Finders Keepers (2014) Reviews

• Watchable but lacklustre on the whole...

  TheLittleSongbird2014-11-13

  For SyFy, Finders Keepers is not so bad and is a long way from their worst. As a movie in general though, it does have some good things and looks like some effort went into it but it doesn't quite come together. Starting with the positives, the movie actually looks good(and for a SyFy movie that is quite a compliment), with some very effective lighting, crisp editing and unobtrusive camera work. The music does create some atmosphere, not an exceptional one by all means but it fits the movie and doesn't try to be too obvious, the doll is very creepy-looking and there are some scary moments. A few performances come over quite well, the best of the lot coming from Kylie Rogers who is both adorable and terrifying, while Jaime Pressley is a sympathetic and somewhat touching mother figure. Most of the acting is not particularly strong, consisting of a lot of under-acting with Patrick Muldoon phoning it in, and Tobin Bell is wasted. Finders Keepers as said has some moments that are scary and suspenseful, they only came in spades rather than the movie being continually creepy. Most of the movie was lacking in scares and atmosphere for me, it was more predictable than suspenseful, the gore and scare factor were too toned down a lot of the time and a lot of moments that should have been scary came across as silly instead. The characters are almost impossible to root for and connect with, they are very underdeveloped and you get frustrated with how stupid some of their actions are as a consequence perhaps of focusing too much on the relationship between Rogers and Pressley's characters and side-lining everybody else which was a large part of why most of the acting did not register. The direction is technically competent but when it comes to maintaining momentum, atmosphere and making the characters and chemistry interesting it fails, and the dialogue is often horrid, the worst of which enough to make one cringe. The story had bags of potential and effort clearly was made to it with a very original idea, but it was a case of trying to do too much and not explaining enough, making it feel muddled and underwritten. Some of the plot twists border on idiotic, as seen in the senseless ending, and the story feels too padded out in places. And I wish they did more with the doll, it is a very creepily-designed character but there is a real sense that the writers weren't sure what it was, offering at least four different explanations as to what it really was but it was never made clear which one it actually was. Overall, for SyFy Finders Keepers was watchable but was in personal opinion was very lacking. It is not as though there isn't any talent on display here because there is, it is such a shame that that just didn't come across here. 4/10 Bethany Cox

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• Not terrible, far from great. Excellent for young Horror rookies (no sex/gore/foul language/extreme violence).

  nitzanhavoc2015-02-20

  I happened to learn of this film while checking a trailer for another (good ol' YouTube recommendation). Apparently, it's an original TV film made by a channel called Syfy, a fact made obvious by the lighting and cinematography, and perhaps the fact that NONE of the main characters are credited here on IMDb without clicking the "see full cast" link! Anyways, nothing original about the story... violent murder in a house, reasons unknown, evil haunted doll recovered, rinse and repeat. Deja-vu? Bluntly so... I must say I liked the acting, especially by 10 year old Kylie Rogers as little Claire. Having to play such a role when you're only 10 isn't easy (though not half as challenging or impressive as other young lead roles like in Mama or The Ring), and I think Rogers showed some real talent. The story develops nicely, but not more than that. The doll is pretty creepy though! Not easy presenting scary dolls nowadays after the high raft set by Saw and The Conjuring. Certain scenes were really amateur, for instance when one of the characters trips on a wire it is painfully visible that she simply ducked and rolled down the stairs... Why give stuntman Steve Austin the first credit when other stunts were so miserably performed? Beats me. All in all, this is the kind of film you can definitely enjoy, but only if you set your Horror meter to mediocre and below. I enjoyed watching it, and I liked the fact that it lacked any sex, gore or extreme violence, making it suitable for younger Horror fans. It isn't terrible, but it's far from great. As always, I recommend you ignore my (or anyone else's) opinion and judge for yourselves!

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• Chucky meets the Exorcist

  lymullen2014-11-15

  This movie had several very scary moments, from beginning. It starts off with a bang. But there were also quite a few parts that had me rolling my eyes and shaking my head starting with the mom allowing her daughter to keep a doll that looked that creepy, especially when she found out about the previous owner. Anyone would have separated the girl from the doll that day. Instead the mother goes to visit the boy who owned the doll previously to ask him why he did what he did. Huh? who would do that? Yet even after that she allowed the daughter keep the doll. Further I doubt they would have let the mother waltz in and speak to the boy *alone* considering the crime he had committed. Another thing that got me is that even as the bodies were piling up, the police were only called once. I felt so sorry for the mother's friend who told them how to break the curse. Did they even call 911 for her? Also we never got the full story regarding the doll, how it became so evil etc. I was going to give this 6 stars for watch-ability because it was very entertaining. Yeah, I'll still give it 6 stars. 5 would mean it was humdrum average, but it certainly was not.

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• Enjoyable and genuinely creepy killer doll effort

  kannibalcorpsegrinder2014-10-20

  Moving into a new house, her daughter's connection to a strange doll left at the house soon turns deadly when they find a series of deaths connected to the being and must try to save her before it's too late. This was actually quite a bit of fun and had a lot really going for it. The most important is the one that drives the whole film, as the doll itself is genuinely creepy and chilling with a defined look and air about it that really has the appearance of something malevolent out there. That goes a long way here towards making these actions all the more creepy and chilling by not only emphasizing what's going on but also doing it along with the notions of it being committed by a creepy doll. That this leads to several highly enjoyable scenes as the couple try to leave their apartment knowing that someone is in their with them leading into the final confrontation in the bedroom, the diner stalking and finally the big confrontation in the house at the end which not only adds a rather impressive amount of action to the proceedings so that there's a lot to really like throughout this. From the numerous amount of time spent here trying to determine if what's going on here is really just the doll or rather it's the girl committing everything, this subplot actually does a whole lot more than the rest of the film centered around the doll as there's enough life in this angle that it really does seem believable that one of them is the real case here which is quite fun and makes the film wholly enjoyable as it tries to weave all the different encounters that could provide such answers. That, in effect, leaves the film with a slew of exciting confrontations centered around a chilling main villain and augmented by enough creepy side-plots, actions and decent death scenes to make for a really exciting effort, though there's one rather big problem here that does keep this from a perfect score. Early on, the behavior of the girl towards her parents as well as people out on the town really should've been handled better so that it doesn't reek of ineffective parenting on their part due to how uncontrollable she is. There's numerous occasions where the parents were totally justified in at the very least slapping the girl or even providing a crueler source of discipline toward her to be more accountable for her, yet none of this really happens which causes them to look quite ineffective at their responsibilities. Otherwise, this one tends to come off rather well. Rated Unrated/R: Graphic Violence, Language, Brief Nudity and children-in-jeopardy.

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• Hands down one of the worst movies I've ever seen.

  victor-188-8906522015-03-14

  Want clichés? This movie gotya covered. Want good old Micheal Bay inspired editing? Slowmotion and explosions.. constantly. How about a child that wont stop screaming? Yeah sure throw it in there. It's got stale acting, a plot that has been seen a bagillion times already. Want to see this movie? Go pirate it. It's not worth any kind of money. Oh and just for the sake of comedic relief (also why I've included this review with a spoiler warning) when the Mexican plumber randomly checked the pipes and said that "taking someone else's (whatever the hell he called the doll) means bad luck" and walks away, I was certain that I was going to have a good chuckle at this movies terrible writing. Wish I could give it 0/10, but a 1 is a 1.

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