The Lost (2006)

I'd like to think that I am at least as insightful as an average person. Having studied the craft and written a couple of screenplays myself, I'm at a loss of words - which doesn't happen very often. Maybe one has to read the book, which I'm guessing is far superior to this cinematic mess, in order to follow or 'get' what the purpose of the film is. Three teens in the woods stumble upon two girls in the woods, they're shot. OK, good start... but then we jump to a cast of characters with a LOUSY setup. Who are they? How do they relate to the story? It takes too much effort to piece it together and my 30mins+ we don't really care - we're LOST! The setups in the film don't really have any satisfying payoffs and there's a lot of ON THE NOSE scenes that are placed in order to ensure the audience understands the plot that hangs together by a thread. Are we the audience suppose to root for Ray? I don't think so. Is there even a protagonist in the film? I don't think so. So are we the audience just sitting through a bad movie that showcases a villains dark side? Totally unsatisfying. Again, no comment on the book... I'm sure it's wonderful in a dark kind of way, but it's likely an impossible feat to convert that story into a successful film - this one has failed. Yes, the audience is the only thing about this movie that is clearly LOST and this is likely the worst or second worst movie I've seen in years.

I was ready to turn this off in the first couple minutes but withheld and did wind up watching to the end. Did not care for the many dragged out T&A scenes.Best acting was done by lead actor Marc Sentor who played Ray Pye. He looked like and even his acting reminded me of a cross between a young Ray Liotta and Rob Lowe. Hope he gets more lead roles in better scripts because he deserves it.Sometimes it reminded of American Psycho though the only pop tune it played on and off as sound track was "I'm a Pied Piper" from the 60's. I guess why I rated it only a five is because I didn't care for most of the characters and outside of Ray Pye they were under developed. Again, more could have been done there over the extended T&A scenes. Nearly every character we did somewhat get to know was dysfunctional and not totally likable. Sometimes it was difficult to tell who was the sickest personality or character.I would have rather seen more suspense and logical/realistic detective work rather than Pye having a meltdown or whatever that was. Also didn't care for the ending or the big climax.But kudos to Marc Sentor, I'd give him a 10 out of 10 for his stellar performance. It's worth a watch if you can handle the T&A.

Essentially some guy named Ray killed two girls and nobody could find incriminating evidence so he got away. Now more people are dying.The movie feels like writers trying too hard not to change the book too much. It takes too long before the story really gets going which is disappointing because honestly it should have been a good film.I don't know why Ketchum insists on writing about unbelievably misogynistic people but essentially it's like the stupidly evil husband from "The Offspring" (also based on one of Ketchum's books if I'm not mistaken) being the entire threat.While kidnapping girls who annoyed him in minor ways, the killer at one point prances through the house towards a victim incompetently and gets a door slammed into his face. Later while going crazy he practically dances around in anger in a room with five people he's threatened yet despite getting his back close to victims they never bother to disarm him & beat him senseless. The movie ends without a resolution to the situation which is pretty annoying.

Ray Pyke(Marc Senter) is a narcissistic developing psychopath, whose volatile nature is sure to eventually meet a crescendo of violence as his drug habit and infantile fits of rage represent a volcano on it's way to eruption. Ray's friend Tim(Alex Frost)and girlfriend Jen(Shay Astar)bare witness to his gunning down two girls camping out, and must carry such a burden out of fear for their safety(..that, and Ray has a control over them). This depraved act of violence works as a reminder to us that Ray is a ticking timebomb, as we watch his life slowly spiral out of control as Detective Charlie Schilling(Michael Bowen)hounds him over the murders, knowing that he's the one responsible, just without proof. Ray is the kind of dirtbag who dresses like a country stud, with boots(..with crushed bear cans to make him look taller), black jeans and shirt(..with additional slight touches of eyeliner )& hair slicked back right in place. Sparta, as we soon realize, is a small blot in Texas where dreams are elsewhere and the pretty girls who live in this place have few options in regards to male suitors so Ray is one they flock to. He's merely an assistant manager of his mom's "Bates Motel", but carries himself as if he ruled the world. Just charismatic enough to attract the local female, but it's merely an endless parade of humping and dumping, with the girls returning because there's nobody else it seems. Three particular female characters which have the misfortune to have ever found themselves locked into Ray's radar are Sally Richmond(Alice Hirson), a young woman, temporarily working as a maid for his hotel, who wants nothing at all to do with him, recognizing the kind of sleazoid he really is(..that, and she is involved with a 60 year old retired detective portrayed by screen vet Ed Lauter), Kat Wallace(Robin Sydney), a wealthy babe, her mom a schizophrenic, whose obviously attracted to the danger and mystery he presents(..that, and she's bored and craving excitement), not knowing how obsessive and juvenile he really is, and, of course, Jen who would do anything to please him, always on the receiving end of neglect, ridicule., and abuse. Somewhat holding himself together, while abusing drugs and liquor, it's only an amount of time before Ray snaps.The fuse is lit by Katherine who Ray longs for in every possible way, as she backs away from a possible relationship..it's realized that Ray was a fling for her, and she wishes to move on with her life. Also adding to this is the discovery that Tim and Jen have slept together(..and that Tim has been taking hash from him). We have come to the understanding that Ray's sanity is hanging by a thread and it won't require much for him to crack.Sivertson's disturbing portrait of decaying youth bent on destruction, given commanding treatment thanks to how developed the story is, and how it will end. Ray is the kind of character just looking for an excuse to terrorize somebody, and Senter does a good job of displaying the many facets of his troubled character..someone attracted to the spotlight, addicted to a neverending stream of girls and drugs, also carrying serious homicidal tendencies, whose anger fits and outbursts serve as a warning of things to come. Robin Sydney is quite a find, a stunning bombshell whose quite photogenic and seductive(..the camera loves her)..you can see how such a gal would cause Ray(..or many a man)to get all out of sorts. Astar is appropriately pathetic, and sympathetic as Ray's much maligned squeeze, deeply in love with him no matter how emotionally he abuses her..Ray doesn't even hide his sexual excess from her, yet Jen remains loyal to him. Frost is the buddy who probably wishes to be Ray, to have the girls at his feet, the charisma to approach people the way he does. This setting is rather depressing in that we see a cast of characters with little to do but embrace the drug and sex culture available. Ray's fury at the end is rather unsettling and shocking, once he decides to go on a shooting rampage, killing anyone he so chooses(..this has been on the horizon for some time, and Kat's rejection of him finally sends him over the edge), gathering up the girls who infuriated him the most. We also follow Schilling's dogged determination and on-going interrogation to bring Ray to justice, getting what he has so longed for with the unfortunate price of lives. Sivertson's skills as a visual filmmaker are proved here(..and in I KNOW WHO KILLED ME, although that one is ridiculously convoluted and silly)with how he captures the events and characters, building them to the eventual climax. Carefully, Sivertson details what will bring Ray to the breaking point, and those characters who are effected by his rage. The climax takes place in the cabin where Ray discovered the guns used on innocent people, and is appropriately chilling, as he collects the girls who caused his psychological trauma together..completely unglued, Ray has become lost to madness(even besieging a couple there to clean up the place;his violence towards them is truly unpleasant, to say the least)as Schilling grills Tim for his whereabouts.