|
|
 |
Many primitive cultures believe that, by having their picture taken, a part of their soul would be stolen. While most of us may laugh off such a belief, there is perhaps more to this idea.
Three couples are on a vacation at a cabin in the woods. While hiking around the cabin, two of them come upon a digital camera with strange markings on it. They show the camera to the rest of their friends, some of whom immediately borrow it for their own uses. But when members of the group start disappearing, it doesn't take long to realize that the mysterious camera may in fact be trapping people inside.
The creepy factor is pretty high in this movie - after all, what could be scarier than being trapped inside a camera? And the film's ending is delightfully unexpected as well. After nearly everyone in the house has disappeared through use of the camera, Taylor - the one survivor - tries to track down someone who can help free his friends from the confines of the camera. On the advice of a drunk at a bar, he goes to the house of an older Native American man, who one assumes will likely perform some sort of ritual to free the trapped individuals.
Warning! Spoilers Ahead!
The real surprise comes when the elder takes the camera and - instead of freeing our hero's friends, holds the camera up and takes his picture. With the last witness to this event now trapped, the old man takes the camera and places it on his mantle - right next to a whole host of other ones. Creepy, right?
There were a few issues, however. At the beginning of the movie, there are captions that mention how there were millions of indigenous people in the Americas in 1491, and how they began disappearing in 1492. It's an obvious reference to the discovery of America and the following oppression of native peoples. And while this sets an interesting tone to the film, it's not too well-explained in the context of the entire movie. The best I can guess is that the old man is using his cursed cameras to seek his revenge. (And this kind of implication could be a bit offensive to Native American viewers, as well.) Perhaps a better way to start the film would be a reference to the primitive belief that a camera steals one's soul? Otherwise, the connection between the past events alluded to and this film's present events should be made clearer.
There were also a few small logic problems in the movie. Such as why the person who took a picture of a car didn't notice that it disappeared immediately afterwards, why no one noticed their friends stuck in the camera even when they were examining it and taking pictures, and why Taylor didn't notice the other cameras on the old man's mantle after walking through his house. They aren't major things, but could be enough that an audience won't be willing to suspend their disbelief.
Finally, I found that the six friends weren't introduced all that well. In fact, when they were driving up to the cabin I initially thought there were only four people going, as the first shot was of a couple sitting in the back seat. It wasn't until they arrived at their destination and "paired up" that I realized there were three couples instead of two.
There were quite a few visual issues in this film. The most obvious ones were the many washed-out exterior shots. These could have been corrected with use of an ND (neutral density) filter on the camera and proper white-balancing. There was also an outside shot where it seemed as though the filmmakers tried to use a bounce card to reflect sunlight back at their actors, since there was a good deal of reflected light in their faces. While bouncing light is a good skill to use, in this case it probably wasn't necessary. It was already quite bright outside, and the bounced light caused so many reflections that it was actually quite distracting. If the light really had been such a problem, perhaps a better angled location would have been the best choice.
|
|
|
|
