As far as horror movies go, The Resort is one of those that keeps building and building but doesn’t do much else until nearly the end, which is a little odd since the movie is just barely long enough to be called a full feature. As far as building suspense it’s about what a person might expect of a horror movie. They make the worst decisions possible, one of them is a drunk, another of them is the ‘sensitive’ guy, and the women are more or less liable to switch off thinking that the trip is a good idea and then thinking it’s a bad idea. In other words, it’s a pretty typical horror movie, but light on the horror until the last half hour when the real terror begins. Up until that point it’s seen that the local legend of a haunted resort and the half-face girl, a local apparition that is actually a piece of lore from Hawaii, proving that pretty much every state has its own ghost story to pull from. But apart from hearing about it, the audience really doesn’t see anything, though the movie does decide to try and create an aura of dread from the mention of the legend and the fact that the locals don’t really mess with the resort since strange things are said to happen. When the main characters are flown to the island via helicopter by a pilot that speaks in cryptic terms but won’t offer much as far as information goes, the audience should be expecting that something is up, which a lot of people probably will. But the only sighting happens when the drunk skeptic of the group, Sam, goes to relieve himself and sees what he believes to be an apparition, or a peeper, but in truth is revealed to be a bedsheet knotted and hung from a tree, which is odd enough to be certain.
But the closer that the group gets to the resort, the worse of a feeling the audience might be getting, either because nothing has happened at this point or because the sense of dread continues to creep along like molasses spilled down a mild incline. By the time the group enters the abandoned resort, the audience might have forgotten all about the two security guards that were assaulted at the beginning of the movie. Of course, the fact that Sam is still being his drunken self as the four walk into the resort is enough to make anyone cringe since, in a horror movie, one doesn’t act like a jerk and expect to live that long. Plus, when strange occurrences start to happen, such as birds behaving strangely as they flock above the resort as though confused on which way to go, it might have been time to leave had any rational person been present. Plus, finding a dead coyote, in Hawaii, which is next to impossible, would be a good sign that it’s time to pack up and leave. But Lex, who’s writing a book involving the fabled half-faced girl, simply HAS to take pictures and HAS to see the place no matter how many reservations the group begins to have.
Of course, when the group finally decides it’s time to leave after the spirit within the place has been good and riled up and has finally appeared to them briefly, we find out that the two security guards from the beginning of the movie didn’t actually show up until AFTER the foursome, and their dying screams send the tourists running for the doors. Surprisingly the first casualty isn’t Sam, as many might have thought, but Bree, who climbs into the truck left behind by the security guards. When the truck is locked by a mysterious force and then started up, running through the front doors and over a ledge, killing Bree, good sense might actually dictate that the survivors get the heck out of there. But of course, good sense never really wins out in a horror movie, and as the three survivors make their way into the bowels of the resort, seeking a way out, Sam is the next to be taken, with Chris following soon after. Lex apparently escapes, only to realize later on that she never left, and the half-faced girl did end up taking her as another victim.
Quite honestly this is the kind of horror movie that a person would likely shake their head at and wonder just why they’d taken the time to watch it, but in the end, it’s enough to think that it might inspire another wave of horror movies that, if given a chance, might actually be absolutely terrifying. So yeah, the movie is definitely worth a watch if one doesn’t mind being able to predict what’s bound to happen next. But if nothing else it could serve as a great inspiration to someone that might come up with something even better.
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