Great Film overall

It is neither dumb nor smart enough to be fun, and spends way too much time with its boring human characters.

This film is so real. It treats its characters with so much care and sensitivity.

It is an exhilarating, distressing, funny and profound film, with one of the more memorable film scores in years,

Although visually interesting the slow pace and lack of any content made me scout for the exits available in the movie theater after the first 20 minutes. The scenes were shot nicely and the composition was well thought out, but nothing happened.. at all. After an elaborate plan (since it meant I had to wake up 3 sleeping viewers that stood on my way to the exit) I left 20 minutes later. I couldn't take it anymore and left the cinema (for the first time ever) before the movie ended (and so did at least 10 other people during the 40 minutes I was there). Maybe it became good after I left, I'll never know, but I honestly have little faith in it.

"Halley" has been doing some festivals but seems to have been kept under the radar - or maybe it's just skipped due to a title that doesn't appeal. Essentially it's a body horror drama, but one that doesn't go for boils, slime or even that in-depth. It kinda fits into the zombie genre, but saying that would annoy those who wants flesh eaters. There are several dramatic horror movies that follows a person who turns into a zombie during the movie - this is one of them.Alberto is a night guard who is forced to quit his job due to a disease. The disease is bruising his body, skin is sticking to his clothes so it peels off when he takes them off, and he's getting weaker and weaker. Soon after, Alberto dies... and wakes up again in the morgue. The movie is about how Alberto tries to get away from everything and just accept his fate, but during his fall he's invited out by his boss, Luly, and it quickly turns into a date. I believe this works mostly to show the unfortunate turn of events, that when his life is literally ending, he's getting close to someone even without trying.A masterpiece in storytelling? Not at all. It's not even very original, as the close-and-personal styled zombie movie has been done before. "Halley" does, however, show off a slower, calmer and sadder side than many of them. It has a few gruesome scenes where you see his bruises and wounds (a scene towards the end especially), but it's not over-the-top in the least. Instead it's more like seeing a corpse from a morgue, where blood and goo isn't flowing because the heart has stopped. It's oozing of something a lot more real.There's a calmness in this movie that really got me into it, but I can imagine that it might not be for everyone. The ending is questionably sudden - but it could also be seen as a beautiful decision to make. When the movie finally seems to head towards a close to Alberto's story and it has reached horror territory, it cuts to something on the opposite side of the spectrum. I have had some time to think it over, and I still feel the movie should have continued a bit further before cutting to its atmospheric end sequence. As nice as that finale was, it was pushed on us too soon."Halley" is a very sad horror/drama about a man finally accepting that he is a walking dead. It's body horror but not one of the very disgusting ones (it's not like "Thanatomorphose" in that sense). The idea has been done before, but certain aspects of it makes it feel fresh. They have taken a really slow approach, and it's actually very rarely stepping into horror territory. Hell, the only horror part of it is that he continues to live and decompose after his death. I still feel comfortable in calling it a horror/drama since it's not for the general drama fans, and would appeal more to the horror crowd. It's definitely a watchable movie, but not something I'd tell people to seek out unless their interests seem to fit in perfectly.More reviews at FilmBizarro.com

There has been a lot of talk surrounding Mexican movie Halley. The biggest word to come from their lips is zombie and that might make you groan. It seems on an yearly basis we get a new infection of monsters and obsess over one. A few years we have had the vampire and now there seems to be an influx of zombie movies. Nevertheless, Halley seems to bring a different few on the genre and entwines it perfectly with an artistic flare. Halley is about Bento, a gymnasium security guard who keeps himself alone. Whether or not Bento is a zombie is debatable but he is definitely different. Bento is plague with some illness which means he is decaying. His skin is rotting, he has maggots eating at him and he keeps himself going with embalming fluids. When he collapses in a train station, he even wakes up in a morgue. Contrasting to the bright lives of Mexico City, Bento struggles daily to keep his self going in this moving film about isolation and a man and his body. Halley is a very slow and paced movie. And that may not be necessarily bad, all though it may lose favour with audiences. In fact, Halley creeps along with a plodding Bento. But this pace, or lack of, actually works well with our lead character and we are drawn into his tired life. Director Sebastian Hoffman, with his feature film debut, contrasts Bento's life against the fit and healthy bodies of those around him in the gym as well as the lights of Mexico City. The audience itself is brought into a world of isolation and the effect is almost claustrophobic , a forlorn world bearing down from the screen. Even when Bento is taken out with Silvia, his vivacious manager, we are given a more bitter impact of loneliness as Luly too is a fleeting, friendless soul despite her attempts to be otherwise. Lead actor Alberto Trujilo, who himself lost pounds and life for the role of Bento, is a terrific body actor who gives a quirky grotesque performance that begs sympathy for our monster. And what Halley never makes us forget is how much of a monster Bento has become. The gruesome elements are much here but there aren't overdone. There are incredible make up effects here to show the deterioration of Bento's body. While it is not graphic and forced down our throats, the shock and grimace is still there, particularly at the finale which strips us cold in its absurdity. Halley is a simple movie which does not over complicate in its genre and is a odd tale about humanity, or someone's lack of. Hoffman here effectively gives us a beautifully shot portrayal of a body betraying a man causing him to withdraw from society. While some may not like the films drag, you cannot help but feel drawn into the painful life of Bento and others that we may pass by as we go about our lives. Whatever Bento is beating with, it is an empty one and it resonates loudly with the audience. 4/5 TTFN

I will admit I fell asleep in this one. Scenes carried on too long and they never gave any direction to what was happening. No foreshadowing or building of a plot. In short, you can see some type of creative attempt; however, it was done at the expensive of the film watcher. Not enjoyable unless you're a film student trying to act like your into an edgy film maker.I imagine the lead actor could possibly be a good actor but this role did not require much effort. Little dialogue and a singular facial expression; straight with a feeling of gloom. (Gave it a two b/c the makeup artist did a pretty good job)