The Votes are in: WORST FILM OF THE DECADE

Rating: Null/10 (8 December 1999)

Well, at least my vote is in, and from what I have read here, the votes of many others. This film is worthless, with not one redeeming feature about it. To say that I merely hated this film would not be anywhere near enough to express my anger, shock and disbelief of how so many critics could be duped into thinking this film had any merit at all, let alone one of the scariest films of all time (as Peter Travers of Rolling Stone, gushed in one of his many, wide of the mark reviews. This guy probably thinks Denise Richards is the future of cinema.)
Meanwhile, I have not personally encountered one human being who actually liked this movie. Where are they? I see comments written favorably on here, but I wouldn't put it past Artisan to have made them up. In reality, I don't think anyone really DID like this movie. It's one big hoax, just like the movie itself. I hope all the reviewers that were paid off are having a Merry Christmas with their extra cash. As for the rest of us, here are some telltale signs for the New Millennium of what a "groundbreaking" film need include:

The absence of any talented actors, especially in the way of improvisation. Can't think of a line? No problem. Scream a string of curse words and get your voice to such a high pitch that hunting dogs and St. Bernards everywhere will be able to track you from 50 miles away.

Give your characters not a smidgen of intelligence. Have them go out into the woods completely unprepared, with not enough survival supplies, but enough film and Hi-8 tapes and batteries to last for 4 days. Also, have them lose a map and bicker about it for the rest of the trip without once stopping to realize, "Hey, we filmed the map at the beginning of the trip in close up. (Along with practically every other step we took) Why don't we rewind the tape and see if we can figure out where we are by looking at it through the viewfinder." Naaaah, that would maybe makes sense, plus it would waste precious battery power.

Put the audience to sleep and try to convince them that while they were snoring, they missed all the scary parts. This can be the only explanation. I saw it twice (once in the theater, once on video under threat of death) and went through every frame of that movie looking for something scary. Damn, biting off a hangnail is more frightening. Then try to suggest to the audience that it isn't what you see, it's what you DON'T see, that's scary. In other words, maybe I should have saved my 9 bucks and imagined a scarier movie than what I saw? Well, sorry, that's why I go to the movies, so I don't have to actually invent one, myself. And if you want to suggest what's out there through the soundtrack, maybe you want to turn it up so people can actually hear what's going on. To me, it sounded like someone breaking celery stalks into a microphone and a bunch of drunk frat boys going "oooohh. Booooo." (Or maybe that was the audience.)

Lastly, tell anyone who dare denounce the film that it is they themselves who have no vision or imagination.