Ejecta (2014)

A Disappointing Continuation

Good films always raise compelling questions, whether the format is fiction or documentary fact.

A lot of perfectly good film show their cards early, establish a unique premise and let the audience explore a topic at a leisurely pace, without much in terms of surprise. this film is not one of those films.

Worth seeing just to witness how winsome it is.

I do believe this is possibly the absolute worst movie I've watched in my entire life. As a fan of the genre, I really hate to see this movie lumped in with sci-fi at all. Because it really gives sci-fi a bad rap. Yes, it's that bad. I think the best thing Lisa Houle could do is to try another career. Her 'performance' is the absolute worst acting I've seen from any human being... ever. For this reason alone I just could not recommend that anyone waste their time watching this piece of wasted cellulose. The plot has holes that just cannot be reconciled. The only saving grace in this video is that I didn't have to spend actual money on it. This is just bad all the way around. Don't waste your time.

I wasn't completely disappointed with this film. There were a couple of things that really were clever. I wished they would have capitalized on those nuances that were unique and steered clear of the "found footage" filming style. Haven't we had enough found footage films to last a life time? What worked well is the use of real complaints that some of the abductees report; missing memory, showing up in strange places with no way of knowing how they got there, and the sleepless dull pain shrouded in unadulterated fear. That was creepy storytelling. It was a twist to consider the idea something is also controlling some of the visitors just like humans are controlled. Assuming all alien contact is only part of a bigger conspiracy of highly intelligent entities controlling the rest was a bright spot. Dire film with simple special effects made for a solid picture to catalog along with others that make the grade! Quick moving fun!

I have to agree with the reviewer Gavin; I think he summed it up pretty well, except in my lowly and wretched opinion, I think he was just a BIT too generous. I ALMOST wanted to give this a '5' because, as Gavin mentioned, the 'Pedigree' of the film. Also, there were some truly effective moments, especially in the last 10 minutes or so. But, in all objective fairness as a whole, I had to give it a '4'.I also LOVED 'PONTYPOOL'; and I feel it is indeed one of the best Horror films to come out of Canada and certainly is a perfect example of how to make a VERY effective Horror film with very little. I think that in this case, if they wouldn't have tried to go so much with the 'Found Footage' type delivery (although I can understand why, maybe, because of the obvious, severe budgetary restraints) and instead spent some more time developing substantial dialog for the interview between the blogger and the main guy (for example 'THE INTERVIEW' - in that case, almost ALL of the film is the questioning of a guy by two cops. But, it is VERY effective - I think they should have used that approach instead of all the wasteful running around in the forest, etc.) Also, maybe I am in the minority here, but I absolutely could NOT stand the woman who played the military interrogator. Seriously Gawd-frigg'n-Awful. I absolutely HATED her little cutesy approach; it was horribly clichéd and painfully corny, especially for one SUPPOSED to be in a high-level military position. If she had just played it VERY straight and disciplined, as a military individual WOULD have, then that part of it at least would have gone better. Also, perhaps if they had just cast a coldly beautiful woman in that role, again playing it STRAIGHT without all the nauseating cutesy stuff, I really do think that would have gone a LONG way to improving the film. Now, I'm NOT talking about some Barbie Bimbo with large breasts (not that there is ANYTHING wrong with that :) But, just a good-looking, but steely cold woman, and with MUCH more incisive dialog, THEN I can see that part of the film being a LOT stronger. Think about it... Imagine her coming across as stone-cold and calculatingly efficient, and with MUCH better written dialog. If done properly, I think the sharp contrast between her beauty and amoral coldness could have been quite chilling and effective, raising the hair on the back of our necks instead her inane dialog causing our eyes permanently to roll infinitely far back in our heads... So, unfortunately since the very two things I mention are pretty much the entire film, I do feel that if they had approached both of those parts in different ways, but still kept all the other story elements and style in place, that REALLY would have boosted the quality of this film and made it FAR more entertaining.In my opinion, the film makers just took what could have been a decent, entertaining idea, and ruined it with a lazy and stupid approach.Sad, but I think unfortunately true...

Having persevered with this horror movie and that is what it was, a horror right through to the end, I would have said suicide seemed a better alternative. I tremble at the thought of going through that sort of experience again. The plot was terrible, the scenery was infantile in that too much green, supposedly NV goggles? was used and it was repetitive. The editor should not have used the same scenes so often. It became boring. Disjointed is another word that springs to mind. Anyone on amphetamines would probably feel at home. One reviewer said the downside was that it was a low-cost movie. Well, I cannot agree. Nobody in his/her right mind would spend money on this waste of time so that is not really a consideration. My only positive suggestion is that it would have been better named by calling it EXCRETA not EJECTA.