Lauren Safford
This movie has probably one of the worst endings I have ever seen to a horror film. What happened to the guy that was arrested in the end, did he go down, did they catch the real killer? The movie never answered any of that. Why we never saw the killer's face? I have never seen a more incomplete ending to a horror film. It kills the movie, and also no reasons for the credits to be so long, I thought they were going to use that time to fully complete the ending. Anyway, beside the ending, it was a decent film. Would have been better if they had found better actors though.
kaianmattmckay
To be fair, I saw this after a season of Hannibal, so "ATM" was up against some fairly stiff competition, which it met flaccidly, at best.I've seen that this was apparently made on a $3m budget (and it shows), so perhaps my criticism should take that into account. Nonetheless, I kept thinking this film was a comedy-satire and waiting for the signs of that genre, to no avail.The plot is simplistic bordering on simple-minded, with any semblance of suspense barely managing to limp along in the background. Guys, it's possible to squeeze cheap thrills out of a shoe-string budget, as the Halloween and Friday the 13th franchises have shown. The dialogue is so poor that at several points I had the impression the actors (I use the term loosely) were ad-libbing, and the characters they portray are correspondingly flat, unsympathetic and forgettable, such that you find yourself hoping that the bad guy hurries up and dispatches them all with his crowbar, to put the viewers out of their misery.The cinematography is minimalist. At least, I assume that was the desired effect. It actually just looks amateurish and static, as though the camera crew is frozen to the spot by the same sub-zero temperatures they contrive to have us believe the characters are suffering.Perhaps if the producers understood suspension of disbelief as a courtesy the viewer extends to them, and not as an infinitely exploitable resource that compensates for an offering that can only be described as anemic, then I'd be inclined to be more lenient. As it stands, "ATM" is trite, poorly done by everyone, and ultimately either disappointing or insulting, depending on how low your standards are.
tieman64
"The bank, Mister Van Buren, is trying to kill me. But I will kill it." - Andrew Jackson The global economic crisis of 2012 gets its own horror movie with David Brooks' "ATM". The film opens with the Rosebuds' "Oh it's Christmas", a song which speaks of those who hope "good cheer will last forever". The film then inter-cuts gory outdoor murders with upbeat shots of David Hargrove (Brian Geraghty), a young man who enters the glittering towers of Starkweather Financial, a trading company at which he works. Such juxtapositions point to the film's chief theme: crimes are committed in the towers, but blood is spilt on the streets."ATM's" early scenes watch as traders and accountants mingle at an after-party. After a "hard day's work" losing the savings of ordinary Americans, they sip champagne and flaunt fancy suits and flashy cars. On one hand, Brooks treats these guys as stereotypical yuppies. They're cocky Masters of the Universe who reduce everything to sex, violence and finance. On the other hand, Brooks also sympathises with his cast. David feels remorse for crushing lives by proxy, his buddy Corey (Josh Peck) is himself having financial troubles and coworker Emily (Alice Eve) oft questions the ramifications of her occupation."ATM's" first act ends with David, Corey and Emily visiting an isolated ATM machine. Here they are accosted by a hooded man whose violence seems motiveless. At first glance, this assailant seems like your typical horror villain, faceless, spectral and existing only to deliver sadistic jolts. Slowly, though, he becomes emblematic of something more: the ordinary man projecting violence back onto the financial class. This villain doesn't only torture his victims, but forces them to experience the very faceless, remorseless, all-encompassing violence Starkweather dispenses from its towers."Because we didn't do anything wrong, we're supposed to be protected?" Emily asks David. Emily's words not only echo the sentiments of regular investors, who lost homes, fortunes and assets "for absolutely no reason", but point to a larger political point. Under capitalism, never-mind its insane financial subsystems, everyone is complicit in injustices and so fair-game to retaliation. In any system in which thousands of laws and bodies exist to sanction and sanctify countless modes of exploitation, indebtedness and servitude, nobody really deserves to be safe. There is a certain honesty or moral consistency to what the faceless assailant does in "ATM"."Most people know what they do," philosopher Michel Foucault once said. "Frequently they know why they do what they do; but few know what they do does." In "ATM", David and Corey don't view themselves as monsters. They're "just doing a job", "doing what's best for shareholders" and, like most, possibly believe that money is "super neutral" and "everyone profits or gets what they deserve anyway". Emily, however, sees things in a different light. Starkweather, she warns, is capable of tainting every decision one ever makes."ATM" was shot in 20 days. It is trashy, exploitative, overlong, filled with characters who act implausibly and wastes a good premise. On the flip-side, it is unpretentious, well acted and, like most contemporary junk cinema, has more to say about our world than its prestigious, big budget siblings. The film also makes good use of its simple sets and chilly fluorescent lighting. Elsewhere Brooks' symbolism is at times clever, with bank slips being used to plug bloody wounds, ATMs glowing like the totems of primitive religions, characters obsessing over "faith" whilst worshipping dollar deities, and banks becoming the last bastions of safety for yuppies whilst sharks circle outside. The film's assailant even fears entering the bank's ATM booth, as though held back by powerful fiscal spirits. The yuppies may own the buildings, but he owns outdoors. And time is on his side.Or so he thinks. "ATM" was released one year after the birth of the Occupy Wall Street movement, in which disgruntled citizens parked chairs and tents outside financial institutions very much like the hooded assailant does in "ATM". In the real world, however, the yuppies won. Undaunted, they stepped outdoors and swiftly kicked some serious proletariat buttocks.7.5/10 – Worth one viewing.
