Release Date: May 11th, 2013 (Limited)
Currently Playing on VOD Platforms
Director: Nicolás López
Film Pulse Score: 4/10
Imagine if you could, how terrifying it would be to witness a devastating earthquake while in a crowded public place. While the quake itself can be life-threatening, the real danger comes after the fact, with buildings that are structurally unstable, downed power lines, tsunamis, and in the case of Nicolas Lopez’s Aftershock, escaped convicts. Produced, co-written, and starring Eli Roth, this mash-up horror disaster film attempts to give us something unique, however it ultimately proves to be nothing more than average.
The film centers on a group of friends partying it up in Chile when a massive earthquake rocks the island. The group must not only escape from the rubble of the falling city, but must also content with a band of escaped prisoners who are hunting them.
There’s a slow build to the event itself, which proved to work in the movie’s favor, giving us opportunity to get to know the characters a little bit before they’re killed in horrible ways. One of my biggest pet peeves in horror flicks is the lack of character development, and though this doesn’t delve too deeply into their lives, it’s just enough for us to understand who they are and their personality types.
It’s an interesting concept to stage a horror film with the backdrop of a large natural disaster, however the biggest problem of the film is that it seemed like the quake itself was playing second fiddle to the killers that were going after the main characters. The scene involving the earthquake was satisfying, however it was very brief, like most earthquakes are. There were a few tense moments that occurred minus the prisoners, but these scenes were brief in comparison and left me wanting more.
That isn’t to say that adding a crazed group of murderers into the mix was a bad idea, quite the opposite, but I think they should have taken a back seat to the environmental dangers that the survivors were facing.
This made the script feel predictable and downright lazy by the climax. Every twist and death is transparent and can be seen a mile away, which makes the latter half of the film dull and uninspired.
On a performance level, Eli Roth was the standout, bringing many little comedic nuances to his character, which made him feel more natural and likable. Again, the choice to add in a decent amount of setup was beneficial in letting the viewer know who everyone is, and what role they will play in all this. Selena Gomez is also featured in a scene, though I’m not exactly sure why and there’s a throwaway Wu-Tang gag in it as well, which I liked quite a bit and added to the humor of the first act.
Aftershock is not a bad horror film per se, however it just doesn’t fully reach its potential. It’s entertaining and bloody and decently shot, but it could have been so much more than the predictable thriller it becomes. Fans of Eli Roth will still find something to grasp in this film, but most will leave the theater (or couch) unimpressed.
