Better to die like a soldier than live like a coolie

Rating: 9/10 (18 November 2015)

Whedon and Goddard changed my mind about all Hollywood writers being hacks. These two knew their craft.
There is much to this film, and one has to stick it out, because it begins with as big a cliché of horror as one can get, and that's intentional because of the story here, which is actually many symbolic stories rolled into one.
I probably wouldn't have continued watching had I not intended to critique it, and that's why I'm not a fan of modern story telling. In order to be produced, one must do as these two writers do, "unfold" the story. I don't like being manipulated, and Christianity dictates not to "manipulate", and that's why this story is as Christian as one can get, albeit a more Gnostic Christian story than usual. It shows up "manipulation".
How to tell of this film without spoilers? I think some things need to be said. But I won't reveal any "real spoiler", other than a lot of what you see that you think is off subject, is actually right on target.
There are allusions here to many films, but mostly to THE BRIDGE ON THE RIVER KWAI. The evil Japanese commander in that film states:
BETTER TO DIE LIKE A SOLDIER THAN LIVE LIKE A COOLIE
And our five young people do that. They encounter danger, and of course the first fatality has no idea of the danger, just as if five people walk through their football field, and suddenly one steps on a mine. The first one can have no clue as to the reality, and so the others learn more and more as they go along.
Remember that quote from KWAI. It has meaning. Because the surface of the story is about five young people who are the usual five who enter the horror story, so much so that we can almost sense the writing team has something else in mind, if they're truly writers, and they don't disappoint us.
I don't give this a 10/10 yet, because before I give a film that, it must digest and pass a test of time with me.
This film will be relevant as long as we have IMDb bubble boys, and those are the ones who are put down most by this film.
The film is "anti-horror" instead of "horror".
There are many levels of symbolism here. For example, there is an "army symbolism" here. The five young people are "sacrificed" in a way by the "officer characters".
And the writers are careful to show that of the main "office" characters relegating the action, only two are "officers" who have the ideology of the Hellish game, while the others are symbolic of the squadron clerks, maintenance, mechanics, the support people doing their job. One girl, maybe the closest of the "enlisted" to the "officers" even states that while the officer characters are "celebrating", she is "drinking". That line, among others, has more significance than the casual observer might realize.
The "sacrifice" angle is shown for what it is, too. We see the officer characters demanding to be in complete control, even of the order of fatalities.
And the five young people do their best. They are given labels of "nerd", "virgin" and other labels, labels which for one of them proves to be the ultimate irony.
We see other cultures playing the same control game with young people, but not to the degree the Americans do. Again, there is more being stated here than meets the eye. The modern American, in a worship of evil, in considering cannibals immortal, serial killers undying, homicidal maniacs gifted, the bubble boy horror fan who worships this idea, is the exact opposite of the American revolutionaries Patrick Henry and Thomas Payne. The exact opposite.
Back in the 1960s I remember kids playing make believe, and there would always be the older control freak kid who made each invisible door release an even bigger demon to defeat, just to torment the other kids. And I've no doubt that there were such control freaks in 1960 B.C. doing the same.
According to the film, people have been subjecting themselves to this for ages. And it became a religion to those who have the worst outlook on good and evil. "Fair is foul and Foul is Fair", except these maniacs take it to mean spiritual "fair and foul" being the opposite.
A lot of this is explored. And pay attention to the Japanese girls. Because there is more symbolism here. They represent the total opposite of what the American ideology is. Again, I refer to the quote in the classic war film given above.
In the end, I won't say if it's some of the original five young people, or some of the other characters, but two of them are given the choice to continue playing the game, and they fall for it for a while, because they believe the lies that it will save humanity, when in fact, all it does is keep humanity in slavery.
I hope I haven't "spoiled" anything. I would rather a first time viewer just keep an open mind throughout, and wait till the end.