![]() He did all sorts of nasty business to the bank employees and the patrons and voila’ the bank is haunted.Īfter a quick slide downhill the psycho-bank robber ghoul terrorizes everyone, but weirdly, not the viewing audience. Using a super-clumsy flashback device the pic explains that a prior psycho-bank robber robbed this very bank in 1982. Problem three: way too much of the wrong exposition. But what is explained is the reason for the ghouls. None of the characters are terribly well developed, and again, the rationale for the robbery is just not explained. The factions begin to encounter spooks and spectres and further turn on each other. Of course they split in to groups and of course the groups are fractured and uncertain about themselves. The greedy nazis vaguely talk about their reasons for the bank robbery and then commence with rather formulaic in-fighting. Millions in fact! The greedy nazis jump on it hook line and sinker. The robbery ensues and a meek and unsuspecting bank employee played by Jame Franco instructs the robbers that the real money is in the vault. Problem one: the fire is just a mere block away and the bank patrons and employees don’t seem to be terribly concerned with the fact that there’s a building on fire down the street - from their rickety old bank. The film begins with a little (read: very little) switcheroo where the bank robbers start a fire to distract from their nasty escapades. Turns out banks aren’t really that scary and good looking ne’er-do-well actors aren’t either. There’s only one problem…well there’s tons…the bank is haunted! I’m always up a for a good “…this place is haunted and you shouldn’t be here” flick, but at some point the reason why the place is haunted and the impending doom, being brought to those who dare enter the premises, needs to come together in symmetrical harmony. A group of (maybe white supremacist nazis) decide to rob an ol’-timey downtown bank. Good premise plus good actor does not equate to good movie. Basically, it's a waste of a terrific idea, mainly because the filmmakers forgot to include at least one character the audience cares about.★ out of ★★★★★ Really? The most boring jump scare ever? There are some gleefully gruesome moments, although the real violence remains off-screen. ![]() And when things move into an unnecessarily blacked-out basement, we can't even see them. As a director, Bush goes for atmosphere rather than believability, although his attempt to generate terror basically consists of having blurred or masked figures lurking in the background. And Collins could have shot his entire role on a lunch break.Īt least there's plenty of talent lurking around to keep things vaguely interesting. Meanwhile, the hostages do little but dither. Haze plays the only one with a shred of a conscience. Basically, all of the robbers are loose cannons ready to fly off the hook at any moment. It's a nice way to create a disorienting edge to the movie, but not so good at helping us care about anyone. Dialogue consists mainly of smalltalk that tells us little about who these people are or what they're up to. There's not much that the actors can do with these bare-boned characters, most of whom vanish from the screen for long periods of time with nothing at all to do. Inside, assistant bank manager Ed ( James Franco) is trying to cooperate, but head teller Susan (Q'orianka Kilcher) won't stop talking about how the bank is haunted.ĭespite the decent set-up, the script seems even less in control of the narrative than Lea and Vee are of this robbery. But nothing goes as planned, especially as a detective ( Clifton Collins Jr.) immediately turns up outside. Now sisters Lea and Vee ( Francesca Eastwood and Taryn Manning) are working with their dim but useful brother Michael (Scott Haze) and a couple of hotheaded thugs (Keith Loneker and Michael Milford) to stage a heist in broad daylight. It's set in a bank that has a history of robberies, including one that turned extremely violent years ago. The watchable cast makes sure we don't get bored, but it isn't long before we begin to suspect that there's nothing to this film at all. ![]() ![]() It's a clever idea, but the script isn't nearly as smart as it's trying to be, falling back on feeble attempts to generate suspense by throwing every cliche imaginable at the screen. Filmmakers Dan Bush and Conal Byrne attempt a mash-up of a frantic heist movie with supernatural horror. ![]()
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