Don't Underestimate Countdown
Countdown was directed by Justin Dec, and is a tech-thriller/horror film about a young nurse named Quinn (Elizabeth Lail, You) who downloads an app to her phone that can predict when you’re going to die. With the clock ticking and a figure haunting her, she must find a way to save her life before time runs out. Simple premise and a PG-13 rating, what could go wrong? Well…not a whole lot, because I thought this was a really fun time at the movies! I went in literally knowing nothing about it aside from the premise, and what I found was a fun, easy-to-digest horror film meant to get teens in the seats (which sadly, it isn’t doing too well considering the marketing was a disaster…).
Diving right into the technical aspects of the movie, it had a couple of things I disliked. For starters, fake-out scares and jump scares are here in spades. Sometimes a good jump scare (see: Insidious) can make a film. Here however, it just didn’t work for me. I mean, there are some good jump scares in the movie, but in between, you are kind of forced to get through the fake-outs and I felt it was kind of a cheap thing to do for the audience. The music also felt kind of off, where they’d have this creepy score playing (leading up to the fake scare or jump scare…) and it’ll get cut off by some pop song. I’ve always had issues with pop songs taking attention away from a movie’s score (Friend Request did this often…which ruined the whole movie for me), especially when we have some music here that really, and I mean REALLY, sets you up for some good, tense, moments. Speaking of the good…
The cast here really gives it their all, especially Elizabeth Lail, fresh off her leading role in Netflix’s You. The supporting cast around her are all very solid characters, with Tom Segura and P.J. Byrne selling us some solid comedic moments that aren’t overbearing. Peter Facinelli and Jordan Calloway are also great in this film, just really an all-around great cast that was a joy to watch. The music, when setting up for a tense moment, is awesome; it had my blood pumping and kept me on edge. This was actually kind of surprising, I wasn’t expecting moments of actual terror that would mess with me.
The movie built this sense of anxiety and paranoia for me as I drove home from the theater, making me think death was all around me, and that is a rare occurrence and I think that’s what made me enjoy what I watched overall. It’s got some good moments, some actual scares, a good spirit or ghost or monster or whatever it was, and gave us a solid story that is enjoyable enough. It’s really one of those movies you watch around the spooky season with a couple of friends and a bowl of popcorn. It’s an easy watch that doesn’t try to push anything over the edge and doesn’t over-complicate things, and for that I must recommend people to check it out. It’s a shame the marketing didn’t go full speed ahead and push this movie, cause it’s sure to be one that won’t get the recognition it deserves.
Don’t want to miss anything on the site? Sign up for our newsletter HERE
Want more horror movie reviews? Just search below:
