[3.25/10] 11-11-11 (2011)

11-11-11 (2011)

Full review: Earlier this year, the director of "Saw" II, III & IV, Darren Lynn Bousman, brought us "Mother's Day" - the most memorable and brilliantly-brutal 'home invasion' movie released over the past few years. Unfortunately, not many good things can be said about his upcoming horror thriller, "11-11-11". In fact, Bousman's latest project is so God-awful, it's hard to believe that it got a theatrical release, even if a limited one. It should have gone straight-to-DVD, or why not straight-to-TV, as it looks and feels cheap, dull and dated from beginning to the end. The movie sounds very promising on paper, and makes us expect some kind of horrifying demonic apocalypse, but sadly, this misguided effort never lives up to its premise, hence, what we get is a stupid religious horror with and embarrassingly underdeveloped story, that features nothing more than overused horror cliches and cheap thrills. The supposed-to-be-shocking twist in the end, which is delivered in same style as "Saw", is downright ridiculous and hugely disappointing, just like the rest of the movie. "11-11-11" also could be described as "Insidious" meets "The Number 23", but not at all in a good way. It borrows some ideas from both films, but it neither has the creepiness of "Insidious", nor it's at least as potentially good as "The Number 23" was. Moreover, the film never uses the 11/11/11 gimmick properly. It's a superstitious date indeed, but the warning it brings is not much of a big deal, nor is very disturbing. It's a shame indeed, because in different hands, and with a better script, "11-11-11" could have been a solid and very intriguing horror movie. The acting is mediocre at best. Timothy Gibbs appears stiff and uncomfortable as the anxious Joseph Cronevery, whose life becomes plagued with strange happenings, and the constant sightings of the number 11. He's just a weak lead, and don't have the skills to carry the movie on his shoulders. Michael Landes does a decent job as Jospeh's religious brother Samuel, but he doesn't really have a lot to work with or enough screen time to shine. Wendy Glenn is often annoying as the obsessive stranger, Sadie, but thankfully she barely shows on the screen as well. Obviously, the director himself didn't have a clear inspiration, nor much enthusiasm for this movie, as "11-11-11" is an absolute lackluster in terms of execution and visuals. Bousman's direction is generic, lacking in creativity, and completely and utterly all over the place, which makes the film even more confusing and incoherent than it already is. Add to this a poor and incredibly sloppy editing, bland cinematography and sub-par special effects, and you get a movie that has a made-for-TV feel written all over it. Being set in Barcelona, Spain, "11-11-11" at least has some decent settings, some of which are gloomy, creepy and effective, unlike the movie itself.

Overall summary: Dull, unimaginative, poorly-crafted and, of course, gimmicky, Darren Lynn Bousman's cheap apocalyptic horror thriller "11-11-11" promises a lot, but delivers absolutely nothing. It's more awful than "Saw" II, III and IV put together, and it's hands down the worst, most pointless and underwhelming movie of the year so far.