Impressive production values considering the budget, poor story

I ran across this on Amazon last night and decided to check it out, since I had heard the story about how they used Kickstarter to raise the money to finish the film.

I'm not sure exactly what the budget was, but I know it was low. And considering that, I thought the film was impressive on a lot of levels. The score is quite good, the cinematography is well-done, the effects are surprisingly solid, the production design is impressive and the performances are . . . usually at least adequate and sometimes better.

But the story was just not interesting to me at all. First, it takes almost half an hour for the narrative to even come into focus, and then when it finally does it's not actually compelling. By the time the third act rolls out I was pretty much mentally checked out and just didn't care anymore.

I like the idea of indie guys with a small budget succeeding, so I would like to support them. But they need a better writer.

I can't believe there are five of these films. I wonder if the sequels are better than the first one. Maybe it's a case of finding their footing with this initial offering.