Competent retelling of a reliable formula

Rating: Null/10 (22 July 2016)

For some reason, the basic plot of "Green Room" - innocent individuals finding themselves holed up in a confined space while a great menace is right outside trying to wipe them out - is one that I personally find both irresistible and open to be told in many different ways. It's been done from westerns ("3:10 to Yuma" and "Rio Bravo") to horror movies ("Dog Soldiers"). Although "Green Room" doesn't really try to bring in a new genre to this old reliable formula, it is a competent retelling overall. The bad guys are vicious and hateful, the good guys are pretty sympathetic, there is some effective brutal violence, it's never dull, and the movie looks pretty good for a low budget exercise.
Are there any problems along the way? Yes, several, problems that I think hold back the movie from being great and instead make it simply good. One problem is that the movie takes quite a long time to really get going - half the movie, if I recall greatly. Also, the final confrontation with Patrick Stewart's character is kind of a letdown; I expected something a lot more charged up. But the movie, despite problems such as these, shouldn't discourage any viewers who enjoy this formula as much as I do.