Raccoon Valley (2018) Reviews

• slow and creepy thriller

  davidm-142018-08-03

  I'm usually disgusted by about 45 seconds in on most of the pay service horror offerings. raccoon valley is a nicely done, quietly tense little thriller. this one is absolutely different (and recommended) for a couple of reasons: 1) it's slow and builds. viewing the world from a clueless deaf woman, lost in the shuffle after an evacuation is announced in her town following a plane crash. at first she just goes about her routine, slowly noticing something is different. 2) it's told pretty much from the deaf woman's point of view. what little music there is is quite atmospheric and adds to the tension - sometimes sounding like light wind chimes and sometimes like a heart beating. it is interesting that her memories are presented via sound clips. I felt the tiniest bit let down at the end, and then i didn't. it seems to fit everything that came before.

• Atmospheric, clean and simple horror film

  crw-883702018-12-27

  This little gem was so perfectly filmed I could have watched it with the sound off, and it would still have had the same effect of the slowly building horror, loneliness and isolation of the main character. She was in a seemingly hopeless situation, yet never displayed hopelessness or despair, despite her fear. Rather, I saw her determination, strength and composure slowly manifest even as her understanding of the situation increased. If you are drawn to stories of horror and survival on a small scale, this movie is for you. I was amazed at the production budget of $175.00. I don't know how that's even possible, but the result was a very satisfying, engrossing and suspenseful story. I'm so glad I ignored the bad reviews, followed my gut and gave it a watch.

• Solid, Effective Microbudget film.

  footballinjury-569-5210902018-09-16

  At just over one hour long, I felt even if I didn't like it, I wouldn't regret at least giving it a try. I wasn't prepared for "Racoon Valley" to be as beautiful as it turned out to be. Filmmaker Turner Clay nailed the atmospherics of a minor, finite apocalypse with bleak-filtered cinematography and ethereal music score. The story's protagonist is deaf (and mute, apparently?) and as a result isn't immediately alerted to the evacuation/quarantine affecting the town she lives in. She becomes trapped as a perimeter is laid by the military around the town to keep anyone from getting in or out. When she realizes exactly what she's up against it becomes clear she can fend for herself and seems to have the ability to control her fear. I liked that. Now... >small town exposed to deadly virus >military quarantines town and threatens death if you attempt to escape >Virus turns folks into zombie creatures >lone character(s) fight to survive That's a formula we've all seen. That doesn't stop me from seeing that movie. How it's ultimately rendered will determine if I enjoy the movie or not and "Racoon Valley" kept my interest with even pacing, gothic photography and a score that was practically a character within the story. Not bad for 175 bucks.

• What did I just watch??

  SJLiam2018-09-18

  The main character makes some REALLY stupid decisions. For a deaf woman, she has ZERO spacial awareness, she NEVER looks up from her task at hand. The fact that she's deaf has nothing to do with anything, it's never even used in a narrative sense. She's just... deaf. Because why not. I also had huge issues with this being a horror film. It's not. There's nothing horrific here. If anything it's so slow you'll be bored to death. The ending comes out of nowhere and doesn't answer anything. That works for some films, but in others it just comes off as lazy. This is the latter. There are worse movies out there, sure. But there are so many 7,8,9 reviews on here I wonder if there isn't some padding going on. Surely not THAT many people thought this was a worthwhile film!?! Let's be clear: It's really not.

• Silent but Deadly

  joetrident2018-09-16

  This was a low budget production that was well made. The cinematography is top notch so are the sound effects. My only problem was the main actor was too wooden. She could have shown a little emotion. I swear, I've seen zombies with more humanity. The movie was about her and she had no personality. If she had shown just a little humanity it would have been a perfect film. For the great film making and composition I give this an 8 out of 10. If she had tried to show some emotions I would have given this movie a 10.