The Worst Film Ever

Fantastic!

The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

A terrific literary drama and character piece that shows how the process of creating art can be seen differently by those doing it and those looking at it from the outside.

Some scenes are really well-crafted (the extreme slow motion scenes in particular are gorgeous) so there is definitely some talent behind the camera.But, and that's a big but, the pace is at a snails speed at times and you really get the itchy trigger finger for the fast-forward remote button a lot.I think had it been edited down to 90 minutes it could have been a fairly effective movie over all but as it is you really need to have a lot of patience with it, it's 2 hours long but it feels even longer.And the second hour of the movie doesn't quite come together as well as I'm sure they intended, which is a shame because it does have a pretty cool plot which reminded me a bit of French horrors more so than American.So yeah overall a strong 4 or a weak 5 from me.

Opening with a shocking sequence, treading an interesting path during the first act, taking an unexpected turn in the middle, dragging from that point onwards and finally drowning in its own mess by the time it nears its conclusion, Proxy may seem like a violent, unflinching, gore-filled horror but in actuality is a dull & bloated psychological horror filled with wooden characters.The story of Proxy follows two women. First is Esther, a pregnant young lady who loses her child after being brutally attacked by an unidentified person while on her way home. Her road to recovery begins when she joins a support group where she meets & befriends Melanie, who claims that her husband & child died in a road accident. Things head for worse when Esther discovers Melanie's secret.Co-written, co-produced & directed by Zach Parker, Proxy opens on such a promising note that watching it fall flat after a while was all the more frustrating. The downslide starts when the director decides to shift the focus from one character to another and once that happens, everything after it feels absurd & mundane. Parker also fails to provide a gripping plot or a set of characters worth caring for, and it runs way too long.There isn't much to talk about its technical aspects for it didn't improve the experience by any means. There are a numerous poor decisions made here as far as camera-work, editing or background score goes. A pivotal scene is turned into an off-putting moment by its slow- mo photography that overstays its welcome & looks unintentionally funny. Editing is virtually absent in the second half. And the background score fails to blend with the narrative.On an overall scale, Proxy is a highly mediocre horror film that falls utterly short of whatever it was aspiring to be, features weak plotting & questionable character motives, and doesn't even revel in extremity for the R-rated elements are heavily toned down after the gruesome opening act. Neither the cast nor their input stand out here although the actress who plays Esther Woodhouse was slowly getting the hang of her character and I'd have loved to see more of that instead of what Proxy had in store for me. An absolute waste of time!

The film and film score has a Hitchcock thriller vibe that I wasn't expecting. As a psychological thriller it is both fresh, peculiar and has something pure art form about it. All the drama and character ties come from sick minds effecting each other and negatively effecting other more normal people. The movie is half way making a parody of itself, its characters and inspiration, over thinking this film is unnecessary. But to me and my over thinking two cents, it seems to go far deeper and have a more well crafted point. To me, it symbolically exposes, undoes, and somehow at the same time glorifies Hitchcock and Herrmann's Psycho. If it had your eyes bulging and scratching your head a time or two, then that is enough. This is why I started watching horror/thriller to begin with, becoming somehow comfortable under distress and having my mind twisted into a pretzel. I enjoyed the ride with this movie and would definitely watch it again. The ending even put a fat grin on my face, easing away all the bizarre tension into a clear cookie-cutter-picture of evil wrapped with a bow on top.

Oh the need to be in the spotlight, the need to be loved, the need to be draped in others sympathy. This is the tale of Proxy. And while it certainly has many plot holes (which the less patient seem to be shouting about loudly), it has enough style to keep everyone on board to the end, maintaining an air of dark brooding menace for most of it's running time. And that soundtrack? Its just fantastic, I couldn't work out if the film really was Hitchcockian or the brilliant score just made it seem that way. But from the shock opening scene (which may upset a few), to it's twisted end, it never gets boring, and it kept my ears pricked up enjoying it's burrowing plot. The acting is top notch, and I think I might check out this director's other efforts now. But I would recommend Proxy to those able to ignore it's little holes. Ps. And to the person who didn't understand why the shirt in one scene had blood, then hadn't, that was intentional. Think about it, she was already dead. This was the character imagining what he would do to her if she wasn't. When he walks outside (to reality again), the blood is gone. Surely not everything in cinema as simple as this needs signposted?