MessyStinkman

So intense and well-made in every department. Horrific, funny, disturbing, engaging, scary...it's been in my mind since I saw it four days ago. I can't wait to see it again. I loved Blue Ruin but felt the ending wasn't as strong as the rest of the film. Green Room on the other hand is more consistently excellent from beginning to end. The cast is great, the cinematography is beautiful, the writing and directing are brilliant, the editing is fast-paced, the use of sound and music are effective, the art direction/set design is claustrophobic, the violence is realistic and shocking. The more I think about it, the more I realize how smart and subversive it is.

The acting all around was over-the-top, theatrical, and unconvincing. The boys, the Russian lady, the mother, the fat kid, and the rat lady come to mind. Where was the director to reign their performances in? These kids obviously couldn't carry the film, and yet they have so much dialogue. It was cringeworthy and annoying.

I watched it with two other people. After 50 minutes, one of them asked if we could watch something else because of the acting and silly plot. We watched some more because I assured them it was an alleged classic and would surely get better. The second person, who has a high tolerance for Lifetime/Hallmark-type films, also said the acting was awful.

I decided I would finish it the next day by myself, but I ended up fast-forwarding through most of the repetitive scenes. To be fair, I didn't see the twist coming, nor did I expect that dark of an ending. So it gets a couple extra points for that.

I'm surprised at all of the rave reviews citing this as a masterpiece of subtlety (what) and one of the greatest horror films of all time (possibly from people that saw it at a very young age).