms that talking-cow aside, was a truly disappointing mishmash of dumb character actions and dumber ripping off of better movies.

Was a shame that Paddy onstage seemed so, well, uninterested in the film - was clear he was jobbing doing it, but even then compare his downer attitude to that of a jobbing director like Renny Harlin!
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soulmining
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Post by soulmining »

I had low expectations for Freakdog as I really didn't care for Shrooms at all, so was pleased to see that it was an improvement on that... It wasn't one of my favourites but it wasn't one of the worst either and at least it held my attention. To be honest all the talk of the American setting barely registered with me, I don't think it harmed the film that much. It was the strobing at the end that I struggled with - I thought that went on for far too long.

And - having read the posts on the other Freakdog thread - much respect to PFD for putting himself on the forum at the mercy of us online critics!
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