Hey folks, Valkor here. When I started up "TOV's 15 Films of Horror", I wanted to only showcase films that would be awesome to share during a Halloween Marathon or if you're in the mood for a scary flick, then you got some choices. As I speak, I'm sittin on a pile of horror flicks and when I choose one for the fifteen, I go by look of the cover art and the synopsis, I know I shouldn't do that, but you can't always judge a book by its cover. This latest film I'm reviewing, Four Boxes (directed by Wyatt McDill), is definitely not part of the Top 15 and I wish I can have back the 1hr and 24min I spent watching it. There will be spoilers, so be prepared.
Four Boxes revolves around Trevor (Justin Kirk), Rob (Sam Rosen), and Amber (Terryn Westbrook), who run a company called "Go Time Liquidators"; specifically, this company visits the homes of the recently deceased, rifles through their things and sells anything of value on eBay. This one particular home they encounter is truly unusual; there isn't much of value, mostly odd items like hallowed egg shells, anti-freeze, or just some random junk such as a bag of diskettes, and photos with the faces cut out. The person clearly has a disorder from the meds lyin about plus notes speaking of a depression. When Trevor and Rob find a laptop, they discover a note that says "Four Boxes" and right away Rob knows what it is. Four Boxes is the name of a website that once focused on a young woman who placed tiny cameras around her apartment and streams the video over the internet (four boxes of video on screen = four boxes, the name of the show). Rob states that the woman moved out and a guy moves in – totally unaware that he's being filmed. The threesome soon discovers that the participants know all about the cameras and are clueing folks in on a huge terrorist plot.
Here's the deal people (Spoiler Alert), Four Boxes is actually a show put on by Trevor, Amber, and Rob. That's it! It's all a play for the internet community. The trio were acting out a scenario to launch their website. And on top of it all (I guess you could say insult to injury was added), the threesome are killed when Amber accidentally starts her car, which was parked in the garage of the house and now carbon monoxide is seeping in.
Needless to say, the Val-Man was not pleased.
The Good:
I liked the look of the film, which has a creepy, dark, and disturbing feel all straight thru. And I'll even admit that the characters help carry that mood throughout… at least before the big reveal. I enjoyed the connection between the three characters, though no real tension, it was pretty fun. Other than that…
The Bad:
The overall story is flat out boring! Nothing really happens save for conflict between our main characters, but it's nothing major. Ah Trevor is sleeping with Amber, even though she's with Rob… well its all moot since the whole thing was faked to begin with. But even if it wasn't, well it simply didn't create the tension I would have liked to really enjoy this film. Second, the initial Four Boxes stream? Absolutely boring! It's just a guy, walkin around the apartment, hooded and being creepy. I think the hot chick would have been more fun. And the giveaway that something strange might be going on – the guy never takes the hood off? Weak. And the big reveal? What a MAJOR letdown!! The whole time, it was all for a show? I think the terrorist thing should have played out. It would have been more interesting than "Oh hey guys, we made it up, but keep checkin out our site for more!" Lastly, using internet terms like BRB, BFD, BD? Yeaaaa…. Noooooooo…..
The Ugly:
The weak sex noises being made. *sigh!*
Four Boxes started out as something kinda special, but simply ends up on my discard pile. The really had some potential, but the ending is Epic Fail to say the least. Out of TOV 5 stars… I gotta go with a 2 on this one. OMG! SMH! TTYL!!!