Thursday, June 23, 2011

Seconds Apart (2011)

Seconds Apart (2011)
Seconds Apart (2011)

Genre: Horror / Thriller
Director: Antonio Negret
Starring: Orlando Jones, Edmund Entin, Gary Entin, Samantha Droke
Duration: 85 min.
Rating: 6.4

Summary:
Seth and Jonah are twins with a dangerous ability. Telekinesis. Things start to spiral out of their control as their classmates end up dying in twisted and bizarre ways. The police suspect them. But, jealousy begins to divide them and soon they can no longer trust each other. Leading up to a horrific battle against themselves.



Seconds Apart is a film directed by Antonio Negret.  It is distributed by After Dark Films, the independent horror film production company responsible for the After Dark HorrorFest aka 8 Films to Die For.

Having seen almost all of the previous titles from After Dark, my expectations were not very high for this film.  Most of them have been poorly scripted and acted, low budget, straight to video quality films, though every so often there are gems to be found like 2007's Frontier(s).  This isn't one of them, but it's not entirely terrible either.

Seconds Apart is decently acted for a film of this pedigree, and features the creepiest set of twins I've seen since The Shining.  In a pleasant surprise, Orlando Jones (playing a stock detective with skeletons in his closet) who I've previously only noticed in comedies, pulls off this serious role quite well.  Also Edmund and Gary Entin do a fine job as the evil twins with a supernatural talent, it's great to see the roles played by real twins instead of using a single actor and camera tricks as is often the case.

The direction is also good and manages to build a bit of suspense, and I appreciate how it never resorts to using cheap scare tactics, but beyond the terrific opening sequence it also never really develops a sense of terror, making this feel more like a mystery thriller than a horror. 

What ultimately holds the film back is the screenplay, most of the second act feels like it its there solely to pad out the running time to reach a feature length.  While it's rare that a genre film develops it's characters as much as this one, there were a lot of scenes, especially ones dealing with the detective's past, that in the end were unnecessary to the story.

Not a classic by any stretch, but still an enjoyable American made horror, that proved better than expected and finishes with a spectacular closing shot.

Seconds Apart (2011)

Seconds Apart (2011)

Seconds Apart (2011)

Seconds Apart (2011)

Seconds Apart (2011)

Seconds Apart (2011)

Seconds Apart (2011)

Seconds Apart (2011)

9 comments:

FrontRoomCinema said...

I have this at home to watch. As anyone who reads my blog knows I am NOT good with Horror and have a huge list of scary films that I have not seen. I am trying to desensitize myself at the moment by making myself watch films that I normally avoid.

I might well give this a go now BT

Thanks for reviewing i

Custard 

FrontRoomCinema said...

LOL I don't know really. I just have a sense that I am missing out on a how side of film. Its not like I am going to make myself numb to the shock factor and watch Salo!!

:-)

Hoi-Ming Ng said...

ooooh horror <3

The Reel Foto said...

the shining, part 2. :D

Thenitefalls said...

If someone had telekinesis in real life, they would be treated the same way as these twins

The Angry Lurker said...

It sounds good, maybe if I find it cheap somewhere.

d_4 said...

This sounds like the type of movie that's fair and still manages to lose my attention. Also, the twins look like Voldemort before he had snake face.

Tim B. said...

Evil twins are EVIL

copyboy said...

Evil X-men fun!!!

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