Altered (DVD)

...shop I noticed one called Altered and read the synopsis. Fifteen years ago a group of 5 men's lives was going to be changed forever. Only 4 of the men returned they managed to catch one of the aliens that killed their friends. After reading the slight spoiler I decide to watch it and seeing as nobody has written a review of it yet on Ciao and I'm in the mood for writing at the moment I decide to review it.

Film reviews are always difficult ...
...have read some reviews of Altered from other people and it seems that there are some who loved this film and couldn't fault it. I even read that with horror you can't go wrong with the way you write it. I completely disagree with this statement. For me this film is the exact example of how a horror film can go drastically wrong.

Nowadays people want something more realistic and more subtle. We have the likes of "Hostel", ... more

Flicking through the films in my local video shop I noticed one called Altered and read the synopsis. Fifteen years ago a group of 5 men's lives was going to be changed forever. Only 4 of the men returned they managed to catch one of the aliens that killed their friends. After reading the slight spoiler I decide to watch it and seeing as nobody has written a review of it yet on Ciao and I'm in the mood for writing at the moment I decide to review it.

Film reviews are always difficult if you want to remain unbiased because everyone has their own idea of what makes a good film and what makes a bad one. With a film review you can only really give your opinion remembering that whilst you hated a particular film someone else might love it. So the opinions below are exactly that my opinions. I have included explanations as to why I feel this way about the film in the hope you will come to an informed decision. If you get to the end of my review and still cannot decide if you want to watch this film or not it is only 88 minutes long and you could always do your Christmas wrapping whilst watching it.

The DVD box looks great really full of suspense and it looks like it will make a good thriller if not a horror. The box has two trees on the front made to look creepy and dark. There is a picture of a deserted wood with a strange eerie glow. The box looks excellent and certainly makes you think that this is going to be an excellent film. The tree branches are made to look like weird alien hands reaching out to grab someone that isn't there. The box makes you look at it and think this is going to be a creepy and suspense filled film. It is the kind of box that you pick up and decide to hire or buy the film just by looking at the picture on the box. The synopsis makes it sound even more enticing. "Determined to exact revenge against the savage alien life form that held them prisoner and killed their friend." It sounds pretty good and definitely worth a watch. As I start to watch it, it reminds me of Blair Witch a little and I wonder why. Turning to the back of the DVD case I read that it is by the producers of Blair Witch Project and there is a feel of this in the film. Whether this is due to the same low budget style that made the success of Blair Witch if you can call it a success or whether it is due to something else I am not sure. With Blair Witch it's the case of whether you love it or hate it and it is similar with this film "Altered". I have read some reviews of Altered from other people and it seems that there are some who loved this film and couldn't fault it. I even read that with horror you can't go wrong with the way you write it. I completely disagree with this statement. For me this film is the exact example of how a horror film can go drastically wrong.

Nowadays people want something more realistic and more subtle. We have the likes of "Hostel", "The House of Wax", "The Ring" and "Saw" all of which offer something more sophisticated and top quality. I think the major problem with "Altered" is its storyline. It has such a weak and unrealistic story that it fails to be interesting relying only on its gore and special effects. Nowadays horror is in a league of it's own it offers something to the watcher that makes you go beyond the film. It pulls you in and makes you feel as though you are there in the movie. I cannot say that I ever felt sorry for the characters in Altered and I didn't feel once drawn into the story. If I had of done I would have put my Christmas wrapping to one side as I have often done before. When a really good film grabs you, you cannot do anything else, but watch. This was definitely not the case with Altered.

Although there are some good story lines to this film they are spoilt by the weak cheesy lines and special effects that make this film unbelievable. I found it more interesting wrapping presents than watching this film my attention was elsewhere. I found it boring in places and predictable throughout although there were a few twists it wasn't exactly mind boggling like the synopsis seemed to suggest. I was really looking forward to watching this thinking it would have a great story line, but in all honesty this kind of film has been done many times in all kinds of ways and it just wasn't original. If you love this type of alien film and are a Sci - Fi fan then maybe you would like this. If you like films that are shallow and hold nothing to the imagination then again you may like to watch it. It is a short film only lasting 88 minutes and to tell you the truth I was glad when it finished. I don't know what they were thinking making this film, but they could have made more of an effort to include some decent special effects with a decent story line instead of cheesy effects and story done a million times before.

Looking at the faces as people turned into an alien breed reminded me of the famous film "The Fly". The make up used has been used for other films before. Again nothing original or convincing although I will say this in its favor it was gory. Although just because there was lots of blood and gore doesn't make it a good story. The cheesy sound affects don't add tension and are at times cringe worthy. This film has unrealistic and predictable written all the way through it. Talk about Blair Witch meets Predator and you will be somewhere on the way to guessing what this film is about. The best line in the entire film, "get off him you f**k".

During the moments of suspense cheesy music was played which killed the fear factor and made it comedic. There are supposed to be 4 males and a female in this film, but the lady has the smallest possible role. Maybe it cost too much to hire her so they couldn't afford for her to have a bigger part. Personally I think if you are going to put a character in a film then you need to build the character and have a reason for them to be there. This film offered no explanation as to why character's were in it and what their role was. It was all very amateurish, but perhaps the writers wanted this? After all they didn't use much imagination with this alien done before film. There was nothing original and it makes me wonder if they could honestly stand back after the making of this film and say, "job well done"? Did they really feel satisfied? If I'd have written this film then there would have been a lot I would do to change it. I would certainly want to include a lot more twists and take away the special effects replacing them with more modern technology. I would change the way the alien looked and make it look less like a rubber man and something more original and convincing.

This film gives a few jumps here and there, but if you've seen other films like this you will know where the jumps are and they won't frighten you. This is a really easy story to follow you don't need to pay attention a lot to follow it and at times you might find yourself drifting off to sleep then being woken by the fight between the alien and the humans yet again. It's a good versus evil scenario even this isn't remotely new and engaging, but done a million times before.

The acting is amateurish and so is the dialogue. There is nothing professional about this film it made me wonder how long it took to write, produce and film it as it appears to have been thrown together. If you are going to watch this I highly recommend renting it rather than buying it as you would just waste your money. Or why not wait till it comes on the television instead?

This film was weak from the start. You've basically got a captured alien and a group of friends determined on seeking revenge you might even be fooled into thinking the story line sounds good and maybe it would if they'd started it differently and left the captured alien till later in the film. There are a lot of ways this film could be improved. For starters remove the little man from the rubber alien costume and get something that looks and moves more realistically. With all the technology we have nowadays that wouldn't have been an impossible task even on a low budget. All it would have taken is some imagination, but that's just what this film lacks. If you like type B movies you might like this.

DVD Features
______________________________________
Region 1
Snap Case
Anamorphic Widescreen -
1.85
Audio:
Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround - English
Subtitles - English (SDH), French, Spanish - Optional
DVD - 2006 

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