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Shrooms (2006)
Loses Its Way
Directed By: Paddy Breathnach
Starring: Lindsey Haun, Jake Huston, & Maya Hazen
MPAA Rating: “Not Rated”
Starring: Lindsey Haun, Jake Huston, & Maya Hazen
MPAA Rating: “Not Rated”
I don’t know what I expected Shrooms to be...but it certainly wasn’t what it was. This is probably because I didn’t expect a bad movie, but that is exactly what I got. The film has a rather intriguing premise and a competent enough cast partnered with slick direction, so what exactly went wrong? Shrooms executes its plot with no real interest or sense of entertainment. It follows a cyclical routine that constantly repeats itself over and over until the film’s twist ending that only serves as a means of eliminating any interest the rest of the film may have had. It’s all just very blah and rather grating when, at the end of it all, we realize just how much potential was completely squandered by inept screenwriters who could not maintain a smooth narrative to save their lives.
A group of Americans venture to Ireland so that they can take shrooms, get high, and have fun. Unfortunately for them, someone or something has different plans. Soon, the friends all begin to die one-by-one and, as panic sets in, they begin to turn on each other, desperate to stay alive. However, one of them, Tara (Haun), happened to have taken deadly Shrooms just before the killer struck and, instead of dying, she now can see the future. Now, she must use her visions to save her friends...but can she save them in time? The answer to this question is, of course, “No!” Much of the film revolves around Tara having a vision (complete with tacky editing and creepy music) and then that vision being played out seconds later in reality. Half of the time, the visions make more sense than the actual occurrences, which are shot in an even more uninspired manner.
Shrooms is not a good movie...in fact, is a thoroughly bad one that starts off in the right direction and quickly veers off into darkened territory before finally losing us completely. It sports a nice cast and passable direction (for the most part, with the exception of the death scenes), as well as a sinister-looking villain. The only problem is that we never know if what we are seeing is real. Is that ghostly specter real? Should they really be running? Are people dying? What really is going on? This normally would not be a problem if it were not for the absurd and disappointing conclusion that attempts to wrap everything up in an implausible and all-too-simplistic way. The ending is unforeseeable, because it makes very little sense and, once you have seen it, you will wish you hadn’t.
I reviewed a film called Crazy Eights not too long ago and much of my review was centered on it having so much wasted potential. Shrooms suffers from the same mistake, though possibly on a lesser scale because, at least, it does not waste a relatively famous cast (i.e. Dina Meyer). It was filmed by a first-time horror director with a cast of complete unknowns (Teenage girls may recognize the face of Robert Hoffman from such films as She’s the Man and Step Up 2 the Streets, but that is about it). I always want films such as these to succeed and go on to become great cult classics, but that just will not happen with Shrooms. Contrary to the belief commonly held by most critics, we horror fans do indeed enjoy quality films and this film, most certainly, is not one of them. This is what gives horror films a bad name.
A group of Americans venture to Ireland so that they can take shrooms, get high, and have fun. Unfortunately for them, someone or something has different plans. Soon, the friends all begin to die one-by-one and, as panic sets in, they begin to turn on each other, desperate to stay alive. However, one of them, Tara (Haun), happened to have taken deadly Shrooms just before the killer struck and, instead of dying, she now can see the future. Now, she must use her visions to save her friends...but can she save them in time? The answer to this question is, of course, “No!” Much of the film revolves around Tara having a vision (complete with tacky editing and creepy music) and then that vision being played out seconds later in reality. Half of the time, the visions make more sense than the actual occurrences, which are shot in an even more uninspired manner.
Shrooms is not a good movie...in fact, is a thoroughly bad one that starts off in the right direction and quickly veers off into darkened territory before finally losing us completely. It sports a nice cast and passable direction (for the most part, with the exception of the death scenes), as well as a sinister-looking villain. The only problem is that we never know if what we are seeing is real. Is that ghostly specter real? Should they really be running? Are people dying? What really is going on? This normally would not be a problem if it were not for the absurd and disappointing conclusion that attempts to wrap everything up in an implausible and all-too-simplistic way. The ending is unforeseeable, because it makes very little sense and, once you have seen it, you will wish you hadn’t.
I reviewed a film called Crazy Eights not too long ago and much of my review was centered on it having so much wasted potential. Shrooms suffers from the same mistake, though possibly on a lesser scale because, at least, it does not waste a relatively famous cast (i.e. Dina Meyer). It was filmed by a first-time horror director with a cast of complete unknowns (Teenage girls may recognize the face of Robert Hoffman from such films as She’s the Man and Step Up 2 the Streets, but that is about it). I always want films such as these to succeed and go on to become great cult classics, but that just will not happen with Shrooms. Contrary to the belief commonly held by most critics, we horror fans do indeed enjoy quality films and this film, most certainly, is not one of them. This is what gives horror films a bad name.
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