Awesome Movie

n my opinion it was a great movie with some interesting elements, even though having some plot holes and the ending probably was just too messy and crammed together, but still fun to watch and not your casual movie that is similar to all other ones.

In other words,this film is a surreal ride.

I didn’t really have many expectations going into the movie (good or bad), but I actually really enjoyed it. I really liked the characters and the banter between them.

Shot digitally on a budget, this thriller from New Zealand manages to be intriguing enough until the last 20 minutes. The film doesn't lose any time establishing the premise. Our protagonist Louise is a nurse. She takes care of an ill patient in an isolated mansion, who will require more oxygen. This forces the groundsman to leave the mansion. The doctor has other things to attend to and this means Louise will have to spend the night there with the house Mrs. Jacobs, the housekeeper and another nurse, Martha Davis. Three women and a weak man spending a night in such a remote location shouldn't be a problem. Except there is a serial killer on the loose. And he happens to target nurses. These events take place in 1932 and for the most part, first-time writer/director Alex Galvin goes for a nostalgic feel half way between Hitchcockian thrillers and slasher films from the late 70s and early 80s. Except he doesn't have the directorial skills of the masters of old and it shows here. The result looks more like a humorless take on the game Clue, or a murder mystery you would play out with friends, then a legitimate thriller.The setting, it must be said, is amazing. The old mansion is truly gorgeous and very evocative. It has been pointed out to me by another user that the director actually shot the movie in several different houses, choosing rooms as suitable and as evocative as possible.The acting on display here is pretty weak. Tania Nolan as the protagonist nurse has the pretty face and angelic look but is pretty wooden. The other main actress is the other nurse, played by Rosella Hart. The housekeeper and the ill patient have very few scenes and not much is demanded of them acting-wise. The first two-third of When Night Falls rely on good old suspense. The night falls, there are noises, there is tension, things are not right. There's no action scene here. Just interaction between the characters and walking around this gorgeous residence while contemplating how best to spend this night, hoping the killer is not around. Things pick up in the last third, where the tension heightens. Unfortunately, the movie becomes even more horrendous. As Galvin reveals more and more of the mystery, our reaction as the audience is "huh, that's what is going on?". The music score, which was weak and over-dramatic from the start becomes unsustainable. As the film focuses less on the unknown and the fantastic mansion, Galvin has to direct real thrilling scenes and fails. The action sequence are of the worse amateurish kind and our two main actresses may be very pretty, but become terribly unconvincing. I'm disappointed. As I write these lines, this movie is rated a very good 7.2 with seven reviews, most of which are glowing and praising various aspects of the film which obviously deserves none of that. When Night Falls seems like a labor of love by a group of amateurs and there is nothing wrong with that. I'm sure Galvin did his best. He established a nice air of suspense early, adopted a classic feel instead of cheap modern clichés and used a jaw-dropping film location. But the actual direction, cinematography, music, acting and the story? It's all weak. An honest rating could hardly go above 5 and I personally feel it is worth a 3.

To be honest, it was nice to see a locally made film, independent at that, making a refreshing spin on a suspense thriller of bygone days but in a modern style. Well worth watching, and beautifully produced.Certainly this film has been a labor of love, as this is seen in the way all the actors came across in the film. At times the way the film was shot, you felt at times that you in the actors shoes and were actually experiencing the film.Other times you felt the influences of Steven King, and all the other old masters of the suspense genre style, through out the film in the way it was shot. I can see this cast and crew go forward onto bigger and better productions. It is sometimes hard to realize that this is a first full length feature film they have made, and also having the hard task of writing the script producing and directing this all on a shoe string budget.Plus shooting the whole film in just 10 days. I shall wait with baited breath to see how the next project produced goes, will it or will it not be a follow on. I suppose only time will tell

When Night Falls is almost a Jekyll and Hyde kind of film.After a great little prologue, the first half is very slow and atmospheric. Apart from getting to know the characters, not a lot else happens.Then, in the second half, all hell breaks loose! There's lots of scares, actions, twists...everything!!I really loved the second half, but personally did find the buildup of the first half too slow. I can see that the director wanted us to get to know and care about the characters, which is great, but a few boo moments or something would have helped to keep the audience on the edge of their seats.So: First half - 5/10 Second half - 10/10 Overall - 7/10

This was a really enjoyable psychological thriller. A nice homage to to those great suspense films of the 1930s and 1940s.The film has a very deliberate pace and setup, which I can see wouldn't be to everyone's taste. This isn't a film for people with short attention spans. However, I found it really gripping from beginning to end.Even though the film starts quietly, there is a real sense of dread right from the opening. There's never any doubt that bad things are going to start happening. It's just a case of when.The middle section is all about scares, and there's plenty of them. The girls around me had their heads in their hands more often than not...The ending was a real surprise. Perhaps not entirely believable, but I certainly didn't see it coming. And judging by the screams around me, neither did many others.The acting, particularly by the two nurses, Tania Nolan and Rosella Hart, was excellent. They have by far the majority of screen time together and really play off each other well.This was a really enjoyable film. It's clear that a great deal of care, craft and talent went into it, and it's a welcome addition to New Zealand's film titles.