Incomplete Experience

Rating: Null/10 (9 August 1999)

The terror this film promises depends on the viewer's ability to identify with the characters and to feel their emotions... this in turn relies on the actors' ability to convey those emotions with some verisimiltude, enough to deceive the mind into seeing the story as real. For some viewers, it works. For me and apparently for many others, it doesn't. Of the friends of mine who saw the movie with me, some were terrified while others were bored and restless. Some saw the world through the characters' eyes and felt their fear, while the rest of us found both the acting and the plot implausible. In defense of the latter, I can't imagine that the students had read their survival book they proudly displayed early in the film if they didn't know to follow the stream they kept crossing to find their way to civilization. But to the point, the filmmakers managed to capture the attention of some of the audience and lose the others... in short, they did a halfway job. I was disappointed, given the hype surrounding it. I suppose that's my fault for expecting something at the theater and for listening to hype.