Five friends drive out to visit a legendary corn maze but get lost on the way, so when they arrive they decide to go explore it anyway instead of getting into the car and driving back to the city. Uh, that would have been the world's shortest movie so forget that.Once in the maze they split up and play an elaborate game of tag, not knowing that they aren't alone.And this is where the problems set in. The protagonists- two women (one of whom will, of course, be The Final Girl) and three men- just aren't too interesting. Shalaina Castle is Jordan, The Final Girl, and while she's a competent actress there's no reason for us to root for her. Her appeal to me was how she resembles Barbara Steele, the British actress who reigned in Italian horror movies like Mario Bava's BLACK Sunday in the 1960's.A mysterious figure wearing a red jacket with a hood- the better to hide his/her face and to stir fond memories of Nicholas Roeg's DON'T LOOK NOW- begins thinning out the cast until Jordan escapes at the end of the second act. Then director Stephen Shimek shifts the scene of the action to various spots around a totally generic nearby town.Several new characters are introduced, including the highly unlikely killer. We keep expecting that there's going to be a major reveal and we'll find out why this person is doing these completely out of character things. Nope. The script said the figure in red chases down this or that character and dispatches them, so that's what happens. What's good about THE MAZE:Honestly, for $200,000 I'll say that Shimek did a great job. Even though there are a lot of elements that come out of left field- I saw this on Chiller, and have no idea what their editors did to change the film's structure- he got it made. It's something I've dreamed of doing all my life, so hats off to Stephen and his crew.Shimek does know what a movie looks like. And he does direct the actors: I've got enough experience on stage to see that someone is in there pitching.And, oddly enough, it has a tremendous musical score. That was what kept my hand off the fast forward button throughout the film. The score is credited to Lance Montgomery, a name totally unfamiliar to me. Yes, it's influenced by the scores for VERTIGO and PSYCHO, but at least it's influenced by brilliant work. Whether it's "real" instruments or Mr. Montgomery sweating bullets over a keyboard could matter less to me. It creates atmosphere and builds suspense, and kept me watching.And there are two excellent performances. Whoever the actor is playing the man who gave the killer a ride into town was natural and comfortable in front of the camera. Good work, and sorry I didn't catch the character's name. And Richard Dutcher as Sheriff Ben also delivers fine work.The big problem is the screenplay. It just doesn't deliver. And the third act is a shambles (although it does finally gel somewhat better toward the very atypical finish).Honestly, I think the author would have been happier working outside the horror genre and doing something more character driven; you've gotta dance with who brung you, though.If you watch this, think of it like seeing a community theater performance while visiting Utah and appreciate the hard work that these dedicated amateurs put forth on both sides of the camera.

Seriously? Out of all of the reviews for this movie on IMDb, only about half of them were 1-2 stars, the rest were 5 and above. What is wrong with all of you. One review even said that the movie left him/her scared..... I find that hard to believe. I was to busy laughing at how terrible it was to be scared. To run down the 5 worst things with this movie, here is number 5. The ridiculous "twist" at the end which wasted so much of my time (about half of the movie took place after the killings. Number 4. The description of the movie said that a group of TEENAGERS get lost in a corn maze. What teenagers? The youngest one could have been 25, but they could have ranged all of the way up to 40. Number 3. The magic switchblade, which left no blood what so ever, or blood coming out of the victims bodies for that matter (some exceptions do apply). Number 2. How did the killer not die, or even get slowed down from being stabbed in the stomach? Number 1. It is a CORN MAZE, not a maximum security prison. None of them ever thought to just run through the corn, or were they trying to make record time on the maze. Well that is the end of my review, please do watch this to enjoy it... only to laugh at it.

I'm a huge fan of low budge horrors and found this one didn't disappoint. It's been a while since I have seen a horror film take place in a corn maze (probably due to logistical problems with the story as some have mentioned. One would think you could just run in any single direction and eventually be out but that is beside the point). For being a low budget film I really enjoyed the music. Thats the one thing that seemed superior to other horror movies with low budgets. Most everything else was on par with what I expected.If you like low budget horrors then you won't be disappointed. If you have issues with low budget films then you probably wont enjoy this film (as you can see from some of the other reviews). Overall I would probably give it a 4.5 to 5 except that I enjoyed the music so much that it bumped it up to a 6.

I watched this movie on Halloween with some friends in a dark room and you know it was actually fun. It is definitely a movie to watch as a group. It was your normal scares with loud music and things jumping out but that is why we decided to watch it in the first place. Setting it in a corn maze was interesting and I really liked the Alice in Wonderland motif throughout the film. I was a little confused at the beginning of the film, but then as it went on I started to get in to it and I let my early misgivings go and I enjoyed myself. If you go into this movie expecting something completely different then what you've ever seen in a horror movie before then you will be disappointed. If you want a fun scare that you don't have to think about then give it a chance and I think you will find you enjoyed yourself.