Review of 400 Days

400 Days (2015)
5/10
Outer Limits/Solaris Mashup on the Cheap
1 November 2015
Well, it wasn't terrible, and considering that the budget was obviously limited I was inclined to be slightly more lenient. I did find the plot somewhat entertaining, it reminded me of an episode of the outer limits or the twilight zone. The acting was fairly decent and the scripting was adequate. But there isn't enough here in the way of originality or ingenuity to make it shine.

The director does a pretty good job of pointing the camera. However, I generally think it's a bad idea to directly reference classic films made by genius directors unless your own film is at or near the same quality, because it seems like compensation. So the references to Kubrick through the use of slow tracking shots, deep focusing and a direct dialogue reference to 2001: A Space Odyssey, were unjustified and annoying.

The film develops a story that has no logical explanation, interspersed with continuity errors. But these weren't severe. What was more irritating was that the ending seems intended to create suspense but it's actually just a cliché. Much like the night-vision POV shots towards the end, there was no real reason for it.

The film isn't terrible and it's entertaining enough for casual viewing. But it's far too much an example of someone trying on purpose to create a film thats supposed to be 'mind-boggling' and creepy just for the sake of it, throwing in too many stereotypes in a kind of aping manner.

The psychological break-down of the crew was little more than a lower quality imitation of films such as Solaris and it pretends at subtext, but produces none.

Like I said, I've seen far worse, the director seems fairly competent and the story was bizarre enough to be somewhat interesting. But it's certainly nothing to get excited about.
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