Dirtylogy
It's funny, it's tense, it features two great performances from two actors and the director expertly creates a web of odd tension where you actually don't know what is happening for the majority of the run time.
Myron Clemons
A film of deceptively outspoken contemporary relevance, this is cinema at its most alert, alarming and alive.
Kien Navarro
Exactly the movie you think it is, but not the movie you want it to be.
Phillipa
Strong acting helps the film overcome an uncertain premise and create characters that hold our attention absolutely.
TheLittleSongbird
The Asylum have definitely done much worse than Sunday School Musical, that's saying little though because Sunday School Musical didn't work for this viewer. There are some redeeming value, Chris Chatman was likable as Zachary and had a great voice, the ending song was at least catchy and the best lyrics in the movie were in this song and the dance in the boy's bathroom is the most creative Sunday School Musical gets. The photography and camera work are pretty awful to say the least(like bad horror movie standard), to the extent you question whether there was a photographer at all. And it disallowed me to remotely enjoy the rest of the production values, which weren't that special actually to begin with. The songs are unmemorable with generic melodies and tired lyric writing, and the mostly tuneless singing and choreography that shows next to no passion don't help. The writing has cheesiness all over it, the spirituality and faith angles were good ideas but explored with the utmost banality. That the story is predictable is somewhat predictable, that it has no energy, real fun or passion isn't. The characters infuriate in how they behave and how they act towards one another, shallow is the best way to describe them, while apart from Chatman the acting is very poor, Candice Lakota has a decent voice but is a vapid actress. Overall, not terrible but at best lacklustre. 3/10 Bethany Cox
Ernesto Rodriguez
I too sat down with my children to watch this movie some time ago. Usually we have a hard time finding movies we can watch together as a family, especially since they're at the tender ages of 19 and 21. I was appalled at the kissing. My 19 year old was especially upset. He became agitated and eventually began crying. We had to stop the movie to bring him to talk to our pastor who was able to calm him down. Our pastor thought it would be a good idea to try and continue watching the movie, not for enjoyment, but so that our children would get an idea of the evils they will be confronted with in this world. After all, their mother and I won't always be able to chaperon when they go on dates with members of the opposite sex, despite how much we'd like to. After kneeling in our prayer room together and praying, we started the movie again. To make a long story short, when it was over, my wife suggested we burn the DVD as we prayed over it. I, as the father of the house, decided it would be best to also burn our DVD player, as I didn't want any residual impurity lingering in the damned contraption. In order for it to really burn, I had to pour some gasoline on it. The fire got out of control and spread to the rest of the house from the prayer room. We are now living at a shelter where my daughter met an older man (who apparently used to sing in a rock band and does not go to church regularly). She started seeing this man behind our backs until we learned that she and my wife have both become impregnated by him. And it is all due to this movie. If you ask me, I believe that the level of sin in the movie is really what drove these events. By bringing this movie into our home, we invited evil itself into our lives. Watch at your own risk.
rusbc_1
Its a good laugh if you can appreciate it for what it is - total crap. The camera work is shocking, the sound quality is poor. It involves a lot of embarrassing scenes where the kids burst into songs that are entirely forgettable. But if you can appreciate that this movie is NOTHING like the real HSM, you can enjoy this classic piece of cinematography. After all, High School Musical was pretty bad anyway. When I think of this film, I imagine some poor child going to the video store to hire a kids movie and his/her's mother picks up this piece of garbage thinking that it will be a good religious movie with family values. I think of the poor kid going home to watch this piece of trash and it makes me a little bit sad. That kid will be sorely disappointed. Anyway, in summation. Not. good.
Jordan Collins
Not a bad film but not a good film either.Im guessing due to the low budget, amateurish directors and writers and the fact that the writers are Christians, shows in the film.I was reading an interview from the director Rachel Goldenberg on another website and it's all explained, like I've said above. RG had to research for this film. Not good.But less off the negatives and more positives. The film does show a problem that many churches face with regards to many but also shows that a little faith in your ability can cause things to happen. What I was thinking while watching this is "this would look better on a stage, not as a film" there's no flow with the film but the musical numbers and dance moves SUPERB, hence why it should be a stage musical. Not a film you'd buy but more a rental film, just needed more professionalism and someone who knew about the Chritian faith.and I will admit 1 thing as well, Savannah is stunning and needed more solos