Bereamic Awesome Movie

WillSushyMedia This movie was so-so. It had it's moments, but wasn't the greatest.

Voxitype Good films always raise compelling questions, whether the format is fiction or documentary fact.

Raymond Sierra The film may be flawed, but its message is not.

tktansey The most frustrating thing about "Mockingbird" is how good the first twenty minutes are.Three video cameras, all in identical bright red boxes with big white bows, are delivered to three different homes. The people who get them, a young woman starting college, a married couple, and a twenty-something loser with a can-do attitude, all assume they've won a contest. There's really no evidence to support this, but honestly, who wouldn't find a way to rationalize keeping an expensive gift left on their doorstep? Each camera also comes with a set of cryptic cards that instruct the recipients to "Keep Filming".So far, so good. Writer/Director Bryan Bertino does an excellent job of showing us, in a very short time, who these people are and how they live. The dialog is natural and believable and the acting is first rate. We get to know these four people and begin to care what happens to them. Up to this point, it looks like Bertino has found an inventive way to put a fresh spin on the tired found-footage horror movie genre.Then the plot kicks in and everything goes to hell. Warning: spoilers ahead.It turns out the cameras can't be turned off. Phone calls start and additional presents arrive. More cryptic cards show up. Phone lines are cut, lights go out, threats are made and pets are killed. And along the way, the characters we've come to like become incredibly stupid.Of course, you have to expect people in suspense movies to do dumb things. After all, if they didn't there would be no suspense. But the folks in "Mockingbird" don't just do dumb things, they become completely incompetent. For example, the husband character has a gun. As the terrorizing starts, he gets it out of a lock box and loads it. Good man; now he's armed. A moment later, someone begins pounding on his front door. Does he shoot blindly through the door, hoping to kill or wound whoever's on the other side? That would be rash, but not totally uncalled for. Does he shout, "Hey, I've got a gun, back the hell off!"? That would make sense. But no. Apparently forgetting he's got a gun in his hand, the husband stares horrified at the door for a second or two before turning and running away.And so goes the next forty minutes. In fact, things get so ridiculous so fast that you stop paying attention to what's happening and start wondering about incidental details. Exactly how many people are involved in all this? Where did they get all their props? And who got stuck with the job of inflating all those balloons.Speaking of balloons, there is one character who stays interesting from beginning to end. It's the loser with the can-do attitude. He has a very funny running monologue that almost (almost…) saves the movie. What he does and what happens to him would have made a great story in itself. Especially since, by the end of "Mockingbird", you couldn't care less about anyone else.

eleanor-thornalley I watched this the other day with two friends and it is honestly the worst horror film I have ever seen. It barely deserves to be placed in the 'horror' category as the only part that was remotely creepy was the guy dressed as a clown, even my friend who is terrified of most films only flinched about once through the entire thing. When we watched the trailer the film looked gripping and relatively original. However, we were highly disappointed. The plot is dull and the ending predictable. My friend actually fell asleep about half way through. I'm writing this review so you do not waste your time and money on this film. Watch something else.

Tyler Obrien Though low on gore and shock value, this film actually exceeded my expectations on great scenes that kept the hand-held recorder believable without being blurry or shaky. The character development wasn't the strongest, but the portrayal of the fairly one- dimensional characters was spot on by the actors. The final scene and the way the plot threaded through the three perspectives was for me very successful. Those who enjoy the psycho-thriller genre should enjoy this film! The only really disappointing thing about this film is that there were not enough of the "clues" and contraptions by the people setting the entire game up. I also would have enjoyed some exposition about whether this game had been played previously by the antagonists (no spoilers) or if this was the first iteration of this game. I really enjoyed the "clown, family, girl" motif and if a sequel were to come out where the dynamics of the plot shifted but with the same motif I would surely watch. Overall, a very well done film that met the expectations it set up.

prskalica It's funny. I've been on IMDb since 2003 and I haven't written a single review until this one. To be honest with you, I wish I had chosen a better movie to review. Oh, well...Mockingbird is the spiritual sequel to the director's own hit, The Strangers. The plot is quite simple: Four people are given a video-camera and a simple set of instructions, which, of course, turns into a night of terror for everybody involved. The thing with the found-footage movies is that there needs to be a strong reason for all the characters to record everything. REC, Noroi The Curse and Okaruto, the found-footage movies I'd highly recommend to everyone over this one, are a good example of movies that are convincing to the viewers. In Mockingbird, the director Bryan Bertino tries to alleviate this issue by making the cameras impossible to turn off, and also by having them equipped with the receivers which enable the antagonists to see what the main characters are doing. Even with all that, one still cannot shake off the feeling that the characters in this movie would have been better off running the hell out of the house instead of filming everything. The other trouble with the technology in this movie is the following: Bertino set his own movie in 1995, which was a baffling decision since this doesn't have any impact on the plot aside from introducing a huge plot hole - the movie takes course over several hours and the batteries somehow don't run out? And if the movie is set in 1995 and is found-footage, why not film it VHS-style? A huge opportunity missed there. The entire movie is implausible, mostly because the plot depends on the main characters doing stupid things. There is one especially contrived situation involving the clown taking photos of certain two characters which made it really hard to suspend my disbelief. Sadly, it's not the only such scene in the movie.I won't spoil the finale for those who decide to watch the movie, but I'll be shocked if anyone is satisfied with it. It's not only ridiculous, it's downright insulting (for multiple reasons), and therefore doesn't have the impact of the similarly themed The Strangers.Btw, don't believe the highly positive review on Bloody-Disgusting, folks, it's obviously heavily biased. This one is a stinker and I'm not surprised it was shelved for two years before getting a VOD release.The reason why I haven't given the lowest score to this movie is that despite everything, Bertino managed to create a few solid, suspenseful scenes. He clearly has talent for directing and I hope he gets to direct more movies. If only he had written a better script...