The Roost

Posted by Robert Fure (robert@filmschoolrejects.com) on October 13, 2006

Release Date: October 3, 2006

I had heard a lot about The Roost coming into it, and 90% of it was good. Beyond good. I was really underwhelmed with what I got.

We get a couple of kids who crash the car in a rural area after a bat hits their windshield. They head off looking for help at a nearby house that has a creepy and expansive barn populated by large bats. The bats are hungry and attack the kids and the Sheriff. Don’t get too attached to any of the characters really, although you see most of the surprises coming except for maybe one.

Intercut with the movie, mostly at the beginning and end, are scenes of a host of a fictional late night series. This is supposed to be inventive but the acting is super lame and the whole thing just feels like they added it on to be different. It really doesn’t add much to it.

The acting is ok, on the low side, and the direction is competent if not good for what it is. Overall, fans of the genre won’t be bored, but people who don’t dig lower-budgeted horror probably won’t. I did see it with one other person who is naturally very jumpy and a few of the scares really nailed her. Over all, not a bad time, but don’t buy the hype.

The extras are kinda cool. We got a monotonous but interesting featurette on Bats, a Making of, and a short student film. Rock On.

DVD Specs:

* Available Audio Tracks: English (Dolby Digital 5.1), English (Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo)
* The Making of The Roost
* Truth About Bats: A bat expert discloses the myths
* Student film by director Ti West
* Photo gallery

The Upside: A low budget movie that provides some decent jumps and tries to be different.

The Downside: It’s not really that scarey and really not much of anything happens.

On the Side: Straight to DVD release after making the tour of a few festivals. Combines vampire bites with zombies.

Final Crade: B-

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