Stalled (2013) Reviews

• Harmless comedy, will bring a smile or two.

  gothic-fiction2013-11-06

  Stalled, in my personal opinion, is actually a good comedy/horror, something that works even for girls, even for the stomach weak people, because it doesn't rely that much on gore. Of course, it has its parts, but mostly it tries to be constructive, as much as it can, especially considering the plot and somehow I think it succeed. We all know that a janitor is trapped in a women's restroom, so if you lower your expectations a little, especially from those 2 bad reviews that are here, I think you might just laugh a little at this one. I watched it become more interesting, more humorous and smarter, therefore I do recommend such a movie. You want a real crapper, then watch "Zombie ass: toilette of the dead", you wanna have some innocent fun to pass the time, sure, give "Stallet" a try. I'm telling you, if you are a horror fan that likes to put one eye on the cross with comedy from time to time, this one will do the trick. A nice add-on to the gender. Other horror comedies I would recommend: Dead Snow; Night of the living dorks; One eyed monster; Grabbers.

• Interesting in itself, but didn't really stand out...

  paul_haakonsen2014-02-01

  I enjoy all things zombie, and check out just about everything I can come across. Now, the title of this movie, the concept of the story and the fact that it brandished "a worthy successor to Shaun of the Dead" on the front cover really had my interest peaked. So, of course I had to give it a go. And the verdict is, well, the story has its moments, and it is one of those particular movies that is thick with British comedy. A worthy successor to "Shaun of the Dead", however, nah, I wouldn't go that far. The story is in all its simplicity about W.C. (played by Dan Palmer), a janitor who gets trapped in a women's bathroom stall when a Christmas party takes a turn for the worse and people start turning into ravenous flesh-eating zombies. I will say that director Christian James did have an interest approach to this movie, especially since about 95% of all the movie just takes place in a confined, cramped stall in a ladies restroom. That being said, then that limitation of location also set a heavy limitation on the movie, because it was starting to wear a bit thin towards the end. The acting in the movie was alright, especially since the entire movie was just riding on the performance of Dan Palmer and the voice of Antonia Bernath - from two stalls over. "Stalled" is in itself a good enough zombie movie, that should be watched at least once, if you enjoy zombie movies, as I do. However, it is not outstanding, nor is it as great as initially hyped up to be. The movie is fairly generic, and while it is not amongst the worst of zombies movies I have seen, nor can I claim that it is amongst the better of such movies.

• An hilarious and heartfelt horror comedy

  May_lo2013-11-06

  Stalled was a real surprise. A zombie picture that takes place in a restroom? Sure to be full of puerile urine jokes, yes? No. The surprise element came in the form of emotional u-turns (u-bends?), well drawn characterizations and unique performances. The majority of the reviews for this film have been great, the bad ones seem to be on IMDb and are so bitter it is clear that the individuals writing them have more of a deepseated problem with themselves than any film! This film is equally silly, emotional and action packed and the makers (for the most part)stay true to their all-in-a-stall concept. I saw this with a festival crowd and the entire audience cheered and laughed and whooped throughout. So inventive I squealed. Give it a chance - you won't regret it.

• A true Zombie flick where the brains are lacking from the writing to the filmmaking

  bruno-filardi2013-11-05

  Bad acting, too many "familiar places" in the story, a starting point which has NOTHING to do with ANYTHING and practically a waste of your life. 450k went out on making this thing? Jeez. And the poster brags of being "successor to Shawn of the Dead"? You wish! It's slow, the plot is filled with excessive absurdities and the "ending"... what was that for? If this were a student film, I would have gave them a B for effort. Since this were made by so-called professionals, I would have gave them a kick in the face for making me waste my time, for starters. It is pretty obvious that the ONLY other "review" (if you can call it that) was made by someone with personal interest in the creators. No one in their sane mind could say that this movie is EVEN good. The only consistency in the film is that since it takes place in a toilet the movie accurately is complete crap.

• Cute idea, terrible execution - FLUSH IT!!!

  NormanCroucher2013-11-04

  A man is stuck in a toilet stall during the zombie apocalypse. Sold! Simple and effective horror comedy concept... totally amateurish and inept execution. The disappointment here is that with some actual talent behind and in front of the camera, this could have been a real gem. Problems begin pretty much from the opening shot when you realise the lighting and cinematography are absolutely horrid. The film achieves this really cheap and cheerless look. It resembles an episode from one of those bad teen TV soap operas from the 1990's. This should immediately alert you to the fact that you're watching student filmmakers running amok with a budget. Uh-oh. Okay, so the cheap look can be forgiven because this is lo-fi comedy horror stuff. Fair enough right? Surely the film will make-up for that with wit and invention and gags. Right? Right??! No. The next major (and most crucial) problem; the writer of "Stalled", Dan Palmer, is also its star. And this is one of those writers that fancies himself an actor. And not only does he not have the chops to carry an entire feature film by himself, he can't deliver a single line of dialogue with conviction. It's as if he's trying to remember how his script sounded in his head when he came up with the dialogue. He may as well be reading the script to himself on the toilet. He's awful. If Palmer had taken his own ego and misguided acting aspirations out of the equation, they could have cast a semi-decent comedic actor in the lead. It starts off with the promise of a somewhat "silent" horror comedy where our main character doesn't seem to speak much, if at all. But then the dialogue kicks in and, since Dan Palmer has no idea how to keep the story going without it, we get endless "f bombs" being dropped every other sentence, horribly muddled and dull lines delivered by people who just can't act, and long interludes of Palmer monloguing and emoting with embarrassing consequences. Accentuating sentences in the wrong places, forcing emotion with no help from the clueless director, Christian James. Add in some unconvincing zombie make-up effects and mostly unfunny gags, and you have all the ingredients of a desperate "Shaun of the Dead" knock-off without the wit, invention or the talent. It's a shame because it's got some smart ideas and a few neat ways of sustaining its simple concept over 80 minutes. I even quite liked the punchline at the end but the journey there was so unimaginative and glib that ultimately the whole experience smacked of a bunch of student filmmakers who got a little money together and extended a short film concept into a feature. And that's what this should have been - a student short film and nothing more. As much as I like to support independent films, when they are this amateur and poorly executed in (almost) every area, it's advisable to warn others against crossing paths with it. Sorry "Stalled" but you really do belong in the toilet.