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Green Inferno, The
 
Year : 2015
Country : United-States


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DokBrowne  [ 3.5 ]    [ add to preferred ]    [ email this review to a friend ]

For good or bad, but probably bad, this elicited very little reaction from me. It was okay to watch; Roth tries to enervate as usual with annoying characters and his frankly kinda scary refusal to sympathize with anyone in his scripts. Horror filmmakers aren't a sentimental bunch in general, but after half a dozen movies, Eli Roth has proudly cultivated a sociopathic reputation that would work more in his favor as an artist if he ever applied more than a workmanlike interest, flair, gusto, panache, ANYTHING to his movies. "Hostel", "Knock Knock", and this movie all seem like the most straightforward versions of vintage horror premises, like they were made by someone who spent his life watching video nasties but never developed a personality of his own. Look past the gore and all the screaming and you get these conservative pictures with more or less indifferent directorial styles and thoroughly traditional, inauspicious scripts.

Actually, the only time he rose to the occasion was with "Cabin Fever", and I may or may not be in the minority here, but that's one of the worst movies I've ever seen, so in a way I'm relieved that he reigned it in after that, but also now bored that every movie he makes is so by-the-numbers. What's the solution? Maybe just don't be a director. Be a creative consultant. As a horror connoisseur, use your clout to produce indie talent in the genre.

What is there to like or dislike about "The Green Inferno", anyway? There is systematic dismemberment and death-by-ants and some other gruesome business, so you'll get your jollies if that's what you're looking for, but the surrounding movie is so soullessly presented that even the extreme stuff just passes idly by on the conveyor belt of imitation-taboo ingredients. And there's commentary about the hypocrisy of social activism that doesn't resonate because the flaky ensemble isn't engaging in the least and the script lays it all on pretty bluntly.

And then finally a couple of dark revenge twists that I didn't care about because they feel so arbitrary. In vaguely spoilery terms, first of all, the guy deserves it. He was gonna do the same thing to her, to the point where freeing him might have endangered her own life, so what's the conflict? Why is it supposed to be suspenseful that his girlfriend found out her secret? Isn't it kinda-sorta-I guess ambiguously disturbing enough that the main girl lied to everyone about it when she came back? Tacking on an "I know what you did last summer" cue at the end is simply gratuitous. It's Eli Roth indulging his perverse need to punish everyone, all the time, forever. His career seems like the equivalent of the killer in every slasher movie: wronged in the past (childhood trauma? bullied? forced to watch too many horror movies? who knows), holding a grudge, devoting their lives to madly seeking vengeance on the whole world. Get over it and do something more interesting someday

 
Weighted Rating : 6.2
No. Ratings : 1
No. Reviews : 1


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2015 188
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