Imagination; The Horror Movie Buff's Best Friend.

Rating: Null/10 (4 August 1999)

Yes, there was the hype. I tried to stay away from it, but still it crept into my life. After a week of having to run out of the room every time my friends wanted to talk about TBP, I decided it was time to see it for myself.
Amazing. Truely amazing. This was not a fear that came from the same place as "Nightmare on Elm St," or "Psycho," this was a fear of identification and knowing that these people are real. Okay, they were actors, but if you didn't know it was (I assume very loosly) scritped, and didn't know this was fiction, there are very few give-aways that would tip you off. Possibly on future viewing there will be more evident gaffs that point to the fact that this was all a work of imagination. But after my first look at it, the film seems to be solid.
Aside from creeping me out, I left the film wanting to watch a documentary on the filming of this movie! I can't imagine the process and improvisions these actors must have gone through to attain the level of "reality" that was displayed in the film. The film itself was full of strong choices. Some worked for me, some didn't. But either way, they were bold,defined and when viewed as a whole made for some intense viewing.
Some people have complained that "nothing was explained." (particularly referring to the end) In a day and age when Hollywood panders to the lowest common denominator by holding the audience's hand and then proceeding to hit them over the head with key plot points and cliches this movie took a more absurdist route and left some of the exposition up in the air. But I think that was part of the fear factor. When given the loose ends of these particular circumstances, our own imagination is what scares us even more when it comes to the possibilities of "what happened."
All in all, see this film. Become engrossed in it. Don't worry about "This is supposed to be the scariest movie ever," just sit back and take it as it comes and let your imagination fill in the rest. Sometimes the scariest part of the movie is in our own minds.