 Thanks for checking out this movie review. This will be a no spoilers movie review because it's not a older film It's one that is currently out and available and I'll give you the information on where it's available This is an independent film The producer Chris Surgey reached out to me and said hey Would you like a screener to review this and I said yes far be it for me to turn down screeners because I Like watching new stuff. I especially like to support independent So thank you very much to Chris Surgey and the people involved with this film portal Which obviously is a 2019 release now? Let me give you the initial information on this that they sent to me through an email horror ham did it You probably can't see that because of the sorry So portal stars Ryan Merriman, Jamie Tisdale, Mick Watford, Nihara Townsend, Ronaldo, Peche Zavaris and Heather Langenkamp is the big name to Kind of draw on the horror nerds. I suppose so it's called portal This is an award-winning supernatural horror film with an all-star cast Featuring a rare appearance by iconic scream queen Heather Langenkamp Obviously known for a nightmare on Elm Street When an ambitious ghost hunter performs a risky ritual opening a portal to the other side He and his team could quickly find themselves way over their heads in a fight for survival against an ancient demonic force So this film currently is available for digital on-demand viewing through Apple TV or iTunes Amazon video voodoo Google Play Microsoft movies and TV and Fandango now just like people know there was a award for Jamie Tisdale in her role in this film as Chris Best female performance in a feature film at Shriek Fest this year So just giving people a little bit of that information now Let me break this down written and directed by Dean Ali Otto also written partially by Peter Dukes now I Will say overall the writing I enjoyed for this. Well, actually, let me backtrack just a little bit first There is a bit of a disclaimer with this type of film for me I'm not a big fan of the subgenres within horror of like ghost movies, and I don't like ghost hunting stuff I don't like ghost hunting shows. I don't like ghost hunting movies typically So this film is actually both of those things. It's kind of like a double whammy situation for me But that said I actually enjoyed the movie a lot more than I was expecting to Because obviously my expectations weren't that high knowing what it was going to be Topic-wise and that's why I'm saying I have to give this this closer Disclosure because I have a natural bias against those types of films So I was pretty surprised when the film played out as it did for me. I enjoyed it actually I was like alright One of the first things I want to say about this the directing and cinematography is really nice with this film It looks really good. It has a very nice aesthetic. It looks very clean and crisp And there's a lot of like inspired camera work that's done with this that keeps your interest as a viewer Like I said, it's very aesthetically pleasing because of this camera work There are a lot of interesting and fun camera angles that are used throughout the film And I really like that aspect of it really drove home to me that the director and cinematographer Who may be the same person I didn't look further into that Really know what they're doing. It was I really like that aspect of it very very nice The acting overall was good for being a lower-budget affair So yeah, I mean I didn't think any of the acting was like oh my gosh That's that's an amazing performance right there, but I do think it was above par for a low-budget indie film So pretty solid acting in my opinion. I like that they have comedic moments in this film That's one of the big sellers for me early on with this film is Because it's a genre that I'm not huge into well subgenre well two subgenres basically then I'm not that much into the comedic aspects of the script really helped me out with it and Kind of sucked me in you know because I could have a few laughs and enjoy that Also, it like pokes fun in itself. It's a very self-aware film especially from the aspects of the ghost hunting portion of it, so The crew that they're kind of following in the film. It's not like a found footage or anything like that But the crew that's being followed in the film they're very realistic about things and The glimpse into how they do things and what they're trying to do is fun and funny because they have all these kind of comedic interactions with individuals within their team and outside of their team and I think that drives a lot of the interest for me early on in it It doesn't take itself It doesn't take itself too seriously early on although it does get serious later And that's when I started to enjoy it a little bit less for that reason But it was totally necessary for the actual story because in the context of what's going on People are not going to be making jokes while that stuff is happening So it was realistic for what the story was and the world that was set up within the film early on so There's a lot of enjoyment with the comedy up front, but know that that kind of goes away Because things get really serious, but then at the end it comes back a little bit and I really like The ending for that reason the ending for that reason was was nice Some of the dialogue actually doesn't fully land in this and it's not because I don't think it was written Well, it's because I think there are a few Line deliveries by the actors that aren't Done the proper way, you know when when you're working on dialogue You have to make sure that it feels right like what's written on the pages It necessarily what makes sense coming out of the mouth of the actors So you kind of have to work with that a little bit on set and kind of say Okay, for how this person is playing this character or how this this character feels If they you have to say the same thing that's on the page, but it doesn't have to be exact You know tailor it just a little bit to how they would normally speak And so there are a few lines like that not a whole lot, but a few lines like that where the delivery wasn't Right on and I you know actually listening to what the text of it was the actual dialogue portion of it was I was like yeah within the context of the actual script like there's nothing wrong with the way that was written It's just the delivery could have been a little bit better But like I said there wasn't there weren't that many moments of that It's just since and since there aren't a whole lot of moments like that you notice it more when there are moments like that So you're just kind of like oh, that's a little but you can move past it. Not a biggie I Love well, I just wrote down. I love that they're not being serious in this film at least early on and it's Along with that the other thing I really love about the story is that there's this kind of What's the best word for this there's a dilemma of Do we do things on the up and up and do things the right way like we're really looking for ghosts Or do we do things to keep going and get funding and make sure we're successful? Which would mean Not being truthful about everything and that's kind of like that plays to a real question that Exists within the realm of these ghost hunting shows right now Actually, I kind of feel like it's kind of always been that way with those types of shows It's like how much of this is legitimate how much of this is people saying they hear something when they don't hear something How much of this is people manufacturing the scares and the and the things that are happening and you get that in the film and what's nice is that it starts with kind of a few misgivings about what's going on just because The the people involved like want it to be there. So they think they're perceiving something and then they kind of realize Oh, no, that's not what it is Um, so then they kind of like take a step back and they're like, I don't want to go down that road of You know presenting something that's not accurate and so you see very early on kind of where they are with their um with their I guess Moral compass in a sense when it comes to this types of stuff this type of stuff So that's kind of nice that they established it that way. Also when they're kind of like, oh, I think I I think this is going on There's some comedic answers for that stuff early on that I really enjoyed Then there's there's kind of the moment where You know inevitably a person's Morals are kind of tested and it's interesting to see what people decide to do in those moments But I really like kind of the commentary that this creates around um What's going on with these ghost hunting shows really because a it's making fun of it a little bit B it's um using it to have fun in the film and see it's kind of You know asking this question of like You know, should you be doing it mainly for entertainment or should you be doing it because You know, you believe it's a real thing and you're trying to get the actual evidence out there. So I just kind of like how that plays out. Um, let me see what else I got for my notes Uh, you get it immediately that it's the behind the scenes like ghost hunting thing. There's there's kind of no Misgivings about what this film is going to be and let you know what it is very early on And that is fine for a film like this. That's good for a film like this. Actually you want to know what you're getting into Uh, love the fact that it's very self-aware and that actually that self-awareness that I was talking about Actually really keeps it from feeling like it's it gets into the cliche or tired realm Because they're using a sub genre that it has been used a lot and it's easy to do a script I'm doing a movie that stays within, you know, those well-tread Um tire tracks basically of where everyone else has gone with these things So there's a there's a bit of their own voice in this There's a bit of their own twist and like I said it being super self-aware and You know the comedic aspects of it and poking fun at what they're doing Is what kind of sets it apart and keeps it from falling into the realm of cliched and tired So I like that uh, Heather Langenkamp obviously is the big name draw within this but, um Two things about that one actually I think that she was on screen way more than I assume because a lot of times when you see like the big names Throne out there for more independent films It's kind of like this person's in it and they're in it for like a minute or something And they're not even like in a scene with the actual actors It's like they just sent a crew out to their house for a day and they just like Got him talking on the phone for like 30 seconds or something and that's the extent of it No, she's actually like in it substantially in my opinion acting with the other actors and I thought that was kind of impressive that they were able to to pull that off because obviously she's an icon And it's cool to see her doing her stuff That said I didn't think her acting was all that great to be honest. It was okay Uh, but the thing you have to consider is she hasn't been doing a lot of acting I mean she did a lot of her stuff in the 90s and then she's done some stuff here and there After that, but she did also have like a large chunk of time where she wasn't doing any acting So it is one of those things where like if you're not doing it consistently You're not you know if you don't use it you lose a type thing and you know her I wouldn't say her acting is bad in this. It's just for her being the big name It's not what you wanted out of her performance. Just saying Um And it pains me to say that because I think she's a cool person, but uh And like I said like I was more into it in the beginning than I was towards the end But that's my kind of natural bias with sub genres like that. So, you know So, yeah, um, so that's actually those are all my feelings on this. That's my breakdown of this film Um, like I said, it's already available. It gave you that information so you can check it out if this sounds good to you You know, I'm gonna go for a star rating on this. It's kind of hard when I have these types of biases to kind of do this. Um, I think Comparing it to other films and trying to take my bias out of it. I think out of five stars with half stars in play I'm gonna give it a Three star rating. I think it's I think it's better than than in the middle for me like better than me So, yeah, three star rating. Uh, I would recommend it to people Especially who like this sub genre and it was a fun time. So once again Thank you, Chris Sergi and the folks who put together portal and uh, thank you everyone for checking this review out And if you could do me a quick favor hit that subscribe button because it means a lot to me Literally takes you a second. Totally painless. Put some comments down there. Have you already seen this film? What are your thoughts on it? Are you one of these people who actually likes ghost hunting stuff and likes ghost sub genre films in in the within the horror genre? Um, let's talk about it. But thanks so much for checking this out and until next time keep it brutal