Didn't make me green with sickness or envy

Rating: 7/10 (16 May 2016)

Don't you hate it when you get yourself hyped up for a film and it lets you down? Green Room has everything I love in a film: A fight for survival, intensity and psychopaths. Horror fans and critics were building it up with stories about people walking out the cinema vomiting and calling it one of the most intense films ever , but I wholeheartedly disagree. Don't get me wrong Green Room is a good film but it's no where near as amazing as people are making it out to be. As an avid fan of home invasion and survive the night kind of horror, I think there are much better examples of this kind of film out there and whilst Green Room is a solid thriller it really doesn't bring anything new to the table.
My biggest gripe is how forgettable the characters are. Likable characters and character development are essential for slasher films like this. If you like the characters then chances are that you'll be invested in the film. However, I didn't really care about any of these characters and they all felt pretty lifeless. Even the potentially fascinating neo-Nazi villains were wasted, with no characters really being explored. Green Room set itself up for a Eden Lake standard character-driven ride, but failed to deliver its full potential.
Another thing that irritated me was the acting. Everyone seemed to be acting very odd with lines being mumbled to a barely audible level and no one really being that bothered about murderous Nazis being outside the door. I don't think this is the fault of the actors though, I get the feeling that this is the style of acting the director was going for but for me it didn't work. Even Patrick Stewart sleep-walked his way through the film failing to be the menacing kingpin he could've been. I don't think anyone's going to be winning any awards here.
This all makes it sound like I hated the film, but I did actually like most of it. I liked the slow build-up of the group ending up in the scary fascist bar and how situations slowly and realistically built up to a life or death situation. When the crazy violence does begin the film never becomes boring despite being set in one location, although it's still never as intense as it could've been. It is very thought-provoking though and leaves you wondering about what you'd do in their situation. I also loved the dark grungy atmosphere which really added to the hellish situation the group are in.
There are some brilliantly tense scenes, especially towards the end with a couple of nail-biting showdowns which are really well done and but I was expecting more. The way it was hyped, I thought it was going to be the same level of intensity as Alexandre Bustillo and Julien Maury's French horror, Inside! However, some of the film is poorly directed with low lighting, frantic camera- work and fast editing so it's often difficult to make out what's going on which takes you out of the film and makes it uninvolving. At some points I found it hard to tell which characters' had died. I also don't quite understand why people are vomiting from the violence. Whilst there are some nasty moments I never found it overly gory, but then again I am very desensitized now.
I know it sounds like I hated every minute but if you take away the hype it is a good little thriller and I just want to warn over- excited people (like I was) that it isn't the ground- breaking horror film they think it's going to be. Films like You're Next and the recent 10 Cloverfield Lane are more intense and better made than this one.