PAINTBALL

PAINTBALL

A brief pre-credits internet commercial illustrates a couple of English-speaking Spaniards in full military attire, advertising a weekend of country-based adventures for the more jaded business man or woman.

We then immediately cut to an army truck racing along a road in the middle of the dense Spanish countryside, carrying several wealthy people who have responded to the advertisement in the hope of injecting some action into their lives.

Each one is hooded, having no idea where they are being taken. When the truck reaches its forest destination, the passengers are told to remove their hoods. An instant attraction is felt between Eric (Patrick Regis) and Anna (Jennifer Matter), while the others are more preoccupied with rifling through the rucksacks they have been provided with.

The group discover they have been given powerful paintball guns, and lots of ammunition.

Completed by John (Peter Vives Newey), Brenda (Anna Casas), David (Brendan Mackey), Claudia (Claudia Bassols), Iris (Iaione Perez) and Frank (Neil Maskell), the group is then given their instructions over a speaker system by their unseen chauffeur: put masks on and get out into the woods as a team to find and collect six flags, while looking out for a rival team also out to collect their own flags.

The group excitedly jump out of the truck and race into the trees, with David soon assuming the controversial role of team leader thanks to his skills in map reading.

Within minutes the team are caught under fire from what they believe to be their opponents, and thus quickly flee onto a nearby bus when they realise they are surrounded and unprepared for battle. Once on the vehicle, David and his cohorts are alarmed as smoke bombs are launched through the windows. They weren't provided in the rucksacks!

Could it be, as one of the team suggests, that the rival group brought additional ammo along with them?

But no, the team soon discover otherwise when they come under fire once more - this time Claudia falls dead, blood oozing from her fresh bullet wounds. Realising that someone is using live ammunition against them, the group naturally panic and flee ... further into the forest.

As the team discuss with each other - they were all perfect strangers prior to this day, incidentally - the mysterious ways in which they were brought to the game (dragged off the street; torn from a hotel and blindfolded in the process, etc), they resolve to find the next flag on their course in the hope of beating the opposition ... but with their opponent now being an unseen and deadly threat, how many of them are likely to make it to the end of this paintball session alive?

And so the hunters become the hunted. The rich folk looking for kicks get their comeuppance in the alien surroundings of the countryside. Something evil lurks in the woods, waiting to take out these naive thrill-seekers without prejudice ... And so on.

Where do I begin? HOSTEL? BATTLE ROYALE? SEVERANCE? SOUTHERN COMFORT? DELIVERANCE? DOG SOLDIERS? PREDATOR? Amazingly, PAINTBALL has moments that remind me of each of these films - and yet is a piece of shit compared to any of them (yeah, even SEVERANCE).

Which seems harsh when I think of the attractive exterior compositions, intelligently placed musical pointers and slick editing employed throughout. First-time director Daniel Benmayor can't really be blamed - he keeps things slick and stylish, directing the frequent action scenes with confidence and verve.

But he's unfortunate enough to be saddled with Mario Schoendorff's limp script and too many European actors who are forced to mumble their lines in awkward, broken English. The end result is something that is curiously devoid of energy, like a dog in desperate need of being put to sleep.

A lack of originality is something that hampers a majority of new horror films, but can always be overcome with either the slightest modicum of a new approach or cheeky zest. Benmayor unwisely plays too close to the genre conventions with Schoendorff's "paint by numbers" screenplay, and as a consequence the results are incredibly flat.

I mean, come on. You know those jokes that crop up perpetually throughout the years, only ever changing the names to make them current - but the punchlines are always the same? You know, whenever a celebrity dies, for example, we'll get the same gag - only marginally catered occasionally to fit the latest casualty's profile? Well, that's PAINTBALL: yet another hunted-in-the-woods flick, only this time bartering on the novelty of it being based around a weekend of paintballing.

It's not enough to help it stand out. Perhaps some more depth to the characters (indeed, any), or even an attempt at breaking the mould and surprising with a twist or two would've helped. Because sadly the aforementioned tight pacing and keen photography - two plus points which together help to make this a perfectly watchable if forgettable rainy day viewing, don't get me wrong - are not enough to recommend this otherwise pointless exercise.

PAINTBALL is presented uncut in anamorphic 2.35:1. Despite some somewhat washed-out colour schemes, it's a generally smooth and sharp presentation.

English audio is presented in 2.0 stereo, 5.1 and 5.1 DTS options. The latter two mixes handle Xavier Capellas and Maikmaier's throbbing score particularly well. Optional English subtitles are also provided for the Hard of Hearing.

An animated main menu page gives way into a static scene-selection menu, allowing access to PAINTBALL via 12 chapters.

Film-related extras consist of a one-and-a-half-minute trailer, and a decent Making Of documentary.

This featurette is 26 minutes in length and chock-full of engaging behind-the-scenes footage, along with worthy on-screen contributions from the largely Spanish crew. Benmayor proves himself to be a gracious, intelligent and well-rounded young man, while everyone concerned appears to have had a great time during the shoot. Presented in a mix of English and Spanish, the Spanish dialogue is graced with burned-in English subtitles during this widescreen documentary.

The disc is defaulted to open with trailers for PARANORMAL ACTIVITY and THE BOX.

PAINTBALL shows that Benmayor is a competent novice director who may be capable of good stuff in the future. But the screenplay and the performances let this effort down badly, rendering it lifeless in the tension stakes and displaying its influences all too transparently upon its sleeve.

Review by Stuart Willis


 
Released by Icon Home Entertainment
Region 2 - PAL
Rated 18
Extras :
see main review
Back