Barricade (2012)

"Barricade" is a well produced, atmospheric chiller with excellent acting, human characters, good cinematography, some creepy Kubrickian moments, a great location and an engaging premise. The only thing I didn't like was the plot reveal which felt like a major letdown after all the above.But who knows, you might like it. Or at least, you might have a good time waiting to see if it's really as bad as everyone says. Note: that's the last I'll say about the ending because I don't want to ruin it (unlike the current top 2 reviews which spoil it in the first sentence. Seriously? How is spoiling a movie helpful?).This is the first time I've seen Eric McCormick who plays the father, and I thought he was fantastic. He bears a striking resemblance, as well as a similar likable quality, to Sam Rockwell, and in fact I kept thinking maybe it was his twin brother or something. If you like Sam Rockwell flicks (like "Moon") you'll enjoy McCormick's delivery. He plays a good lead here: a father of 2 young kids forced to protect them from creepy happenings in a remote corner of the world. Despite losing his grip of reality as events unfold, he remains more or less smart and resourceful.The two kids were excellent as well, and their fear added to the mood without being melodramatic as young actors sometimes are (I'm thinking mainly of my own attempts at making "horror movies" when I was 12, you don't want to know).The atmosphere is very chilly, figuratively as well as literally. Filmed over the course of 4 days in the snowy wilderness near Vancouver, the filmmakers did an excellent job of conveying a claustrophobic feeling of terror despite being in the wide open north.Really, this is a very well made movie except for the actual story driving it. Oh, there's one other thing I didn't care for: all the false scares in the first half hour. Some were effective, and I actually jumped once, but after being tricked a few too many times I started disconnecting from the action."Barricade" is one of those creepy films where you don't know what the threat is until the end, and this puts it in line with some excellent films like "The Others", "The Changeling", "Moscow Zero", or the mack daddy of twist endings, "The Sixth Sense". But in this case the story didn't have a corkscrew twist so much as it had a itty bitty bend.

What the hell was that ? I thought I knew what was going on (father taking the drugs, hallucinating and all whacked out on drugs) then it jumped all over the place without explanation AT&T all. Why this? Why that ? Couldn't follow this movie from the start. It was building up for the grand finally and fell far short of thrilling. "He will get what's coming to him"... And they let him go to the Hospital with his kids after he kidnapped and almost killed a man while on drugs ? Don't want to live near these police.. All and all. Very disappointing movie that had potential but didn't take advantage of the money spent on it. What a shame I wanted an hour and change on this one..

This horror film from WWE Studios is a good example of a horror movie getting a bad rap. Not many horror movies that can leave you biting your nails without blood. A good ghost story is all you need to make you not wanting to be alone while watching especially if you have a good surround sound system. Barricade achieved that.Its human nature to prejudge a movie based on unjust critic reviews. I trained myself to watch a move without any persuasion from critics that review movie for there own personal gain. If you watch barricade the same way your prejudice and total opinion would be different. As far as I am concerned this movie should average as least 6.5. Good acting, good story and more importantly scares.

First off, let it be known that I was never a fan of this actor. The only exposure I've had was the one or two times I stumbled upon a Will & Grace episode.With that being said, I think he did a good job and it was nice to see him step into this genre. He did well, although, the children were not a good match. As one person said, "children just don't act that way". I thought there was some provocation of thought. I am the type of movie watcher that likes to figure things out (Usual Suspects.... Awesome!) I don't think it was a bad movie and felt that it showed he has talent that is versatile and should be utilized in a wider range of films.Overall, I can see how some watchers might be confused, but I enjoyed the movie, there were some good "jolts" in the movie. A parent, inexperienced, on medication, taking care of sick kids after losing his wife & mother of his children, in a cabin, in a snowstorm. Not the best setting for a Rockwell moment, huh?!Think it was a good movie. Had the potential to be better but they did good with the budget they had to work with.