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| DON'T LOOK UP |
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| Actors: Reshad Strik, Henry Thomas, Kevin Corrigan, Eli Roth |
| Director: Fruit Chan |
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Studio: E1 Entertainment |
| DVD release: 27 July 2010 |
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Runtime: 98 minutes (1 disc) |
| Format: Color, Dolby, DVD, Widescreen, NTSC |
| DVD features: Aspect ratio 1.77:1, Audio tracks (English - Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround, Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo), Subtitles (English SDH), Trailer, Making-of Don't Look Up (including interviews with Fruit Chan, Eli Roth, Reshad Strik, Kevin Corrigan), Behind-the-scenes footage |
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 Even though set in Romania, Don't Look Up is clearly a J-Horror film. It has all the J-Horror clichés: a person or building haunted by some sort of curse, spooky images superimposed in a film or on a mirror and a deadly ghost (complete with drooping hair, rolling eyes and slinking walk). If you are a fan of horror films such as The Ring or Shutter , this might be worth a look, but for anyone else looking for something original, skip this one.
The plot: a once up-and-coming director named Marcus Reed (play by the wonderfully named Reshad Strik) had his career derailed when he began to be haunted by paranormal visions. Given a shot to restart his career by his producer (Henry Thomas - yes, the kid from E.T. ), Reed travels to Romania to complete a notorious unfinished horror film that was presumably derailed by an ancient gypsy curse. While shooting on the same location as the previous film, the cast and crew are soon terrorized by supernatural forces.
Though there are a few interesting and spooky moments, nothing about the film truly separates it from other, better films of its type (it is definitely no The Ring or Tale of Two Sisters ). The death scenes also lack originality, as they tend to alternate between being "eaten" by flies (off-screen) or the expected movie-set deaths, such as falling from a balcony or getting brained by a falling light fixture.
It is also hampered by poor performances, including those by the lead, who mainly alternates between looking like he has a hangover and looking like he's passing a kidney stone, and the in-it-for-the-paycheck Thomas (the fact that he has second billing to someone named Reshad Strik says a lot about the state of his career). Fans of Eli Roth should not get their hopes up either, for he's in the movie all of about 10 seconds.
Don't Look Up lacks in originality and scares and is instead a tired retread of other J-Horror ghost films. I'd recommend this one only to the most unapologetic of horror geeks, and even for them, one viewing might be enough.
Note: Please do not confuse Don't Look Up with the masterpiece Don't Look Now . That is like confusing perfectly cooked prime rib with a Hot Pocket.
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