Masterful Movie

The film makes a home in your brain and the only cure is to see it again.

One of the worst ways to make a cult movie is to set out to make a cult movie.

Strong acting helps the film overcome an uncertain premise and create characters that hold our attention absolutely.

There are films and then there is cinema. This is cinema (still, I will call it a film herein).EFFECTS AND FRIGHTS: Where budget is lacking for effects, the filmmakers here use an extreme amount of tension, creepiness, and visual effects, including various cameras tricks, angles, lighting, and stroboscopic effects guaranteed to trigger an epileptic fit (I'm not kidding). There are several jump moments that scared me. SPOILERS: Not to mention a gritty though not gruesome hammer murder, and a bloody butcher-knife scene. Topping it off is the emotional ending that has you desiring one more moment.ACTION: Some have commented that nothing happens in this film - this is 100% incorrect . SPOILERS: There is a broken romance; a seriously broken friendship with consequences; a drug habit that leads to seeing things, including ghosts which lead our anti-hero to murder. Much of what could be described as meandering is setting the timing for tripping and the possibility of a true haunting. It's a mystery too, you see. Personally, I think the film is tight at 90 minutes, and the lack of family life exposition actually makes you think more about how secure Daniel really is, though of course at the very end you probably won't think so.PLOT: Daniel see ghosts. He takes pills. Is it connected? Is he seeing into another world? Why does he take pills? Apparently he has for some time but now it's increased due to his depression over his broken romance. Why is the romance broken? It could be any number of things, direct or indirect. The real question: is Daniel a good person or not? You'll have to make up your own mind.NEGATIVES: (1) The setting is dreary, and while this has its charm, it also gives it that cheap 1970's feel, which is not altogether bad. (2) The dialogue tends to mumbling, and only Jeff has any real speaking parts, mainly aggressive, but there is another side to Jeff, and that speaks to the decent writing here.

In the dark and fathomless depths of shallow contemporary American horror and thriller movies, "Pop Skull" stands as one of the seldom noticed beacons of light. It is not only Adam Wingard's finest picture to date, but one of the best in its genre. Like all great horror and thriller films, "Pop Skull" eludes categorization by invoking fear for something deeper and more interesting than simple jump scares. Juxtaposing hallucinogenic imagery with realistic dialogue, the film captures the essence of today's young generation, giving expression--through the strained words and cathartic thoughts and actions of its characters--to its fears within the context of it's other anxieties, such as loneliness, depression, confusion and aimlessness. Furthermore, by portraying something as common as heartbreak while illustrating a self-destructive addiction to what most people use and have easy access to, i.e., over-the-counter drugs, the narrative acts a disturbing reflection of the audience by connecting them to something they can all relate to and potentially experience. Simply put, "Pop Skull" is a film that manages to present the audience with an insightful social critique within the entertaining confines of the horror genre.

"Pop Skull" should be an interesting film on many levels as it tells the story of alienation,depression and loneliness due to emotional breakdown.Daniel loses the one girl that he can't live without.She broke up with him to date an actor named Victor.His perception of reality is completely shattered as he trips on whatever he can get his hands on: over the counter drugs,prescriptions,tiny white pills,oblong pink ones.This results in the series of hallucinogenic nightmares...The main problem I have with "Pop Skull" is that it's pretty damn boring.The soundtrack is excellent,the acting is decent and the film leaves many questions unanswered.Admittedly the use of light and shadow is exceptional and there are some great filming techniques used,but the action is slow and lifeless.Just like a drug trip.I enjoyed Andrey Iskanov's similarly experimental "Visions of Suffering" more.5 out of 10.

Believe me, I saw lots of horror movies. But not even one compares to that waste of time that "Pop Skull" is. You thought "Haunted boat" or "Seven mummies" or "Chain reaction" are bad? Wait until you see this and bore yourself to death. Literally, with every passing minute of this movie you feel you life being sucked from you and you want to scream and scream again! I saw this at the cinema and half of the people just escaped from the theater after the first half, where nothing happened. Nothing happened in the second half either... And they call that horror, when there isn't a single scary moment in the whole movie!