From Director Jonas Odenheimer (The Whispering 2010, The Interview 2012) comes the Found-Footage Thriller Classroom 6. With an estimated $100,000 budget, Classroom 6 delivered some thrills and some chills, but never surpassed any expectations. Valentina Kolaric (Light and Day 2011, Invitation for 8 2012), Mike McLaughlin (Ave Maria 2009, Mega Shark vs. Crocosaurus 2010), Michael Wynn (The River Within 2009, Come Morning 2012), Vince Major (The Playground 2013, Heartfelt 2015), Victor Manso (White Lines 2014, Nightfall 2014), and Jessica Amal Rice (Watercolors 2008, Plur 2013), star in this Documentary-esque film where it only took less than three days to shoot. It was released in Austria’s Fright Night Film Festival, on DVD April 19th, and is now streaming on any device via VOD.
- Still from Classroom 6
Annie (Kolaric) and Kurt (Major) are filming a documentary for their local TV news channel about a girl who disappeared at their town’s school. Annie hires Gaston (Manso), Amanda (Rice), Dan (Wynn) and Psychic Jack (McLaughlin) to help them out in their overnight adventure. It was supposed to be an easy project: spend the night locked up in the school – classroom 6 – with no interaction with the outside world. But when strange things started happening, the crew learned that not everything is what it seems.
- Still from Classroom 6
Crew members are shocked when they see things that should not be in an abandoned school; especially at three o’clock in the morning. Some start to question their sanity, others rule out the possibility that this is related to something supernatural; all but one, Jack. When they see their phones have died, Annie and the rest of the crew start panicking and rush to the nearest exits; same exits that were completely locked by orders of Annie hours before. One by one the crew members start dying/disappearing and it seems like some will survive the night, but if viewers have learned anything from Found-Footage Thrillers, is that anything can happen, even in the last two minutes of the film. Will Annie or the rest of the crew survive this supernatural game of cat and mouse, or will they have the same faith the disappeared girl had?
It is easy to blame directors for a less than amazing Thriller, but in Classroom 6, the actors take the cake. The fact that this is a low-budget movie should not be an excuse to find actors who cannot portray a good character. The lack of believability of this film was mostly due to how short the actors’ expertise is. Classroom 6 could have had major applause if they had not done things in a hurry and maybe develop a more engrossing plot. The cinematography was a bit disastrous and all over the place; it is almost as if the cast and crew gave up on the second day of filming.
- Still from Classroom 6
Found-Footage films are rarely good, but those that are bad have moments where the audience suspends belief. Movies like that are considered low-budget hidden gems because people usually dismiss them on the fact that it is not well known. The whole idea of Classroom 6 was genius, but the execution may fall slightly short in some viewer’s eyes. The Thriller seemed rushed and that is never a good thing if filmmaker want to shoot a film worthy of people’s praise. Everyone has different opinions of what they think they like, but to many, Classroom 6 is major letdown that will always have them wondering if it could have been more if time only permitted. CrypticRock gives Classroom 6 3 out of 5 stars.
- 108 Media
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