Artifacts (2007)

I bought this DVD out of the blue, I wanted to be surprised. The movie focuses on a young woman named Kate who finds out all of her friends and co-workers are murdered by their doubles. At no point this is a mystery for her because the doubles make no effort of concealing themselves for prying security cams. While the police seemingly makes no effort of solving the case (?) Kate runs for her life and tries to save as many friends as she can. The style of photography is guerilla at best, which gives the movie a documentary-like feeling, especially in the rare action scenes. Unfortunately, because of the underground touch, it never accomplishes to be scary or intensive. Also, the writers have forgotten to include any and all explanations as to where the doubles are coming from, who made/grew them, who are controlling them and why, what are the artefacts for, etc? I like my fair share of mystery and mysticism, but there is a difference between letting the viewer decide what to make of it him/herself, and just leaving everything open. I have to say that I am impressed with the time schedule, because the documentary points out that three guys did all the work in a little over a month for only 100,000 dollars. I also have to say that the acting felt a little staged. Kate appears to express total anxiety as her neutral emotional state and you basically care little whether she lives or dies. Overall, it feels more like you are watching a filmschool project rather than an actual movie.

I do have to say that I am instantly intrigued by and endeared to movies whose endings get people angry. I don't know why. So when I hear of one I try to seek it out and see for myself. A great example is the zombie movie Automaton Transfusion, another very low rated film/movie/trash morsel on IMDb. (possible spoiler) The ending there was hilariously on a dime(End possible spoiler).This movie I liked. The opening left me a bit dubious, low budget and all, but it has some fun ideas ripped of from higher budget movies. If I were an investor in this movie, and it broke even, I would definitely invest in their next project.

There are so many people confused by Artefacts ... frankly, I'm confused why everyone is so confused! If you just pay attention, and give the attention this film requires, you'll understand plenty. Just because it has an open ending, that doesn't mean answers weren't given.Kate is a career gal that seems to have things going for her, except for a failed relationship. All of a sudden her employee and friends start turning up dead, killed by doppelgangers. Even the news reports mention a strange metallic artifact (spelled artefact in the film, due to its Belgian production I assume) that has been found inside each victim. Kate finds that her own doppelganger is hunting her down, and the implant is possibly a tracking device for the doppelgangers to find each victim. The arrival of each doppelganger is preceded by a clicking, ticking sound as well. Through investigation on the internet she finds a big clue to what is going on around the world, and she is just another pawn in the whole thing.She then meets up with a man named Carl Francken who reveals just enough for us to know some of the "why" of the situation but only just a tidbit to keep us in the dark and still trying to figure things out. In a way this would have made a great X-Files episode, much of the atmosphere and story fit that well. I'm also very much reminded of the wonderful 2008 feature "The Broken" with Lena Headey (which equally baffled many U.S. viewers but, if paid close attention to, gave more answers to its mystery than Artefacts does). There is also an "experiment/game" element that reminded me of the 2005 film "Experiment." However, Artefacts is a story and film of its own, and I feel holds up well.These days, particularly in U.S. audiences, people want easy answers and wrapped up solutions in their movies. If they have to think while watching a film or try to think some more after the credits roll, they get angry. I've read some very severely hateful things in comments online about Artefacts, The Broken, Session 9, and a good example -- the 2001 film The Wind, where people just didn't get it. They were upset that they had to think, figure things out, and put the puzzle together. They weren't easily handed blood and boobs on a platter; just angry that they had to do a little work as well as sit back and watch.Artefacts, to me as well as some open-minded friends, turned out to be a tense well-made, well-acted thriller, and smartly made on a low budget (only $100,000) with an intriguing premise and execution. I love to view it with friends as a double-feature with The Broken, as each has its own strange world to absorb and mess with your head. Some folks may say it's a European thing, but I sure welcome a viewing challenge and for me it paid off quite well. Oh, it's just plain creepy too...

Young entrepreneur Kate (Mary Stockley) is experiencing the deaths of all her friends in very odd circumstances. Soon she discovers that they're being killed by their dopplegangers, and it all has something to do with an artifact that was implanted in each of them."Artifacts" had the power of being something better than what it was. With a total running time of 1 hr and 14 minutes (including the opening and closing credits), it seemed that the directors didn't really care about making a great story. The artifacts aren't explained, nor is anything else really, and the ending was so abrupt that it didn't warrant any closure. It could've been great, but instead it was crappy.