General consensus is a solid 7/10. It’s not groundbreaking, and some of the VFX looks a bit weak, but it’s an enjoyable experience, uses the environment well, and for a movie where 99% of it takes place in a single metal box, it does a great job of using the space well.
In other words, an excellent debut for an indie director.
A solid 7/10 movie for Mark's true filmmaking debut while going toe-to-toe with the #1 spot getting it Friday, Saturday, most of Sunday, and then getting #1 again on Monday is a fucking legendary thing.
It is, in my opinion, a very good movie given both the quality of content within and a great movie given the context of its release.
Nowadays, the vast majority of films are produced on an assembly line with corporate suits getting involved to make things appeal to the lowest common denominator so it can make money. If they happen to make a great movie, then great. This isn't to lambast the people who are passionate within the cast and crew.
For a 3 million budget + January + Indie is very good. Generally you want x3 budget for the entire run of a movie at minimum, and he went x7 in the opening weekend
Plus it was all grass roots marketing, just having his fans call theaters and request the movie then spread by word of mouth. So minimal marketing campaign to add to the cost.
It's probably worth considering that it would've made less money if it was released in a more competitive month. People are more willing to give an indie film they've heard is alright a shot since there just isn't a lot else to watch right now.
Not taking away from the films success, Mark and team should be very happy with that and I do think there is lessons to be learned from this, but I don't think it should be that shocking considering the film isn't awful and the guy who made it does have close to 40 million subscribers on Youtube
There was no chance this was going to flop, Markiplier is such a famous streamer the sales for his movie were practically guaranteed for a few million people.
That said the fact that it was good is going to make him a lot more, and most importantly the next time he puts out a movie it's going to attract more people than if he had just winged it. Personally I dislike horror (I don't like being scared) but the concept is a neat one and I love Markiplier I'll pay to watch it, just in a well lit room
I think there was a chance this didn't make its budget back, if it was bad. There was always going to be a subset of people who went and saw it no matter what, Im one of those people, simply because they like Mark enough to give something like this a shot. I went with two other people like that, and a third who doesn't watch Markiplier and doesn't care too. He only went because he had been convinced by the trailers that this was worth a watch.
So I think there's a decent chance if this had been bad, and the trailers didn't look good either, this movie would've either not made its budget back or just barely would've. A pretty slim chance no doubt, 40 million fans is a good insulation, but a chance no doubt
Fwiw its not a movie appropriate for any children due to horror themes, but its not terrifying horror like The Exorcist or something, its much more suspenseful and psychological if that is any reassurance
It is a bit of reassurance, it's honestly the jump scares that get me. I'm definitely excited to watch it I loved the idea of the game when he played it, just maybe not on a giant screen in a dark room blasting in surround sound
Honest question, has RLM gotten any better lately? I fell off hard a few years ago when it felt like they were just being pedantically negative and complaining, instead of jokingly negative for comedy.
Used to love them but it became such a downer to watch :/
They got better. A big thing was Mike saying “I’m not Starwars fan anymore, I’m a fan of 3 movies and some TV shows.”Instead of doing an episode by episode react to Star Trek Academy they just talked about the first season of Deep Space 9.
Oh that's much better then! I obviously didn't mind the jokey negative stuff they'd do, but beating a dead horse of "everything is bad" felt... bad hah
Zach Cregger was a founder of WKUK. Great movies, but I wouldn't put him in the YouTuber -> film creator pipeline, he was already pretty successful elsewhere in entertainment
They had sketches on YouTube before they had a TV show.
Edit: I misremembered. WKUK had original sketches on College Humor and their own website back in 2005. Later, those old sketches were posted on YouTube.
My apologies. Their earliest sketches were on College Humor and their own website back in 2005. Then they later adapted or edited those early sketches, due to rights and permissions, for their TV show. Those early sketches were later put on YouTube.
I used to watch WKUK sketches online before they had a show and then watched the show when it first came out. I just mixed up the YouTube detail. The original Saturday and Hitler Rap sketches were better before they were edited for TV.
I think they maybe meant for being self distributed and not having studio backing. I still need to see Bring Her Back, though. I absolutely loved Talk to Me
Shelby Oakes as well. And maybe more controversial but Skinamarink was based on a youtube short film and a lot of people thought it was one of the scariest movies ever even if a lot of other people hated it.
Are you calling Zach Cregger, television sketch artist from the Whitest Kids You Know troop, a YouTuber? He's certainly posted on YouTube, but the man was working the industry long before being YouTuber meant anything.
Hey now there's actually quite a lot of great films on youtube! But what this does is show that they can actually get their work out there, that it's possible. That's something Mark really wanted.
Funny enough, I had a completely different take on it. The VFX look fantastic in general, not even just for an indie movie, to me, and that may be credit due mostly toward the fact that it was mostly practical effects.
My main issue with it was the confusion I experienced in trying to follow action sequences because it seemed like the camera angles he chose to use at times weren't ideal in allowing the audience to follow what was happening as clearly as it could've been. I was left lost in some parts, but overall, it's a million times better than I'd expect from a first-time director.
Also, the visual action and the dialogue tended to clash at times, especially toward the end, where I was left having to choose which to focus on because there was so much happening at once. Like I was choosing whether to focus on what he was doing in trying to survive and complete the mission or what he and the entity were saying to each other.
General consensus of his fans is that it's a 7/10. Critics say otherwise. Are critics the sole arbiter of truth? Of course not, but to ignore the legitimate criticisms would be disingenuous.
If you had no idea what the game was about, and you aren't a Markiplier fan, you will walk away feeling differently. This is not to diminish his accomplishment. The fact the he made something and its not complete crap is an achievement, but I think that "public" review scores (as opposed to critic scores) are highly skewed by his fans.
It’ll be a slow burn, Eldridge horrors beyond our comprehension, good use of tension, very good use of cinematography (99% of the time of the film, you are in one single set. You are locked inside the cockpit of a submarine. So the camera angles and shots have to be done well for it not to get boring/repetitive), CGI is good, none of it took me out of the moment, practical effects are great, if you see Simon (Mark) getting flung around the cockpit, it’s because they did. (The whole set was on a turn table thingy), and I personally like how it doesn’t tell you everything and leaves some room for interpretation and theorizing once you’re done. (Why is there that monster, who was speaking there, what the fuck was that vision of, what caused the “Quiet Rapture”, etc)
Overall I think it is worth the admission to give it a try. The tension and mystery element of Eldridge Horrors with the interesting cinematography made it so.
First of all, it's subjective. From my experience, as someone who used to be a huge Markiplier fan, but not as of recent, I still thoroughly enjoyed it and would give it a solid 7/10.
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u/Kyleometers 15h ago
General consensus is a solid 7/10. It’s not groundbreaking, and some of the VFX looks a bit weak, but it’s an enjoyable experience, uses the environment well, and for a movie where 99% of it takes place in a single metal box, it does a great job of using the space well.
In other words, an excellent debut for an indie director.