  

A lonely teenage kid
named Michael Bower (Edward Furlong) who
is fascinated with horror movies
discovers an ad for a mysterious computer
game that uses hypnosis to custom-tailor
the game into the most terrifying
experience imaginable.
Well
he falls asleep while trying the game and
enters a house near his neighborhood by
stabbing a man asleep to death and
cutting off his leg.
After he plays the game he finds it alot
of fun but then spots the murder on the
news and then encounters meets the evil
Trickster (T. Ryder Smith) and is
horrified to find evidence that the
brutal murder depicted in the game
actually happened -- and he's the killer.
He can't seem to put a stop to the
madness plus is being questioned by the
head Detective named Hayden (Frank
Langella) about the cases after Michael
experiences that his only friend named
Kyle (James Marsh) was killed as well.
Next plan is that he will be put in a
trance to murder the girl of his dreams
named Kimberly (Amy Hargreaves) but can
he stop himself in time?

An impressive beginning of the film with
a close up shot on the lead character Michael Bower with his eyes closed showing that he is
having a nightmare which looked good as
well as his younger
self with
a good shot on him limping on the ground
from a bad accident. Both of this
combination looked perfect. It for sure leaves a nice impression that something here is not right and should please horror fans such as myself.
There's a nice shot on a school principal storming in slowly with
expressionless
catching his student watching a horror
movie while supposed to be doing
schoolwork. We also have a good and stern discussion
between the two of them in the office.
I found a moment quite impressive with Michael spying on his crush Kimberly while living next door undressing as he videotapes her in which this drew me in wondering if she will catch him doing this along with his geeky friend Kyle contacting him on his computer as this all looked entertainingly exciting to watch.
Impressive moment when Michael starts up his new game on his computer and we hear the voice of Trickster talking to him which shows some great horror type of pizzaz by what he is talking about and then a bizarre moment on him playing the game with a nice shot on the camera
luring in around a house and having Trickser's voice
commanding every move which looked
perfect and dark. There's a great shot on someone tossing
and turning in his bed fast asleep. A
perfect shot on him being stabbed and his
reaction to it and a good shot on a house
cat watching. This for sure looked perfectly outrageous and terrific horror timing. A great shot on the cut off foot in a
refrigerator.
Nicely drawn in moments when Michael spots what had happened on the news based on the video game which was a great moment for the horror story as well as him trying to check out the place and Detective Hayden telling him to move on which was mysteriously done in a good fashion.
We see many great and intense discussions
between Michael and Trickser up in an attic with Michael freaking out with his actions
and Trickster acted evilly witty and
demonic like towards him. Plus a nice shot on Trickster doing something with his fingers as this reminded me on what Freddy Krueger does in the A Nightmare On Elm Street legacy in which I'm convinced this moment paid a tribute to that. Also there's nice special effects for the beginning of this scene when Trickster pushes himself out of the computer screen to confront Michael as I'm convinced the writer saw Trick or Treat and borrowed this idea big time.
Well done situations when Michael goes to a forest to try and bury the cut off foot as well as hiding from people that enter there along with their dog taking the foot and running away with it and him trying to get it back as I really found this moment genuinely funny to watch.
There are nice shots on both Michael and Kimberly making out in bed
together and then a good shot on her suddenly turning into the character Frank acting vicious and attacking like.
Good shots on Michael running in
the woods with people after him in which there's excellent misty shots in the forestry as well as police trying to look for him. Alot of this looked action packed fun as I enjoyed watching these moments unravel.
One of the best moments is when Michael is pressured to kill Kimberly while she is sleeping in her bed as you wonder if he will do it or not which was nicely drawn in. Plus great effects when he struggles against Trickster as well as what happens here which looked bizarre and seemed to have another Freddy Krueger type of tribute to this matter.
A good shot on the school principal with Trickster sitting in the principal's chair
acting cool while Michael is talking and
giving the principal the CD to play
the game.
Bottom line is a film that tried
to bring back the horror craze
but sadly it didn't succeed yet. This
film was still very well done regardless
with the dark humor and the spooky
surroundings of being in a trance and
murdering.
The film almost tried to be a new A Nightmare On Elm
Street type of flick and I could
see it having sequels and a cult
following but sadly it didn't do that
either. This one tried to bring back the horror craze but didn't grab the attention until 1996 when Scream got it going again. However, many knew the film and
saw it but did better going onto video
after it's short theatrical release. The film has alot of neat twists and
special effects to top it all off.

The acting is
great in this film as lead actor Edward
Furlong (Michael Bower) still struts his stuff since
his days in Terminator 2:
Judgement Day really knowing how
to freak out about playing the computer
game and being a murderer. A great shocked and frightened expression
on him while spotting
the death he experienced from his game on
the TV news in a certain scene. He really let it out well after
smashing a game disk he received in the
mail. Reacted well after watching
himself on TV after videotaping himself
and getting angry after seeing what he is
about to do. He's terrific when he tries to
contact his friend and really spazzing
out. Does a nice performance by
trashing his computer and other devices
in his attic.
Frank Langella (Detective Hayden) does a great job with
his serious attitude as a concerned
detective on the murder cases. Offers a great bluntness to whatever he had to say as well as getting to the point with stuff. Basically studied his part inside and out with this role and lived to play it. Had the right tough serious looks which was another great bonus to his role.
T. Ryder Smith (Trickster) was
fabulous as the evil one behind the game
with his evil charming attitude
and demonic expressions along with his evil humor. Shows off a nice sarcastic behavior and shows off alot of great adrenaline and spunk into what he did rolling with the punches. He for sure portrays a nice evil type of clown type horror character. Seemed to portray a Freddy Krueger type of persona with this role and doesn't act phony at all with his timing.
Amy Hargreaves (Kimberly) pulls off not too bad
as a beautiful teenage girl for the
scream queen in this one which is what we
needed. Shows off a nice calmness to her role as well as having a kind personality which was believeable. Plus does well screaming and freaking out in a scene when someone is attacked just really bringing this to a high level of energy.
Supporting actor James Marsh (Kyle) presented himself well as the outrageous
friend fascinated by horror movies, heavy
metal music and games too truly knowing
how to play an outsider. He for sure knew on how to act annoying and dorky with what he was doing as he reminds me of other misfit kids who don't act like a regular in school. Had the right looks and appeal to this too.

A child's leg is mangled
A man's leg is cut

We have some
creepy violin and synthesizer tones by John
Flynn as well as some good piano
playing too. A nice deep and heavy synthesizer tone for the opening which my guess is the theme song with some nice electric guitar twanging which was used for the other moments but at times it gets very annoying hearing it go over and over again. Nice jungle beats and stick playing for a chasing scene which really fits in with what was going on in that scene.
We have a perfect 90's heavy metal
soundtrack by groups such as
White Zombie - "Thunder Kiss '65
(Swinging Lovers Remix)"
Old - "A Beginning/Two of Me" ,
"Freak Now/Pericynthion"
Ben London - "AFC Theme" ,
"Shapes"
The Butthole Surfers - "Leave Me
Alone"

Dr.
Fromberg: What was the you were
watching, Mr. Brower?
Michael: "Death, Death,
Death...
Dr. Fromberg: I see.
Michael: ...Part 2"
Dr. Fromberg: Oh my god. Tell me
Michael, why do you watch these films?
Michael: Really?
Dr. Fromberg: Yes, I want to
understand.
Michael: Well, it's kind of like
an escape.
Dr. Fromberg: An escape. Like
lighting up on marijuana or watching a
pornographic sex film, getting an
erection and raping someone?
Michael: I don't think erections
rape people, people rape people. .
Michael:
It wasn't supposed to be real!
Michael:
Kyle!
Kyle: No, it's Axl Rose!
[Micheal
hugs Kyle]
Kyle: Watch out for my lucky
charms! They're magically delicious!
Hahaha!
Kyle:
That outfit's totally bitchin'.
Stacie: You think so?
Kyle: I know so. You look just
like that one girl in that one video by
what's his face. Only better.
Michael:
Erections don't rape people, people rape
people.
Michael
Bower: Kyle!
Kyle: No, Axl Rose!
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