Crowsnest (2012) Online

First the bad and okay stuff: The movie's plot is unoriginal, the going on a camping trip and die plot has already been used plenty of times and the found footage idea has been used a lot as well. The actors are portrayed as real mid twenty "just out of college" kids, which they did a great job at portraying (the acting was okay) though it became very annoying because kids like that can be very annoying. At first I wanted them to die but then I was hoping they would make it out alive once the action happened. The ending... well watch it yourself I don't want to spoil anything. There wasn't really any twists, there was a few cheesy moments in the beginning and a few bad lines in the script which I cringed at. The plot was straightforward and simple, these "camping trip" movies are not normally known for their great plots so I didn't go in expecting anything shocking.

The good stuff: The word "horror" absolutely applies to this movie, I was horrified during certain scenes. My heart was pumping and I felt like I was there, it actually gave me a twisted feeling after the movie. Once the action started it was a complete on the edge of you're seat thrill ride till the end. If you've seen "yellow brick road" the horror is similar, I guess I would call it "psychological gore". Besides one or two lines the acting was fine, bad acting is something that could ruin a movie and that wasn't the case here (not saying it was great though).

My conclusion: This movie isn't great, its by no means bad though. I watched this on a day when I was relatively bored and I wasn't disappointed. There are a few good things and a few bad things about this movie, the problem is there is nothing GREAT about the movie. If you're looking for a horror/psychological thriller movie and can't find anything you're overly interested in you should give this a watch, I'm glad I did. I think a 5.5 rating is good for this movie, I wanted to give it a 6 but it just didn't made the cut, I gave it a 5 because the rating is already 5.8.

There haven't been many movies that I have watched where I have felt compelled to begin writing a review of it before I even finish watching it. The few times this has happened, it has been to heap praise upon the movie. Although "Crowsnest" has joined the list of movies that have given me this compulsion, it is not due to it getting any praise.

Put simply, "Crowsnest" is a found footage film filled with whiny and annoying college age friends who are going on a trip and go off course in order to get beer at half price. As the friend's are driving an SUV, the first thought that occurs is that the gas money needed for them to go off course will probably burn through more of their money than regular price beer would. The town they stop is reminiscent of the cliché horror movie gas station that used to give Roger Ebert fits when he reviewed horror movies. Later in the movie, one of the girls take a break outside of the car and is almost hit by an RV. Feeling angry, they go after the RV to get its license plate numbers.

Almost every horror movie has the one mistake, a phenomena mentioned in Jeepers Creepers (2001) as the moment someone does something stupid and everyone hates him for it. This moment would appear to be the moment that Kirk decides to follow the RV. Although the remainder of the movie from this point on is every other person blaming absolutely everything on Kirk, it is never made clear how anything that happens is actually his fault. Kirk receives more undeserved blame in this movie than Barack Obama has gotten in over four years as president.

Apparently annoyed because the protagonists are following them, the driver of the RV decides to go ahead and chase them. It is at that point that we are given a lesson as to the power and durability of an RV. Although our heroes are driving an SUV, it apparently cannot outrun this enormous RV. When one of the girls gets out of the car to throw up, she is hit by the RV. Apparently not only is the RV huge and powerful, it also has powers of stealth that one would not expect from a vehicle of its size. I immediately assumed it was the Ultimate Behemoth from the first seasons "Simpsons" episode.

Finally our heroes realize that the only way for them to survive is to try to find help. Their cell phones do not work, of course, because a cell phone working in a horror movie is against international law. But this minor setback does not deter this brave group of youths. They come up with the brilliant plan that if they cannot get a phone signal, they need to go further up on the mountain to get a signal. Not only is the top of the mountain an ideal place to get a wireless signal, it also is the optimum area for them to be when the police decide to rescue them.

Inevitably, the trip to the top of the mountain fails when the road ends. However, these heroes remain steadfast and come up with an even more clever idea. Since they still do not have a cell phone signal, they should get out of the car and continue to climb to the top of the hill. They do this, and within minutes it has been decided, yet again, that they are all going to die and every character has to mention, for the record, the entire thing is Kirk's fault. It takes Justin about three minutes into his trip into the woods to realize he is going to freeze to death.

As much as I would like to say that what has happened up until this point is the pinnacle of the collective stupidity of the characters, that would be giving them way too much credit. What follows from here are idiotic mistakes, more blaming of Kirk, cannibals driving an RV, people's hands and feet falling off, and some of the absolute worst movie making in existence.

In spite of all of this, and in spite of the low rating I am going to give this movie, I cannot totally not recommend it. If nothing else, "Crowsnest" was fun to watch in the same manner that a bad oral report in school is fun to watch. You realize that the speaker has done no research and almost no preparation for their presentation and enjoy watching them try to bullshit their way into at least a passing grade. Of course the presenter, much like this movie, ends up failing. But it is mildly fun watching them squirm.

One star out of four.

This movie was okay, not good, not too bad.. There are a few genuine scares, particularly the first death but I found the ending to be very disappointing and dull.. Also I halfway throughout found myself hating two of the characters and found it strenuous to continue watching to the end.

Overall, if you like these Found Footage horror movies, as much as I love them, then absolutely watch it.. but know there are MUCH better ones out there, such as: The Children, Evidence, Grave Encounters, REC. etc.. but then again there are much WORSE ones out there, such as: The Gacey House, August Underground trilogy (boring boring gore, literally no dialog besides cursing..) I recommend a one time watch for true found footage aficionados.

Don't know what movie the other reviewers watched, but the one I saw was mostly about a bunch of kids riding around in the car arguing with each other about the best course of action. Every now and then an RV appears, honking and rams their vehicle. The other reviewers must have some connection to this film. I am tired of reading reviews written by friends of the film. By the way, how does this have a 9 rating from IMDb? Shouldn't that be reserved for classic films? Most of the film was listening to the actors emote. Very little gore and most of the action is kept for the last 25 minutes. I just watched "The cabin in the Woods"; comparing that to this film is laughable. True, this was a low budget film, but what really bothered me was that I decided to watch it based on the review on this web site, which were totally inaccurate! This was a waste of my time!

Shock! horror!! a found footage film (FFF)that doesn't have a supernatural twist. Okay I am a fan of found footage films and have been since the cannibal movies of the early 80's. I loved the Blair Witch Project, a film that split the film community, a masterpiece to some a steaming pile of dung to others!! So I'm biased, however this is a different movie all together to the majority of FFF's out there (Paranormal Activity, Tunnel Movie, Apartment 143, Atrocious, Grave Encounters etc). This is more your 'road trippers come across demented hillbillies' type movie that just happens to be shot in the FFF style.

Enjoyable romp, by no means a classic but a least a little refreshing

The title of this review says it all. The characters in the movie are overplayed as "real people" and it just does not work. It's commotion all the way through. This movie is a day time soap opera meets a B list horror film. There are so many "go on a trip into the woods and die because of it" movies out there that the originality factor is very, very low.

To be quite honest, the "found footage" theme is so old and unoriginal too that that fact alone puts a huge dent in the rating of this movie straight off the bat. Granted its not as shaky as typical "found footage" films, it's still what it is and you can't change that fact. The actors in this movie aren't that good, but I'm not too sure if decent actors would be able to make this movie any better.

The movie starts off slow and just drags. D-r-a-g-s. Drags. After the first big incident, they attempt to pick up the pace but with the mixed in melodramatic storyline it just doesn't work. I would say that if you like movies like Wrong Turn 4 or Cabin Fever 2 (notice Im not talking about the original movies there) then you'll probably like this movie too. Anyone who rated this movie higher than a 3 must have been under the influence of stupidity.

I'm giving this a 4 out of 10, because it really is scary. If you want to watch a horror movie to get freaked out, it delivers. I don't usually watch slasher gore horror movies but I am a found footage fan and decided to give this a go.

The acting is pretty good, but the script left something to be desired. The characters seemed to lack individuality, which is odd because the slow movement in the beginning of the movie would have given the writers plenty of time to introduce them to the audience. The only reason I cared about the characters is because of what they were going through, not because I found them likable or even tolerable.

A note for future filmmakers: The whole "tee hee turn the camera off" line is used waaaay too much in found footage films. It was certainly abused in this one. Also, figure out a way to do shots that aren't so shaky it leaves the audience nauseated. Some shakiness is OK. Shakiness to the point where I have a headache is not. Lastly, having one person (usually behind the camera) act like an idiot for no reason is beyond irritating. There is at least ONE person in almost every found footage movie that makes a fool out of himself, can we have a movie that doesn't have this for once?

Anyway. Found footage is supposed to give the impression of realism, and I don't think it's realistic to devote almost an hour of the movie to driving around and giving the audience visual shots of bridges. I get the point of why the scenes with the trailer park and the abandoned town were relevant. But the scenes where Justin is being an idiot are not. The scene when he tries to film them having sex is not. The whole homemade porn thing is a cheap joke, and done too often.

Found footage movies would also benefit from creating a REASON for the characters to be taping a trip or whatever. Let's pretend for the purpose of this review, that the guy was taping it because it was his 1st anniversary with his girlfriend and he was planning on proposing and wanted to make a movie as a keepsake. It's a lame reason, but it's a reason nonetheless and something the audience can go "oh, OK. That's why he's standing around like a dork in everyone's face." Taping for the sake of taping is annoying, and even moreso when the scriptwriter throws in a line like "we need to document this stuff" as if the audience needs an explanation as to why the camera is still rolling. By then we've already figured it out, it's why the taping started in the first place that we'd like to be made aware.

Also, if you're going to make a scary movie; by all means it's OK to have your characters shut up and breathe quietly during suspenseful scenes. It's a lot more realistic than the loud "sssshhhh!" and heavy breathing that's usually done.

The movie didn't entirely lack originality, though, despite the fact that the theme is typical of recycled hillbilly slasher flicks. The scene inside the RV was shot in infrared, giving the illusion of authenticity of blood and age of the tools. That's a nifty trick. The amputation and wounds were inventive and convincing too.

I was going to give this a 5 out of 10, but lowered it to a 4 out of 10 when I saw the budget was 1.2 million. Really? I've reviewed lower budgeted movies for higher ratings because it was clear the creators did the best they could with what they had to work with. I had guessed the budget of this move to be far lower, so I'm not sure why they needed 1.2 million dollars to make it. The movie seemed straightforward about what it needed - a camera, daylight, basic props and a couple of vehicles. Costumes aren't anything to sweat over if you're looking for realism. Yank a couple of outfits off the Goodwill rack and you're good to go.

All in all, if you like disturbing movies you will probably like this one. If you enjoy found footage style movies, you might not like it because the camera is extremely shaky and was upside down half the time. Not a complete waste of time, and it will scare/disturb you if that's what you're looking for.

So, you have the 20something year old self-absorbed boyfriends and the girls who can't do better. One is a moron who continually ignores whatever anyone asks him to do and makes life miserable even before the ultimate plot of the movie takes off. Three whiny, screaming girls who continually want to "STOP THE CAR!!!" The idiot who is more concerned about broken taillights rather than getting out of the area. The only redeeming quality is you know it doesn't end well for any of them. This was on Netflix and at least I didn't pay for it. I wish the people who decide to write and direct these movies would watch a few horror movies, good and bad, to see what works and doesn't. Apparently, the cannibals have super senses to be able to find people hiding in the forest while they drive around in an smelly RV.

It should have been titled "Douchebag Massacre"

Five young friends go on a trip into the country and what happens to them is discovered on a video camera. Yes it's a very familiar plot but just because it's familiar doesn't automatically make it bad.

I did find the jerky camera-work a bit off putting at times but the cast is relatively likable and all put in natural performances which is not always the case with these type of films. I found a number of scenes to be very tense and well filmed although some of the choices made by the group seem ridiculous, who knows how you would react under extreme terror.

This is currently rated 3.6 (406 votes) but is far superior to a lot of recent horror films like for example the awful 'The Woman' which have much higher ratings. Maybe it's the lack of extreme gore or torture ( though this does contain a few graphic scenes) that makes people vote them low. Either way I now ignore IMDb ratings in general for horror films as they are not a good indication of whether a film's good or not.

I enjoyed this film for what it is, it's no masterpiece but it's a very good effort for the genre and worth watching.

I don't see why people need what this movie has. it has changed my perspective on things, I am no longer watching just anything. a reviewer said it left him feeling twisted, well I agree and I don't need to feel like that, ever. I don't understand what these movies are intended to do for us. things are bad in the world, the feelings this movie insights are no relief from everyday life. movies are meant to be entertainment, this movie was an assault on my soul. There are depictions of suffering and moreover of people causing suffering in a completely detached manner. A complete absence of humanity. What happened to standards, we don't need to be reminded that things like this might happen

OK, the "found footage" movies have run their course. There are better ways to add realism to a movie without giving you a headache.

This is a very familiar plot, young kids ignoring the ominous signs and outright warnings to turn around. If they weren't so likable, you would be happy to see them get killed. Yes, I found them, especially the girls, realistic and enjoyable to watch. In turn, I rooted for their survival and felt their fear.

Yes, it was annoying to see so many foliage and foot shots and bouncing video but the tension survived. If it was shot like a normal movie I think it would receive a much higher rating.

The violence was sudden, shocking and effective. The acting was adequate and the plot, while far from original, still kept you invested. Worth watching, just try and ignore the filming method.

"Crowsnest" has a really good premise with some excellent elements reminiscent of some of my favourite horror movies. It was obviously shot on a very low budget but I never doubted the "found footage" aspect of it even though a DP, a second unit DP and several camera operators are credited. Characters are well developed and believable and the identity of the bad guys is cleverly hidden through excellent camera work. Much of the dialogue seemed improvised which has its pluses and minuses and at times it was blurted out so fast that I could not understand it but the plot is so simple that it didn't matter. This is a very primal story running the entire gamut of emotions - from lets go get drunk and have some fun, to anger at these people we don't even know who are scaring us, to just basic survival in the wilderness. There's lots of suspense, some very scary, creepy moments and then the classic shocker ending. A fine job all around done with very limited resources. Bravo!

This will contain spoilers.

The characters, for the most part, are daunting. The worst character, and thankfully dies early on, is Amanda. Especially in the RV seen.

Several things just didn't make sense.

The RV just rammed them...they lost them...then decide it's a good idea to stop their vehicle so someone can puke.

She finds a signal on her phone - then immediately moves from that spot.

Shhhh...do you hear that? Let's wait until we see something before we hide.

This movie was less than creative. The acting was not terrible, in fact, it was decent...just overdone most of the time.

The ending...well, it just doesn't work.

This movie is just awful. Unless you REALLY like blurry shots of the ground or car interiors, this movie is not for you. The story is not very original and does not make much sense: Kids go out in the woods. Alas, there is terrible danger. But apart from the blurry shots of basically nothing interesting, the acting is just annoying... It seems like the actors were allowed to improvise as they liked. At least the movie is full of "dialog" consisting of them all feeling the need to talk at the same time and doing so in an unconvincing manner. And more often than not "found footage" movies are basically made by people with no budget at all. But no budget is not an excuse for being unoriginal and having bad dialog... It might only justify bad effects and poor lighting. (both also plentifully present in this movie) The 2 (instead of 1) out of 10 vote is just because of the line "Aaahhh.... My hand fell off...", which did make me chuckle somewhat.

The movie dragged on too long for nothing. I read other users reviews and thought I'd give it a try. I really wish I hadn't. I don't even know if I was watching the same movie as everyone that gave this movie a good review, but hey to each his own. It was so bad I decided to fast forward it past some parts where it seemed like they were just filling space in the movie. I didn't care about the main characters, what so ever. For me there's no point in even introducing characters. Everyone was just annoying and there was almost 0 action. If you like really slow and not to the point movies with annoying characters that you want to strangle through the television for being so retarded and having a camera jumping around the whole time then go for it. for me, I want my hour and 15 min back.

Wouldn't recommend.

this movie could have been filmed way better so much for looking at the ground for and hour and the movie is and hour and 20 min long seriously the worst movie of 2012 and this is obviously the cheapest way you could make a movie thanks for wasting my $7.99 on my on demand channel i would not bother seeing this let alone again and just read about it somewhere online the people that made this need to rethink there career choices !!!!!!! giving this movie the rating of 1 is more credit than it deserves because it is by far way worse then awful and i have seen a lot of movies of "found footage" and that is 80 some odd minutes that i will not get back in my life lol make a better movie choice then i did

This movie was a little gem of "found footage horror". it starts out to briefly introduce a group of five friends who then leave for a weekend of fun at one of the friends cabin. Of course the cabin is in a remote area with no cell phone reception. On the way to the cabin the group stop at a place called the crows nest to buy cheap beer, shortly after they encounter an R.V. hellbent on their destruction. Perhaps it all sounds very familiar and predictable, but I felt that the movie was willing to take a few risks and push the envelope enough to make it thrilling and an overall good watch. This movie was for the true horror fan and those who love the hand-held recorder style of film.

A group of incredibly annoying friends get lost on their way to a vacation spot and up in the titular rundown backwoods town. Oh and it's yet another of those 'found footage' horror films. Yup, the most overdone irritating sub-genre of the last decade or two is still going strong into the present day.

This particular example of that over-saturated sub-genre adds pretty much nothing to the paper and, aside from a small handful of choice scenes (mostly towards the end) really isn't worthy of your valuable time. I'm due for a good film as it seems like I've been seeing crappy ones way too frequently lately. Not a good ratio.

Eye Candy: Mittita Barber gets (very) briefly topless

Streaming on Netflix as of 5/15/13

this reminds me of a low-budget version of Joy Ride meets Evil Dead, and that is a huge compliment. it's a fun (as in, what would you do?) story, decent acting, with good effects. it's not torture porn, which i think a lot of "horror movie fans" base every critique/comparison on. the girls and camera shots reached a point of annoyance, much like on a real road-trip, that basically engages your instinct to wanna start swinging at them. but alas, you must pull together to survive. i always enjoy the desolation of the wilderness with just enough civility to feel like you have a chance, keeps the believability high. and the adverse conditions add to the challenges. good stuff, give it a watch.

I'm biased TOWARDS found footage films. I generally love them. I can forgive some of the more ridiculous things within them due to the fact that I'm a bit of a junkie for this sub genre of cinema.

This film?

Not so much.

It's terrible.

The characters do some INSANELY stupid things. I know, I know, virtually ALL horror movies have the main characters doing stupid things. This one takes the proverbial cake though.

So instead of heading DOWN a desolate mountain TOWARDS civilization, you decide to go up to its remote, isolated, hard-to-reach summit instead?

So you're being chased by a slow, ill-equipped-for-mountain-roads RV and you're in a 4-wheel drive vehicle made for the terrain you're currently lost in and you still let it catch you?

So you've just discovered your friend trapped in said RV literally surrounded by weapons with her foot cut off and you decide to kill one of the people involved in the death of your friends and possibly the mutilation of your friend and you run AWAY, weaponLESS from a prime vantage point of ambush?

This movie's characters are absolute idiots, even by lax horror film standards.

The gore (what little of it is on display) is decent, the setting is sufficiently creepy, particularly the town they stop in and that's about it. Almost nothing else is worth mentioning, let alone watching.

Do not pay to view this. It would be a total waste of money.

The plot is similar to hundreds of other horror movies. The characters are similar to characters in hundreds of other horror movies. That this is a "found-footage" style horror movie is also unoriginal. Nothing about this movie is daring or innovative or new. What's the f*cking point? Why f*cking do it? I don't even get this genre of horror, found-footage films are all the same movie, Blair Witch, Paranormal Activity, Crowsnest...so f*cking boring the same characters reacting the same way to the same situation. Dude, if you're going to make a movie don't you want to make a movie that's new or singular? Don't you want to make a movie stands alone?

Here's a shaky-cam found footage movie that is likely to divide most viewers. It's a low-budget horror, fairly short on story, acted by five young performers who don't have especially strong, likable characters. So what is there to recommend? Well, I think the movie builds fairly well, albeit in a pretty derivative and predictable way. When the danger begins, there are some moments that are disturbing for those who can imagine it happening to someone they care about. It's mostly set in the woods, and it gets a little grating because the characters are lost and kind of just putter around in a circle when most of us want to see them beeline out of there. There is a creepy reveal when we get an idea about what the villains are doing, and there is tension because of how they attack. So looking back on it, I think there were some parts that were well done. I think it would be more effective as a 40 minute short, or if it could be written to make the characters more compelling and give them some development. As it is, it did get under my skin and get me to rewatch some parts over, but I kind only give it a mild recommendation.

Crowsnest (2012)

* 1/2 (out of 4)

Five friends go out to the middle of nowhere for no good reason when they are menaced by a RV who just happens to have cannibals inside. CROWSNEST is the latest "found footage" film and it's also one of the worst. I must admit that I'm a fan of this genre but at the same time we are getting so many of these pictures and none of them are really setting themselves apart. There are many problems with this one including the fact that it's pretty much just DELIVERANCE, CANNIBAL HOLOCAUST and WRONG TURN thrown together. There are even a few scenes lifted from THE BLAIR WITCH PROJECT including the entire "talking/crying to the camera." I think on all future found footage movies is one big rule that shouldn't be broken and that annoying supporting characters screaming at the guy with the camera to turn it off. There's probably ten-minutes worth of footage here with people screaming about him filming everything but we, the viewer, knows he's not going to turn it off or else there would be no movie. So please, future filmmakers, quit these scenes because they're quite annoying. Another problem with this movie is that the five characters really aren't all that likable so it's hard to care about what happens to them. Add in the fact that they're rather annoying at times and you're left with even more reasons not to like or care about them. The performances are fairly good for this type of production and I will say that director Brenton Spencer at least handled a few of the scenes well. One example is when the kids first chase the RV and then this plan backfires on them. CROWSNEST features some gore, a lot of screaming and the typical found footage trappings but sadly it's a pretty boring affair.

What a waste of money and time. The only scary thing about this movie was the acting. I would rather spend two hours in a haunted house than sit through this awful film. No plot, no substance, no satisfaction. The characters exhibited no depth. What a joke. Oh, and how many times can you say the 'F' word in one minute? The writing in this movie was offensive, distracting, and vulgar. We wasted two hours that we will never get back. Please do not make the same mistake we did. DO NOT WATCH THIS MOVIE...unless you have a plebeian attitude. But seriously. Do not be fooled by the trailer. Go watch V/C/R if you want a real scare. You're welcome.

"Crowsnest" is a found footage cannibal/ survival flick. It pits an unlucky group of friends leaving the city for a weekend trip to the wilderness against homicidal maniacs. The group decide to take a small detour which proves fatal. The film was directed by Brenton Spencer. The movie stars Mittita Barber,Victor Zinck Jr, Aslam Hussein, Chelsey Reist and Christie Burke. The story draws most of its induction of horror from the fact that it is viewed from the perspective of camera footage found, during a search by police for the group, and what we see is what happened to the five friends.

The film starts off like most found footage films do, with a simple premise to justify the style. In this case one of the friends is celebrating a birthday and his girlfriend gets him this new camera that is apparently so kick ass he can't put it down. The trick works for the most part. At the beginning it relies on the same ridiculous banter that all found footage flicks rely on. It has a purpose, to make us connect with the characters personally and lulls us into the feeling that it is an innocent event that should have no unforeseeable horrific outcome. Until that very horrible outcome hits us full on as it does the characters on screen. Even with the first quarter of this film seeming to fall in the redundant category the film manages to use the tricks of this style of filming quite well. Once the terror starts when city slicker meets psycho country cannibal everything changes brutally. Brenton manages to use a few new camera tricks to justify the scene being captured on film/digital-whatever. These tricks mange to keep the film flowing without seeming forced on us in order to continue with a found footage format. All in all the movie had me starring at my screen like a deer in headlights, afraid to keep looking and afraid to turn away.

"Crowsnest" may start off feeling like the same ole-same ole but don't be misguided by that knee jerk reaction. The actors manage to turn scenes of classic terror through the camera's eye into real tense and suspenseful moments. There are also some very dark edgy moments that show brutal survival instinct that no civilized person would ever think of resorting to, and the cannibals are never seen full on in the scenes, only shadowy poorly lit monsters that chase down, dismember, and discard their prey. The graphic gore is minimal in this film because unlike some cliché movies these monsters have no real care for the modern trinkets that city folk carry with them into the outback. So there are no scenes from killer point of view on tape getting gritty and raw and nasty with the special effects- save one scene-the birthday boy. But you will have to watch the film to see. I have to say that I will probably add this to my collection and watch it some more times. I rarely say that about found footage films.