PLAYBACK
(R)
MOVIE: *1/2 (out of 5)
BLU-RAY EXPERIENCE: ** (out of 5)
BY KEVIN CARR
Sometimes, movies can be ambitious simply by mixing certain elements from different formulas. However, ambition alone can’t make a good film, and if those elements are poorly put together and not fully realized, it can become less than the sum of its already tired parts.
“Playback” is one of those films. While it has some interesting ideas, even if we’ve seen them before, there is some potential in layering these ideas in an interesting way. Unfortunately, it doesn’t work. The elements include found footage horror, teens investigating a famous local murder and demonic possession. I’ve seen these story elements played out in a lot of 80s horror films (like the lackluster “Shocker,” for example) as well as more recent new classics (like “The Ring” and its associated films).
The story follows a group of high school students recreating a local murder that took place several years ago. They get an outcast who works at a local television station to help them, later discovering that he is (rather inexplicably) connected to a smarmy cop who collects voyeur videos. As they dig deeper into the murder case, it seems that the evil entity that is behind the crimes is haunting the very videos and trying to emerge back into reality.
“Playback” is a needlessly hard film to follow with such a relatively simple premise. Even after watching it, I’d be hard-pressed to explain what any particular character’s motivation is.
The entire movie feels tired because it borrows from other films that got full theatrical releases, but it never expands beyond just borrowing the ideas. In a strange way, it plays out like it’s been made by someone who idolizes Wes Craven. It samples elements from the “Nightmare on Elm Street” films as well as his lesser known and less effective horror movies like the aforementioned “Shocker” and the anemic “My Soul to Take.”
The inclusion of Christian Slater to the cast might have helped get funding and offers a recognizable name to put on a cover box. However, his character seems irrelevant to the whole story, and he seems to be included as an afterthought during script development.
For such a relatively simple story, “Playback” is a convoluted mess with no scare, no thrills and not even the exploitative elements of boobs and blood to really capture a horror fan’s attention.
The Blu-ray comes with a behind-the-scenes featurette, along with a photo gallery, trailer and the HDNet featurette “A Look at Playback.”