Surveillance

2008
6.3| 1h37m| R| en| More Info
Released: 08 February 2008 Released
Producted By: Blue Rider Pictures
Country: United States of America
Budget: 0
Revenue: 0
Official Website: http://www.arclightfilms.com/labels/arclight/new_films/surveillance.php
Synopsis

An FBI agent tracks a serial killer with the help of three of his would-be victims - all of whom have wildly different stories to tell.

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Reviews

Dotbankey A lot of fun.
Tayyab Torres Strong acting helps the film overcome an uncertain premise and create characters that hold our attention absolutely.
Philippa All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.
Logan By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.
Michael Ledo Sam Holloway (Bill Pullman) and Elizabeth Anderson (Julia Ormond) are FBI agents tracking a pair of serial killers. They are in a small town where some killings have just taken place and they are questioning the three witnesses. One witness is a police officer whose partner was murdered. A second witness is a coke slut (Pell James) whose boyfriend was killed. The third is an eight (almost nine) year old girl (Ryan Simpkins) whose family was murdered.They divide the three of them up and each group is questioned separately. The movie consists of flashbacks that conflict with the story that is being told. You immediately know something is amiss and the point of the film is to figure out the twist. Ryan Simpkins was perhaps the most interesting in the group.The twist isn't that great by today's standards, although the film did hold my interest.PARENTAL GUIDE: F-Bomb, kinky sex scene, no nudity
Keyoke I rented this movie on a the recommendation that it was clever, and had a twist in the movie. Also, that it was a story based on perception of the witnesses the FBI are interviewing.Sadly, it is not clever. With today's movie, being clever means you need to fool the audience. Give them a susprise/shock with the story. This did not. I saw it coming half way through the movie, and the twist, was cliché.And as to the perception of each of the witnesses. Perception is what you believed happened. The witnesses stories weren't that at all. They simply lied.Dumb. Watchable as I did finish it (With some FFWD'ing).
jerrywright15 "Surveillance" is the work of Director Jennifer Lynch, who also brought us the troubling 2012 film, "Chained." Surveillance stars a few notable actors such as Julia Ormond (I Know Who Killed Me), Bill Pullman (Independence Day), Michael Ironside (The Killing Machine) and Pell James (Fanboys). The movie focuses on three surviving witnesses, a young child, a coked up woman, and a law abusing cop, who recount the horrible event that took place along a desolate road; while two FBI agents monitor and record their tales."Surveillance" is an okay film. It's not necessarily bad by any means but overall its not that good either, in terms of story. To be honest, I'm not really sure there was a story to begin with, maybe they should have stuck with their original idea and made this film about witches. You see, for most of the film there is no real plot, just people recounting twisted versions of the massacre they witnessed. For the first half of the film everything revolves around two cops, who abuse the people they pull over, that's it, I mean it made for some interesting scenes but your getting nothing about the main story, other then small snippets of dialogue pertaining to it. The second half is where everything, technically, begins because you learn about the incident and what happened to everyone but even then the scenes are rushed through in an almost, who cares kind of way. The final moments of the film are dealing with the "twist" of the movie that is supposed to shock everyone, but to be honest, most people can guess it within the first half of the film. The script writers and director try to slip in discreet things that were supposed to make you go back and say "oooohhh" but it fails because instead of being mysterious it just gives away the major twist instantly. So instead of saying, "oh wow, I can't believe that just happened" you go " I can't believe I had to wait this long for them to reveal something I knew an hour ago." By the time the credits roll you can't help but feel you didn't actually watch anything.Now, what makes up for this lack of story and instead makes it seem longer, clever and like an actual film, is the characters the actors play; especially the cops, played by Kent Harper and French Stewart, and the two agents, played by Julia Ormond and Bill Pullman. I'll admit everyone in this film where spectacular to watch, making their characters as real as possible and entertaining to watch; but Ormon, Stewart, Harper and Pullman took it to a different level. The cops make up the first part of the film and are so lively and invigorating, cruel as well, that you forget that there is "supposed" to be something bigger going on. For the first half hour of the film everything revolves around these two and you love every second of it, as they terrorize their victims, without actually doing physical harm but plenty of mental. It was almost like watching a sadistic comedy. As for Ormond and Pullman's characters, they seem bland at first glance but as the film progresses their characters evolve and these two completely step into their roles so energetically and full of passion, making every scene they star in delightful to watch. So if there's anything that saved this movie from being a train wreck, it was the performances of these four particular actors. Normally, I would also mention the child actor, Ryan Simpkins, but I felt her character was too typical and didn't have many scenes to "wow" in, don't misunderstand me Simpkins played her part perfectly. The character itself, was just nothing special.Another great feature about this film, which actually could be due to the lack of a story, is how the ending isn't exactly traditional. Everything is not nice and neat and tied up so perfectly that all your questions were answered. In fact most of my questions remain unanswered and honestly I don't think there is an answer to them that would make sense. I would go more in depth with this thought but to do so would reveal spoilers and I just don't want to do that, in case you want to watch the film. Though I feel, anyone who watches the movie through will have the same questions I have.My last short credit to this film, is actually a particular scene towards the very end. In my history of watching films, I have come across few, what I deemed, "lesbian death scenes." Now the characters involved are not necessarily lesbian, just a woman who enjoys power and death. And a victim who is powerless to stop her. This scene is not only shot well but the performance by both females but especially by the aggressor is stunning. The scene is both sexual, without much actually being done, sadistic and disturbing, as a person loses their life in a way that seems to make the woman "orgasm." I believe the characters from Criminal Minds, would have something to say about that. I thought the scene was a nice way of summing up everything that had happened within the movie and represented its closing. So kudos to Mrs. Lynch for including it.So to wrap up this review you have.Pros: Intriguing characters performed by notable actors and comedians. Lack of a storybook ending. Well shot and acted "lesbian death scene." Cons: No storyline, per say, leaving you with a rambling film. Rushed main events. Easily discoverable "twist."Unfortunately, the film just can't save itself from getting a 5/10 from me.
pantelei7 This is my first review on IMDb that I just had to write as this movie as this was so much outside of my expectations... I cannot decide whether to put this movie in a genre of horror or some sci-fi crime where nearly all the characters belong to some strange other planet, because if I imagine all this happening on planet Earth, it is a really sad picture. First I thought it'll be some thrilling FBI movie and great for relaxation after a long working day. Well, I was quite wrong. This is a kind of movie after which you might not sleep well couple of nights or couple of weeks depending on how strong your psyche is. If I only look at the movie as a work of art, I could say it's a good movie, well shot, great director's work, good play by most of the actors, but from a certain point of view it's not much different from Alien, the 8th Passenger: when I first watched it many years ago, I found it extremely disturbing. Now I could watch it without the same level of stress, probably because I've watched so many similar movies over the years. After watching this movie my first thought was that it's shame that these great actors gave their name and worked for such a horrifying movie. I think the problem with it is that it is unrealistic to have all these characters and all the events happening in one movie...sort of over-realistic, over-saturated horror movie that might well work for creating more serial killers if that was the aim of the director. I cannot say I enjoyed the movie. I wish I could stop watching it at any point. I'd rather watch any Alien movie again, because I know that that's just a Sci-Fi, not real. This is a kind of movie after which you start thinking of putting more locks on the main door, lock your car whilst driving and look around with suspicion in anywhere outside of your home, even if you live in a safe area (e.g. me in England). Hopefully this move has nothing to do with the realities of American life these days ...