Very disappointed :(

Good start, but then it gets ruined

This is a small, humorous movie in some ways, but it has a huge heart. What a nice experience.

It’s sentimental, ridiculously long and only occasionally funny

Here we go again...... bunch of asinine kids out for kicks and it all goes wrong... like the people who decided they'd make a movie called SHROOMS. They ought to have called it STOOLS because it stinks like (you know what). Of course, as is required for just about all crappy amateurish horror flicks, most of it has to be shot in almost-totally-black conditions, and with a distinct lack of acting or directorial ability. In this cinematic extravagance, a blue filter is used, too, most creative! Thank goodness this was one of a large bulk lot of DVDs I bought for a very low sum. No real money wasted, and I kept busy online while the flick was running, didn't need much attention at all. All in all, a lousy movie. On the plus side, it has subtitles.

This movie is bad to the point where there are no redeeming qualities about it.First, the movie idea featuring bored over privileged and pretentious college kids wanting to trip on magic mushrooms is a little interesting. Also, let's throw in their host. Some English sheep shagger who happens to be the world's leading expert on psychedelic mushrooms. His first warning to everyone was not to eat the shrooms with the black eye in the middle because it could kill you. If it doesn't kill you, it could open a dimensional gateway to a nightmarish world.Second, all those things combined could have an interesting movie. However, the movie's execution of the above theme was dreadful!Third, as the movie digresses, the lines between reality and bad tripping become blurred. You can't tell what's really going on. Fourth, as this non cohesive mess of a movie begins to unravel, the body count rises.Fifth, I'm not sure what role or value added the back woods, inbreed, half wits provided for the movie?Sixth, it appears Tara (Linsey Haun), the main character, went from being chased by hooded demons to the one doing all the killing? The movie does nothing to show that transition. This movie was a mess. Perhaps the makers and everyone involved were on shrooms during the filming.

You might be attracted by the somewhat unconventional, yet artistic, movie's cover (mushrooms in moonlight looking like a skull) or the subject matter (yes: hallucinogenic mushrooms), I know I was, but be wary as this film basically disappoints on more than one level. 3 guys and 3 girls (including 2 couples) basically go to a forest in Ireland to camp and trip out on wild mushrooms. However, as things tend to do in horror films, things go bad when the wrong type of mushroom is ingested and a scary local "true story" might still have consequences today. You would tend to expect some bad "tripping" being an excuse for some crazy visuals and a generally wild, thrill ride. It turns out the visuals are rather tame and not very imaginative. Some of it can be explained by the very low budget. Don't expect great visual effects. I did like the mostly subtle blurry effects at certain points making your own eyes unfocused and enhancing slightly the sense of uncertainty and unease. There were a few other nice cinematic touches such as whenever the blonde girl woke up.I wish I could have cared more about what was real or hallucinatory, but it wasn't exploited well, and I just didn't care enough to ask myself the question. You see, the blonde girl seems to have premonitory visions, you then follow her to see how true it was or not. It might be nice in concept, but in practice it kills some of the suspense. For those interested, there's practically no gore (this film being of cutting away just before the kill variety) and no nudity. I think the worst offender is that for a horror thriller, it gets boring. I've watched this film twice now in less than a year, and each time I started yawning a little over midway through. Also something to consider is that I remembered basically nothing of it on the 2nd viewing, so I would guess it's pretty forgettable fare.It's a short film, but it feels much longer and not in a good way. The pacing is sometimes too slow (especially in the house) and the "creepy" atmosphere is lacking (daylight doesn't help). The very cold, desaturated lighting and colours were probably intentional, but it made the movie less appealing. The acting was acceptable, but the fear of the actors didn't transmit well to me, the viewer. To be fair, this lack of fear factor was probably due to more important factors such as the directing and the script. The best moments involve the jerky jock tripping out: talking to a cow and what comes afterwards. It speaks volumes that this "best" part was more amusing than horrific. The scary campfire story, establishing the horror mythology, was interesting as was the clever ending. However, on third viewing, with the commentary, I saw that the director "cheated" on the filming logic (no, he didn't say it) making guessing the ending seem a little unfair instead of completely satisfying. That ending almost saved the rest, but the rest was too lacking in the first place. I'm not even sure I would recommend the film as a rental.Rating: 3.5 out of 10 (Poor)

Sometimes when watching bad films I slip outside of myself. Then I can see my personage as if from the air, watching a bad film and ponder on my reasoning, my whole process of watching bad films. I was hoping that this would happen during my viewing of Shrooms and that the experience would dovetail in interesting ways with the events of the film, given that the film is about some idiots in the woods having a seriously bad time on the titular hallucinogen. Sadly this didn't happen and throughout my viewing I stayed resolutely focused on the film, which really isn't a good way to watch it. And why did I start on a barely relevant tangent? Well, Shrooms enjoys tangents, in fact it bristles with them. Characterisation that leads nowhere, meaningless visual creeps, conversations that spark and die, ideas that momentarily gleam before vanishing, all sorts of potential coming to nought. The essential set up of the trip of a lifetime out in some beautiful Irish countryside going horribly wrong is quite sound, drug paranoia horror is an underexplored and fascinating arena, as well as something that can easily be tied to backwoods slasher shenanigans. Unfortunately the film collapses after about 35 minutes, adopting a scattershot approach to its scares that works less than a quarter of the time, mostly coming off incomprehensible. It also eschews gore and even bloodshed, with only one kill being especially satisfying. These things of course aren't always necessary for good horror, but stir in an assortment of silliness in the plotting and we have a sinker. There are two main pluses, the first being the photography. Cinematographer Nanu Segal gives the film a great chilly, misty atmosphere, bringing out all the charm of the location, its wet beauty and its eerie potential. Second, the acting is actually fair, Lindsey Haun convincingly terrified, Jack Huston giving a good turn as the just barely holding it together leader of the group, Max Kasch an engaging space cadet and others filling their roles nicely. Not enough for the film to ever be especially harrowing, but everyone did the best they could with their characters. There are also isolated eerie or interesting moments, though the scare tactics are largely far too hackneyed and the attempts at hallucinatory visuals come across like uninspired riffs of Japanese ghost horror visual tropes, once in a while the spooks will work well with the location to create a rather nice moment. The pluses may not be all that much, but they kept the film to the watchable side of poor for me, a fair amount of unintentional amusement helps as well. Though one of the most pilloried horrors of recent years it was far from the worst for me, though I still can't recommend it. 4/10 then, it isn't a complete stinker but it sure ain't great.