X Moor (2014)
With their sights set on a £25,000 reward promoted by a local newspaper, American documentarians Georgia and Matt head to Exmoor in North Devon to film the fabled beast supposedly slinking through the remote terrain. Is the creature a leopard, a panther, a family pet crossbreed, an imaginary predator? Setting up a forest camp with an old acquaintance harbouring his own dark secrets, the trio fix 42 cameras to the trees and rocks, linked back to a computer nerve centre where nothing should go unnoticed as they take turns to night watch. But then they discover some putrefying body parts all neatly tied up… then some more. And before long they realise they are in the lair of a beast right enough, but certainly not one of the four-legged variety. For they have discovered a serial killer’s playground and are soon to become his most wanted prey.
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it was okay. Personally, I thought it could use some more gore and maybe better actors but it went straight to TV so what can you expect?(not saying some gems dint go straight to TV but as a rule of thumb there like this.) but overall if your bored watch it....or don't i really don't care what you watch
We've hardly got to know American documentary makers Matt (Nick Blood) and Georgia (Melia Kreiling) before they are set upon by two shady looking characters late one night, as they are driving down a rainy road in North Devon. They are responding to an award of 25k to capture proof of wild big cats that have been roaming the area, and a petrol bombed car is presumably some local deterrent.As is often the case in Irish films like this, the location is wonderful. Bleak and rainy farmhouses filmed in gritty imagery, and endless roiling, grassy landscapes never fail to impress, and events become very interesting when tracker Fox (played by the excellent Mark Bonnar) is introduced and acts as a guide for the two across the moorland, immediately dismissing the 'big cats' theory. As Fox's impetuous nature increases along with the rising body count, the reactions from Matt and Georgia are hilariously real – although this is far from a comedy. The bodies have had their hands tied, and they realise that the true serial killer is human. Could it actually be Fox? The negatives of Xmoor: Firstly, some of the night-time scenes are simply too dark. Rather than conveying a feeling of panic and disorientation, it is just annoying that we cannot always make out what is going on. Secondly, why do the two leads have to be American? I ask this purely because the actors are not and, whilst both do a fairly good job, it is still noticeably feigned.Sadly, despite a promising start, things deteriorate as the finale draws closer. The second half of the film attempts to pile twist upon twist in a bid to constantly pull the carpet from under the audience's expectations. A couple of these are fine, but it becomes too much, a muddy series of shrieking and mild gore (getting rid of Fox, the most interesting character, so early on, is questionable).
Wow, so silly. The movie had the feel that the screenplay was being written while filming. That, or the bar napkin with the hastily written words "monster/serial killer?" which served as this movie's script, was not sufficient. It was a tedious story I feel like I've seen a hundred times before, like that bait-and-switch bullsh*t telling me people are going to confront a monster but it turns out to be a dude, cause the film makers are playing with the concept of reality versus myth and blah blah bullsh*t. It's all indicative of movies made by people with zero imagination, just recycled ideas made into a motion picture of equally recycled imagery. This movie would have been better with an actual monster in the plot and zero serial killers, but I assume there were budget constraints.Yawn.
'X Moor' is about two documentary filmmakers in search of a giant cat - this is the perfect opportunity to save a few $$$ and go the found footage direction, but Luke Hyams decided to take the more expensive, slightly more difficult approach.. You know, he went ''old school.'' Kudos to him.The first half of the film is solid. Nice build up, tension, character development. But it's not long before we discover the cat isn't the main attraction. Yes, Luke decided to take the 'more is more' approach, and toss in a serial killer. I knew at this point the film was going to go downhill pretty quickly, since most directors cast the most pathetic actor they can find, to play their films villain - and, since we all know Luke Hyams is a 'more is more' kind of guy, I figured he'd manage to throw in the giant cat somewhere along the way, because, that's just what 'more is more' guys do. I was right one both accounts, but it doesn't really matter, since the entire second half of the film ends up being complete nonsense, anyway. Michael Myers couldn't have saved the final 40 minutes.The acting is passable, until Mark Bonnar (carried the first half) ends up meeting his maker (a pathetic end to a solid character.) Turning all attention to our lead actress - This ends up being a huge mistake, because we quickly discover that, well, she's awful. Every scene that she's in without her supporting men, is borderline amateur. The film is also fairly dark throughout, but never to the point you can't see what's going on.Random Ramblings of a Madman: Not since 'Treehouse' has a film switched from solid to bad, as quickly as 'X Moor.' 'The Jungle' already did the whole giant cat documentary thing, so I knew the upside of 'X Moor' was going to be pretty low to begin with, but I still would have preferred a killer cat to whatever the hell I just saw throughout the second half of the film. And why do you build up Mark Bonnar's character, just to kill him off in such a pathetic manner?Luke, check out 'House of the Devil' and 'The Tunnel.' Less is more, my friend.