Director: Alex Orwell
Writer: Kenny Yakkel (Screenplay)
Starring: Alexandra Staden, Victor McGuire, Sean McConaghy, Adam Rayner, Antonia Campbell-Hughes, Ashely Mulheron, Amara Karan, Tom Payne, Marc Pickering
Plot: A group of reality show contestants must survive the night in a haunted jail.
There may be spoilers the rest of the review
Verdict: Poor Horror
Story: The Task starts as we meet our contestants with Dixon (Battle) being the last to be kidnapped and taken to a remote location to be part of the latest new reality run by Connie (Staden). The show includes Toni (Karan), Stanton (Payne), Randall (Pickering), Dixon (Battle), Angel (Campbell-Hughes) and Show (Mulheron) who have to stay in an abandoned prison for the night.
With the game under way the six contestants have to follow a string of tasks around the prison but it soon turns out that the game show set up are not the only people inside the prison when a serial killer makes the contestants fight for their lives.
The Task is a horror film that does have a good idea with the tasks being set against the contestants fears but this gets forgotten when a real killer turns up. Ok I can deal with this happening and it works for what the film is trying to do but things get worse because we get a false finish we all know can’t be true and this ends up throwing out either a false twist ending which it tries and the actual ending. This horror ends up getting stuck in the middle without taking control over either side of the horror elements.
Actor Review
Antonia Campbell-Hughes: Angel is our leading lady within the game coming off fearless within the tasks and having to find her own way out of the game alive. Antonia is solid but no really star in this role.
Tom Payne: Stanton is one of the contestants who has entered along with his sister. He is a wild spirit being the cocky guy within the group. Tom has become well known because of his recent work in the Walking Dead as Jesus but this really is a standard horror role.
Texas Battle: Dixon is the last person to get kidnapped for the game and where the character have to face their fears he find himself stuck in the hole while everyone is getting picked off. Texas doesn’t really get enough to do until the final act so it is hard to judge his performance in a leading role.
Amara Karan: Toni is the brains of the contestants who find herself having to remember the instructions the others forget knowing she needs them for the money. She also finds herself isolated out of the game early on. Amara does a basic job but again is a poorly written character.
Support Cast: The Task has a supporting cast which include the behind the cameras guys that really go feel like what Cabin in the Woods did and a few other contestants who does give too much to the overall feel.
Director Review: Alex Orwell – Alex does give us a basic horror that fails on the scares and doesn’t help itself with the false ending.
Horror: The Task tries to put us into a face your fears horror only to quickly change into a survival style horror but never moving between the two enough to work as either.
Settings: The Task does keep everything inside the prison which does work very well for the film.
Special Effects: The Task has simple effects that never really do anything original or breath-taking.
Suggestion: The Task is one I do feel the horror fans could watch late night on television one day but otherwise it can be skipped. (Late Night TV)
Best Part: Concept
Worst Part: Mixing the two horrors don’t work.
Believability: No
Chances of Tears: No
Chances of Sequel: No
Post Credits Scene: No
Oscar Chances: No
Runtime: 1 Hour 34 Minutes
Tagline: The Audience Isn’t The Only One Watching.
Overall: Sloppy horror that just never makes up its own mind of the genre.
Rating
