Stay Alive (2006)

User Rating:

4.4/10   

Director:

William Brent Bell

Writers (WGA):

William Brent Bell (written by) &
Matthew Peterman (written by)

Release Date:

24 March 2006 (USA)

Genre:

Horror | Thriller

Tagline:

It's the game of life and death....

Plot:

For a group of teens, the answer to the mysterious death of their old friend lies within the world of an online video game based on the true story of an ancient noblewoman known as the Blood Countess.

Plot Keywords:

Blood | Blood Countess | Video Game | Hanging | Tower

Cast

Jon Foster	...	Hutch
Samaire Armstrong	...	Abigail
Frankie Muniz	...	Swink
Jimmi Simpson	...	Phineus
Wendell Pierce	...	Detective Thibodeaux
Milo Ventimiglia	...	Loomis Crowley
Sophia Bush	...	October
Adam Goldberg	...	Miller Banks
Billy Slaughter	...	Rex
Nicole Oppermann	...	Sarah
April Wood	...	Loretta
Monica Monica	...	Mrs. Crowley
Rio Hackford	...	Detective King
Billy Louviere	...	Fidget
J. Richey Nash	...	Young Rookie (as Richey Nash)

MPAA:

Rated PG-13 for horror violence, disturbing images, language, brief sexual and drug content.

Runtime:

USA:85 min | 100 min (Unrated Director's Cut) | Argentina:85 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS | Dolby Digital

Certification:

USA:PG-13 | Canada:13+ (Quebec) | Canada:14A (Alberta/British Columbia/Manitoba/Ontario) | Australia:M | UK:15 | Portugal:M/16 | Singapore:PG | Malaysia:18SG | Ireland:15A | Norway:15 | Finland:K-18 | Canada:14A | Philippines:PG-13 | Australia:MA (director's cut) | Argentina:13 | Singapore:M18 (director's cut) | Germany:16 (director's cut) | Italy:T | France:U (with warning) | Brazil:16 | South Korea:15

Filming Locations:

Esplanade Mall - 1401 West Esplanade, Kenner, Louisiana, USA

Company:

Hollywood Pictures

Trivia:

Milo Ventimiglia had to wear contacts in order to see through his glasses.

Goofs:

Continuity: When everyone first boots up the game and Swink puts on his gaming glove, he puts it on his right hand. Yet, when the group is customizing their characters, the camera switches to a close-up of his controller, and the glove is now on his left hand. In the following shot, the glove is back on his right hand.

Quotes:

October Bantum: If you had any less sense, you'd be half a penny.

Movie Connections:

References Suchîmubôi (2004)

Soundtrack:

Sweet Dreams

I don't give movies a ONE but this deserved it...

Stay Alive offers nothing to the viewer. It is a horror though, a horror to watch and terror to the genre. Why you may ask? Well....First is the poor direction. Some horror movies out there are very campy and have lousy moments, be it acting or continuity (i.e. John Carpenter movies, and no I'm not picking on Carpenter he is great). But the difference here is the director did not know what he was doing in Stay Alive. He and the writer constantly deviated from the story and contradicted there own rules. Which brings me to the next point. Continuity. All movies create a world that contain its own "laws" to govern the plot and character actions. Stay Alive ignored its own story line and randomly killed characters that nobody likes anyways. Which is the final reason this movie is bad. YOU DON'T CARE A FLIP ABOUT THE CHARACTERS OR WHAT HAPPENS TO THEM. Most horror movies with annoying characters are at least killed off creatively, but not in this movie. (One character is killed by a horse and carriage that tramples him in the middle of the day because he saw one in the game...WHAT??) Contrary to what one may think, I do not go into movies to pick them apart. I'm an open minded viewer. But it is the directors/writers RESPONSIBILITY to involve the viewer and invite them to participate in the film in an emotional capacity. Stay Alive fails not only as entertainment but as a film. The only compliment that I give this movie is that I took the time to write a lousy review about it.