Points out the stupidity of lazy horror movies

Rating: 8/10 (29 September 2013)

I'll start by saying that unlike people who gave this film a 1/10 and proclaimed it the worst thing they'd ever seen, I will actually give the film a sensible review and point out it's failings as well as its successes.
I for one really enjoyed it, and as many reviewers have already stated this is a comedy, which uses the horror genre as its source material. The most baffling thing I found in reading others reviews was that apparently intelligent people completely missed the point of this film and judged it not as a comedy but as a genuine horror. This is more likely the fault of the advertising campaign which is generally done to a generic model by people who have obviously spent very little time with the people who created the film.
It is easy to miss many of the points Joss relates to in order to point out his fairly simple concept, which is that most horror films rely heavily on an unacceptable level of suspension of disbelief in order to tell their stories. From the girl who walks into a room where the lights won't turn on while searching for her boyfriend to the beloved staple line, "let's split up". Joss has had to go to great lengths to show the level of complexity and convolution in order to adequately explain the stupidity and implausibility of the characters who generally populate horror films. I found the most entertaining parts of the film to be the technicians behind the scenes, as the main characters were all quite boring. With the exception of the fool who is intensionally and ironically the only character to work out the manipulation of the group due to the drugs he was smoking, which have been missed by the department responsible for dosing it like the other charatcers have been. I also believe that this too is no accident, the characters who are drugged and make stupid decisions are the ones you care the least for, which is why in genuine horror films I always find it hard to sympathise with the main characters for their very stupidity. This is also why I find the support characters more interesting and believable. One reviewer mentioned that the only character he thought to be scary was the gas station owner. This however completely ignores his later phone conversation which clearly points out that he was playing a part to appease the old Gods, and again this level of attention to detail easily gets missed by those hoping to have to switch their brains off while they watch another 90 mins of gore and predictable, even iconic characters. I for one applaud Joss for his courage to fly in the face of convention and demonstrate how it is possible to make a film that pokes fun of a genre but doesn't descend to fart jokes, IE Scary Movie etc.
As I said I didn't really care for the main characters, and this is to the film's detriment, however with that in mind I don't think it would have been possible to make this film without making the main characters boring. In the end the plot like the characters had to suffer in order to make the point, but it has been done so well and with humour and creativity that this does not matter.