A lone female park ranger tries to track down a vicious creature killing various people and terrorizing her at a remote national park.
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For some reason while watching IT WAITS it occurred to me that this movie looks and feels a bit like some sort of 90 minutes long stand alone episode of THE X-FILES (but only without Scully and Mulder running around in it and it's not about aliens either). So that already hints that IT WAITS isn't that bad at all. But as far as 'look & feel' goes, that's where the comparison ends. While on the surface IT WAITS looks like your standard run-of-the-mill creature-in-the-woods feature, it does have a little more to offer. The drama-aspects, predominant in the first half of the movie and coming back with a final twitch in the end, were something you wouldn't exactly expect in the first place from a movie like this and they were even well-developed too. So what am I talking about exactly? I'll keep it vague, so no spoilers. Cerina Vincent (looking good as ever) plays a troubled young ranger, Danielle, coming to terms with her personal demons from the past regarding a traumatic experience and her on-going issues with her boyfriend Justin (played by Dominic Zamprogna, who has a pleasant on-screen charisma). Her location of choice to do all that (and get wasted on alcohol during the process too) is a remote forest outpost. Like I said, the dramatic subplot is interesting, told in a decent fashion and very well portrayed by Miss Vincent. I could only appreciate it, even though I think they over-used the inappropriate tragic/romantic rock songs on the soundtrack.What about the creature? You very soon learn that it's some demon from a Native American legend. But only later in the movie you learn a bit more about its history and characteristics. The sequence where you learn all that information really felt a bit easy and out-of-place. But I agree that it was necessary to flesh out the character of the creature. The demon-beast itself is a nice creation by Tony Gardner (check out his resumé and you'll find out that the guy always does a good job). It might remind you of The Creeper from JEEPERS CREEPERS mixed with a little bit of PUMPKINHEAD and a face ten times more vicious than any possible demon from the BUFFY series. But it still looks pretty unique. Some of the CGI shots of the creature where a bit less convincing. The kills in this movie are pretty good and gory, and the fun stuff includes that some of the corpses tend to pop up here and there, because our demonoid creature is just a bit more cunning and devious than your average beast.Another nice touch about IT WAITS is that it's not about a bunch of people (whether it be teenagers or military folks or whatever) fighting some creature in the woods. From the second half of the movie onward, it's Danielle who has to battle it out on her own with the creature. It's Woman vs. Beast here, where the beast could easily be a metaphor for her own dark demons she has got to come to terms with before the movie's closure. And then there's also a nice little supporting role for a parrot! Now if you want to know how all that works out, you'll just have to watch the movie. I liked IT WAITS more than I expected, but I'll try to temper my enthusiasm in my final rating. Because it still remains just an above average creature feature with a few extra merits going for it (the nice cinematography and the beautiful, mist-laden Canadian forests as scenery being two I haven't even mentioned yet).
like i said about tooth fairy i will say about this one,, not the worst horror movie ever, and not even close to the worst. the thing the two movies have in common, writer, producer, stephen j. canell. the a team, and hits of nbc in the 80,90's, anyway back to the movie, the monster itself could have used a total makeover, my youngest stepson, said it looked like an alien. i did like the movie set in the forest, that was an excellent call there. overall i did like most of the movie, it was average, maybe a little better. danielle st. clair, was worth watching, especially half naked. the plot wasn't too bad, but i didn't buy blasting the rocks with dy namite to bring back the spirit of the creature. it's worth watching i think,, the thing with horror movies is you can't take them tooo seriously,, there' not perfect and there hard to come by , so don't be so hard on this one,, it wasn't too bad. like i said, won't win any Oscars or awards.. but i've seen way worse.. by the way the parrot stole the show, always love those talking animals,,,
It Waits starts in the Canadian wilderness deep in some forest where some cavers discover something nasty inside a newly found cave... Jump forward 'Two Months Later' where forest ranger Danielle St. Claire (Cerina Vincent) is stuck in a watch tower on her own grieving for her dead friend who recently died in a car accident which she blames herself for, her friend & fellow forest ranger Justin Rawley (Dominic Zamprogna) joins her in an attempt to cheer her up & get into her bed. However they are not alone as an ancient winged creature terrorises them for reasons I have no idea about other than it's an evil creature & that's what evil creatures do for a living...Directed by Steven R. Monroe I thought It Waits was average at best. The script by Richard Christian Matheson, Thomas E. Szollosi & Stephen J. Cannell is rather ponderous & pedestrian, in fact the first 20 odd minutes absolutely nothing of merit happens & is a total snooze-fest. Once the creature turns up things begin to pick up although it seems to want to play games with the forest rangers & scare them although it could just as easily kill them & be done with it. We never really learn about the creature, what it is or where it came from. The character's are clichéd & dull, the dialogue isn't anything to write home about & I'll have forgotten everything about them by the end of today & I hated the boring back-story surrounding Danielle & her dead friend. This is also one of those films that spends a lot of time showing people running through a forest doing noting in particular, or that's how it felt. During the final 20 minutes the pace picks up & it becomes a half decent film although I thought it was too little too late. I don't know, I thought it was all very average, it could have been worse but it could have been better.Director Monroe does a decent job, the scenery is quite nice but but as I said there's too many shots of people walking around. There isn't much atmosphere probably because we know so little about the creature & barely see it until the end & there's no tension or proper scares either. One thing I can say about It Waits is that it has some decent if minor gore effects, while there isn't buckets of blood in it what's here is pretty good including an impalement where someone has a huge branch stuck up their bum in a scene that I'd imagine is a rip-off/homage/reference to Cannibal Holocaust (1980), a decapitated head & their headless body & a couple of mutilated corpses. I think the gore could have been more plentiful but whats here is quite impressive.With a supposed budget of about $1,200,000 It Waits was a pretty well funded film, I have to say I'd have liked to have seen more for that sort of money. There's barely any actors in it, the special effects are used sparingly, there's no action scenes or explosions & it takes place in exactly the same location throughout so where did the money go? I personally thought the acting was poor from everyone involved & the only character to stand out for me was Hoppy the Parrott, enough said.It Waits was average at best & a boring repetitive waste of time at worst, in reality I thought it was somewhere between the two. It's an OK way to pass the time but it's utterly forgettable & a tad dull if I'm honest.
I am a HUGE Horror Buff...and always hope the next horror flick in my NETFLIX queue will scare the hell outta me! Ha. Jeepers Creepers scared the hell outta me. 'It Waits' did not! Sigh! *** THE FOLLOWING SYNOPSIS MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS *** Cerina Vincent reminded (reminds?) me of Eliza Dushku of Wrong Turn/Tru Calling fame...or maybe Gina Philips--of Jeepers Creepers (JC) fame. The 'boyfriend' reminded me of Justin Long (as Gina Philips brother in JC). The Winged Monster reminded me of the monster in JC--but not as scary, when fully viewed....about two-thirds into the somewhat silly and wayyyy toooo l-o-n-g of a movie.It was very s-l-o-w, almost painfully so, the first hour--but when the Native American professor appeared AND explained where the monster came from, etc...the movie picked up pace. Sure, much of who the monster killed AND didn't kill made no sense. Sure, Cerina Vincent didn't seem plausible as a Park Ranger. Sure the bird was a stupid aside. But, the Canadian scenery made the entire movie viewable--for me, anyway!Certainly NOT the worst Horror flick I've watched, but I believe it had unexplored/unimplemented possibilities which could have made it great! 5 stars for trying hard.