Could've been SO much better . . .

Saw this at TIFF (and analyzed it independentally of the more wild aspects of the "Midnight Madness" experience itself). Todd Brown's Twitch.com review, which is linked from the "Critics Reviews" on the main page here, sums it up nicely. The visuals are top notch, but the rest of the film has HUGE flaws in dialogue, character motivation, details of setting (as he says, "where are the doctors?", among many other nagging questions), and the ending is irritatingly obscure. I look forward to whatever this guy directs next (if he gets another shot), but this isn't the most auspicious debut. In its second half, it's ultimately just another re-heated exercise in torture porn (a term I really don't like, but it's the most apt one) when it could've been so much more given a stronger script and more realistic character development.

And seriously, do Americans even play themselves anymore in the movies? You guys should really be starting to get tired of Europeans, Australians and Canadians playing all your heroes. :(