Director: Jason Trost
Writer: Jason Trost (Screenplay)
Starring: Jason Trost, Tallay Wickham, Coy Jandreau, Michael Gupta, Ryan Gibson
Plot: Brian Everett’s younger brother Sam goes missing on the island of Tasmania during the middle of a mysterious quarantine forcing Brian to traverse across enemy lines to save his brother from an army of ghosts.
There may be spoilers the rest of the review
Verdict: Tense Meaningful Horror
Story: How to Save Us starts by telling us the island of Tasmania has been evacuated and travel there is prohibited 39 days ago and with conspiracies about what is happening running wild no one knows what is going on, on the island. Brian (Trost) has to travel to Tasmania to locate his missing brother Sam (Jandreau) who had been off the radar during the evacuation.
Following the rules set to him Brian has to allude an invisible enemy that has taken over the island, Brian needs certain equipment to make this journey, a radio which will pick up the invaders signal when close, an infer-red camera to see them and ash of the dead to throw them off his scent. We follow both men on the separate journeys across the island where they will learn to defend themselves and learn the shocking truth.
How to Save Us brings us a horror film that has heart stopping moments that also has a story involving personal demons. The story does bounce between the two characters which at times seems repetitive but that would be the only down side for this very simple but tense story. When we have any scene with the ghosts you instantly are alert with fear which is one of the hardest things to achieve in horror and this film does it with ease. The simple rules work because it doesn’t over complicate the story either.
Actor Review
Jason Trost: Brian travels to Tasmania to find his brother Sam, he must follow in his footsteps and instructions to survive this new danger filled location with invisible enemies that have taken over. He has to learn how to outsmart the enemies as well as destroy them as he gets the final answers to his questions. Jason does a great job in this leading role without being an over the top character.
Coy Jandreau: Sam is the brother of Brian who was on Tasmania looking for answers to the quarantine, he leaves instructions for Brian to follow if he ever comes looking for him to warn him of the dangers he will encounter. Coy does a good job in this role as the guide to the story.
Support Cast: How to Save Us only really has supporting characters in voice overs with the sister being the most important of them all.
Director Review: Jason Trost – Jason does a brilliant job directing this with stunning shots and a suspense filled story that knows when to have the scary moments and when not too.
Horror: How to Save Us uses the horror very well by having the scares actually terrify when happening.
Sci-Fi: How to Save Us shows us a world with an unexplained situation which we learn the answers too without learning all of them.
Settings: How to Save Us uses the settings very well making every shot look beautiful.
Special Effects: How to Save Us has brilliant special effects for the budget with the enemy that isn’t always there for us to see.
Suggestion: How to Save Us is one I will encourage any horror fan to go and see. (Watch)
Best Part: Final confrontation.
Worst Part: Uses the same shots to show the following in footsteps.
Believability: No
Chances of Tears: No
Chances of Sequel: No
Post Credits Scene: No
Similar Too: Pulse
Oscar Chances: No
Budget: $20,000
Runtime: 1 Hour 18 Minutes
Overall: Hidden gem in the horror genre this year
Rating
