The Secret Craft

I am on a roll. It seems like every movie I see lately is total trash! Not trash in a good sense, I mean bottom of the barrel, "why did this crap even get made" kind of trash.

This movie almost makes some of the other garbage films I've seen lately look good but then again, maybe not. Garbage movies are garbage movies and this, this thing is pathetic!

It's not a camcorder special. Not a backyard home video like Nikos, Shatter Dead or Maplewoods. This piece of junk is actually shot on film and had somewhat of a budget, not a huge budget but more then the backyard epic b-films.

The acting in this movie is HORRID!!!!!!! The acting is so bad that it makes one of those old 70's kung fu movie look awesome! It's that bad! How did these people get jobs as actors?! How did the director get this film made?! The special effects, these are so bad that they almost need to be seen to be believed! There's just no way to get across how inept this movie is. It's almost a joke.

My question is. Is it this easy to go out and make a movie? Well judging from this and the other garbage I've been seeing lately, it obviously is!

I'm sorry , not only was this movie cheesy, but I couldn't even watch the whole thing!! I ended up fast forwarding to the end. It's not because of the stupid graphics, or the "unknown" actors(David Anders is in this, and many people who watch television I'm sure have heard of him.) The plot was ridiculous along with some (not all) of the actor's performances.The story actually began kinda interesting, but then quickly fell apart. Maybe this movie started out with good intentions, but in the end it leaves the audience disappointed.My advice is to only watch this movie if A:You're being forced and have no choice, or B: You've seen every movie out there except this one. I still say skip it.

This movie was horrible. I loved it! Every scene made me laugh! And the acting was so bad it was good! HAH! Why every shot was done with a swaying camera I will never know, but it was annoying beyond belief. I hope the sequel is even funnier. They have to use that Goth kid again, he was funny!

Every scene his hair got more and more out of control. And that one girl with the "Orange" powers looked funny when she beat people up with the orange lines made from thin air. Someone had a lot of guts to release this movie with their name attached to it. It did seem like they should have morphed into the Power Rangers... It had that feeling. I was just waiting for them to look into the camera and say, "IT'S MORPHIN' TIME!!"

Reese is the new kid at school. It probably doesn't help that his father is the new chemistry teacher. But he also dresses in black and wears makeup--though I've seen far worse. Reese's dad makes a comment about how things will likely be better at this school. Well, that isn't going to be the case.

Reese gets picked on more than most outcast teens I've seen in movies or on TV, but he does make friends. Zack is sort of a nerd, and his sister Ashley is an angry but sarcastic rebel. Phoebe is a new-age type who is allergic to most foods--and wool (but who eats wool?).

Zack has discovered a portal in the woods on the side of a mountain, and he has recorded his observations and calculations on his laptop computer. He believes if the energy (which he describes as fusion) could be harnessed, we would no longer be dependent on fossil fuels.

But the teens try something different. They discover that by stepping inside the field surrounding the portal, each one gets a different super power. Zack can read minds, Phoebe can move objects (in "Carrie" this was called telekinesis), and Ashley can persuade others to do whatever she says--provided the other person is not strong-willed enough to resist. Reese's power is harder to figure out--it turns out to be the ability to heal. The powers don't last but a few days, so periodic recharging is necessary.

At first, the teens' new abilities provide comedy relief as well as a fantasy for anyone who was ever mistreated (or even perceived themselves as being mistreated) in school, by students or faculty. But Moss, who has been working with Zack on studying the portal, warns Zack that these powers could be dangerous. Moss is right.

This was not that bad a movie. But one sign it wasn't great: actors with one line delivered that line with all the enthusiasm that one line deserves. In fact, in really good movies, a single line can be delivered so well that the performance is memorable.

The four lead actors did a good job at least some of the time. Melissa Martin did the best as the rebellious and sarcastic Ashley.

The dress and behavior of these lead performers did not fit stereotypes (of course, Ashley's actions went beyond the usual even before she received her abilities). None of them would have been perceived as weird-looking if we hadn't been told they were supposed to be. This is good in that the movie didn't resort to the device of making the characters extreme examples of a certain personality type. Zack wasn't a Steve Urkel, even if he seemed to have Steve's intelligence. In fact, his grades weren't that good.

The music, if you can call it that, usually managed to be quite loud. It was alternative rock and high-tech dance music, for the most part. Most of it wasn't as unnerving as what was used for the opening and closing credits--this would probably appeal to teens like Reese. It all sounds like garbage to me, but somehow I got the impression it might be considered quality stuff. Certainly the dance music wasn't of the Britney Spears/Hilary Duff variety. More like dark basements in the bad section of town with flashing lights at 2 in the morning. I did like the polka music in one scene where someone was trying to bring Ashley under control.

I'm not hard to please when it comes to visual effects. Bright colored cloud effects and fast movement seemed to be enough here. Nothing ground-breaking. And of course each teen's eyes glowed in a weird color as each power was used.

Surprisingly, this film had little real violence. We were constantly subjected to rapid-fire editing of some flashback of a bloody event in Reese's past which might explain his behavior. And we also saw the aftermath of an event in the movie itself.

The best thing I can say is that for mistreated teens, this film represents a fantasy, but it also shows consequences.

I tend to disagree, i thought the camera angels were inventive and amazing, it was better than watching just face and whole body shots, here you get a definate sense that the entire crew is trying to make a film good, rather than just expecting it to fall as a b-horror flick, that is what it was but had it had study backing, it would have been along the lines of the faculty, and i think the colors in this film are amazing, and not just when they are on the stone, the entire time the visuals are keeping you with it. Granted this film has its flubs like anyother. I also think that every drama ever made was either about two things. Adult drama with divorce death, and the whole nine yards or a teenage drama about the horrors of high school, and trust me if you are the wrong type of person, high school is a horror. So how can you judge a film like that when all films are based in those two very general catagories. Okay i shouldn't say all but a good bulk of the popular ones.