Review: Stay Alive (2006)

Stay Alive

IMDB rate: 5,0

Genre: Slasher

Time for Stay Alive, personally I think it's an impressive movie. Okay, this movie has it's good sides and it's bad sides, but still I think it's impressive. I love the whole idea of 'If you die in a game, you'll die for real'. It's incredible and what's even better: The game looks amazing. Seriously, the game Stay Alive looks very scary and it would be amazing if this would become a real game (without the 'you'll die for real' part). 

Loomis Crowley is testing the underground game Stay Alive with his friends Sarah and Rex. When the  game is over, Loomis finds Rex and Sarah dead in their room, and he is pushed by a shadow from the staircase, breaking the banister and hanging the same way he died in the game. Loomis' sister, Emma, gives his game to his best friend, Hutch. They, and his friends Miller, Phineus with his sister October, Swink and Abigail play the game together. When Miller and Phineus die the same way they died in the game, the survivors disclose that the game is based on the life of the evil Countess Elizabeth Bathory. She was buried alive in the tower of her real state in the Geronge Plantation. With the police chasing them, the survivors reach the house and try to find the corpse of the Countess to destroy her fiend.

I'm a big fan of Stay Alive and the first time I saw it (a few years ago) I thought it was actually somewhat scary. The game itself looks amazing, the 'real' location of where the game takes place is equally amazing as well scary. 

Now the reason why this movie isn't in my top horror movies list is because of the TERRIBLE acting. It's sad really since there are a few familiar actors and actresses in this movie, such as Jon Foster (Terminator 3, but mostly known for being Ben Foster's brother), Samaire Armstrong (known from a shitload of teenage movies), Frankie Muniz (Malcolm in the Middle of course), Jimmi Simpson (Zodiac, Date Night, White House Down), Milo Ventimiglia (Heroes, The Divide) and Adam Goldberg (Saving Private Ryan, Deja Vu). 

Jon Foster is just emotionless in this movie, even though half of his friends died. It's sad that Ben Foster didn't took the role after all (he was first in mind). Samaire Armstrong is just terrible, unbelievable and inappropriate (for example, making pictures of sad people and funerals). Frankie Muniz and Jimmi Simpson were a bit decent at acting, but unfortunately Frankie Muniz' character wasn't a much in the movie and Jimmi Simpson was casted as some jerk. Milo Ventimiglia was the only real good actor in the movie, but unfortunately he died in the first scene.

I'm really disappointed by the acting in this movie, and most of all the characters that they played. The characters were supposed to have some deeper story but it's told very blank and it's hardly noticeable that it was something important that they told.

The most stupid thing from this movie was when Samaire Armstrong's character held a rose (a rose protects them for the evil) and she's going all 'He loves me... he loves me not' etc. No big deal of course, it isn't like that was the only thing that could protect you from the evil spirit thing.

It's a shame really because the rest of this movie very awesome. 

Overall, the movie had a great and refreshing concept. Unfortunately the execution of it was just lazy. My opinions on this movie are kinda mixed, I love the idea of it which makes me say that I loved watching this movie, but I hated the characters and the actors which makes me say that it was only a reasonable movie. It's certainly an enjoyable movie and it's worth to watch it at least one time.

My personal rate: 7/10