LouHomey From my favorite movies..

Dorathen Better Late Then Never

Helllins It is both painfully honest and laugh-out-loud funny at the same time.

Scotty Burke It is interesting even when nothing much happens, which is for most of its 3-hour running time. Read full review

Michael Ledo Tasmania has been evacuated because of a possible viral outbreak. Sam (Coy Jandreau) is still on the island. His brother Bryan (Jason Trost) at the insistence of their sister Molly (Tallay Wickham) goes there to find him. The island has been taken over by ghosts and there are specific rules for survival which have been written down in a notebook called "How to Save Us." The ghost attack by smell. The ashes of dead people can mask the smell. The ghost are attracted by electricity. Graveyards appear to be safe havens. Don't go out at night. Lock all the doors. Beware of the wind. They can be seen with infrared.If you freeze frame the book as they page through it, you can get all the rules. There are broadcasts on the radio (106.9 FM) that are the ghosts talking as well as old broadcasts. And there is something strange...some of the broadcasts are personal for Bryan.The film moves slow. We see Sam covered with ashes walking along the island covered in ashes being tracked by his brother covered in ashes. They are sometimes irritated by ghosts. This is a low budget Australian production which was basically a two man play. Things pick up at the end where most of the budget was spent.Guide: F-bomb. No sex or nudity.

John Doe Wow, such a high rating, seriously? Well, it had me fooled.I thought this might have been some decent independent horror film, based on the summary and the rating, but boy, was I wrong...There is nothing going on, just some admittedly beautiful landscapes and desolated areas are shown, which the protagonists visit or pass by, so much for the value of this little flick. Well, the acting is OK, too. Unfortunately, I just didn't care about the characters. What about the horror/action/suspense?Similar to salt in some other ghost films, they use the ashes of the dead to ward off the entities. Then there is a little infrared camera 'action' to show the threats, which look alright but not more and are definitely not horrifying. Anyway, for an island allegedly full of roaming ghosts, that happens quite rarely. And even rarer are the actual 'attacks'. The only real scary parts in the entire film are the radio scenes, displaying a horribly annoying taste in music, even the occasional ghostly radio interceptions are way more melodic.Halfway through I took a break for a nap as serious fatigue overwhelmed me.Horror? No. Science fiction? Not really. Boredom? Bingo!

thisseatofmars What's with the high scores/user reviews this movie is getting on IMDb? Are they from members of the movie's cast and crew or something? Make no mistake, "How to Save Us" is a tedious, overlong movie that moves so slowly it's almost unwatchable.About 90% of it consists of two men in camping gear that walk.Walk. A. Lot.Lot's and lot's of walking. Quite often however, "How to Save Us" shakes things up by having the constant walking become... slow, cautious walking. To drag out this finger drumming-fest of a movie even further. I understand "cautious" scenes are meant build up tension, but there's got to be some kind of point or payoff, guys. The white, swirly CGI effect you've put in with iMovie or Windows Movie Maker that *sometimes* shows up doesn't exactly fit the bill.Very disappointing, especially given these high IMDb scores. I guess no system (especially an Internet scoring system) is ever perfect.Avoid.

james_depaolo The ad campaign for "It Follows" sold us on the fact that it was the so-called best indie film of 2015. I hate to rain on the campaign of the billion dollar Weinstein Company, but you have not seen How to Save Us. Shot for less than 20k, the new film by Jason Trost is something to really brag about. The premise may sound like a done to death very formulaic disaster film but the results is anything but. You have a brother named Brian who is traveling thru a plagued wasteland to find his brother Sam. How to Save Us takes that plot and gives us a twist that goes into both the supernatural and emotional. Brian seems to be one of the very few people left after this mass annihilation by plague. He knows his brother Sam is somewhere in Tasmania which is now being taken over by some kind of ghosts. Now before you start thinking hokey sheets or some done to death Poltergeist, these ghosts are a little bit different than what you would expect which leads to the horror element of the film. We learn early in the film that you have to hide from them like put human ashes on you so the spirits cannot find you or smell you. The spirits have this ability to change them that really adds to the creepy factor.The most effective is when they take over the radio and warn Brian constantly about Tasmania, or try to manipulate him by giving him voices of his family. The last twenty minutes of this film throws us a huge curve ball that shows a very emotional finale that people will really get freaked out by and also feel for our main character and know why it was so important for him to take this journey to find Sam. Trost showcased his love of trying to change the formula of the normal with All Superheroes Must Die which to me was a very fun film and very underrated. How To Save Us is an early favorite for Film of the Year not only because it changed the normal but also for the simple fact from script to characters to how this film plays out, it is just simply brilliant. In the summer of all the giants, this small indie film is simply one of the best films you will see this summer. I will also say, this is an early contender for film of the year. What a brave statement, Jason Trost has arrived. I am simply blown away and I feel all of you who read this will be as well. Seek this film out immediately. How to Save Us is going to rock your world.