Panic Button (2011)

Too many fans seem to be blown away

Simple and well acted, it has tension enough to knot the stomach.

a film so unique, intoxicating and bizarre that it not only demands another viewing, but is also forgivable as a satirical comedy where the jokes eventually take the back seat.

As somebody who had not heard any of this before, it became a curious phenomenon to sit and watch a film and slowly have the realities begin to click into place.

First off Scarlett Alice Johnson is not the same as Scarlett Johansson.Four young adults win a trip to NYC from a social networking web site. On board the plane they take part in a game, which quickly grows uncomfortable and has deadly consequences for mistakes. Dave is obnoxious and we learn likes kiddie porn and is a hot head. Jo is an alcoholic. Gwen is still a virgin and Max is a liar.You have an unseen man with a voice distorter barking out orders. Jo is set up as the "Final Girl" as she is the only one we see before the airport. The film is fairly easy to predict...what task would you have a virgin do? Guide: F-word. Sex. No nudity.

PANIC BUTTON is another low budget 'single location' thriller about a group of people trapped in one place and forced to confront some unpalatable truths about themselves. Although much is made of the plane setting, the lack of a special effects budget means that this might as well be set anywhere: a train carriage, a cellar, you name it.The film has much in common with your usual thriller in this mould and indeed one of the cast, Jack Gordon, would go on to be in the almost identical TRUTH OR DARE (which was much better, by the way). The usual problems unfold, namely poor scripting which takes the form of unlikeable cast members you either don't care about or actively wish bad stuff to happen to.The low budget nature of the production precludes the presence of any name actors and the best they can come up with for a lead is a former EASTENDERS actress, Scarlett Alice Johnson. None of the actors are particularly bad, but they're not great either when saddled with such underwhelming characters. I appreciate that the emphasis is on the psychological here rather than unnecessary torture porn but the running time does drag and there's not much to get excited about when all is said and done.

Right, well this movie starts out by blatantly stating to be based on real events. Yeah, must have been very loosely based in such a case. Because I didn't buy into this as something that had happened, not by a long shot."Panic Button" is about a group of people participating in some type of event or competition set up by a social network. But as dark secrets start to surface and as the participants are given very real assignments the game changes for the worse.Now, I will say that "Panic Button" is entertaining for what it was, a movie to entertain the viewer. It is, however, not a memorable movie, nor is it a movie you will watch more than once.Director Chris Crow did manage to air some interesting enough aspects, such as no online privacy, the ever-present 'Big Brother', people's desperate desire to want 15 minutes of fame (which always end in shame, given the pathetic nature of reality broadcasting), and the backside of social medias. While those do make for some interesting aspects, the movie just never got beyond mediocrity.Not a movie with a lasting impact, "Panic Button" disappears as quietly and without notice as it did getting here. A mere five out of ten stars rating from me.

This is a film that tries so hard to be 'SAW'. A group of people who've done bad things in the past are ordered about by a hidden psycho who wants to punish the people by performing tasks like kill another member of the group or else something nasty is going to happen to one of their friends or family. Watching this film gave you a sort of deja vu feeling of seen it before and unoriginal. The acting in the film was surprisingly good. There was the usual joker in the group, a strong lady, a weak hysterical lady and a strong male. It was quite cliché ridden and I for one foresaw what was going to happen apart from the twist at the end. Which is really good.I wouldn't call this film horror its more a suspense/mystery. There's no scares or blood just psychological torture. I don't know why it is called panic button either but it is not a bad film. Just distinctly average and nothing special but watchable.