Ok, so I was initially turned off to the film as it stared at me in my NetFlix queue for a few reasons:
Eek! A face!
1) The hyphen in recycle is wholly unnecessary.
2) When the cover looks like this, I think ‘Swell. Initiate CG facerape a la Samurai Princess.
3) I live in Oregon. If this has something to do with the dude that checks my garbage for redeemable materials going apeshit because I didn't want to give him my 24 pack of PBR cans, I want nothing to do with it.
But then I watched it.
Story:
At least it wasn't anything too tired, but above all it was well executed.
An author is in the midst of writing a new novel. She's a suspense writer, by the way — I bet you didn't guess that. Anywho, she is suddenly in a creepy world that seems to be of her creation. OHEMGEE!!!
Ah, but you see that's where the story starts!
The non-spoiler version goes a little like this:
Lead: Holy crap! You’re not a demon!
Girl: Holy crap! I know! Here’s a wise old man!
Old Dude: Holy crap! You need to GTFO!
Girl: Word!
Lead: But how?
Old Dude: That’s why you’re here talking with me (/groanfart). Take this random thing, and this map I just drew for you out of magic — they may help you!
Lead: WTF?
Girl: Here, watch out for those fetuses!
Lead: OMFGWTFRTFMBBQ!
Girl: And watch out for those zombies!
Lead: I seriously can’t do this.
Girl: OH SHIT! That muthafukkin portal’s opening up!
Lead: You need to die in a fire.
Creepy Lady: Blah! I’ve come to do something to you!
Lead: EEK!
The End.
I promise you, though, the spoiler ridden story is effing fantastic.
Right down to the final scene…
Camera Stuff:
Holy crap. Well done. Some of the subtlety through imagery in the beginning is well played. There are a few scary moments that only grab you if you’re paying close attention. I like that.
The way the alternate universe looks rather radtacular. Backdrops to every scene are carefully primed to explode your eyeball holes. That said, I am guilty of watching this film four times the first week I saw it. It was terrific every time.
Sound Stuff:
Not bad. Crisp, light, good for fright moments.
I guess what I’m trying to say is it was pretty good, actually; It compliments well.
Scare Stuff?:
So, after seeing enough Eastern Horror, you begin to see patterns. These patterns lead to predictability. Predictability leads to boredom.
The scares in Re-Cycle are vastly formulaic, but I really don’t see the problem for this film. I think that it stems from how well the story took hold, and how the scary parts were more for effect.
I’d say it’s about a 3/5 on the spicemeter.
Closing Thoughts:
Re-Cycle is all about the story telling. The quest-like feel of the story brings some serious flavor to the film and is supported with dynamic imagery and decent scares. Yes, there’s a twist.
Ironclad Illogica 