Instead of showing you a satisfying kill, the editor waits until the last possible second and then cuts away. The gang starts playing “Stay Alive,” a game that isn't commercially available and was found under mysterious circumstances.Īt least people start dying soon, right? The arterial spray, exploding body parts and severed limbs will get you through the rest of the movie, right? Wrong! Because it's PG-13, “Stay Alive” is an almost bloodless affair in the worst way.

These hardcore gamers are universally attractive and gender-diverse (and also one of them is Frankie Muniz, who is at his most hateable here). Remember how the hacking in “Hackers” is nothing like computer hacking in the real world? If you're a gamer and you watch this movie, you should prepare yourself for lots of “hack the planet” moments. The filmmakers try to curry favor with gamers via some rushed name-dropping during the exposition, but it feels like the writers are writing what their conception of gamers are. Specifically, when you die in the game, you die in real life. In “Stay Alive,” there is a videogame (that's haunted), and when you play it, you die. “Stay Alive” tries very, very hard to be one of the better examples of the 'haunted object' film, but it ends up being an aggravating, half-assed mess of “My Soul To Take” proportions. There's a haunted hairbrush, and when you brush your hair with it, it kills you. As a plot element, it hits the right psychological buttons – horror is about subversion, about removing safety from a safe world, and making every random thing in your house a potential murderer serves that end. “The Ring” is a pretty great example of this, as are some of the other more worthy J-horror remakes. On one hand, this a well-worn trope that can sometimes get used pretty effectively. There's a bed that's haunted and when you sleep on the bed, it eats you.

There's a tie tac that's haunted, and if you wear it, it kills you. There's a cellphone that's haunted, and if you answer it, it kills you. There's a house that's haunted, and if you go inside, it kills you. There's a videotape that's haunted, and if you watch it, it kills you. Two characters smoke cigarettes one smokes marijuana via a bong.The failsafe horror formula in the first half of this new century seems to be summed up by the following formula: “There's a that's haunted, and when you it, it kills you. One early sex scene features two naked young people, one in a pig mask the primary couple kisses near the end (typically, just when you think they should be running away!). One character lies about her family background (pretending to be of a higher social class). After first murders (including a hanging), characters attend a funeral. The video game at the film's center is based on a real-life legend (a 17th-century Hungarian Countess who supposedly killed hundreds of children), and her young, white-gowned victim-ghosts appear as bloody, ravaged and broken (digitized) forms. Though most of the violent acts (stabbing, shooting, neck-slicing) are intimated rather than graphic, the bloody effects are very visible. Parents need to know that film includes frequent references to killing and images of murder. Characters smoke cigarettes one character appears passed out, then reveals the reason: a huge bong.ĭid you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Drinking, Drugs & Smoking in your kid's entertainment guide.

Stay alive movie