Shrooms
Shrooms
NR | 16 August 2007 (USA)
Shrooms Trailers

A group of American teens comes to Ireland to visit a friend who takes them on a camping trip in search of the local, fabled magic mushrooms. When the psychedelics start taking hold, the panicked friends are attacked by ghostly creatures; but how can they determine whether what they are experiencing is reality or hallucination?

Reviews
Redwarmin This movie is the proof that the world is becoming a sick and dumb place
Baseshment I like movies that are aware of what they are selling... without [any] greater aspirations than to make people laugh and that's it.
Gurlyndrobb While it doesn't offer any answers, it both thrills and makes you think.
Aspen Orson There is definitely an excellent idea hidden in the background of the film. Unfortunately, it's difficult to find it.
gavin6942 Three couples go to Ireland's woods to collect magic mushrooms and trip out. On their way they meet some strange inhabitants of the woods and it does not take long until a creepy story is being told at the campfire which might be more than just a story.Why are these people so obsessed with mushrooms that they travel to Ireland? Who knows? But it sets us up for a film about a "bad trip" that is generally fun and good natured, featuring a talking cow (and that is never a bad thing).People can argue if the film was well-executed or not, and indeed very few would say this was a great film. But neither is it a bad one, and they deserve some credit for making a movie that is at least partially enjoyable and completely clever. Many films deal with the horror of mental illness, but very few have used drugs to this end, and now we have to wonder why.
HeidiELove Five American college students literally get wasted while tripping out on magic mushrooms in rural Ireland. "Shroom," a woodsy little horror picture from Irish director Paddy Breathnach.It was a little on the dull side but I did really think I was tripping when Pluto has a conversation with a cow. Lighting was a bit of a problem, Some of the night lighting is so dark, and the edits so quick, that it is difficult to tell what is supposed to be happening during some of the parts that are supposed to be scary. But I will admit I did have a bit of PTSD after it and I certainly won't forget it and man I would have loved to have been an Extra on this one. The crew must have been tripping also……..with relief when it wrapped. I wonder if they eat shrooms on the "Wrap" Party? I would have loved to see a blooper reel or was that the movie? Are Irish Mushrooms this legendary?
Quebec_Dragon You might be attracted by the somewhat unconventional, yet artistic, movie's cover (mushrooms in moonlight looking like a skull) or the subject matter (yes: hallucinogenic mushrooms), I know I was, but be wary as this film basically disappoints on more than one level. 3 guys and 3 girls (including 2 couples) basically go to a forest in Ireland to camp and trip out on wild mushrooms. However, as things tend to do in horror films, things go bad when the wrong type of mushroom is ingested and a scary local "true story" might still have consequences today. You would tend to expect some bad "tripping" being an excuse for some crazy visuals and a generally wild, thrill ride. It turns out the visuals are rather tame and not very imaginative. Some of it can be explained by the very low budget. Don't expect great visual effects. I did like the mostly subtle blurry effects at certain points making your own eyes unfocused and enhancing slightly the sense of uncertainty and unease. There were a few other nice cinematic touches such as whenever the blonde girl woke up.I wish I could have cared more about what was real or hallucinatory, but it wasn't exploited well, and I just didn't care enough to ask myself the question. You see, the blonde girl seems to have premonitory visions, you then follow her to see how true it was or not. It might be nice in concept, but in practice it kills some of the suspense. For those interested, there's practically no gore (this film being of cutting away just before the kill variety) and no nudity. I think the worst offender is that for a horror thriller, it gets boring. I've watched this film twice now in less than a year, and each time I started yawning a little over midway through. Also something to consider is that I remembered basically nothing of it on the 2nd viewing, so I would guess it's pretty forgettable fare.It's a short film, but it feels much longer and not in a good way. The pacing is sometimes too slow (especially in the house) and the "creepy" atmosphere is lacking (daylight doesn't help). The very cold, desaturated lighting and colours were probably intentional, but it made the movie less appealing. The acting was acceptable, but the fear of the actors didn't transmit well to me, the viewer. To be fair, this lack of fear factor was probably due to more important factors such as the directing and the script. The best moments involve the jerky jock tripping out: talking to a cow and what comes afterwards. It speaks volumes that this "best" part was more amusing than horrific. The scary campfire story, establishing the horror mythology, was interesting as was the clever ending. However, on third viewing, with the commentary, I saw that the director "cheated" on the filming logic (no, he didn't say it) making guessing the ending seem a little unfair instead of completely satisfying. That ending almost saved the rest, but the rest was too lacking in the first place. I'm not even sure I would recommend the film as a rental.Rating: 3.5 out of 10 (Poor)
Bloodwank Sometimes when watching bad films I slip outside of myself. Then I can see my personage as if from the air, watching a bad film and ponder on my reasoning, my whole process of watching bad films. I was hoping that this would happen during my viewing of Shrooms and that the experience would dovetail in interesting ways with the events of the film, given that the film is about some idiots in the woods having a seriously bad time on the titular hallucinogen. Sadly this didn't happen and throughout my viewing I stayed resolutely focused on the film, which really isn't a good way to watch it. And why did I start on a barely relevant tangent? Well, Shrooms enjoys tangents, in fact it bristles with them. Characterisation that leads nowhere, meaningless visual creeps, conversations that spark and die, ideas that momentarily gleam before vanishing, all sorts of potential coming to nought. The essential set up of the trip of a lifetime out in some beautiful Irish countryside going horribly wrong is quite sound, drug paranoia horror is an underexplored and fascinating arena, as well as something that can easily be tied to backwoods slasher shenanigans. Unfortunately the film collapses after about 35 minutes, adopting a scattershot approach to its scares that works less than a quarter of the time, mostly coming off incomprehensible. It also eschews gore and even bloodshed, with only one kill being especially satisfying. These things of course aren't always necessary for good horror, but stir in an assortment of silliness in the plotting and we have a sinker. There are two main pluses, the first being the photography. Cinematographer Nanu Segal gives the film a great chilly, misty atmosphere, bringing out all the charm of the location, its wet beauty and its eerie potential. Second, the acting is actually fair, Lindsey Haun convincingly terrified, Jack Huston giving a good turn as the just barely holding it together leader of the group, Max Kasch an engaging space cadet and others filling their roles nicely. Not enough for the film to ever be especially harrowing, but everyone did the best they could with their characters. There are also isolated eerie or interesting moments, though the scare tactics are largely far too hackneyed and the attempts at hallucinatory visuals come across like uninspired riffs of Japanese ghost horror visual tropes, once in a while the spooks will work well with the location to create a rather nice moment. The pluses may not be all that much, but they kept the film to the watchable side of poor for me, a fair amount of unintentional amusement helps as well. Though one of the most pilloried horrors of recent years it was far from the worst for me, though I still can't recommend it. 4/10 then, it isn't a complete stinker but it sure ain't great.