That was an excellent one.

Excellent but underrated film

One of the most extraordinary films you will see this year. Take that as you want.

It is encouraging that the film ends so strongly.Otherwise, it wouldn't have been a particularly memorable film

A-Z Horror Movie of the Day..."Playback" (R - 2012 - US)Sub-Genre: Paranormal/Ghost My Score: 5.0Cast=6 Acting=4 Plot=7 Ending=4 Story=4 Scare=4 Jump=5 F/X=6 Creep=6 Twist=4A cop investigates the case of a missing local teen, though he discovers a dark secret that has been unleashed in his town, and an evil spirit that will stop at nothing to find its heir. "This is destiny...and you get to be a part of it." This movie set the record for lowest box office gross of all time...$252. It's no bigger than a meh, but it's better than it's total in the theater. It action has a good premise and is decently creepy...trouble is the story was written in crayon and you can see the twist coming from a mile off. If you can see the forest through the trees, this would be an ok watch with no expectations. Otherwise I do not recommend it.

I agree with the other reviews. It's a cluster f*** of other movies mashed together, you don't feel for the characters, and overall the acting was not so great. *SPOILER* Here is why I felt the need to write a review. The premise is that the devil invented cinema in order to steal souls, and the Le Prince family gets possessed by him each generation. OK so that is like 5 or 10 souls every 15 to 20 years, seems like the devil would work on a bigger scale but whatever. The real kicker for me is he can't take your soul without the camera. The fu**ing devil is possessing someone (not just a demon THE DEVIL), but he can't get ya if you just close your eyes or look away from the camera. WTF. I can't believe this didn't land in any other reviews, but just this fact alone makes the movie 100% laughable. I was waiting for them to be like "I closed my eyes devil ya can't get me ooooh, home base, I'm safe". It's not the worst thing ever, but it is an hour and a half you won't get back.

Just so you're aware, putting Christian Slater top billing is a bit of a misnomer... His total screen time add up to just over five minutes. I do love his last scene, though... It's very, um, 'uncompromising'.I should also inform you that this indeed is a very silly storyline, and not one to raise the hairs on your neck. So rather than blinding us with science or having loads of JUMP moments, it chooses to go mental with the gore... and every last drop of blood and piece of dismembered brain is wrung out and presented for our viewing pleasure. It's not great cinema, but at least it distracts from some of the dafter bits. Possessing teenagers through a static TV screen, indeed.And as much as I like a bleak ending, it's got to the point where if the evil dude doesn't get up after an apparently fatal gun wound and tear the hero's head off in the finale, it's a major surprise. Come on directors, give us some cheeriness in these depressing days (never thought I'd hear myself say those words)

I don't usually do this, but some of you might stumble upon a review by IMDb username tlsmith-569-716188 as the visible review on this film's page. Aside from mistaking Christian Slater for Christian Bale, it's obviously biased and written by either someone who took part in the making of this film, or someone to related to such a person. Do your part and click "no". We deserve more integrity.Having said that, let's get back to "Playback". I must say that while I did enjoy watching it, I couldn't help but finding the screenplay and story lacking. The idea is nice while not all that original (The Ring has already given us "evil from a videotape" and this was simply too similar), but the twist was too obvious and predictable. A good plot twist is one where the balance between the hints given and the element of surprise upon the discovery is kept. In this case - the hints were too thick, and the surprise was gone. That might be because I'm a Horror freak and have watched many Horror and Thriller films, but I can't help but expect more.The second thing, which was really sad for me, was Christian Slater's roll. Oh my, how the great ones have fallen and been humbled to a shady background role of a semi-pedophile creep. I'd hate to think that after his illustrious career Slater has been degraded to his role here. Depressing.However, while not being the best film ever, Playback is far from being bad. The effects and cinematography were very impressive, the original indie-rock soundtrack was great and is in my opinion good enough to purchase if available, and the way some of the scenes shot by the kids in the movie end up realized by the killer was very nice. But the best thing about this film is for sure Toby Hemingway's acting (and a great job by the make-up department). Hemingway was superb, and I look forward to seeing him in other films!All in all, like I've mentioned, Playback wasn't the best film ever, nor the worst. It had its moment, and while it could have been a lot better - it could have been a lot worse too. I personally rate it a 6, but recommend that you give it a shot.