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I Didn't Come Here to Die
R2 - United Kingdom - Second Sight Review written by and copyright: Samuel Scott (16th March 2013). |
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The Film
 Volunteer work can be a killer. When it comes to low budget movie making, horror is by far the most popular genre for directors and movie fans alike. Horror fans are known for their more forgiving stance on the budgetry constraints of of these low budget features and every now and again, there is a real break out. In recent years, we have had The Blair Witch Project (budget of $60,000) and Paranormal Activity ($15,000 budget), both of which garnered critical and general success after people flocked to see the movies on the big-screen following the ultimate marketing tool, word-of-mouth. Paranormal Activity did so well, that distributor Paramount Home Entertainment started a new micro-budget division at the studio called Insurge Pictures. I Didn't Come Here to Die was made by Kim and Jim Productions, and like thousands of low-budget horror movies every year, hoped to garner similar success. The synopsis from Second Sight reads: Six young volunteers set up camp in the middle of nowhere to work on a project for kids. A little too much booze and one horrific, stomach-churning accident sparks a series of outrageous events. Alone in the woods, guilt and paranoia begins to take hold and the bodies start to pile up. From its explosive start right through to its gut-wrenching end, I Didn't Come Here to Die is a super slick horror that will keep you gripped throughout. Unfortunately, I Didn't Come Here to Die is too flawed to gain the word-of-mouth success it had hoped for and that starts with the casting. Made up of complete unknowns who have mainly had very small or uncredited roles, the most experienced actor is Niko Red Star who has primarily been in similar low-budget horrors, and yet the best cast member by far is Madi Goff who plays political student Miranda - but she has the smallest (but best) role. Although the casting is certainly above the standards of many micro-budget horrors I have seen in the past, it still falls short of the bar. The next main problem is the storyline. Although the film relies on the clever idea of one unfortunate event spiralling into a series of calamitous developments, there is no hard plot for the viewer to follow. It's essentially a bunch of young adults going into the woods and seing who comes out alive at the end of 76 minutes. Saying that, the way the film is structured is good and definately alleviates the immediate need for something a little more solid. The main things for horror fans though, are atmosphere, tension, and good old fashioned blood and guts. First-time feature-length director Bradley Scott Sullivan manages to build the tension quite quickly and catches the viewer off guard on several occassions. He doesn't hang about in getting things moving quickly and this is a good point for this film as the quicker we get to the action and horror, the quicker we forget about the flaws I previously mentioned. The gore is well done and some of the visual effects are great. There are a couple of stomach-churning moments and although the movie does have many cliches, it leads up to one of the better and most unexpected explosive endings I've seen in horror for some time, making this worthy of any horror fans collection if you can get it cheap, despite the rest of the feature being a mixed bag.
Video
Second Sight present I Didn't Come Here to Die on DVD at an aspect ratio of 1.78:1 which has been anamorphically enhanced. Unfortunately, it's of poor quality and has several major problems, most of which I assume is the cause of low-end equipment being used during the production of the film. The first thing that strikes me is the lighting. Daytime scenes feel overly bright, whilst scenes that take place during the night are sometimes so unintentionally dark that you struggle to see much of what is going on - a fault I place on whoever was in charge of the lighting. There is also quite bad edge enhancement and some blockiness throughout, so much so that in some scenes it becomes difficult viewing. It can certainly be improved upon, though I doubt there is any company willing to sink the large amount of cash that would be required so this is probably the best it will ever be.
Audio
We have been provided with two audio options: English Dolby Digital 5.1 and English Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo. For the purposes of this review I opted for the 5.1 track and it was better than I had expected it to be. Surrounds aren't always used to full effect but there are some nice subtle touches that makes you know they are out in the sticks. The odd grasshopper chirp and the some slight whistling of the wind. The score by William Seegers is standard fare, but is well distributed around the speakers. The only problems I found with the audio track was that at the beginning of the film, the volume of the score was overpowering some of Emmy Robbins' dialogue and that it could've been a bit more immersive. Overall though, it's not a bad track at all.
Extras
None. A commentary or an interview with the director would've been nice so that we could hear about budgetry constraints and general aspects of trying to make a successful low-budget horror movie in todays flooded market.
Packaging
Packaged in a standard keep case.
Overall
A standard low-budget feature with a fantastic final five minutes.
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