That was an excellent one.

Simply Perfect

Great movie. Not sure what people expected but I found it highly entertaining.

By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

In the life of big name Hollywood actors, it's understandable that not every celebrity is going to be performing in a spectacular film every time a movie comes out with them in it. It's very rare that this does happen, but almost every well-acclaimed thespian has one or two labeled ugly ducklings in their filmography. Surprisingly for this movie, this has been tagged as one of them for almost every popular actor cast in this production. According to what was reported, Universal Studios has disowned this movie for a series of bad test screenings, re-shoots and various producers backing out for unexplained reasons. Starting in 1999, the final product would be shelved for three years before seeing the light of day. Critics were none to pleased in result of it and it continues to be overlooked by many just because of the reputation that it gained. In all sincerity, this is not the worst film any of the crew to this assembly have been in. There are noticeable issues but it doesn't entirely destroy the viewing experience.Viewers are introduced to F.B.I. agent Jake Malloy (Sylvester Stallone) hunting a slippery serial cop killer. Breaking down after witnessing a brutal crime scene, his Captain (Charles S. Dutton) sends him to a solitary location specializing in detoxing cops. There, Malloy meets his fellow patients, but among them is Malloy's deadly suspect of which he's not aware. As death begins to rear its ugly head around the facility, it's up to Malloy and company to figure out who it is and stop them. Based on Jitter Joint, a book written by Howard Swindle, the premise is somewhat close but after that it heads down familiar territory. This is in part based on the adaptation by Ron L. Brinkerhoff (in his first writing credit) and director Jim Gillespie who is best known for making I Know What You Did Last Summer (1997). For direction, much of the execution does feel very standard and the writing is weak in a number of areas. Brinkerhoff would later go on to write for The Guardian (2006), which did get more audience approval than critics.Aside from Gillespie's rather cut and dry directing, Brinkerhoff's script has errors that pertain to continuity, unresolved subplots and missing motivations for various characters. For one thing, the killer acts very much like all the other horror icons. How does one have the ability to be in more than one place at once? Yeah, it is supposed to be psychological but once the hand has been revealed, the facts should add up - but they don't. Also there's a lack of reasoning for certain actions various individuals make. Only sometimes is any actual justification given. Lastly when things get resolved, not all threads are tied up. This is probably due to all the reshoots and such the production ended up doing. This isn't so much all Brinkerhoff's fault but he did write it. However even with these problems, not everything is that dreadful. For one thing, Brinkerhoff does manage to keep a few horror cliché's off the list and that is blissfully enjoyable. It's one thing to ask for perfection and it's another to be grateful for the small things.Another plus is the acting, of which all are acceptable. Malloy's (Stallone) fellow patients are Slater (Christopher Fulford), Conner (Sean Patrick Flanery), Rev. Jones (Courtney B. Vance), Noah (Robert Patrick), McKenzie (Robert Prosky), Lopez (Angela Alvarado), Jaworski (Jeffrey Wright) and Brandon (Mif). Overseeing them is Doc (Kris Kristofferson), Jenny (Polly Walker), Hank (Tom Berenger) and Jack (Stephen Lang). For the people mentioned, this is actually a large and well-rounded cast of very well-known actors. Some of which, these actors haven't been in a horror genre film. Seriously, this is the only film in which Stallone is a victim and not the other way around. It's rare to see him act in such a different setting and that deserves credit. Now although the horror element to this movie isn't truly clever, there are some pretty gruesome deaths put on screen. Not all of the kills are on screen but even the aftermaths are a bit unsettling. There are stabs, cuts, strangling and other sorts of acts when the killer is around.The setting to most of the story takes place in an old asylum in the middle of winter. Being that everyone is stuck in the same building and the situation they're in, the story has a mix of the usual horror slasher tropes and John Carpenter's The Thing (1982). For cinematography, Dean Semler worked as the director of photography. Semler has also worked on the Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior (1981), Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome (1985), We Were Soldiers (2002), xXx (2002), Bruce Almighty (2003) and Maleficent (2014). For the scenes shown no matter if re-shoots or not, all scenes are clear and well-lit where required. Only once was it shaky and that was for a chase scene. The musical score composed originally by John Powell was also well done. Sadly, Powell's score has never been fully released due to the production delays and rejections. Only a couple tracks seem to have surfaced. The music contains beautiful piano themes for Malloy and deep drawn out strings in a minor key with ominous knocking noises to signal the tension.The writing isn't specifically unique in exposition and the execution is your run of the mill. Clarity is also a difficult thing to come by among character decision making. Even with this, the actors perform decently, the violence is fairly brutal, the cinematography is adequate and the music is recognizable. Plus, this is the only horror type film Sylvester Stallone has ever been in.

As I was watching this movie, I thought to myself, "this movie is barely worthy of a DVD release. I would never have put this in theaters."Lo and behold, I was right. If my comment doesn't tell you of the quality of the film, try watching the five American Pie movies that went straight to DVD and you'll find out after the first 10 minutes of the first one. Like Eye-see-you, they are all available on Netflix as part of there ever expanding catalog of dung.Sly slurs his lines, per usual, which is all I ever ask of him. Everyone else looks vaguely familiar but I don't remember any of their names. Here's how I'll explain this movie. I literally think I've seen it before. But its an utter mess of a movie and people die in it so quickly its hard to even keep names straight.I therefore watched it again, thinking I'd ever seen it because of how confused I was by it. It was only in the penultimate scene that I realized I had watched it before. But it was forgettable. And I'll probably watch it again someday, come to IMDb and find out I've already reviewed it. drat.

FBI agent Jake Malloy just can't nail a serial killer who's been targeting cops. The killer has already killed nine cops.Not only does the killer despise policemen, but he also has a grudge against Malloy for pursuing him during a string of prostitute murders four years ago. The killer finally decides to hit Malloy where it hurts, killing one of Malloy's friends on the force, and brutally killing Malloy's fiancé Mary.The grief sends Malloy off the deep end and causes him to become alcoholic, forcing Malloy's colleague, Detective Hendricks, to sign Malloy up at a remote detox clinic in a snow-covered part of Wyoming.The clinic specialises in rehabilitating alcoholic cops. But the killer murders another patient and assumes the patient's identity at the clinic.While Malloy participates in group therapy sessions, the killer starts killing the patients....This little film is a cross between a thriller and slasher horror movie, and the film works really well, despite the predictable pace and narration of the film.Stallone is reliable as usual and is ably supported by a very good cast.Sometimes the film wants to be a little like seven, especially the twenty minutes, but it fails in that aspect. The opening act is very good though and sets the mood for the rest of the film.it gets a little depressing at times with all the solemn talk from the patients, and there are some blatant red herrings in the mix (Hello Stephen Lang) but all in all it's a fun movie well worth watching.

This movie, was, by no means, a masterpiece. It was a mediocre movie in a genre filled with mediocrity. But when I look through IMDb, and see movies with an equivalent rating (5.0) at the time of this writing, I'm baffled. This is far and away better than the majority of movies rated at this level.The good: It had me going. I didn't know who the killer was going to be, and I was interested all the way through.The acting was much better than expected, and likely better than most would expect. It wasn't great, but it certainly wasn't terrible either.The Bad: There was no standout moments in the script.Personally, I felt there also wasn't enough hints as to who the villain was, not enough information and misinformation available for this genre of movie.All in all, I enjoyed this movie casually. Don't go in expecting a wonderfully written or acted movie, and I think you will be pleasantly surprised. By no means, is this a 5.0 movie, in comparison to other 5.0 movies on IMDb.