HORROR DVD/BLU-RAY REVIEWS

There's this spooky pirate radio station that is able to grant wishes every 29 days on a full moon... with dastardly deadly results. When suppressed high school senior Angelica becomes fed up with her sheltered life, she calls in to the radio station... and her friends and loved ones pay the price.

Holy shit, is this movie all over the place! It sure doesn't help that the DVD's cover box is completely misleading. Wake up call: OPEN DOOR ain't a slasher. In fact, save for the very first scene, I was wondering if this was indeed an actual horror film. At least the story seemed to be going somewhere and the acting was definitely above the average independent flick. So, I kept on watching with my interest still slightly piqued.

After all was said and done, I can't say I was completely pleased that I stuck around, but am still glad that I did. At least the filmmakers seemed to care about setting up some semblance of a creative plot as well as actually developed characters. I liked how nearly every high school kid in the flick had his or her own identity that stayed consistent throughout the running time. The bitchy slut, the noble quarterback, and the suppressed good girl (played by star, Catherine Georges, who is quite the hottie) were positive standouts.

The plot was alright, though there were some big similarities to EVIL DEAD and WISHMASTER that felt more like rip-offs than homages. There was a pretty good air of mystery in not exactly knowing where and when the shit would hit the fan. Nothing was the slightest bit scary, but something interesting must have been going on to keep me watching. I was curious to see how it would all end and if the freaky-deaky pirate radio station would tie into everything in some kind of creative way.

Sadly, the way things became tied up, or maybe not so tied up, left me feeling not fully satisfied. Events ran their course, yet without the sting of a snappy set up that the first half delivered. The finale felt kind of rushed and not all of the strangeness received a proper explanation. And considering all that was set up, more explanation was necessary. That's why I can't fully recommend this one. However, it is in no way as bad as most of the other low-budget horror stinkers out there.

Video Widescreen 1.77:1

Audio English & French dolby digital.

Just the damn trailer.

Not a totally terrible experience, but since I was coaxed into sitting through the running time with anticipation, I wish DOOR delivered a somewhat better ending. Perhaps the filmmakers were looking to say "sequel", but thinking like that should in no way compromise the quality of the finale. Like I said, though, you could probably do worse.