This can be handwaved by arguing that part of the fight scene (since rarely are there splitscreens showing the fight and the timer) started when or before the last shot of the timer was shown, thus, the fight and the countdown are happening at the same time chronologically but are shown separately to build tension and suspense (an editing technique known as 'cross-cutting' ). When the camera goes back, the thing will mysteriously have farther to fall than it did before the cut, just enough to allow the characters to make a narrow escape. The shot cuts just before it hits to people trying to stop it or get out the way. Another common visual equivalent is the falling object or descending gate which is accelerating down at something. Sometimes a character will just yell that 'There's only ten seconds left!' and the heroes will prevent the calamity 25 seconds later.Ī variation is a fuse or Powder Trail which burns slower or faster when the camera's not on it. This doesn't have to involve an actually displayed timer. This version, at least, can occasionally be explained by the Law of Conservation of Detail - the action we saw isn't necessarily all the action that took place. Sometimes the reverse effect takes place - the character has a good forty seconds to stop or get out of the way of the destruction, then six seconds later the timer starts counting down from ten, which is a fairly cheap way of ratcheting up the suspense. This can be done subtly, to stretch things out a bit without the audience really noticing, but in most cases it's pretty obvious - there have been times, in fact, when literally no time passes at all while the countdown's out of shot. This phenomenon tends to occur especially as a countdown starts approaching zero.įor instance, the large digital readout on a Time Bomb may show thirty seconds to detonation, but after cutting to and from a climactic two-minute fight between The Hero and the Big Bad, the clock somehow has ten seconds left for The Hero to defuse it before it goes off. Although this is not a film that can be found in the ranks of great films of the genre, it is definitely a nice popcorn cinema that is fun and shows on many levels what so many modern productions lack: passion for the genre, a feeling for atmosphere and the courage not to take yourself too seriously.Any kind of stated time limit or countdown in fiction seems to know when it's Being Watched, and will cheat accordingly for maximum drama. Director Dec's feature film debut comes as a bit of a surprise. The quiet narrative style is impressive, the mixture of frightening scenes and a good horror staging, which can be found in quieter moments, the conveyed film feeling, which through cinematography, lighting and scenery seems like a journey through time to better times in film history and the short playing time, the one really good pacing favors such a storyline. This is interesting with its intersection of religious horror and modern technology, which often proves to be quite real horror of its own kind.

The film might open up one or two secondary storylines, but doesn't let them distract it from its path, instead integrating them for the most part appropriately into the main storyline. Facinelli also plays his role as a secondary antagonist appropriately, if not particularly multifaceted. Byrne and Segura show that they have a little more experience in the film business and are small highlights in their very comedic supporting roles. Jordan Calloway is okay, if a bit pale, and Talitha Bateman is at times a little over-the-top in her role. Elizabeth Lail in particular plays her role of a rather shy but quite powerful woman very believably. The effects are well done, the supernatural is well staged and the humor relies on lovingly written supporting characters who shine with dialogues that you can hardly find anywhere in films these days. The balance that director Justin Dec finds and implements in this film is an increasingly unusual sight. The basic idea (minus the cellphones and apps) could also have originated in the 90s, the jump scares aren't over the top and feel appropriate, the brutality of modern exaggerations gives way to the classic approach of not showing too much, but certainly not too little. This horror film does a surprising amount right, despite the attacks that modern times are not only inflicting on entertainment arts and pop culture.

Old town road 20 minute timer