Machined (2006)

Most undeservingly overhyped movie of all time??

Good concept, poorly executed.

I enjoyed watching this film and would recommend other to give it a try , (as I am) but this movie, although enjoyable to watch due to the better than average acting fails to add anything new to its storyline that is all too familiar to these types of movies.

There is, somehow, an interesting story here, as well as some good acting. There are also some good scenes

Here's the thing, why do all horror movies have to take place at night? Would anyone protest if someone made a horror movie taking place during the day? Second, if you have next to no budget and no decent equipment, why would you go and film a movie at night, knowing full well that is going to look like garbage?In Machined, a big mechanic dude is obsessed with all things gruesome. He pays a ton of money for some knife used in a killing. One day some guy drives on a desert road and his car breaks down. Motorman Dan literally runs into and over him. Then he takes the injured guy to his shop and does something to him. We don't know what, but it's painful and it involves putting a mask on the guy. We see this from the victim's POV.Then a bunch of kids driving nearby at night have their car break down, they make it to the creepy shop. Dan offers to help but it will take a while. The kids start frolicking around when a creature appears and starts killing them. The creature is Dan's creation and he does look strange. He has a camera on this head and lights, so that Dan can see all the gory details on a tiny TV. Eventually, the sister of the first victim starts looking for him and finds the shop. And there's an interesting twist near the end.I'll give Machined credit for an idea, granted, the Frankensteinian creature isn't a new idea, but it's more than 99% of horror movies about dark-haired teenagers running at night in hallways from some lame killer. But you need more to make a movie aside from an idea and enthusiasm- you need resources, to at least be able to afford a decent camera and a flashlight. If you can't afford that, you have to be smart about using the little that you have. Machined isn't- it looks terrible and is painfully slow because it doesn't have anything to tell aside from the creature killing a few teens. Couldn't they have gotten at least some more teens to volunteer? A Z-budget movie through and through that probably should not have gotten distribution.

Being an avid horror fan I have noticed that horror is heading in a gore-breast fest. Machined is not that. Yes it did have breast but it was not a fest. The director took a lot of chances with Dan's character. I did not expect the opening scene. Can you say CHUBBY? Dan that is. Machined had this fresh grossness which gets to you in a nice way. Wished to see more dolly type shots but got hand-held instead.If you are looking for a fresh story about a guy that is a major peeping tom, than Machined is worth a few rides around the block to see. Funny, shocking and gross all rolled up in neat ball of good time.The only problem I had with the movie was I wanted a little more. More Ryan, more surgery on Ryan, but that must be where huge budgets come to the call.

It was probably a year ago when I first heard about Craig McMahon's MACHINED, and I gotta tell you - I was instantly intrigued. There's just something about a creature being part-man and part-machine that runs around slaughtering people. That and plus the poster art looked damn cool. So eventually I found a good time for viewing it, in the dark, no distractions and I was pretty impressed. There are not many films like MACHINED, I can promise you that! This tale is about a big, fat, hairy guy who goes by the name of 'Motorman Dan', who has a few personal problems. For one: he likes to jerk off while reading about serial killers; two: he dreams of having a "pet" serial killer of his own, and three: well, he's fat… So eventually, Dan accidentally runs over a young man named Ryan, (Jose Rosete), who was trying to flag him down for a ride at the time. Oops…Dan's bad. Oh, well, it's all good; more body parts for his dream "killing machine". After Dan adds the final touches to his creation, he lets it loose all over town, (that being his garage). One problem… Ryan has a few friends, who along with his sister Angela are determined to find out what happened to the unlucky young fellow.MACHINED succeeds in many ways, atmosphere being one of them. Honestly, they nailed it so well (pun intended) I felt like I was right there in the grungy garage of horrors with the robotic killing machine, fat Dan himself and of course, his hairy back. I think director Craig McMahon accomplishes this by keeping the film very dark, both in tone and the impressive camera work. I don't think there's one shot even hinting at sunlight. It also helps that there are many first perspective shots in the film.The sound design is second on the list of well-used elements. The effects were awesome, most of them coming from the killing machine itself. It's very interesting how McMahon combines the score with the sound effects. At times when the machine is walking around you can hear the nuts and bolts squeaking, but eventually those sounds become part of the score, which is insanely cool.Now for the first negative aspect: the acting. For the most part the cast does a descent job, but there were definitely a few spotty moments. Our lead actor, Patti Tindall, who plays Angela, does a descent job…but I would have liked her to have been a little more realistic with her reactions. I mean, here she is fighting her brother who is now a robotic killing machine, and she acts as if she deals with this crap everyday. Maybe downplaying her emotions was a directorial choice, but it didn't work for me. My favorite cast member overall was David C. Hayes, who plays 'Motorman Dan'. He was rather brave with his choices and definitely comes across as being the most charismatic of the bunch. Now if he would just take a lawn mower to his back, we'd be all set. He'd probably make more money selling his back hair then he got for acting in the film. There's also one pretty bad apple in the cast, but I won't name names. See if you can guess who it is… The second element that didn't rock my boat was the characters. I'm not sure if it was because of weak performances (at times), the way they were written or the lack of realism that shooting with digital video sometimes displays, but I wasn't emotionally invested in them. During the finale, when Angela is going head-to-head with what's left of her brother, I could have cared less who won. I'm guessing that's not a good thing.Overall, I found MACHINED to be problematic at times, but it's definitely interesting and I'm damn glad I experienced it. Notice how I said "experienced it?" I say that because it's such an odd and unique film. I would recommend you check it out, but just don't go in expecting greatness. Keep in mind that it's pretty much a better-than-average independent film and you'll be in for a solid ninety minutes.

I'm going to have to put out there what most people do not understand. If you're used to the big motion pictures that Hollywood puts out, then you have to have a whole new outlook on independent low budget films. I really liked what the makers of "Machined" did. If you don't have it, then you can't do it. I'm not going to call out names but I've seen too many low budget horror films that try way too hard to make the budget and production look like more than it is. And there is nothing wrong with trying to do that but there is a very fine line when you attempt it. The location for this movie was as good as it gets. The cast was as good as it gets for me as far as me not knowing who any of them were. That real thin line is always crossed when it comes to what you can and can't do with these low budget horror films. I thought "Machined" was going to come close to crossing that line a few times and it never did so I had to come and share my thoughts. Good job on that. I'll take this one over all the other low budget crap out there and even some of the big budget crap too.They did what they had to do and it showed. Go "Machined"!