Shrooms Might Scare Audiences to Death

A group of lifetime friends hook-up with their Irish friend Jake for a hallucinogenic trip through the Emerald Isles. Not wasting any time these six friends begin trying some of the natural psychedelics including "Death Head," mushrooms, which soon foretell visions of drownings, and brutality at the hands of a sadistic killer for one sensitive user. Not ever truly sure of what is real and what is a construct of the imagination this group of twenty-somethings find themselves mistrusting each other and their own senses as more and more people become victims of a dark-robed killer.

Rating: Restricted for some gore, bloody violence, and sexual suggestiveness.

Release Date: February 1, 2008.

Starring: Lindsey Haun, Jack Huston, Max Kasch, Maya Hazen, Alice Greczyn, and Robert Hoffman.

Director: Paddy Breathnach

Writer: Pearse Elliott.

"Shrooms," melds hallucinogens with psychopathic killers, in a mostly foggy environment and the outcome is something original, but not without flaws. Set in the back woods of Ireland most of the characters spend their time looking hypnotically at talking cows, mysterious shapes, and natural jellies. The killer in the film is mostly in black and grotesquely disfigured, moving in and out of the darkness the killer seems to delight in the psychological torture of his victims until the time is right to snuff one out. The special effects in "Shrooms," are on the low budget side of the scale, but the use of significant amounts of fog creates enough creepiness in the film to keep things mysterious. As well, the distortion of audio and visuals allows for some ambiguity as to whether the story is a bad trip on mushrooms or an actual life and death situation.

The main plot of "Shrooms," revolves around a 19th century boy's reform school where torture, murder, and sadism where commonplace, but now the ancestors of the school seem to be taking out their mistreatment on some innocent campers. Using grainy flashbacks and hallucinations the story develops mainly through the character Holly, who after taking several "death-head," mushrooms is able to see into the future and the murders of several of her friends. Not really able to save her friends Holly mostly adds to the supernatural element of the film that is already strong throughout the film. The inclusion of some Gaelic hunters seems to distract from the story or create a pause in the action, yet when the chips are down "Shrooms," is really a story of survival.

Shifting in lighting from daylight to nighttime then back and forth "Shrooms," really could have kept the entire picture in darker environments to increase the overall creepiness of the film. The best ghost stories seem to take place in the darkness where the imagination of the mind can really flow. Yet, each scene is front and center without darkness or much mystery and the lightness of the film dispels the possibility of some scares. However, "Shrooms," keeps the intensity up by isolating each of the characters in forests, and old run down buildings; so, the suspense is there but it could have been greater with the inclusion of darker environments.

The acting of the film is done by a mostly amateur cast, no big names here, and the delivery of dialogue and physical acting are done with believability. There is little dialogue in the second half of "Shrooms," with most of the campers in the story crying out, trembling, or receiving the sharp end of a knife. The focus of the acting is on the physical and while the film does not require Shakespearean acting, more dialogue in the second half of the film could have made the characterizations a little more sharp. Only the portrayal of Jack Huston as an Irish adventurer and guide stands out as exemplary.

"Shrooms," delivers enough gore, suspense and scares to entertain and makes this film very watchable. However, "Shrooms," holds back on many of the death scenes with several of these pieces occurring off screen. And the premise of six twenty-somethings having a bad trip in the backwoods of Ireland seems somewhat simplistic, but the overall feel of the film gives this reviewer confidence in a recommend.

6 Fungi Looking Skulls out of 10.

A trailer for this very fine, horror flick:




Sources:

Shrooms at IMDB

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