Cruel World {2005)

What does a second-place loser on a romantic reality show do when he's voted off the show?  Start up his own sadistic version of one, of course!

Cruel World has a plot that was very promising, if simple. The losing contestant lures in a group of enthusiastic would-be television stars and begins to pick them off one-by-one with the help of his brawny but mentally-challenged brother.  (The brother's operation often reminded me of a Pinky and The Brain kind of relationship.)

Some of the challenges were creative, I'll give them that. The action all takes place at a very luxurious home that loks exactly like the kind of place you'd see on a reality show, so they also get points for location and sets.

Where the movie starts to fall apart is with the way the characters are portrayed, but there is even a scene when they talk about which stereotypical role they each play on the show, which would have given them points had they not forgotten to snap out of those roles once they were away from the cameras around the house.

As a horror movie, it's incredibly disappointing in the special effects department. Many of the kills are done off-screen, which was fine if the reveal of the dead contestants would have been a good payoff. But it wasn't.  Those who did meet their demise in view of the audience were mediocre at best.

Ultimately, I was left feeling bored with it. I'll give it a star for trying, because it does try. It just isn't able to deliver the goods as well as other films along the same vein do.


Film Information:  Cruel World