A Horrible Way to Die (2010)

There is a lot to admire here, mainly a great lead performance by Amy Seimetz as the alcoholic ex-girlfriend of a serial killer trying to re-establish a normal life. Also it's tough to pull off a naturalistic arthouse horror flick, and this attempt does better than most. For most of its running time this plays more as a drama (that happens to involve a serial killer) than as horror. But two elements nearly wreck the film. One, mentioned by many other reviews here, is the constant close-ups with a jerky handheld camera. A little of this would be fine but it never lets up, this movie is 87 minutes of random close-ups with a camera that won't hold still. It's too much and becomes a constant distraction. Second, there is a very ill-judged twist five minutes before the end that effectively undoes much of the naturalistic appeal the movie had until that point. I won't reveal it here, but will just say it was wholly unconvincing to me. Even with these serious flaws, I found this to be worth watching for Seimetz's performance and for the unhurried, reflective storytelling. What's good here will stay with me, which makes the misjudgments that much more frustrating.

This movie should be shown as an example to film students on how to deliver a story line. The director and writer did a simply amazing job at delivering the story in a slow and very suspenseful way. I can't say enough about how the story and it's reveal impressed me. The story itself had a lot of excellent twists and turns that really kept me very interested.The acting was pretty good as well for a low budget thriller. The only criticism I can give this film is the scene transitions. I loved when they were done, but the peephole cam and out of focus transitions took me quite a while to get used to and took me out of the story. That's the only thing I can criticize. The bad reviews of this film must be by people that want their stories laid out for them on a silver platter within 5 minutes. This one keeps you thinking and you truly don't know what is going on for a good 40 min of the movie. Either that or they couldn't get past the strange camera work.If you appreciate something that's different and a really good story delivery. This movie is a excellent example.

A difficult movie to watch could be another title. At least for some this will hold true. AJ Bowen made a name for himself with other movies and has quite a few fans, though even they (most of them at least) would agree that saying "Enjoy" this movie might be a wrong word to use. It's not the time structure or the different stories that make it difficult to watch itself nor the fact, that it still is predictable, but that it is very grim, with actually almost nobody the audience can identify with. Therefor choosing AJ to play the lead was actually a very good idea, that helps the movie a lot.The final resolution of the movie and some of the characters is too convenient and predictable as mentioned, but if you can overlook that, you will get a thriller that knows what it wants. It is beautifully shot, though that means that it looks dirty in this case and dark. If that floats your boat, you should check the movie out. Otherwise rent with care

I was actually compelled to watch the film, as it has a claustrophobic feel and was genuinely disturbing. The increasing feeling of dread reminded me of the Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974).The theme of the recovering alcoholic girlfriend was realized about as well as someone mostly unfamiliar with AA could make it. I imagine the screen writer and director spent a few evenings at a "high bottom" AA club, as the drunks were all pretty nice people and not criminalistic, rude and violent. You felt genuine concern for the fate of the alcoholic girlfriend.The killer himself was largely ordinary looking and acting, which left you off guard, when he showed his true colors. The kill scenes are fairly graphic and paced well. Some things are done off screen like the Texas Chain Saw Massacre, which for me added to the suspense.The dialogue, pacing, non-linear plot and the stark Midwestern landscape (mid-Missouri it seems as the bar where one of the killings happens is off "old 63") complete the feeling of desolation. You actually could run into people like the people in the film and probably have. I don't see where Blair Witch comparisons are made by other reviewers.My main problem with the film, however, is the terribly trite, Wes Craven-like ending. It seemed almost plagaristic of Scream, where you could tell where it was going but hoping they wouldn't be dumb enough to go there. A serial killer "fan club"? What? Why? I was glad to see the fan boys get offed, but that also was completely predictable.The terrible last scene actually ruined what could have been an iconic horror film for the 21st Century like the Exorcist, Halloween and the Texas Chainsaw Massacre were for the 1970s. If I were the director of this film, I would remake the film with an alternative final scene.