A textbook way to engineer a low-budget horror story without losing any of the tension and humanity. The use of music was a bit heavy-handed but did its job and covered for the lack of budget in creating more interesting visuals.Very slow, methodical and gritty. I could have used less of the bouncy camera, though. Both leads were original and well-acted. The killer's reluctance was somewhat evident throughout (but not enough) and clarified at the end with his monologue. But it was clarified at the end. Something more was needed to put his self-hatred into focus. Not reveal it all, but focus it much earlier. Thus, there was more to this story that was not explored.Now it was clearly stated that this killer had internet friends. So someone was going to give away her location from early on. That was giving away the store and should have been reigned in. But who?I'm surprised that it took me so long but I finally got it when the new boyfriend showed after the friend's murder. Maybe that was due to the good performance. After that it was waiting for the inevitable in 3 minutes. I didn't catch on that the work friends were in it, though. Then the killer shows up due to contact with one of the friends. I initially bought it and it was explained. But then I got to thinking'. Why didn't the killer alert the cops at the onset? Why didn't the killer make a bee-line to the woman if he was so concerned? Granted, the ending was done very well, but I had doubts about the timing as it took a couple weeks at least. Why did the phony boyfriend go through the relationship? (Could have been explained easily, but was not. They explained contacting the killer.) And why did the other two wait so long for the murder they wanted to commit? But good ending with the killer saving her and his monologue. Left me with an uneasy feeling on who to root for. And a very horrible feeling because she can never really trust again. I'd be curious what a sequel would look like.

I'm clearly running out of movies to watch on Prime and Shudder, which is why I eventually gave in and decided to settle for A Horrible Way To Die. Before delving further into the review, to be fair, I should state that just a couple hours before watching it, I saw one of the most incredible films I've ever had the pleasure of watching-'Magic Magic'; so 'A Horrible Way To Die' had a lot to live up to.I had been reading around about this movie for a while. After all, with a title like that, you can't help but wonder what it's all about. I, of course, presumed that AHWTD was just another B-Horror movie belonging to the 'torture-porn' genre, and therefor, most likely a waste of time. But after reading several reviews which hailed the film for it's magnificent writing and acting, I decided to give it a go. The first thing that I'll say about this movie is that the cinematography is terrible. I mean, really, it's almost unwatchable-maybe the director had some artistic statement in mind (attempting to give the film a feeling of 'visceral reality'?), or if the camera man just didn't have a the ability to stay in focus or to keep a steady hand. Regardless, it didn't work. I'm a man that values aesthetic, and I like movies to look beautiful-and if they don't..Well, I expect there to be a reason for that (for instance, it makes sense that the camera work looks shaky in a movie like 'The Blair Witch Project'). I suppose some might argue that the hand-held shaky camera-work adds a flair of 'grit' to the film, but I would argue that it does not (after all, Bad Leutenant got it's point across while still staying in focus), and instead creates the impression that the cinematographer was relying on a corny gimmick to cover up his lack of talent. There is absolutely no reason that half the film has to be out of focus.Secondly, I would have to disagree with the assertion that the writing in 'A Horrible Way To Die' is anything above average. In fact, I would say a lot of the dialogue seems forced. It's hard to tell in movies like this if this is the product of the script itself or bad acting, but I'm going to go with the latter. I've seen some of these actors in other films and they were capable enough, and at times their talent does shine through the dull dialogue.Another thing that annoyed me was the depiction of Alchoholics Anonymous. Having struggled with addiction for many years, I know the format of a 12 Step meeting like the back of my hand. Now do not misinterpret what I'm saying-I am no 'Big Book Thumper', but I am starting to get really annoyed by how all these movies are depicting Alchoholics Anonymous/Narcotics Anonymous. To me it just shows sloppiness..After all, how hard would it be to approach a member and just ask, 'Hey, we're making this movie, and a central theme is alcoholism, so do you think you could help us out to accurately depict a 12 Step program?". Clearly that conversation never took place. I almost feel as if they got their impression of 'The Program' from other movies.Anyway, I have to admit, I only watched 3/4 or the film, because quite frankly, the quality became to abrasive for my taste. I don't mind low-budget films if the film-maker knows how to work within that limited budget (a great example of this is Mark Flannegans' 'Absentia', or the Sci-Fi time travel film 'Primer', supposedly filmed with a $7,000 budget), but that is not the case with 'A Horrible Way to Die', which instead looks at best like an ambitious student film that despite it's efforts, fails.I will say that for what they were given to work with in terms of the script, the acting was pretty good, and that's probably the movies' one redeeming quality. Still though, I wouldn't waste my time with this one. I see a lot of people making claims like it's a 'hidden gem', and I imagine if you went into the movie with the expectation that it was going to be the the worst film in the history of cinema you might walk away with that point of view, but in to me it was an incredibly mediocre, predictable thriller.

A serial killer does his usually stchick on unsuspecting characters after he escapes from jail. His ex-girl friend is in hiding and under witness protection because she testified against him.But, the cinematography was so bad, it was hard to follow the story.I think the director got a string of Christmas lights and decided to use them in an out of focus foreground for a 'anxiety' effect. Really? A very poorly conceived decision. 'Shaky cam' was used on Blair Witch and a few others. You might try a tight story line, good actors, and scenes and presto a movie and a tripod.Rather than move you into the story, such techniques take you out of the story since you are very aware of the effects and fail to follow the story. But maybe the cinematographer had the d'ts'Pulp Fiction had very little 'artsy out of focus lights' as an effect to get the audience in a tipsy mood.Story line wasn't bad, but ruined by the constant use of out of focus lights and jumpy camera work. Did you not have access to a pair of sticks?Plot at the end was good though and should have been extended instead of endless AA meetings.

More of a thriller than it is a horror, although the suspense is straight out of any good horror flick. There's no joy to be found here in this grim, bleak and melancholic take on the serial killer genre with an excellent twist. The lead actors do such a fantastic job of making us care or loathe for these believable and well structured characters that it can be easy to forgive the film for its shortcomings in its questionable cinematography and irritating shooting style. The pacing is also excellent in giving equal parts character development and subtle plot points leading up to a fantastic finale with the previously mentioned unspeakable twist, although the ending is somewhat abrupt and unsatisfactory.