COUNTDOWN / DIRECTOR & SCREENPLAY: JUSTIN DEC / STARRING: ELIZABETH LAIL, JORDAN CALLOWAY, ANNE WINTERS, PETER FACINELLI / RELEASE DATE: OUT NOW
The Halloween season is in full swing and marks another horror release on the big screen – Countdown. No, not a film based on the Channel 4 daytime show with Rachel Riley yet a film about numbers and letters would fry many brains! However, watching this movie, we were counting down for the end credits.
Countdown is about an app that tells you when you are going to die. Counting down how many years, months, days, hours and minutes you have left on earth. Sounds familiar doesn’t it, Final Destination fans?
At the time, Final Destination worked as it was an original idea but with Countdown, it feels as though a majority of their story writing, while very creative, was more copied.
The film begins at a typical teenage house party. A group of friends sit around a table and discover the Countdown app on their phones. They then compare with each other on who’s going to die first and whoever has the smallest count must drink all remaining cups on the table.
Courtney (Winters) finds out she only has hours to live and starts believing that the app is true. Hours later… she dies. The story then focuses on nurse Quinn (Lail), who also hears the gossip about the app. Quinn opens the app and finds out she only has three days to live. The nurse must find a way to cheat death.
There are numerous problems with this film. Firstly, the storyline feels as though it could have been made a few years back when apps on phones started to become a thing. The teenage group at the start of the film mislead you into thinking the story would be focused on them. However, after many of them find out they have decades to live, they’re straight out of the picture. Let’s be honest horror fanatics, we look forward to the death scenes! There wasn’t many in this one. If the rest of the film included the group of friends as well, then it might have done a little better. Only a small margin, though. We love a bloodbath! Oh, and Quinn’s father looked old enough to be her boyfriend/partner – now that’s creepy!
[Spoiler alert!] The climax hinted to a sequel; let’s just hope the app itself kills off a franchise.
Overall, Countdown is a decent outing if you want a good laugh with your friends in the cinema but don’t expect much spark.
Expected Rating: 6 out of 10
