There is always room for good, cheap MA films, a couple of scares, some violence, ideally a little nudity and a crappy soundtrack.
The Forsaken is a prime example.
Basically it is a movie about a good looking young bloke, a good looking young chick and an offbeat, stoner type hunting, and being hunted by a couple of good looking vampires, all with a dodgy teen-friendly soundtrack and friendly lighting.
What more need I say? You either want to watch it based upon that or you don’t, there is no middle ground.
But let’s tick off some of the criteria;
Cheap? Yep.
Scares? Not really but they try in a teen friendly way.
Violence? Again nothing too dramatic but there are some kills and quite a bit of blood.
Unnecessary nudity? From the opening scene, and in case you are feeling sleepy there is more half way through the film.
It is obvious that they knew they didn’t have much to work with, the plot is threadbare and there are some scenes and backstory that scream “filler”, the dialogue is only mildly excruciating when they try to up the “cool” factor, and Jonathan Schaech, a straight to DVD C-Movie stalwart, overacts his way through the entire film.
They could have ramped up the violence a couple of notches and made it better, but I think they set out targeting Gossip Girl and Dawson’s Creek fans wondering what this horror thing was about and they were mindful of pushing them away. It also looks like they were setting up for a sequel, but to my knowledge it never came.
It’s pretty dumb stuff, but perfect for killing an hour and a half.
Final Rating – 7 / 10. Shiny, pretty, eager to please but ultimately forgettable and pointless. This is the cinematic equivalent of Jennifer Aniston. Likeable, but unnecessary.